Only One Mom

Mom. Mother. LaRae. Marm. Moth Hair. LaRamie. Marmaduke. Mommie. Momathon. Momstaphat. Sister Blake. Mommio. Lady. Mammogram. Malm. LaMom. RaLae. LaRoo. Mama. Woman. MeeMaw. Mamalamadingdong. Momathan. Mudder. Madre.

Whatever you call her, she's pretty cool. (And yes, oddly enough, these are all real, fairly commonly used nicknames for her.)

Even when I complain about how her house is boring and I miss people my own age, she cheerfully continues to let me stay here.

Even when I keep her up past her bedtime, she listens and giggles with me.

Even when I irreverently laugh during prayers, she forgives me (and sometimes joins in).

Even when I tease her, she's good-natured about it.

Even when I hide so I can jump out and scare her, she doesn't get mad.

No matter how annoying I probably am, she still loves me.

Sometimes we practically wrestle when we try to knock each other over in a game.

Sometimes we can't leave each other's side (after all, we have to check the garden and the mail together -- heaven forbid one of us misses the chance to step outside!).

Sometimes we invent ways to entertain each other.
Sometimes we have different tasks and have to plan how the car will be used.

Sometimes we laugh until we cry.

Sometimes we just cry and get frustrated.

She always keeps me in mind and in her prayers, and she is so kind.

We cook and eat (and eat some more) together.

We make "To Do" lists together.

We read The Book of Mormon together.

We have Family Home Evening together.

We go to the library together.

We watch movies together.

We run errands together.

We attend church together.

(This is from one of those aforementioned odd entertainment things we do. On a slow day, we pulled out this old toy/game called Magic Mosaic and made pretty patterns together. Mom's turned out great!)

Thanks for being my pre-mission companion, Mom! :)

I sure love that mother of mine lots and lots! Thanks, Mom, for being so wonderful! I love that you are you, that I can be me, and that we can have a great time together. I really do cherish these few months I have of living with you.

She's gonna make it even harder to leave this country, ya know? (But boy, I'm still stoked!)

"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends - but only one mother in the whole world." ~Kate Douglas Wiggin

My Favorite

My favorite things to do lately are so exciting. Golly, you might just be blown away when I tell you about them.

Sometimes I unpack and go crazy 'cause I don't know where I want things. What needs to be kept out for the next couple of months, for the mission, used again after the mission? I sometimes really don't know.

Sometimes I read. I just finished reading Jane Eyre. Now I want to see the movie and see if it's any good like I've heard. I need to get a hold of some other books that I have on my list to read, or else they'll never get read and I'll move on to some less enticing books that are already in the house.

Sometimes I play the piano. Mom has a lot more piano books than I do, and I've been enjoying playing lots of them. I even have a few pieces selected that I want to learn better than just sight-reading. Maybe I'll even learn a piece by memory and get that accomplishment marked off my life list.

Sometimes I go look in the fridge or pantry for some food to occupy my time. Don't judge. You know you do it too.

Sometimes I clean the house. It's such a free feeling cleaning just because you want to and it needs it and not because a cleaning check is coming up.

Sounds like I have a lot of fun favorites, eh?

..............

NO. Don't lie to me. It's bad enough bein' the one who really just sits around and does these things because I don't know what stinkin' else to do.

Ah, such is life. I'll get over it.

But your playing with me or inviting me to play with you could really go a long way. Think about it. Obviously, I'm desperate. Who else blogs about how bored they are?

p.s. Today I went to Provo and had to knock on Center 2's door. Sad. 'Member when I used to live there... for like, forever? Plus also, Provo has it's charms an' all, but sometimes it's just as boring there as it is in PG. Hmm... who woulda thunk? As a good pal would say, my how the turn tables.

Black Name Tag

I found this poem in my stuff as I was cleaning out my room in preparation to move. I got it in my mission prep class that I took from Randy Bott a few semesters ago. Maybe this is the case for some guy out there thinking about me....?

