Her Hair is Full of Secrets

My mom is pretty cool. My friends have always been jealous of how cool of a mom I have.

A. My mom has always had great style and ALWAYS looks put together. Have you met my mom? Ever seen her with a greasy pony tail? Nope. Neither have I in 23 years. Those people exist in the universe. And Patti J is one of them.

B. A salon in my house stocked with every hair tool, product and makeup item the heart could desire - yeah, it's been pretty rad.

C. She's always super nice to everyone, all the time. She's a great listener (I think you probably have to be, to be a hairdresser) and everyone likes and trusts her. For this reason people tell her everything. She's the hub of all info and gossip you could ever hope to know.

Yesterday we went to the Draper temple - where I went through for the first time before we got married. I had Mother's Day on the mind and kept thinking of some of the greatest things about Patti B.

First, I obviously thought of when I went through the temple, since, you know, we were there. I remember every time I got nervous or confused, I just looked over at my mom next to me and she was just smiling and comfortable. I've watched my parents go to the temple every few Tuesdays pretty much my entire life. I remember thinking "If my mom does this and is happy and comfortable here so regularly, I can be too and that's what I want."

Then I thought about the first time I was really grateful for my mom and knew she loved me. I got my wisdom teeth out when I was 12 and I had to go to an oral surgeon because I had a random phantom extra tooth to be removed from my sinus cavity as well. It was pretty rough. I had to take a bunch of pain/antibiotic/puke my guts out pills every few hours, including during the night. I've always been really independent and could have easily set my own alarms and woken up to take my own pills responsibly. And I think my mom knew that. But she woke up every few hours during the night, even though she had to work, to make sure I took the pills and was feeling ok. I remember thinking "She doesn't have to do this. It must be a pain to wake up every few hours knowing she doesn't have to do this. But she's doing it, and its very reassuring to me."

She never missed a game!

Then I thought about the first time my mom made my jaw drop. We were at Seven Peaks and I was probably 10 or 12. She came to do the rope swing with us because Mitch was so little. She got in line. Ok Patti B. You're gonna rope swing? Wow. Alright.

She grabs the rope and takes a pretty aggressive jump. That's weird. She's planting her feet on the bottom knot. Ok that's a really high arc... what is sh---

SHE JUST DID A FREAKING BACKDIVE OFF THE ROPE SWING THAT'S MY MOM OMG OMG IS THAT MY MOM THAT CAN'T BE MY MOM OMG PEOPLE ARE CHEERING OMG THAT WAS UNREAL

My mom has literally never embarrassed me in my life. How many people can say that? Probably none. Sorry everyone.

I also acquired most of my fiesty-ness from my mom. She once called a lady in our ward and gave her the scariest talking to I've ever heard because she was rude to me after my 5th grade graduation and made me cry. It was awesome.

The thing I've grown to appreciate most about my mom as I've gotten older is that she takes care of herself and retained her own person. She runs every day. She even does Insanity now! As mentioned above, she always looks flawless, never sloppy. No one has ever or will ever accuse her of "letting herself go." She always made it a priority to go on dates with my dad alone every week - a tradition I want to adopt in my marriage when we have kids. She is always making friends and takes time to maintain her friendships. She loves to do hair, so she found a way to do it and still be a "stay at home mom." She reads often, keeps our house immaculate and makes the best bread you will ever eat. You'll never catch her sleeping past 10 on a weekend - because she has too much to do to make her life sparkle.

Your life sparkles just by touching hers. 

And it wouldn't be Mother's Day without mentioning my awesome Mother-in-Law. How I got so lucky to land a MIL that is so kind and welcoming, as well as just so COOL, I'll never know. Kitty made it a point to make me feel welcome in the family from the first moment I met her and I'll never forget that. She texts me about The Office, makes me my favorite delicious cupcakes and nurtures me like I'm one of her own. With so many of my friends around me stressing and complaining about crazy MILs, I have to quietly smile to myself. I don't want to rub it in their faces that not only is my MIL normal, but she's someone I WANT to spend time with whenever I can.

Love you Moms!

National Grandparents Day

Growing up I was so lucky to have both sets of grandparents within biking distance of my house. My friends who had to drive to other states over Thanksgiving Break were so jealous. We could see both families on any given holiday. I've been really close with my grandparents and it's been such a blessing.

Now my grandma Vy is all I have left, and she's the greatest. She works at the temple, gets down to play with her puppy Oscar and does Tai Chi. Allegedly she's the one I'm most like, and we get along really well. She's still got the classiest style for miles and I can only hope I look that good at her age.

My grandpa Harold passed away in the fall of 2008. It was kind of a hard, because I'd never lost a family member before, but also because one of my best friends, Britt Dalley had died right before we graduated that spring. He'd had dementia and Alzheimer's for years, and it wasn't too much of a surprise. I wasn't super close with my grandpa Harold, because I was pretty young and he spent a lot of his time with my older cousins, as he was a professor of psychology at BYU. The hardest thing was seeing my grandma and dad deal with it. I did feel some loss that I wouldn't be able to visit his office on campus or take one of his classes like my cousins.

Only a few months later, out of the blue, my grandpa Stan passed away. I was much closer with him. He lived right around the corner and we lived with him (in the house the Beard and I just vacated) when I was young. My grandpa Stan taught me how to change a tire, and was always encouraged my ambition to go to BYU and maybe even law school. He was a "good ole boy," quiet and hardworking. His death was much harder for me, especially because he was so healthy (we thought) and we spent so much time with them.

My grandma Nancy has always been the closest. We were the best of friends. We spent so much time together even as I got older. She was the first person I called to talk to when I landed back in the US from London. She was such an amazing example of compassion and cheerfulness. She was incredibly racist and old fashioned. She was just the best. For the 2 years she lived after my grandpa Stan passed away, she missed him terribly. She had been very unhealthy and in pain for years and years, and all she wanted was to "move on." So we saw it coming. Her death was probably the least shocking and most peaceful. I was so happy for her.

However, as time has passed since her death I find myself missing her more and more. She never met the Beard but would have LOVED him. She wasn't here to visit when I got my engagement ring. She wasn't at my wedding. I couldn't call her when funny things happened at school my first year of teaching. She won't be there to meet my first child. I wish she could be.

This picture was taken for my cousins Jessica, Justin, and Jake on missions, but I kept thinking it applied to my grandparents too. 

The day before I got married, my mom and aunt Lisa surprised me with a beautiful, delicate opal necklace. They were stones from my grandma, one for each of her granddaughters and my mom and Lisa had them made into these beautiful necklaces for our wedding days. I felt like she was with me and it was so comforting. As we lived in the "Old House" and used her Christmas decorations I felt so close to her and knew she wanted it that way.

You can kind of see the necklace here.

I wore the necklace today and felt really comforted at church when quotes on faith and love warmed my heart. I have been so lucky to have amazing grandparents, and now I have four more because the Beard's grandparents are still with us and remind me so much of both sets of mine.

Grandma & Grandpa Holdaway

I miss my grandparents, especially Grandma Nancy but thank goodness for the Plan of Salvation. I hope they are watching over me, but it also freaks me out. They'd be embarrassed by things that I do (the amount of popcorn I eat, probably) and say (Grandma Nancy probably wouldn't mind the swearing actually). So hopefully they only see the good stuff. :) I'm so glad I know they're happy and I'll see them again or life would be absolutely miserable. Families are forever. How great is that?!