I love my mom

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. Although it’s a day late, I’d like to dedicate this post to my lovely, wonderful, and fabulous mother, who is also amazing in every way.

A few reasons why my mom is amazing (in no particular order):

1. Her meanness
Mom used to tell us that she was the meanest mom in the world, whenever she wouldn’t give us candy, a new toy, or time off from chores. But looking back I appreciate that meanness, because I can see now that it really was an expression of love. She wanted us to grow up independent, strong, and knowing how to work. There actually was method to the madness (or meanness…)

2. Her independence and frugality
Mom has always been a little bit…dare I say… cheap. And not in a bad way. She saves money on less important things by shopping for bargains, making her own, or doing without, and uses that saved money to fund once-in-a-lifetime trips, experiences, and opportunities. She makes her own bread (and grinds her own wheat for the bread), is very well acquainted with our power tools, and keeps a year’s supply of food for an emergency. She has encouraged these same tendencies in her kids by making us pay for our own nonessential expenses starting at the age of twelve and by making us work hard! She has taught me to read the weekly ads, make do with creative solutions, and relish the independence I achieve by doing things on my own.

3. Her projects
My mother is a project woman. This stems largely from her independence and frugality. When she wants something she goes out and gets it done; she doesn’t hire someone else. As long as I can remember, we’ve remodeled the houses we’ve lived in. We built our most recent house. My mom decided that she wanted to build a house, and so she did. (P.S. I am not discounting my dad in this process, but his participation in the projects will have to be saved for Father’s Day) My parents found a lot, cleared it of poison oak, trees, and brush that were so thick you couldn’t walk more than a few feet onto the property, designed the house, got the plan approved, hired some of my older cousins to come help build it, laid the foundation, put up the walls, nailed on siding, built porches and roofs, and did the interior, including plumbing and electrical. The only service I remember my parents paying someone else to do was texturing the walls, because they didn’t have the equipment and didn’t feel it would be practical to buy it. Oh, and they also had to hire someone to blow up the hill where the house is, because it was so steep. They even rented a tractor to do most of that work themselves! During this time mom was raising five kids, acting as a chauffeur for all of us, moving us, living in a trailer, feeding (with some help from me) the crew of family, cousins, and grandpa, and managing finances for all of the building process. And she was a VERY active participant in actually putting the house together. Holy cow! That’s the biggest project I remember. Mom is also liable to take on any number of smaller projects at any given time. Some of the more recent include canning probably over 10 gallons of tomatoes, remodeling our study with wood gotten for free from the now-closed Gottschalks, and building beds for the two girls and herself, including drawers and shelves underneath. I’m still not quite at the level of mom (like I’ll ever be, ha!) but I’ve noticed myself become more project-oriented over the years. I’m working on achieving the staying power to stick with a project through thick and thin, like she does!

4. Her testimony
Mom always made the effort to have family prayers, mealtime prayers, family home evening, and family scriptures in the morning. I don’t remember much about being seven, but one thing that I do remember is getting up in the morning and reading scriptures with Mom and Dad. That has helped me to learn the value of scripture reading. Through my mom’s example I’ve learned to ask hard questions about the gospel, but still know that it’s true, even if I’m not entirely sure about the details. She showed me how to express my own testimony through the way I live. And she taught me that you can always go to Heavenly Father in prayer and expect answers. Her testimony has shaped mine.


All of mom’s other amazing qualities will have to be saved for another day. I just hope she knows how much I love and appreciate her for the person she is and for all she does every day. I’m happy every time I realize I’m doing something she would do, or reacting the way she would to a situation. As I’ve gone off to college, I’ve realized just how wonderful my mom really is. She’s fabulous. She is strong and stubborn, persistent and loving, and I want to be just like her. Thanks mom.


<3 Eliza

Mom and I hanging over a canyon on our hike up to Overlook Point.  She was much more adventurous than I was!

Finals to home

Hello to my immense readership! It's been a long time since I posted, so we have some catching up to do...

