Ode to the Mom...

Today is my mom's BIRTHDAY!!!

So I wanted to give her a very special blog shout out!! :)

Today, my mom is turning 55...

so I thought I'd do 55 things that I love about my mom!

1. She is so kind.

2. She is always taking care of me.

3. She loves my dad more than anything,

4. She loves her kids.

5. She loves us AND she constantly shows us she does.

6. She LOVES being a grandma.

7. She acts like a child when the grandkids are around.

8. She has a hard time saying "no".

9. She spoils me.

10. She gets crazy when she is tired.

11. She has gone to every important concert and event that any of us were a part of.

12. She denies that she's crazy! ;)

13. She is so fun!

14. She taught me how to bake.

15. She makes the world's best cookies.

16. She makes some pretty tasty pies, too!

17. She is actually a really good cook all around.

18. She taught my sisters how to be really good mothers.

19. She taught me how to be a good mom, too... I just haven't put it to use yet.

20. She adopts all of my friends as her own kids.

21. She loves it when my friends call her Mama Nichol.

22. She loves Disneyland almost as much as I do!

23. She has loved me, unconditionally, for 23 years.

24. Today, she told me I was her favorite Birthday present.

25. When I told her I was born 3 and a half weeks before her birthday, so I didn't really count as a present, she told me the best presents always come early.

26. She is obsessed with Penguins.

27. She acts like a child when she hears the word penguin.

28. She has a season pass to the Living Planet Aquarium just so she can go see the Penguins any time she wants.

29. She loves being with her family.

30. She loves chocolate.

31. She makes really good treats.

32. She is funny.

33. She is loving.

34. She is generous.

35. She sings when she has saggy socks.

36. She gives great hugs.

37. She always makes me feel better when I have a bad day.

38. No matter how hard I try... I can't hide anything from her.

39. She always knows when something is wrong with me.

40. Her grandkids think she is awesomely cool.

41. Her grandkids think she is fun to play with.

42. She gave me her good looks! ;)

43. She and I share clothes.

44. She loves Bear Lake.

45. She has taught us all to play at Bear Lake.

46. She passed on her love of Bear Lake to my dad and the rest of us.

47. She likes to read books with her grandkids.

48. She let's me come visit her at work and take her to lunch.

49. She taught us to love music.

50. She has the best parents, so we are very close with them.

51. She loves her mother-in-law and has one of the best relationships with her.

52. She is very helpful.

53. She has to have me help her work her phone.

54. She loves the Gospel. And taught us how important the temple is.

And best of all..........

55. She is my best friend.

I love you, Mom! Thanks for being the best mom in the world! I can't imagine where I would be without you! You are amazing and I am so grateful I chose to be one of your kids!

ugh.

have you ever been in one of those moods... and you can't explain why you're in it? it's a strange feeling, really. i feel like i'm in a funk. i do this every so often. maybe it's part of being a girl. stupid hormones. or maybe everyone has their funks. i don't know.

it's not like today was bad. or tonight at work was terrible. neither are even close. my day was great! i got to hang out with abby and i took her lunch. and work was totally fine. it was the same as it is on tuesdays and thursdays. busy for like an hour... and by 7:30 it's pretty slooow. which is great. because then paul can stay and talk to me and hang out for a bit. :) i love it when paul visits. he hates it, but i really do enjoy it. ha ha (i don't think he actually hates hanging out at the front desk and talking to me for so long... or else he wouldn't do it, right? i think he just likes to pretend to complain about it...) 

paul is so funny! he is usually so busy and running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to get a million things done in a day. so it makes me feel good if i can get him to hold still for longer than 3 seconds! (that's right, two hours is quite an accomplishment! i rock! ha ha just kidding.) paul really is awesome. we've had some great chats, some that weren't so great, and some that were definitely interesting (the one involving la jolla, california... interesting? yes.. super funny? most definitely.. was it all brilliant? oh yeah..)

it is going to kill me when paul leaves on his mission. dimple dell really won't be the same. oh yeah, that's right. one more missionary. i have found myself another friend to write. go figure. ha! thanks, for proving my friends right. paul. they said i'd find another friend to write. drats. :) but i'm so excited for you. japan is getting one freaking excellent missionary!

but paul... i hate "fighting" with you. even when it is all fake. ha ha it's ridiculous, but even fake fighting puts me in a bad mood. so i'm sorry if i'm ever crabby when you're giving me a hard time. i try really hard not to think about it. and keep in mind... i am a girl. and sometimes we can't help but get insecure. however, tonight's bad mood wasn't your fault... so i really am sorry you thought i was grumpy with you at the end of the night.

tonight's bad mood came from another member of the male gender. i have to admit... it drives me crazy when people bail. (really, who doesn't that bug?) but when people give me crap about "never hanging out" "being too busy" etc., etc., etc. and then i try to make plans with them... like so....

boy:"we never hang out. when can we hang out?"
me: "when can you?"
boy: "my schedule is pretty open now that i just finished my classes."
me: "okay, how about this weekend? friday or saturday?"
boy: "i think either would work.. but saturday would probably be better."
me: "okay, let's do saturday then."
boy: "okay, what do you want to do? it needs to be cheap because I'm trying to save money."
me: "oh, that's fine. i'm okay with whatever you want to do."

