Just another family dinner

Scott has fruit snacks on his plate as his serving of fruit.

Dad's on a diet.  He eats lettuce.

After being asked a million times over the past couple of years if I'm going to eat the fish tonight, I finally say yes today.  (So sue me.)  I've never seen my dad so proud.

We try to figure out what the new equivalent of green jello is in our day.

And it always ends with someone talking about the word "bazaar," and my mom tells the story of how she lost the Montana state spelling bee because of that word.

Cheers.

Endearing?

My mom and dad bought a new mattress.  It has a supposed 30-year warranty.  In my insensitivity and morbid humor, I said to my mom, "You'll die before this mattress does!"

Cue: Siblings' horror at such an observation.

Mom: But I'm only 52!
Tanya: Yeah, Grandma died at 80.

My mom starts to seriously consider this because sometimes she doesn't get my anti-jokes, but the siblings quickly assuage the situation and change the subject.

Then my mom chimes in.  "Yeah, but I think Christ will come again before I die...and I just feel so bad that you kids won't get any of our inheritance."

Aww, thanks Mom!  Wait...

And you can tell everybody, this is your blog post...*

*cue Elton John classic preferably redone by Ewan McGregor.

It's Mother's Day and just for my mom, I'm writing her a lovely blog post because she loves everything I do :)

Things I have learned from my mom:
1. Take your time picking the right person--there is no rush to get married at 20.
2. How to make world-class cookies. (I have yet to meet a contender.)
3. How to cook in general.
4. How to be more assertive.
5. What's most important in life (i.e. God, Jesus Christ, and family)
6. Don't go to bed angry.
7. The importance of education and making the most of your talents.
8. How to be more of a people person.
9. How to budget and be frugal.
10. How to drive aggressively and multitask.
11. The importance of giving 100% in every responsibility you have.
12. The usefulness of speaking a second language.
13. Don't date chauvenists.
14. The entertainment that comes from quality films with people like Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Doris Day, etc., etc., etc.,
15. A love of music.
16. How to be a better leader.
17. You have to fight for what you want.
18. The happiness that comes from following Jesus Christ.
19. The importance of being home.
20. Pure, maternal love.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it hopefully gives everyone a very general sense of who my mother is. She is smart, assertive, loving, and down-to-earth. She can strike up a conversation anywhere, anytime. She has so many life experiences from traveling or going on a mission or going to college that has embellished who she is. I have a mother who loves God and loves our family with all that she has. I have been so blessed to be raised by such a strong woman in my life.

One time in second grade, my mom was volunteering and came out to recess with me. We saw the girls spinning on the bars, and my mom said, "I used to do that when I was a little girl." So we all said, "Show us! Show us!" So my mom got on the bars and spun around and around. Everyone gathered around, and thought it was so cool that an adult was spinning on the bars. I remember feeling so proud and thinking, "wow, what a great mom I have."

Luckily my mom and I never had that typical strained teenager-parent relationship during high school. It's such a cliche, but my mom has really been one of my best friends. She has more faith in me than sometimes I even have in myself. Her constant love and support has sometimes baffled me in my darkest times. Why would someone believe in me that much? As I have let more light and clarity come into my life, I realize that I couldn't have done it with out someone as loving and dedicated as my mom always backing me up. Since that day in second grade, I still think everyday, "wow, what a great mom I have."

Blue Jello

It's Christmas Eve!!

This means my family eats pigs in a blanket, jello, potato salad, baked beans, and any other informal type of food. (p.s. thanks to mom for adjusting to my dietary needs and buying tofu dogs for my pigs in a blanket.) I like our tradition because it's so quirky. It's like rubbing our noses in all those impersonal prime rib or turkey dinners. We'll play games tonight or watch movies. It's a pretty chill evening, but it makes me realize how much I love my family.

Merry Christmas everyone!

catching up

I haven't blogged in awhile. I'm pretty bad at the whole blogging thing. I do this with my journal too. I write about once a month, but I remember back in elementary when I wrote EVERYday and it's kind of fun to look back and remember what I was doing a year ago. It's sometimes hard to remember the weekend sometimes. I fear Alzheimer's is settling in too soon.

So I'm at the grandparent's house for Christmas. My grandma gives me taco soup with huge chunks of beef and says, "you can eat that right?" Um, no...I am, um, pretty sure that's, um, meat in there....yeah, so I, uh, don't eat that. Every five minutes she always asks me if I'm finding anything to eat. Yes, Grandma, I'm eating. She means well. I just hate the look on her face when I refuse her cooking. It's the disappointment that she can't help. But I just love that she's around. I don't even bring up the vegan thing. When I come home, I downgrade to vegetarian when there are no other options. I miss soy milk :(

Here's the intinerary: Christmas Eve feast. Christmas morning breakfast feast. Christmas night feast. Day after Christmas feast. That's a lot of food. I guess we're going out of this year with a bang. The cool thing is that A LOT of my family is going to be together. The most we've had in a long time. My family is crazy and loud and talkative and gossipy and obnoxious and quirky and I love them. This should be fun.

Merry Christmas Eve.

Thx

Only Ashley Smith understands that title. haha. I miss those days of Tingey Hall. I really do.

So...it's Thanksgiving. I'm home. Everything fits right. Everything feels right. My bed is how I remembered it. My house smells the same. The dishes are just where I expect them to be. I still remember every one. Even at my apartment I'm always wishing I had that exact dish that I used at home. It was the right size, right material. I love being home. I love remembering the simplest things that I took for granted.

But I'm having a Wordsworth-ian moment where I realize as much as I reminisce over these things of my past. I can never go back to that time. I will never be able to live here everyday. Lauren will never be at her same house for me to go to. I will never use my dresser again or my desk. I will never go to "regular" high school (not that I really want to go back).

I want to be optimistic about the future though. I have really great friends in Provo. I've been so lucky to meet people that I just click with. Yes, school is stressful and dance is frustrating, but I laugh a lot. I talk a lot. I experience a lot. I live a lot.

It seems though that every relationship or experience you have to eventually put in the dresser drawer of "the past." I can't wait until I meet that person or those people that I get to take into the future with me. And I don't have to worry about the eventually. Eventually this will end or eventually we will go our separate ways.

That is why I'm so grateful for my family more than anything else. They are my past and future. We evolve together.

Happy Thanksgiving

Walking for an hour each way makes you think

I missed my sister today. She's serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guatemala. I know she's supposed to be there and help people feel God's love for them. I just want her here sometimes. I miss running across campus to get to her house. I miss escaping for a day, a weekend, or sometimes a week... I'm not a moocher. It makes me feel uncomfortable and burdensome, but Monica never got mad when I ate her food or wore her clothes. Growing up, we had times when we were really distant and in two very different stages of our lives. I never understood what my mom meant when she said we should be best friends with our brothers and sisters because they will always be there. I know what she means now. I miss my brothers too. Some of my favorite, vivid memories are in the backyard playing power rangers, captain planet, spiderman, batman, and every other super hero imaginable. I realize that Scott is going to go on a mission soon, and then maybe me, and then Todd... Then people are going to go to college, get married, get jobs, move away. Sometimes it just feel like I'm at a really long summer camp or something, and when I come home, things are just where they left off. But they aren't. I realize that I am past that stage of my life, but sometimes I don't like it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't take family for granted. Even though we won't live in the same house again, and we'll each go our own directions, my family will always be an anchor for me. I love them more than words express.