Some Good Ol' R&R

Halfway through a semester, everyone needs a break (poor BYU doesn't get one).  

Some of my friends and I took a spontaneous trip up to a friend's ranch.  

Zip lines, four wheelers, hikes, lakes, no TV, no Internet.  

It was such a good break from school, work and city.  

The best part of break?  Cow chasing.  Video to be posted soon...

The boys cleaned out the fridge that was covered with exploded frozen Diet Pepsi.

So good spending quality time with Jorie before she leaves on her mission!

Nighttime four-wheeling

Stars away from the city!

Zip line :)

Covered after driving through mud puddles

B-e-a-utiful fall leaves!

Mommy

This one's for my momma.  She's the best momma in the whole wide world.

• Last Tuesday, I came home to a package of Halloween Oreos.  These are in my top five favorite treats of all time...I don't know what it is, but Halloween Oreos far exceed any other kind of Oreo ever made.
• On Saturday she took me to Costco so I could buy things I needed for work and church but couldn't get on my own.  Then she took me shopping just because one of our favorite stores was having a sale.  She took me to Women's Conference and out to dinner last night.  Just the two of us.  That day was the first time we've been able to spend more than 15 minutes together in the last ten days.  It was much needed.
• As I sit here procrastinating bedtime, Mommy walks in with a pile of freshly cleaned and ironed laundry.
• When I found out that I officially get to graduate in May (yes, you read that correctly.  MAY!) with not only my major but the minor I was hoping to get, too, she was the first person I e-mailed (e-mailed since I was in class).  I immediately got an e-mail back saying, "That is fantabulous!  Congratulations!"  The second I got out of class I called her, and she quite ecstatically yelled, "That is awesome!  I am so proud of you!"  

Thanks Mom.  I couldn't have done any of it without you.  

• After finding out I'll graduate in May, I became a little paranoid as to what I'm going to do.  Where I'm going to work, if I'm going to graduate school, etc.  My mother has patiently sat there and listened to me explain every reason for wanting or not wanting to do something.  My mind has been back and forth, and she has listened to my indecisive thoughts.  She talked to people she knows in my field about job opportunities and has listed off advice after advice.  Good thing I learned about three years ago that mothers' advice is the most worthwhile.  They, at least my mother does, know way more than we will ever know.  They get it.

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." 

-Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

If I become half the mother my mother has been to me throughout my life, I'll feel like I took care of my family and children.  I can't wait to attempt to be like my mother.