. . .  two days later . . .  

boy:"hey, are you working?"
me: "i sure am!"
boy: "you suck. ha ha jk. i was going to watch a movie so i was going to see if you wanted to come chill."
me: "oh, sorry."
boy: "it's fine, what time do you get off tonight? 10?."
me: "yes!"
that's too late, woman."
me: "too late for what?"
boy: "too late to hang out."
me: "sorry!!"
boy: "it's okay. we'll hang out another night."
me: "yeah, aren't we hanging out on saturday?"
boy: "yeah, i guess we could. i have a wedding reception and then i might have a date. but i'm not sure about the date."
me: "let's just hang out another time." <---why bother to make plans when they forget about the plans anyway??? am i the only one finding the conversation he and i had two days before this one completely pointless??

then like fifteen minutes before i was off work the boy said... do you want to come chill or should i go to bed? i thought he had said it was too late to hang out!?! make a decision and stick to it, dammit. i told him i was going home. ha ha

ugh. boys are stupid sometimes.

23 birthdays.....

I've had some amazing birthdays! But I really must admit that I feel like this year's was one of the best!! It was an insanely busy day!

I usually spend my birthdays with my parents! They are always fabulous!! My 21st birthday my parents took Maggie and I to The Roof for dinner and then we walked around Temple Square. It was really fun! And I'm so glad Maggie came with us! Last year, for my 22nd birthday, my parents and I went to Asian Star for dinner and then to see The Blind Side! We LOVED the movie! And dinner was delicious, as always!!

This year.... was different. I knew it would be. My parents' ward had their Christmas party the night of my birthday. The parents were in charge of a lot of the food. So they had to attend it. I worked on my birthday this year (I know, weird for me, but I thought it was time to act like a grown-up). So I got up early so I could shower and get ready before I had to go in. My parents were just getting ready to leave for work so I got to see them for about 5 minutes at 7 a.m. I went in and worked until 3 p.m. But during work I had some really cute deliveries! Abby brought up balloons to tie on to my computer. And Misty, Greg, and Tasha brought me in MORE balloons! All the patrons asked who was having the birthday and I got millions of birthday wishes from complete strangers! It was embarrassing, but very sweet of everyone to think of me!! After work I went over to the Blackhurst's home and made a banner for the missionary! After I finished that I went to dinner with Kade, Tara, Mia, Kristen, and Abby! We went to The Olive Garden and it was very tasty!! (Thanks, Abby, for paying for my dinner!) After dinner, Abby and I ran to Old Navy and bought me a new sweater! (I had forgotten to pack extra clothes to change into after work, so I was in a shirt from The Dell and I looked gross and homeless!!!) After the Old Navy trip we went to Kade and Tara's to hang out and we watched "17 Again".  As soon as it was over I had to head back over to the Blackhurst's house so we could head to the airport and pick up Zach!!! Zach was supposed to land at 10:37 p.m., but his flight had been delayed until 11:13! Poor Elaine! The wait almost killed her! Zach FINALLY got off the plane and we all got HUGE hugs! I'm not really family, so I stood in the back and let his family hug him and celebrate... but then he spotted me! He looked at me and said, "BRINDI!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" And gave me the biggest and best hug I've gotten in a long time!! (Like Wa-wa... oh how I have missed those hugs, Little Brother!) I couldn't believe he remembered it was my birthday! I told Zach he was the best birthday present ever! We went back to the house and hung out for another two hours! It was so nice to visit with him! I have missed my little brother so much! I finally got home at about 2:30 a.m. talked to my parents and headed downstairs.... There I found my door completely decorated! Misty had come to my house to decorate my door! (It's our birthday tradition around here. You can see the pictures from last year on my blog post here, in my recap of '09.) While she was here decorating, Nick, Stephen, and Jared came to visit me.. they called while I was at the airport, but I guess they had a surprise for me... so they left it in front of my door. They got me SUPER cute slippers!! Such cute boys they are! Thanks again, fellas! I love you all! Finally, I was in bed by 3!! It was a verrry long day, but so very worth it!! :) I got a million texts, a handful of phone calls, and a million FB messages wishing me a happy birthday throughout the day. I had no idea I was so loved by so many!! Thank you, everyone!