Finals started last Friday, the 16th. I finished up my Excel class that day and studied. Saturday I studied all day for my chem final and went to take it at about 7. We won't discuss the results (although Mom did over the pulpit when she gave a talk on Sunday!). After the test I went over to Heidi's to celebrate the end of chem class/mourn the results/have a great party since we would be going our separate ways soon! We made homemade oreos and brownies, and watched the Swan Princess and Monsters, Inc. on Netflix. I got home at about 2, at which point I decided that I was going to make bread. (I'd promised Ashley, and I wasn't tired anyways...) I went over to our neighbors to borrow a bread pan and they were still awake, as were most of my roommates. So in the next three hours I made bread and homemade hash browns for a compassionate service breakfast. At five Ashley and Shyler got up, got ready, and left for California. It was sad, but not heart-wrenching. I finally went to bed.

Sunday I went to my meetings, went to church, went to a ward musical fireside, and overall had a grand time. On Monday morning I woke up and studied for my Isaiah test, which I took at noon. Afterwards I packed up a bunch of my stuff and took it to my storage unit! It was grand. Then I made cookie dough and went to dinner with Aunt Kristen (who was in town for her son-in-laws' graduation), Vance and Annalisa, Ken and Kelsey, and Jared. We had a great time, and I provided cookie dough for dessert. Then we all played frisbee and I got home after 10, realizing belatedly how much studying I still had to do...

Tuesday I wrote a paper for Islam, which took longer than I had expected but wasn't difficult. I wrote a one-paragraph essay for my Isaiah class about which scripture from the book of Isaiah was my favorite and why. Then I bundled up the cookies I'd made from the remaining cookie dough (they'd taken a while to bake because we didn't have any remaining cookie sheets, only cake pans!) and went to a Political Inquiry Review. I went from there to my Isaiah oral final, where I presented my verse and listened to others present theirs before we all ate the random stuff everyone had brought. Then I went home, finished my Islam paper, and frantically studied for my Islam final for an hour before running to class. The final itself was awesome - there were 28 questions, and a 24 was 100%. They weren't very difficult, either ;) Thank goodness for teachers who don't like taking tests and so won't inflict awful tests on you!

Oh, I forgot to mention but somewhere in there Madi and Kirsi left too, Madi on Monday night and Kirsi on Tuesday afternoon...

Wednesday I studied like a maniac for my political inquiry final, and even went to another review session. During the test, I breezed through the first 50 questions, which were about writing style and research design, but the last 50, on statistics, were just a little bit harder...

After the final, I was done!!! I walked home and it began to rain, then snow. I spent the afternoon packing up my stuff and taking it over to the storage unit. I took stuff that I had borrowed back to the Ross and Murray households, and then finished loading my car for the trip. I had been aiming to go to bed by 9, but I had just started working on my cleaning check at 10. I finished by 11:30, got checked out, and checked my conscious mind out, too! I got up at 6, because I'd arranged with Ian to leave at 7. I'd finished breakfast and packing everything but food in my car when Heidi arrived to send me off at 6:45. Then I checked my email and found out that Ian had decided to leave at 8 instead of seven. Urgh. But Heidi stayed and kept me company. She's awesome. At eight I headed over to Ian and Hayden's apartment. They were still working on packing, so I went back to Heidi's apartment and sent her off to work at 9. I went to the creamery to spend the remaining $3 on my student card, and then at 9:45 went back to the boys' apartment. They weren't even close being done, so I called mom and decided to leave without them!

The story from this point on will be told with pictures :)

These are the things I'll miss at BYU

Kirsi and Ashley and their craziness

The library (HBLL), my second home

My Relief Society and all the people in it. Also, the rest of the ward, I guess...

Y mountain

My roommates and I taking pictures together, especially the head-bang/alien abduction pose

The beautiful blossoms that are just beginning to show - and the groundskeepers!

Amy and Kirsi. Also, the ability to just take off and go to Las Vegas whenever we want, because we're college students and we can!

