Showing posts with label Life According to Mum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life According to Mum. Show all posts

Friday, March 4, 2011

Life According to Mum

I'm so glad we had this time together
Just to have a laugh or sing a song
Seems we just get started and before you know it
Come the time we have to say, "So long."
Carol Burnett show

Well here goes. I am still not sure that any of you will fall in love with me, but I do know some of you that read Shar's blog love me already. Some of you don't, and that's truly okay. Shar loves me so that is all that truly matters to me in this endeavor. :) As this is out of my comfort zone.

I would like to write on good memories today. I think partly because my dad is not feeling well and I was talking to him today about some of his good memories and my Aunt Lorraine is in a fight of her life and she, too, is part of some of my very best memories.

1. First memory of my life...I was four years old and my baby brother, Danny, was in a walker and I fed him extra Numzit for his teeth and actually told my first lie, I believe, to my mother. It was all over his face and I told her he spit up something red. This was my first memory because my om caught me in a lie...4 years old.

2. Simple good memory from my childhood was a really cold winter with a ton of snow. We grew up in Garland, Utah and Danny, Cara, and I were all outside playing in it. We were pulling a sled around and making snowmen. We were out there for what seemed a very long time and when we came in, my om made us real homemade hot cocoa. Never in my life since then, have I tasted a hot chocolate that can rival that.

3. I had a really good childhood. We had lots of outside play time and dinner at the table with my family. My Grandma and Grandpa lived right next door to me. My parents were really good friends with my Aunt Lorraine and my Uncle Chris. They were not just brother-in-law and sister. My cousins were close to mine, Danny, and Cara's ages. We took so many camping trips with them, I cannot even begin to count them. Fresh trout for dinner and those cinnamon monkey bread things and sleeping in tents! Later on my dad got a brilliant idea to build us our own camper. Which in and of itself was amazing.

4. Me trying to make my grandma laugh because she had the coolest laugh ever. I used to mess around just to hear her laugh. My sister has a contagious laugh like that.

5.My mom and I riding bicycles together down the canal bank road.

6. Waiting up at night for my dad to come home from swing shift because my mom swore she heard a noise.

7. My mom bringing Will home in a little blue blanket with his full head of black hair. 5 days prior to that I had run down the halls at my high school yelling to my friends that I had a baby brother.

8. Meeting Todd and knowing by, I believe, the 3rd date with him that I was probably going to marry him. The best thing being the first time he told me he loved me.

9. Sharlee...This is an amazing, ongoing memory maker. I truly don't know how I lived without her for 3 years. She was such a pleasant and fun surprise in life. I took her everywhere with me. She was truly, instantly, my little friend. Now, watching all the things she does in her life and still being able to be a part of it. She is a walking adventure even in the everyday things. She is a lover of life.

10.Shane...this, too. What a whirlwind! The boy thing was indescribable and mind altering. I had to really pay so much more attention to what he was doing all of the time. He could be in a predicament in 10 seconds flat! I swore he was trying to kill me when he was little. But he was truly an amazing, wonderful ride! I still love to hear his next idea, trip, ball game,or work story. He has taken our family to unexpected places in his life.

I guess my point is this: The everyday little things are the things that create memories. And a life filled with good ones is a pretty big gift. Also, what we choose to keep as memories and what we choose to throw out, carves out the type of person we will become and how those around us will see the world.
"Memories are the treasures that we keep locked deep within the storehouse of our souls, to keep our hearts warm when we are lonely."--Becky Aligada

I think I would like to try to let go of some of my memories and try to carry the good ones with me more and I encourage you to, as well.

Do you have any good memories to share?



Friday, February 25, 2011

Life According to Mum

It's time you met my mom.
Like for real met her.
She's amazing and I feel like somehow my blog will improve in every way if I include her more.
So my loving mother has agreed to do a weekly guest post.
I have decided to call it "Life According to Mum."
That's what my brother calls her..Mum.
I don't.
She may post on motherhood, the gospel, housekeeping, family, funny things, The Bachelor, articles she reads in magazines. Mom gets free reign of my blog for one day a week. And it will be every Friday because Fridays are the best day of the week.
In a moment my mom will introduce herself...sort of :)
But first allow me to tell you a few things about her so you might see why I'm including her on here with such frequency.
My mom looks like Oprah.
She disagrees with this.
My mom laughs at herself a lot.
She has a great sense of humor and can handle practically anything.
She literally can do it all.
She is my Wikipedia. I call her for anything and everything.
I am twenty-six and I still believe my mom knows everything.
She raised my brother and I with so much love it's indescribable.
She helped us make some of the best memories.
She makes me feel good about myself every day.
She cannot operate a remote control for the television to save her life.
She says and does everything with extreme purpose...even pushing buttons on a microwave.
She reads magazines backwards.
She also vacuums the house backwards.
She eats ice like it's candy...and it's really annoying actually.
She will put away any dish or glass you sit down even if you just went to the bathroom or went to put the salt shaker away.
She is unbelievably self-less.I sent mom a few questions...and she answered.
Ladies and gentleman I present my mom:
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: Yes, two cats that are not really mine. Eppie and Roy are like some difficult foster children. They have behavior issues.
Q:What is your favorite food?
A: Chinese food any day or time
Q: How do you spend your free time?
A: I love to read and go to the movies. I like to watch The Bachelor. I love to go shopping in every store and look at EVERY single item. Nobody likes to shop with me except Cara.
Q: Tell me about a favorite event of your adulthood.
A: Man, too many to name I swear. I might say my trip to San Diego with Shane and Shar or my trip to San Fransisco with Todd. They are a tie. My wedding is up there along with Shar's and Shane's homecoming from Brazil.
Q: Tell me about a favorite event from childhood.
A: Our first family vacation to Vernal, UT and Dinosaurland. Who takes their kids to Vernal, Utah? But it was the best thing ever! I was six years old and Danny would not shut up about seeing the trains. I loved staying in a motel and eating out for breakfast I loved the whole thing. So much so that Todd and I relived it and took Shar and Shane there when they were little.
Q:What are your hobbies?
A: Yard work, cleaning, and READING!
Q: What do you do on Sundays?
A: I go to church with my dad and then with Todd (YEAH) and we have family dinner at our house or Shar's. It is my kids, Zach, Kylie, Todd, Dad, and me. We have been having family home evening on Sundays after dinner since Shane has been home from his mission. I love Sundays!
Q: What's your motto in life?
A: I don't know that I have a motto. I just try to make the best of things, so I guess that's it. Make the best of it!
Q: What kind of people do you like?
A: I like a lot of people but I like people that are kind to others (to me:) This means not talking about people or treating people in their families unkind. People that try to make the best of any situation they are given in their life. I admire them. I actually really like Sharlee and Shane. They are two totally different types of personalities. I like optimistic people. And I love a sense of humor. LOVE IT!
Q: What are you best at?
A: I am pretty good at cleaning when I have time. I don't have a lot of talents so I try to be decent at it.
Q: Who do you respect the most?
A: Marty for her strong beliefs and living them.
Q: Who has had the most influence on your life?
A: Shar and Shane. This is true as having them has had a profound effect on the way I have chosen to live my life. Also my mom and dad because they taught me so much: good work ethic, faith in God, and love of family.
Q: If you could attempt anything and not fail what would you be?
A: A writer.

Mom, here's your chance. You get to write for the world to see. Thanks for doing this mom, I love you so much!
Readers, you will fall in love with my mom. Look forward to next Friday when Mom makes her debut!