Signs of the Zodiac

I had a roommate my freshman year, Stevie, who would check her horoscope daily. She would also wish on the clock when it hit 11:11 or she even went as far as 12:12 and 4:04. She just wanted more chances to make a wish. I would laugh at her and tell her she was crazy. I sometimes thought she really believed her horoscope and that her wishes would actually come true. Well, I have a secret confession. I now check my horoscope EVERYDAY!! It’s scary sometimes how right on it is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I use my horoscope to guide my life or anything, but it is SO fun to see what it says. Sometimes it has really great words of wisdom, like yesterday it told me to serve others. Last week it said a lot about trusting others, being forgiving, and not being too emotional. Today it said something about going to my coworkers for advice…which I do often (because most of my co-workers are boys who are engaged or almost engaged, and they give the best dating advice)…but it was one of the lamer horoscopes. Another confession….I wish on 11:11, 12:12, 3:33 etc… but my favorite to wish on is 4:44. (4 is my lucky number). Actually, sometimes I don’t make a wish but I always notice when it is those times and I think about making a wish. I mean, that would just be silly to believe those wishes come true.

An update on my roommate Stevie: she now checks 3 different horoscopes every day. I guess it’s all about finding the right one. For example, I love the Yahoo horoscope. For me, Yahoo is the most accurate, but for Stevie, she needs 3 to be as accurate as possible.

Checking my horoscope is just part of my daily routine now. It’s fun and exciting…especially when it’s right on! I’m a Cancer…what are you? I found this great link that tells you how well you match up with people of other Zodiacs...like if you are considering dating someone, or married to someone, it tells you how you fit. Here's the link in case any one is interested (because I know you all are) http://www.eastrolog.com/horoscope-love-match/

I got a lot of really great and useful things for Christmas…stuff I have needed for a long time. I didn’t have many surprises because mom gave me money and told me to get what I wanted. My favorite surprises though were A) a Capo (pronounced kaypo) for my guitar so now I can finish writing a song I’ve been working on, and B) THE DAVID ARCHULETA CD!! It comes complete with a poster of him which I will surely hang on my wall when I get back to the apartment.

Feliz Navidad!

This is me and Stevie our freshman year. Neither of us look very different. I'm pretty sure the date on the camera is wrong...considering I didn't even meet her until over a year later.

This is (from left to right) Celes, Jenny, and Liz (and me!) up at Temple Square a couple weeks ago. We got tickets from my grandparents to see the MOTAB Christmas Concert. It was really great. My favorite line from the concert: I love Christmas...and do you know what else I love? I love animals!

My New Friend

The other day I had a hankerin' (my Dad uses that word all the time...is it a real word?) to build a snowman. So I did. Jenny, Brett, and James assisted me in my creation. Mostly they complained that the snow wasn't good enough, but I never lost hope. Jenny and I raided my apartment for random things to dress-up our Man, and here's what we found: His nose is a spider Halloween ring (that I still wear occasionally); his eyes are chocoloate chips; he has a cheerio smile, cookies as buttons, a scarf for a scarf, oven mits for hands, sticks for arms, a Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat hat (I wear that too), a race metal for some bling (I wear that too), a crepe paper streamer belt, and reindeer ears just to touch it up. Oh, I forgot he has stockings for boots too.

Impressive don't you think? It was hard to make him because the snow wasn't really packable...and of course the next day we had much better snow. When my dad picked me up to take me home the next day he said "hey, you've got a little rabbit in your front yard."

I checked on him today and I'm happy to report that he is still there! His nose and eyes have fallen off, and he's got snow up to his middle...but at least he's still standing. I'm predicting he'll last until February 12th.

You're Not Invited

The other day I was riding in the car with Sammy and Luke (my nephews from my sister Hannah). I told Sam I was sad he had to go back home and that I wanted him to stay with me. Then Sam told me I wasn’t invited to his house because only really happy people are invited. He said if you listen to God and do your prayers and your scriptures, then you are invited to my house…and do your dishes and clean the floor and listen to Heavenly Father, and Jesus and the Holy Ghost. I was taught simple truths from a 3 year old. All you have to do to be really happy is listen to God and then you’re invited into his home. It was really precious. I pray Sam will never forget those things.

