Mom is 73 Years Young!

In honor of Mom's birthday today, I am starting a list of 73 things I love about her. Since I know that many of the readers of my blog also love her, you can all add to the list until we get 73 things. Just be sure to number them in your comments.

Here are the first 10:

1. For setting the example that marriage is "for better or for worse," but mostly making it better for Dad (and him for her)
   
2. How she would cook banana pudding for special occasions even though she doesn't like it
3. For telling us to "look it up in the dictionary" rather than just telling us how to spell a word, so we would really learn how to spell it
4. For making sure we always had dinner together as a family, even if sometimes it was just biscuits and jelly
   
5. For loving ALL of my children equally and unconditionally
6. That she's so much stronger than any of us gave her credit for
7. For sharing her faith and making sure her kids grew up knowing Jesus
8. For teaching me that it's "all of a sudden," not "allah the sudden" when I was like 12
9. For having to be the disciplinarian even though she knew we would resent her for it
10. For all the memories of growing up as a Jinks
    

Thank you, Mom! I love you, and hope you have a wonderful birthday, and a fantastic year. I can't wait to see you in August!

I'm Gonna Miss This, Too

I just read Ashley's latest post about appreciating what we have and where we are in life right now, and started thinking about how quickly time is going by. Gene and I were talking last night about how it seems to speed up as we get older. It's unbelievable that it's the tenth of December already! Didn't we just celebrate Independence Day?

Anyway, Ashley's post reminded me of a country song, by Trace Adkins, called "You're Gonna Miss This." This song really hits home with me. It makes me think back to all the times I wanted life to "hurry up." And now, as I race towards the big five-o next year, I cherish all those precious memories.




When the girls are driving me crazy with their messy rooms, and their typical tween/teenager drama, and the kitchen is a big mess, and the laundry is piling up, I try very hard to be thankful, but it's challenging sometimes. But I know that, one day, I'm going to look back, and I'm going to cherish the memories of these days, too.