Black Name Tag
Black name tag upon our chest
We are men, the Church's best.
Some may boast and some may brag
But only a few wear the black name tag.
Twenty-four months without a date --
But we are tough, we can wait.
Our girls sit home -- they'll never brag --
Their brave young men wear the black name tag.
On returning home, we resume life --
Start a search to find a wife.
But finds are few and efforts sag --
Such a life for the black name tag.
You find a fox; she has a man.
You find a chick; she has a plan.
You find the one; but what a drag --
'cause now she's wearing
THE BLACK NAME TAG!

Hahaha. If you're that guy thinkin' about me, let me know. After all, a lot can happen in two months!

Better yet, I'll send you my address; we can fall in love through letters. :)

p.s. Friday officially marks two months until I enter the MTC!

Officially on Break

Today I received the following:

Dear Heidi:

We have received your request to defer your admission to BYU to Spring 2013. We will keep your deferment form on file and will process it when we begin admitting students for your selected entry date. You will be readmitted contingent upon successfully completing the stipulations outlined on the deferment form.

Best wishes as you fulfill your full-time mission.

Warmest regards,

_____________

Woah, this is real.

Yesterday I took two finals. Today I finished work at the good ole TC. I sold back textbooks. I'm currently packing. I'm about to have to say goodbye to some of my favorite roommates ever.

Woah, this is real.

Hand Holdage

Today I think I witnessed a couple holding hands for the first time. It was slightly awkward because A) he was pushing a bike along with the other hand, B) the grip looked pretty uncomfortable and their hands were probably sweaty from being outside in the heat, and C) after I passed them, I discretely looked back probably 5 seconds later only to see him riding his bike slowly along next to her (NEVER a good thing.... please don't do it next to me) and their hands not touching each other at all.

However, something about the way they momentarily stopped their conversation and grinned at each other was pretty touching. Their nervous yet bright eyes told the tale of what could come. The awkwardness of the moment was quite endearing.

I giggled quietly to myself for the next few minutes, pleased that I had participated as a bystander in such a happy moment.

Life is good--even if I wasn't the one doing the hand holdage--and haven't been for a while. :) Moments like this make regular days turn into great days.

Summer Storytime

Friends' weddings. Road trips to AZ and WA. Nephew's baptism. Family Reunion in AZ. Mission call. Temple. First official Ben Blake family reunion. 5K season. Parade season. Independence Day BBQ. School. Otter Pop time. Boating activities. Harry Potter 7 pt 2 premiere. Dinner Group. Summer reading program. Hikes.

All great things. All part of my summer.

And it's not even over . . .

Class with the Sister

Rebecca and I have taken a few classes together throughout our time here at BYU--Physical Science, SFL 210 (Human Dev), and most recently TELL 400.

Sidenote:

Hollah that we completely finished TELL this past Wednesday night!

We sometimes get silly when we are in class together. One or the other of us sometimes falls asleep. Sometimes we compare grades and don't like the results. Sometimes we do our homework at the same time. Point of the story is, overall it's pretty fun to have an automatic goofy partner in your class.

Well once upon a time in our TELL class we were talking about the culture of poverty and the ways that people in poverty live. We need to be aware of these things as future teachers, afterall. Well, I got tired of writing "people in poverty" over and over again in my notes, but for the life of me I couldn't think of the adjective form of the word to shorten things. (Which I later recalled being "impoverished.") I leaned over and wrote on our customary message paper (a guaranteed way of getting through class silently entertained), only to get a silly response from the sis.

Rill helpful.

She further helped me along by drawing a picture to illustrate the concept:

Hilarious.

But she can't spell. Intentional though her misspelling was, I tried to create my own drawing of her explanation. She apparently thought I couldn't draw and added more misspelled criticism and another, skinnier picture:

Those poor, starving Peeps. What is this world coming to?

p.s. They don't even have arms! Maybe they had "sever confusion" in the Peep factory.