The first time I meet a boy I tend to look at his shoes. I feel like the shoes a boy chooses to wear really say a lot about his personality. Most boys only have 4 or 5 pairs of shoes: Sunday shoes, tennis shoes, 1 or 2 pair of everyday shoes and sandals. Those 1 or 2 pair of everyday shoes they decide to wear are what really tells me a lot about them. Are they skater, 80's, too stylish, do they run, are they gay, weird, normal, way cool, nice etc. You can tell a lot...I promise. I told my mom the other day that I am really trying hard to look at the heart and not the shoes. I'm in to the normal shoes: tennis shoes or diesel-like shoes. I just like normal guys ya know?

Tonight I went caroling at an elderly care center for the disabled. It was really fun. One of the residents grabbed onto my belt-loop and pulled down pretty quick. Lucky I have hips to stop my pants from coming down, and the worker guy caught it and helped me out. It was really funny.

Documenting Life

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how little I take pictures. I decided, what if I die tomorrow and the most recent picture I have of myself is 6 months old? If I were to die soon I would want my loved ones to know what I did the week before; I'd want them to know the people who are part of my life right now, and the way they inspire me. Taking pictures of what I do in life (the big things and the little things) is a good way to ensure that there will be enough documentation of the life of Abby Porter if I were to die tomorrow...which I don't plan to, but it's kind of like food storage. Here is documentation of some of the people I love, and some of the things I've done in the past 2 weeks:

Stefanie Tanner and I at the Beehive Bazaar (a craft fair in Provo)

Me mailing my letter to Santa

Some of the ward friends at game night. This is the ladies man Romain from Jamaica.

My roommate Liz mailing her letter to Santa.

My friend Abe standing alone under the mistletoe.

Lauren and celebrating at the Gallery Stroll.

My good friends Brett and Peter and me at our ward FHE last Monday. We were supposed to dress up in Christmas clothes for a big family picture. They didn't dress up so I brought them some reindeer ears.

My visiting teacher Heather biting Peter's antlers.

My favorite picture ever.

This is what I wore for our FHE family Christmas picture...let's just say I was pretty much the best dressed person there.

Spread the Love

A couple of the professors at BYU put together this music video called Joy to Everyone. The pictures were taken by the photographer at BYU. He travels all over the world and really does a great job at capturing people. I really liked the video--it helped bring me love for my brothers and sisters throughout the world. It has a message of peace, rejoicing, and love that the Christmas season brings, with an overall theme that Jesus Christ is the reason for that peace, rejoicing and love. You should watch it, and share it too! Here is the link: http://www.joytoeveryone.com/download.htm

WOULD YOU JUST SPREAD SOME CHRISTMAS CHEER ALREADY?

p.s. I wrote a letter to Santa Clause. I will be sending it in the mail tomorrow. I addressed it to 90 degrees north latitude where the longitudes converge, North Pole, USA. Then I realized the North Pole is not in the USA, so I had to fix it. I sure hope it gets to him.

P-p-p-PIE

In reverse order (because that's the way Blogger uploaded my photos) here is what I did for Thanksgiving:Last, we hiked around a place called Tent Rocks. These cool looking rock formations were all over the place. We walked through the windy slot canyons and then up a few switch backs to a beautiful view of Tent Rocks and beyond. Everyone did it, even Jared and Ellie.
The day before, we went to Santa Fe and saw the oldest house in the United States (pictured here) and also went in the oldest church in the United States.
Santa Fe is a an artist town...which is really cool to me, but boring for the kids. There were so many Art Galleries that it could keep me busy for a whole month probably. It was really fun to walk around and see all the sculptures and statues.
I'm trying to be just like this red man.
The night before that we played Taboo. It was girls against boys and from the picture below, you can see for yourself who won. Scott even tried to start the score over hoping they would have a better chance, but the girls were too good.



Here is us eating our Thanksgiving Lunch
This is the pie we ate every meal for about 3 days straight.

and here is mom carving the turkey!


I LOVED This Thanksgiving. Thanks Sarah, Scott, Kaitlyn, Brynn, Jared, and Ellie! I love you guys!

What makes a hero?

