My Marketable Mommy Skills

My roommates and I joke with our other roommate, Morgan (who is LDS), that if she wants to find a good Mormon boy to marry, she needs to develop her marketable marriage skills such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and general wifey attributes. Well, all this last week I have been going through training for my job. I have been learning how to teach to behaviors through effective praise, preventative teaching, and corrective teaching during the day, and at nights I've been learning how to keep my cool while the girls try to push all of my buttons to my breaking point.

My mom always told me as I grew up that when you have a baby, no one teaches you how to be a parent, that there's no manual for mommies. Well, I have discovered the secret to parenting: my job. Usually parents start from the beginning and figure it out as they go. It's slightly unconventional to start with teenagers, but my job is preparing me to be a parent, and a good one at that. I am learning how to deal with tantrums, encourage healthy behaviors, teach to inappropriate behaviors, and be a good role model of what a healthy life looks like. So now I can not only market my marriage skills to potential suitors who come to call, but I can also market these mommy skills I am developing to snag a good Jesus-following boy to marry ;) But hopefully these marketable skills will not evolve into a brochure that will get pulled out along with my baby pictures when my boyfriend comes home. That would be embarrassing. 

Despite working a billion-and-a-half hours these past few weeks because of training, we've also done some pretty fun stuff. Here's some pics of activities that have marketed my mommy skills...

Tonight the whole campus went to the REAL Salt Lake soccer game against the Portland Timbers. It was a tie, but funny to watch the girls get into the game and root for Portland just to rebel against the staff. As far as rebellion goes, I'd gladly take that over anything else any day! 

I've become the official hair-braider in the house. This is what I missed out on not having sisters! Glad I get to be a part of girly bonding now though :)

We take the girls running around the local farms just about every day. This is a sunflower one of the girls found against the backdrop of a blue sky and the Oquirrh Mountains. Beautiful. 

There are a few apple and pear trees in the back yard, so we've been eating really fresh fruit! So delicious! The girls seem to enjoy healthy eating more when they have the experience of picking their food themselves! :)

Friday was the campus service project of picking up trash in random places around Tooele. They were all rewarded with a pizza party and cookie decorating. This is my happy Halloween cookie. It made my tummy happy too. Yummm...

After having a few really hard days in a row of training and working with the girls and working a 17-hour day, I came home to find a bouquet of my favorite flowers by my bed. Thanks Josh for keeping me sane when work is hectic! 

I Killed the Love Fern

Yup, that's right. I killed it. It looks horrible. And I feel even worse.

At the beginning of summer, Josh surprised me with a beautiful Orchid which only had three blooms at the time. It survived and thrived through all of my moves this summer. I took good care of it, watering it with love (and water of course), and keeping it in just the right amount of indirect sunlight. At it's heyday it had seven beautiful blooms! The one week I was away from the love fern was the hottest week of the summer. It was so hot inside my parents' house that all the flowers wilted and three fell to an untimely death. But as soon as I returned, it got better. Much better. Another flower even began to bloom (I must be magical). Now I have been living in a basement for over a month and it has been perched in my window, not too hot, not too cold, and with just enough sunlight and water that it has remained very happy. Until this week.

The other day I got home to find that all the flowers were wilting again. I did everything I could, but they all died. Only one is left, hanging on, barely alive, but mostly dead. I am horrified! How could I let the fragrantly beautiful representation of our love die?!? I feel like a terrible girlfriend.

So today I researched an orchid site to help me revive my poor little plant, and I learned that most Orchids only bloom 2-3 months at a time. Mine bloomed for 5 months! I suddenly felt much better. It also helped to know that most Orchids bloom 2-3 times a year, so I only have to look at a seemingly dead plant for another few months before it (hopefully) comes back to life.

Thank goodness our love fern isn't an actual manifestation of our relationship, otherwise it'd be bad news for me and Josh!

If you want to learn more about Orchids too, go here.
If you have been asking yourself, "What the heck is a love fern??!?" watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and go here.

The love fern at its peak with seven blooms

The love fern today. Poor love fern :(

Being Grateful

I heard a sermon this past weekend on what it means to be grateful. Honestly, I don't remember exactly what the pastor said, but it got me thinking about what I am grateful for. I can get so caught up in so much else, that I often forget. So, I began to think about it in church and started to cry. I've been thinking a lot about it since and decided I needed to write a list. So, this is my abridged list, because today, I could go on forever and ever...

Jesus and his gift of free Life
God's unending forgiveness and sovereignty
The ability to pray freely and be heard unconditionally
That my parents are alive (two of them were caught in the Joplin tornado in May)
A loving family
Three wonderful parents
Mary and her powerful and unending prayers
Josh and his physical, emotional, and spiritual protection over me
Jackie and her unconditional truth, grace, and love
Julie and her pioneer ministry and determination to declare the Gospel with her life
Amazing friendships that transcend time and proximity
My family in Christ
A place to live and enough money to survive
Political and spiritual freedom
Those who have served to protect this country at all times, especially the last decade
Time to think today about what I am grateful for
People who have interest in possibly wanting to hire me
Sunshine, mountains, flowers, and a beautiful city
A place where I can fully relax
Books and my passion for reading
My education and training to write well
Getting to share my heart and thoughts with you through this blog
People willing and wanting to read my blog (Thanks!)
Music
Art
Intellect
Strength and weaknesses
Desire to live a legacy
My life, God's protection, and God's provision
Ability to see what God has saved me from and what He's saving me for

There's so much more, but for the sake of time and space, I'll leave it at this... for now...

So You Think You Have a Deer Problem...

Well, if you live where my parents do, you're probably right! They live in the foothills of Colorado where deer, cougars, and bears (oh my!) run rampant. We don't see too much of the later two in the daylight, but the deer? Oh dear. Problem 1. The deer love to eat pretty flowers, baby trees, and beautiful landscaping in general. Problem 2. They're fearless. It wasn't too bad before our dog died. My dad trained Carrick (our Irish Golden Retriever) to chase the deer to the property line and then he would always come prancing back to the house, clearly proud of his accomplishment. But now that he's gone, my dad has been forced to be more creative.

Yesterday my dad and I took a tour of his blooming garden. It was a bright, hot afternoon in the front yard, and the flowers filled my senses. We walked out of the front door and walked right by the large lilac bushes, when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I turned to the side and was shocked to be almost nose to nose with a stag! It was lounging in the shade of the lilacs, munching on the petunias. I was close enough to touch it, and it didn't even seem to care one bit. I was able to snag a couple pictures before my dad got out the secret weapon. He came running and yelling out of the front door waving a plastic pink lawn flamingo who had lost its legs and was wearing Hawaiian leis. It was almost as epic as the famous battle scene in Braveheart. Best part? It worked. The deer ran away with terror in his eyes. But I don't blame him. If I saw my dad running towards me, waving a plastic flamingo, I'd be pretty scared too.

Can't a Girl Buy Herself Flowers?

Who says ladies can't lavish themselves with lovely blooms? Because I do. I did. Tulips are my favorites. The money went to charity. And now our kitchen is a bit brighter and bringing springtime inside our house. And now I am bringing those beautiful blooms to my blog for all to enjoy. (Like all of my alliterations today??)


So, ladies, go treat yourself to little gift today. Go buy yourself flowers and enjoy the brightness of spring they will bring to your soul. And if anyone tells you otherwise, send them to me. I'll set them straight. :)


Have you ever bought yourself flowers? What's your favorite kind?