...It was Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to the most incredible mother in the world- mine!! My mother is amazing. And to honor her this Mother's Day, I decided to make a list of why I have the best mom ever:

1. She's insanely nice. She'll go out of her way to do anything for anyone.
2. She's very outgoing. Honestly, you can't go to a grocery store with her without meeting at least three new people. She's awesome at just striking up conversations with random people.
3. Going along with #2- she's a very social person. In addition to meeting three new people at that grocery store, you'll also run into five other people who know her.
4. Fountain hair. You can always tell when my mom is done for the night when she comes out with the "fountain" hairdo. If that thing goes up, she's not leaving the house. I wish I had a picture of it on her, but it looks something like this:

5. My mother claims that she's technologically-challenged. But how technologically-challenged can you be when you have a laptop, Blackberry, Palm Pilot, Blueberry, Strawberry, Marion berry and two cell phones? Seriously- she has more gadgets that I do. And yet she's "technologically-challenged..."
6. My mother is very adventurous. She loves traveling and experiencing new things. She gets so excited when we have the opportunity to do something different or travel around the world. We even went skydiving a few years ago. It was terrifying and incredible and I'm so glad I got to experience that with my mom.

7. She's annoyingly optimistic. I don't mean that in a bad way, but it's true. Whenever I have a problem or something I'm stressing about, my mom always reminds me to look on the bright side and realize that there are worse things out there. Because I'm not as awesome as my mother, all I want to do is vent and have someone confirm that my problem is awful and my life is over. I have learned that my mother is not ever going to be that person- she's always going to make me look at the positive things and figure out a way to solve my problem. It's annoying, but I'm grateful for it.
8. She is full of love. If you see my mom around her grand kids you'll know that this is true. She loves so well and so much. She's taught me what it is to love someone and how to show it. You can never doubt how much my mother loves her family, the gospel, and herself. She's an incredible example to me.
9. She embodies the idea of being a "good sport." She'll be the first one to tell you that she's had to learn how to be a good sport throughout the years. With my dad's sarcasm (and five kids who inherited that same sarcasm) it's been a necessity. While it drives her crazy, we usually show our love for each other by making fun of each other. I think she's finally getting the hang of it and even throwing in her own snarky comments here and there. (I'm pretty sure she called one of us a "dirty dog" during a card game once...valiant effort, mom).
10. "Gloms of Gluck." Do you know what this means? Neither do I. It's a phrase she made up when referring to the icky stuff you find when your drain is clogged up. There are multiple other "Patti-isms" but this is a family favorite.
11. My mother throws everything away. No seriously- everything. Shoes, homework- anything that might be left on the floor or counter that isn't hers. She likes things organized and the best way to ensure organization is throwing things away if they don't belong. Makes perfect sense to her.
12. Frosting. My mother hates cake but loves frosting. Therefore her piece of cake will always resemble that of a 5 year old's- frosting licked off top, sides, and middle. She has no shame about this either. You can often find her taking a spoon to a tub of frosting. No shame.
13. My mother is an unabashed theme dresser. Holidays are like frosting to that woman- she can't get enough. On Valentine's Day she'll wear red jeans with a white or pink top, heart earrings, heart socks, red shoes, and maybe even a pink belt to go with it. Ok- that may be an exaggeration but it's pretty close to the truth. That lady would put Uncle Sam to shame on the Fourth of July.
14. Christmas chucks. She owns a pair of chucks that are red and green plaid. And she's owned them for about 80 years. Every year these shoes grace us with their presence for at least 20 out of the 25 days leading up to Christmas. They're practically an institution- I'm pretty sure Christmas can't come without them.

15. My mother is supportive, respectful, intelligent, kind, wonderful and beautiful. She's always there for me. She loves me and supports me in everything I do- even when she may know I'm not making the best decision. She's very good at letting me make my own mistakes and then being there for me when I finally realize those mistakes. She loves her children, she loves the Lord, and she loves life. She's vivacious, fun, and happy. She's the absolute best person I know. I try everyday to be more like my mother.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM! I LOVE YOU!