So I have decided to write a paper exploring the idea of what makes a Hero. It's for my Greek and Roman Mythology class. We had an entire unit dedicated to studying Greek heroes, only I don't know how many of them are actually heroes. So what makes a hero anyway? Some Greek heroes are demi-gods--one of their parents are immortal. Because they are also half mortal, they are deeply flawed. For example Hercules got drunk one night and killed his wife and kids. Odysseus slept with at least 2 Goddesses while his wife Penelope remained faithful to him for 20 years, not knowing if he was dead or alive. Agamemnon, a great Trojan War hero sacrificed his daughter and then brought home the concubine Cassandra as a victory prize. Odysseus is also known for being able to tell great lies...he is a 'speaker of words' as is typical of a Homeric hero. So these great heroes aren't really great people. Sure, Hercules goes into the underworld and brings back Alecestis from the dead, but he also has an extreme appetite for wine and women. Frodo Baggins is a sort of hero, but he's a scrawny wimpy hobbit who is sometimes mean to his friends. Is it the great challenge that he overcomes that makes a man a hero, or is he only a hero if he also lives a life worth exemplifying? Who is the ultimate hero? Are there everyday heroes, and what makes them so? Jesus Christ, half immortal, came to earth and overcame the greatest of all challenges: he suffered for the sins of all mankind. Their are a lot of similiarities between Christ and the Greek heroes, but there is also one giant difference. Christ was perfect. He was faithful, kind, not murderous, disciplined etc. Understandably no one else in the world is perfect, so we can't expect to have other perfect heroes, but should they at least possess good qualities?

Anyway, I'm interested in what everyone thinks, so take my poll (to the right), leave a comment or send me an email....but don't facebook me.

Growing up

It's 1:17 AM and I'm blogging with my face about one inch from the computer screen. Both pairs of my glasses broke recently and they're unwearable so I can't see a thing once I take my contacts out. The screen is actually kind of burning my eyeballs.

This weekend I had sort of a cleanse. We had some pumpkins left over from Halloween that we never carved so my roommate and I decided to smash them. We wrote things on them (like code names for boys we were mad at) and then took them to the park and smashed them. It was symbolic of letting go and moving on I suppose. Mostly it was just REALLLY fun. Then on Saturday I deactivated my facebook account. I had been thinking about it for months and finally did it. I was hesitant because it seems like when you're single, in order to be in the 'game' you have to have a Facebook. It's a way for people to learn more about you and adds another medium for flirting. Anyway, I decided it was pointless and also adds one more medium to complicate life. So, I let it go. It's amazing how good I feel....like I gave up smoking or something. I guess I don't really know what that feels like, but it's probably close. I feel all grown up now.

My friend Elliott said to me today "Abby, today is the best day of my life." "why?" I asked. "Because we're not friends on facebook anymore." I think that secretly means he is really upset because I'm his favorite facebook friend. Here are pictures from my pumpking smashing fun. Don't worry mom and dad, we cleaned it up when we were done. :)

Rain

It rained today…all day. In fact I think it’s still raining. I don’t mind it so much because at least it’s not snowing. I don’t love the worms that come out on the sidewalk, but my roommate says worms love wet, damp stuff so a rainy day is like going to the beach for them. They lay out all over the sidewalk and soak.

Something about rainy days makes me move much slower. I slept in, took an extra long shower, walked really slow to and from class, and I even feel like I talk in slow motion. I guess I probably don’t though. I was walking to work today and passed a gigantic puddle in the driveway to a church. Someone put a yellow rubber ducky in the puddle. I laughed and pushed a little so it could float. As I continued down the street there was another puddle and another rubber ducky. It made me smile.

At work we got a Despair Inc. magazine and this was one of the new Demotivators:

BLOGGING: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.

I thought that was great.

H to the alloween

This shower guy was my all-time 2nd favorite costume I saw this year.

I had a pumpkin party the Wednesday before Halloween. We had a million pumpkin things to eat, and then we all sat around and watched Pajama Gladiator on my roommates projector.

Jenny best friend as a mime. She was the best mime ever. She teaches school at Provo Canyon, and she went the entire day without talking even to her class! She also did a few box and balloon blowing performances on Center Street in Provo. She is so cool.

This is my costume. I won the "most original" award at my Ward Party, and a woman at work's daughter copied my costume, with my permission, and also won at her school. It just so happens that Jenny lives in an extremely colorful house, and I fit well in it with my costume.

Leafs

(I took all these pictures my self 2 Sunday's ago.)

I got locked out of my apartment today so I sat outside under a tree and did some reading. My mind started to wander to the tree I was perched beneath. (can you be perched beneath something?) I often walk by a tree and pick a leaf to observe as I make my way to class or church or whatever, and I have always wondered if all leaves from the same tree are alike. To my eyes they appear to be exactly the same As it turns out, they aren't. Just like snowflakes and people, there are no two leaves alike. It would be obvious to a tree-lover that two leaves came from the same tree, but upon closer inspection one will discover that the notches, or edges, or little vein things in the middle are slightly different.

