Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Top Ten Things I'm glad I got from my mom:

1. a love of work My mom can grade 20 papers, write a Sunday School lesson, and host a dinner for her kids in on any given day.

2. a deep spirituality We may not have had FHE every Monday or scripture study every night, but she instilled a great love of God and sense of morality by her example.

3. the desire to write I wish I had more of her ability to write.

4. appreciating delicious food (my mom and I like to cook, but only as a means to an end) My mom's and my ideal vacation involves a lot of sleeping and eating and a few Broadway shows.
5. her legs Really, have you seen them? They're hot!

6. perserverance When the going gets rough, I go get my mom. She has the ability to be with people in their deepest, darkest times. She'd make a good chaplain :)

7. an awareness of others' needs and the energy to help them (I wish I had more of that, too) After Mom is done grading papers, teaching Gospel Doctrine and cleaning up from dinner, she'll call a friend or family member to make sure they're doing ok.

8. important housekeeping lessons Mom worries that she didn't teach us anything about keeping a house, but I think the lessons are so ingrained (bleach the kitchen sink, use Ajax for the bathtub, pretreat stains), we just do them.

9. a love of teaching My mom is a great teacher; when I get to be in her Sunday School class, I wish I could teach as well as she does.

10. her advice, e.g. "Why don't you date that Nate Curtis? He seems like a nice guy." The advice I've tried to implement all the time since becoming a mom, "Well, let's not worry about that until it happens."