Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my Mom's birthday and time to play ten things I love about my Mom!

1. She is my best friend
2. She will tell you what she thinks you should do when you are making a decision (whether you ask her opinion or not). However, if you decide to not take her advice she supports your decision 100%. She'll even convince you of why it's a good idea. And if it ends up not working out she'll never say "I told you so" but rather will convince you of how there was no way you could have known it would not work out and you made the best decision at the time. :)
3. If anyone asks her to do something it will be done within a day or two (even if you ask her 6 months before it needs to be done).
4. If you see something you like or mention something you want, she'll write it down and try to get it for you for Christmas. Even in April, you have to be careful what you mention you like unless you like it enough to unwrap it in December!
5. She always helped me fix problems, even when I created them for myself. However, she has never taken away the consequences of my actions, just stood by me and faced them with me. She still does this, even though I'm an adult.
6. I had really bad abdominal pain from the time I was a little kid until a couple years ago (not anymore thanks to Dr. Carlson and Dr. Harker!) and after it hurt really bad for a long time I would reach my breaking point. Whenever I would tell my mom I couldn't take it anymore and I'd tried everything to make it stop but nothing was working, she would suggest we say a prayer and would pray that the pain would ease and I would be able to sleep. The pain never went away immediately, but somehow I felt like I could handle it again and was able to relax enough to get some sleep. This taught me that whenever you feel you just can't do it anymore you should ask God for help. It taught me that sometimes things won't change, but our ability to deal with them will. This has stuck with me more than anything else and to this day, I react this way in times of struggle. Thanks Mom!
7. She loves the movie "The Night They Saved Christmas" and watches it repeatedly (along with many other Christmas movies) starting mid-October so she can "get in the Christmas shopping mood".
8. She married my dad.
9. She taught me the importance of family, living and dead, by example.
10. She puts people before money and things.

I could make this list a hundred times longer...but we'll leave it with ten...better save the rest for years to come...
Love you Mom! Happy Birthday!!!