My next question was, so why exactly do trees lose their leaves anyway? I'm sure I learned it in like 4th grade, but I was thinking about it again today. As the days get shorter, the trees are no longer getting the same amount of energy from the sun as they do in the Spring and Summer. So in order for the whole tree to survive, it cuts off nutrients from the leaves and stores those nutrients and energy in its trunk and branches. The leaves must fall in order for the whole of the tree to survive. (Interesting that they are called LEAVES, because that's what they do; leave the tree).

The beautiful thing is, the tree stores its energy so IT doesn't die, so that it can bring forth leaves again in the Spring. The leaves make a sacrifice for the tree, and essentially mankind. If the leaves refused to fall, the trees wouldn't have enough energy to sustain them, and therefore die. If all deciduous trees died, there wouldn't be enough energy and oxygen to keep us all alive. What a beautiful process huh! It makes me wonder how much I'm willing to sacrifice in order for something else bigger and better to stay alive. It also adds support to what I already knew: that when I fall, there are better days ahead, there is hope to be born again in the Spring.

Pumpkins

Everyone in my family has posted something new on their blogs in the last few days so I was feeling left out.

Monday I carved a pumpkin with my friend Christine for a ward FHE pumpkin carving contest. We carved a piece of cheese into it.

Two of the groups of boys carved vomitting pumpkins, which is disgusting but kind of cool at the same time.

Comfortable In My Own Company

Although some people would vehemently disagree, I feel very lucky to attend school at BYU. Where else could I take a marriage prep class that would be chalk full of ways to apply gospel principles to marriage?

Today we talked about happiness. Our teacher posed the question "Are you comfortable in your own company?" We talked a little about what that means. One option is, do you feel comfortable being at home a lone on a friday night when all your roommates are on dates? Another option is do you recognize who you are, and are you happy with it? Are you comfortable with what you and the Lord have made of yourself?

The point of our discussion was to encourage us to stop looking for someone to 'make us happy' and start realizing that whether or not we are happy will depend mostly upon ourselves, and our relationship with God. If I can be happy alone, then when I get a husband I can still be happy even when he doesn't always make me happy. I don't really know, but from what I hear husbands aren't perfect...which is weird, because wives are...right? :)

So, being comfortable with who I am alone, is going to set me up for being comfortable and happy and having joy in my marriage, and every other aspect of life as well.

Something that helps me be happy each day is when I start out by saying to my self: Self, you are GREAT no matter what anyone else thinks. Not that people don't think I'm great, because they do :), but you know how easy it is to make up that someone doesn't like you because they made a funny look at you when really they were just about to sneeze or something.

Wow, I made myself laugh when I wrote that last paragraph. Self, you are so funny.

My sister tagged me to place my 4th picture from my 4th album on my blog. I wasn't going to do it because I was embarrassed about this one. I had just received a haircut and straightened my hair for the first time since the cut, so I took a bunch of pictures of myself. I guess maybe I'm a little too comfortable in my own company?

My Song

I wrote a song. It's not way good but I'm proud of it. It's called Last Letter. You can view it by going to this website: It's not refined in this recording because I'm still working a few things out. I'm mostly only posting it so my siblings who live far away can hear it.

Enjoy.

Legacy of Lovers

This is part of a paper I had to write for one of my classes last year. A lot more people could be added to this, but I had a page limit :).

I have been blessed with an opportunity to be in a family full of incredible women. Grandmas, sisters, sister-in-laws, and of course my own mother are all major examples of what it means to love, and to teach the sacred purposes of life through everyday living.

One of the most wonderful things about my mom is that she knows how to do, as I like to say, everything. An avid quilter, she has patiently directed me as I have struggled to learn to sew. I wanted to re-upholster an incredibly comfortable and equally distasteful chair I purchased from Deseret Industries. Mom showed me the best way and would give me direction as I asked for it, but let me do it on my own and learn from my mistakes. Her talent in this specific area has transformed many a prom dress to fit our standards of modesty. I was able to find inexpensive dresses which mom fixed up so professionally that it was difficult to believe I had not spent hundreds of dollars to find a beautiful modest dress. She helped me live my values and standards so that I could become closer to my Heavenly Father, and closer to her. Much of what mom did for us I took for granted. I never knew it was hard to be a mother, for she made it look so easy. I love her for her strong testimony that has been a light in my life guiding me towards developing my own testimony. She taught me to love to do what is right.