Tonight we had the family party! It was so fun!! I love my family, but it is always chaos when we're all together! There are 17.5 of us now... and that turns a house into a zoo in a hurry! We had homemade Costa Vida chicken salads for dinner! They were so good! We had them last year for the family birthday party and they were such a hit that they were requested again for this year. My mom is so awesome and worked so hard to make dinner a success. I love her! (I made the tortillas... actually, I just cooked them... but in doing so, I burned my fingers... this is why I shouldn't be trusted in the kitchen!) After dinner we had F.H.E. Colby gave the lesson. He read a story out of one of the Friend magazines. (story found here.) He did such a good job! Sometimes I forget he is 8!! After the lesson we had a family prayer. It seems strange, but there is something so powerful about an entire family kneeling down for a family prayer. We then opened presents. We were celebrating our three December birthdays- Me, Blake, and my mom, so there were a lot of presents. Blake got a Thomas the Train, a Playmobil racecar, new jammies, and a Buzz Lightyear. My mom got a cookbook and a Playmobil penguin set (my mom is obsessed with penguins and Playmobils...), and Kacey and Josh have my mom's present, but Kace refused to celebrate my mom's birthday so early. She is waiting until it is closer. I got the new Keith Urban CD, a gift card for iTunes, and Kacey and Josh are taking me to The Hale Center Theatre to see "A Christmas Carol". After presents we all hung out for a little bit, and in the meantime the kids were off to do their own thing. Oh man! At 7:40 p.m. I was super sick of the screaming, fighting, and over-all loud noise going on!! So we finally had ice cream and brownies (since I don't really like cake due to the frosting...) and everyone packed up to leave. I love my family, but family functions can be exhausting!! ha ha

Thank you EVERYONE for making my 23rd birthday so excellent!! I honestly have the greatest friends and family in the entire world!! I love you all!!

(I'll put up pictures on this post tomorrow! .............. as soon as I find the cord to my camera to download pictures onto my computer! ;) )

It is officially...

DECEMBER!!!

My favorite month!

There are just so many reasons why December is such an excellent month!! So many things to love about December!!

1. It's my birthday month! 

     -I actually share my birthday month with a lot of people I know! The 1st through the 7th-my cousin, Jennica (1st), Oakland Hinkley (1st), Jackie Colton (2nd), Britney Spears (2nd), (I'll get to the many on the 3rd...) Elise Reneer(4th), Julie Osborne(4th), Kelly Strebel(4th), Megan Casperson (5th), Tyson Case (6th), Brianna Newton (7th). The 8th through the 14th- Kody Cook (9th), my cousin Lindy's husband, Mason Smith (10th), Fielding's mom, Terri Smith(11th), My Blakey (12th), Jeri Brown (13th), Shella Durling (14th). The 15th through the 21st- Mandy Merriman (15th), Dianna Freeman (15th), Daniel Burgess (16th), Taylor Keffeler (17th), Ai Blackhurst (18th), Jessie Rossi (20th), Vienna Goates (21st). The 22nd through the 31st- Brandie Hansen (22nd), Becky Terry (22nd), Tanner Barlow (23rd), Victoria Anderson (23rd), Kelley Gwinn (25th), My mom!! (27th), Stephanie Taylor (27th), Leda Chavez (28th), Megan Guest (28th), Shelley Bradfield (28th), Brent Jessop (30th), and Taylor Nordquist (31st)!!! I probably forgot a few.. so I'm sorry if I did! But I think you get the point!

2. My Birthday is 3 weeks before Christmas, so decorations can go up as soon as my birthday is over and they're still up for a pretty good amount of time!

3. I get to share my birthday with some of the most amazing people I know!

     -My dad's good friend- Jeff Goodell, two of my cousins: Eileen Rojas and Heather Olsen, the funniest woman I have ever known- Nic Hillary, two friends from elementary school- Kristin Barnhill and Stuart Rogers, the beautiful Kendyl Bell, my friend Brandon's dad- Ron Strebel, Then there are a few "famous people" I share a birthday with- Brendan Fraser, King Charles VI, Rowland Hill (the inventor of the first adhesive postage stamp..) Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Daniel Bedingfield, Anna Chlumsky (she was the main girl in "My Girl"), Amanda Seyfried, and Michael Angarano. (there are a LOT more, but I didn't really know any of them... so I didn't put them on here..)

      -OH! And a couple I'm not terribly proud of... Ozzy Osbourne and the famous Polygamist- Warren Jeffs. And my sister's dog, Buster.

4. Maggie's half birthday is in December! (on Christmas, actually...)

5. I know THREE missionaries coming home this month!! And all three of them are kinda like my little bothers!! Var Black gets home TOMORROW! Zach Balckhurst gets home on Friday!! (He left on my birthday and he's coming home on my birthday! He served exactly two years! How cool is that??) And Dustin Wilson gets home on the 18th!! So exciting to be getting all these men back home!!