My oldest sister Sarah has always been my ‘second mother’ so to speak, and thus I have learned a great deal from her example. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was nine years old. I did not quite understand the seriousness of the disease, but I did know that it was possible my mom could die. I came home from school one day and raced up to my room only to find that mom had made my bed and cleaned my room--even though she was sick and weak from chemotherapy. Immediately tears began to pour down my face because I realized how much I love my mom and wanted her to stay with me. I ran to Sarah for comfort. She gave me a hug and asked questions to get to the root of my feelings. I was able to open up to her and express all my worries and concerns. Her comforting words reassured me that we were all scared, but that we could get through this hard time if we stuck together as a family.

Even to this day Sarah is my easiest sister to communicate with. We can talk about anything and she is always interested in what I have to say. She is not so much concerned with giving advice as she is just listening. Sarah has taught me principles of good communication especially of the value of being able to listen.

Although she is four years older than me, my sister Hannah is my closest sibling in age. She is also my best friend. I spent the most time with her as we were growing up and I wanted more than anything to be just like her. She was and is a shining light in my life. One of the qualities that Hannah has taught me is the importance of being a good leader. Hannah has always been able to envision and then execute almost any plan. She served on her high school’s student council and then graduated from BYU with a degree in education. In both cases she has demonstrated her ability to incorporate everyone to be in line with the plan. I always go to Hannah for advice on the best way to get a job finished. Her ability to lead brings structure to her home. She can compromise and improvise in order to make any goal obtainable. Her leadership abilities have helped me realize the importance of setting and reaching goals; the ultimate goal of course being to return to our Heavenly Father.

Hannah has also taught me the joy of laughing. We often joke that it does not take much to get Hannah to laugh, and oh is her laugh contagious. She brings joy and laughter to any situation. She has taught me that it is so important to find something to laugh about even in difficult situations. Daily happiness that comes through laughing brings an enhanced ability to feel love from Heavenly Father and to share that love with others. Life does not seem so hard if there is something to laugh about. I am confident that Hannah will bring that same joy to her little boys as they grow up learning to laugh and smile like she does.

My third sister Betsy was born after Sarah but before Hannah. I remember a time when my parents had gone to Atlanta, Georgia for an overnight temple trip and contention among our siblings was building. I was the youngest at the time and feeling very picked on. I was upset and burst into tears. Betsy ran up to my room to see what the matter was. I explained that my feelings had been hurt and I felt left out and unimportant. She said very strongly that my siblings did love me and if I was ever having problems with one of the older kids that I could just tell her and she would help me work it out. That ability to serve selflessly has never left Betsy’s character. She and her husband are the greatest examples of service that I have ever encountered. They have an innate ability to recognize how they can help those in need. The service they render is unique, creative and adapted to each individual’s needs. I greatly admire Betsy’s desire for service and pray that I will be able to develop that same ability to serve selflessly in order to help other’s feel God’s love for them.

The greatest thing that I have learned from these women is the ability to love. Whether I look behind me to my past or beside me at my present, I have examples to help me understand the importance of raising a family to learn to love the Lord. Now as I begin to look in front of me to the future, I am excited to practice the principles I have learned from this legacy of lovers that I have been so blessed to be a part of. I hope to teach my children as my mother taught me, and my sisters teach their children, to have a testimony of Jesus Christ.

CELEBRATIONS

At the beginning of the month I plugged my camera battery in overnight so it could charge. When I woke up it still wasn't charged. It's one of those rectangle lithium ion batteries and apparently it finally ran out of juice. It lasted a year so that's pretty good, but when I bought a camera I hadn't planned on having to buy a new battery every year. It was really surprising when I looked on line and found they cost about 50 bucks.

Amazingly, I happened to find a check for $50 in my wallet that I got a few weeks ago for babysitting. I had forgotten to deposit it so as it turned out, I had an extra $50. I finally went to circuit city and bought a new battery. Now I can start taking pictures again, and therefore have more to blog about.

I got stung by a bee today while my friend Jenny and I were hiking in the mountains. To my knowledge I have only been stung one other time in my life. It was kind of exciting to celebrate my 2nd bee sting, and buying a new camera battery in the same day. I felt bad for the bee--isn't it true that if they sting you they die? He was just sitting on my shirt collar and when I lifted my hand to rub my neck I must of landed right on his stinger. It could have all been avoided if he would have just landed somewhere I could see him. I guess I don't feel too bad because they really bug me when they crowd me while I'm trying to eat my lunch.

Lessons from Grass

Today I walked from my apartment to the LDS Temple in Provo. It was kind of a long walk in a dress and heels, but the journey is half the experience right? I'm not complaining because my walk was only about 30 minutes, and there are people who sometimes walk days and spend every cent they own to get to the temple.

The final stretch to the temple is the walk along the missionary field (literally a soccer field for the missionaries in the Missionary Training Center). I saw a stretch of grass between the missionary field and the temple with a sign pressed in it about every 15 feet. As soon as I was close enough to read the sign I laughed: "I'm trying hard to grow, so please don't walk on me"---BYU Grounds. Apparently the grounds crew at BYU is now giving the grass its own voice. Perhaps to appeal to our emotions and keep us off the grass.

The funny thing was I immediately thought of all the times I've wished I could have that very sign placed on my forehead. "I'm trying hard to grow so please don't walk on me." Doesn't it sometimes feel like you're getting walked on from so many different directions? That really puts a damper on things when you're trying so hard to grow stronger, and better. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just put up a sign that says don't walk on me right now? Wouldn't it be so much easier to grow?

Unfortunately even if we did tape a sign to our foreheads it is inevitable that we'll get walked on through our life journey. Then I thought; contrary to grass, the more we get walked on the better, more refined we become. Can you imagine going through life without any struggle, without ever being trampled, picked, stepped on, dug up? Seems like we would never learn from our mistakes, and never be allowed to grow stronger by overcoming the hard times. We would never recognize the need for something or someone of a higher power, more perfect than ourselves to help us through.

I think I would rather have my sign on my heart, not my forehead, with these words: "Father in Heaven, I'm trying hard to grow, so if I must be stepped on please help me to grow anyway."

My Heroes

Porter definitely ready for boating.

Luke was kind of cold so we wrapped him up in his towel.

Jesse and Sam on the boat.

These are my girls and me on the boat. The top is Livy (she's making a silly face). Next is India and last Addie. They are 3 of my brother Joe's kids.

I took these three pictures by my self; impressive huh? They're of me trying to look like I play the guitar. I love the top one. That is Reid. He loves to hit the fret board while I'm trying to play. So precious.

Abatha tabatha puddin in pie, kissed the boys and made them cry. Mom used to say that to me all the time and I guess she was right! This is my nephew Brigg, not happy about me kissing him.

Jeston and his marshmallow.

Reid in his wetsuit and floaties.

Mira getting into the sunscreen.

Last weekend I went to Bear Lake with my siblings. Some of them have already blogged about our eventful weekend so in order to avoid being a copy cat I will not blog about it. Instead you can just look at these pictures.

I have 17 heroes. CJ, Kaitlyn, Livy, Jeston, Brynn, Addie, Mia, Jared, Sam, India, Porter, Xander, Luke, Ellie, Reid, Mirabella and Brigg. Those are all my nieces and nephews. I love chasing them around to give them a hug and a kiss and I love it when they sit on my lap and talk to me about life (even if I have to strap them down to talk about it). Sometimes out of the blue one of them will say “I love you Abby.” It makes me melt like the cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich. (Get the picture?) This summer I got to see every single one of them. I don’t know 17 other people quite like these kids. I love observing my brothers and sisters as parents. Somehow they are all so good at it. What a tender blessing to be able to watch my siblings teach their kids about life, love, Jesus Christ, family, boats, bugs, not biting, death, prayer, gardens, reading, and hurt feelings. What an incredible charge they have been given! Even though I know it is hard they manage it all so well. I hope I can be as good a parent as I see in my siblings and their spouses, and of course as I see in my parents. I’m lucky that I’ve been able to see so much to help prepare me for when I’m a parent. And I’m lucky that I am able to be a much better person because I have the 17 most wonderful nieces and nephews in the world. I have one coming sometime in March-ish, which will make 18. I can’t wait to meet that one as I’m sure I’ll be able to learn from her or him as well.

Basically, my nieces and nephews are super lucky to have such great parents, grandparents, uncles…and such a great aunt of course :)