6. It's Christmas!!!

     -I LOVE all the Christmas lights!

         -Especially down at Temple Square!

     -I LOVE the whole feeling of the Christmas season!

     -I LOVE having a Holiday devoted to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

     -I LOVE spending so much time with my family!

     -I LOVE Christmas Music! (December is the only month I'll listen to it..)

     -I can watch The Grinch as many times as I want during December and NO ONE can tell me I'm crazy! Like they do when I watch it in March, June, August, October, etc.)

     -I LOVE giving gifts to the people I love and making them happy!

     -I LOVE Carolers!

     -I LOVE Strawberry Waffles on Christmas morning at my Grandparents' house!

I hope everyone enjoys this amazing month as much as I do!! :) Enjoy the holiday! (And for many of you, your birthdays!!)

"Let it be thanks we're givin'!"

For those of you who have read my blog for the past year, you all know it has been a rough one. (sorry, for being a Debbie Downer...) But for all of this I am very grateful. I know it sounds so crazy, but without hard times, we wouldn't know what the good ones were like. So thank you all for sticking by me as I haven't always acted like myself! 

We have had too many loved ones who have passed away. We've known others who have also lost loved ones. And we have had many friends in and out of the hospital. But because of this... I have grown closer to those who are still here with us. And I have learned how grateful I am to know of the Plan of Salvation!

I am so grateful for my family and all of their love and support. I think I got blessed with the best parents. They are both so amazing and have put up with so much from me! I am grateful to have an amazing relationship with my dad, because he never had one with his own. I'm grateful he tried so hard to make sure we knew how much he loves us! (I'm sorry you lost your father yesterday, dad, and that you never got to have a relationship with him. But thank you for learning from his mistakes! And treating all of us like we are the most important things in the world!) I am grateful that my mom is one of my best friends! I am grateful for three incredible siblings! Who all let me be their kids' favorite aunt! I am very grateful for my 5 nephews and 3 nieces and that mystery baby!! (Tara and Kade will find out what they are having next Thursday, December 2nd.) I am grateful to have three (out of six, yes, six) grandparents alive and kickin' it! My mom's parents are so awesome and I am so so lucky to have such an incredible relationship with them! My dad's mom (now the last grandparent alive on my dad's side) is amazing! She is 90 and you'd never guess it! I am so grateful to have such a loving grandma!

I am grateful for all of my friends! I can't even tell you how often my friends save me! They are all so incredible! And I am so very lucky to have so many people close to me who love me so much!

I am grateful to work at Dimple Dell! :) Four and a half years later and I still love it! I have met so many great people because of that place! I love my coworkers! And I am so grateful to have friendships with them!

I'm grateful for HAIR!! I LOVE being a cosmetologist! Going to hair school was the best decision I've ever made! It has brought people into my life that I really needed. And it has also brought me so close to my family members! I love that my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents love me enough to support me and let me do their hair! I have developed such great relationships with all of them... and for that... I am extremely grateful!!

I am grateful for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Without it, my life would have no meaning! I would be so lost! I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon! And oh how grateful I am to have amazing church leaders!

I am so grateful for this time of year and the reminder it is to have us all realize how blessed we are! I am grateful for the reminder to tell the ones we love how much we love and adore them! I am grateful for the Holidays and the time we get to spend with family!

I love all of you! I am so grateful to know you!! And so grateful for your love and support! Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you all enjoyed it! And that you can each list at least two things you're grateful for this year!

Who do I blame...

for this white crap outside?

This snow is down right outrageous! And the wind before it was insane!! I'm so glad I didn't have to go to work tonight! They were worried about this storm so they closed all of the County Rec Centers around 4 p.m. today! Thank goodness! I would hate to be driving in this! Let's hope this snow doesn't stay long!

 

This one is our backyard........                                               And this one is our front door.......

Also... this snow better not continue on past tomorrow! Because on Friday we are heading to 77 degree weather in ARIZONA!! Yay for weddings! But not so yay for 12 hour car rides... 12 hours there, 12 hours back.. I might die. Or just throw up a lot! :)

Happy Week of Thanksgiving, everyone!

Just a little wish...

Since she deleted her Facebook account..... I figured I'd write it on here instead! :) (As if my 15 texts, one sent every 5 minutes, spelling out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" weren't annoying enough.. mwahahahaha!)

I just wanted to wish my Jenny Brooks a

very Happy 23rd Birthday today!!!

One year older and wiser, too... Happy Birthday.. to YOU!

And since you're two weeks older than I am.... I can totally tell you that you are getting OLD!

I love you, Jenny! 

I hope you have the most wonderful day!