Shyler, the room-roommate, and her crazy sleep schedule and fake grumpiness. How she The mountains - not the fog though

Ashley - isn't she sweet?

Crazy roommates. Again

Heidi. We have such a fun time hanging out, talking, and occasionally taking walks to the gym to try and play basketball (all of the courts are always full)

Nice roommates, going to church together

The bell tower, and the bells chiming "Come, Come Ye Saints" every hour, telling me I'm late to class

My Late Summer Honors class, and the honors program in general

Amy. She's pretty awesome.

Roommmates - getting ready to jump, and then

JUMPING!

Heidi again, and our fun times. Her roommate Sarah tags along sometimes, too

Provo canyon. That's Heidi again and her friend Emily

Inside jokes with my roommates

Amy's funky dance moves

My cute comforter and my bright fake flowers. And Heritage Halls in general. It was a good place

Brigham Young. The Honor Code. The lack of beards on attractive young men...

Shyler and Ashley watching movies in our room when I'm trying to study

My friend Michelle

Random trips to IHop at odd hours of the day and night with the roomies. Kirsi's insatiable appetite for Ihop pancakes

The Drive Home

I started out later than I had hoped to, but that was okay because the storm had passed the pass (ahaha) by the time I got to it, so I could get into California. However, it was still in full force all the way across Nevada. I was so confused. Snow in Nevada?? All the way home I listened to a collection of mix CDs my roommates had made for me. They were awesome! They kept me awake easily. I also took pictures on my way, as you cal tell. I would've taken pictures of the moving windshield wipers to show you the perpetual rain, but my camera is slow and the windshield wipers evaded me for a full twenty shots, after which I gave up. The center shot was taken when I first arrived back in California. I could tell for certain I wasn't in Nevada anymore by the presence of the trees :) And to support my hypothesis of Utah's bad drivers, here's a picture of the first driver who cut me off (completely unnecessarily, I might add, as there wasn't a whole lot of traffic around us, I'm sure you can tell) when I got to California. Yes, that is a Utah plate. The California scenery was a sight for sore eyes, and it made me happy. When I got to Manteca, I drove Dad's snazzy red car home and he drove mine, but here for the record is a picture of my awesome Volvo. Be jealous. (Oh, and we're getting the clutch on my car replaced asap, so it'll be out of commission for a few days...)

When we got home all the lights were off and the garage door was locked. We proceeded with caution through the front door, where I was promptly bombarded by nerf darts provided by my siblings' ambush. Hugs all around, a little bit of packing, and some chocolate before bed. How could it ever be better? WITH FLOWERS, OF COURSE!! (You thought that was a rhetorical question, didn't you? Hah!) Yep, they got me a beautiful bouquet. I love flowers. This just made me feel so special and loved. <3

Things I had missed about home/Things I was glad to see

First, the places.

1. The pantry. That first night I ran an inventory of the pantry and all of our fridges/freezers. We're going to be doing so much fun cooking...

2. Our beautifully remodeled study. I am so impressed with my parents.

3. The living room. And all the things that go on there, like FHE, family council, movie nights, wrestling...

4. The garden. That sign, so cutely painted, says "Houghton weeds - U-pick."

5. The back yard. Our chicken palace, which is the cutest chicken coop ever made. Our grass, the woodshed, and the horses that graze in the property above ours.

6. Sonora High. I went to the school on Friday at lunch to visit Ariel and my siblings, and to give Marta a notebook she'd forgotten. It was really fun seeing everything and everyone I've been away from for so long!

7-8. Downtown Sonora. I used to drive this road twice a day, and I never realized how homey, friendly, and cozy our little town is.

9. The view from our front porch. Love it.

10. Not pictured, but our church. It is beautiful and full of beautiful teachings, spirit, and people.

People I missed:

Luke. One minute he's squirming out of my hug and telling me not to be so touchy, the next he's putting his arm companionably over my shoulder. I missed him.

Dad. He is awesome, as I wrote on our family calendar board yesterday.

Marta cracks me up. We've decided in the last two days that she is both cooler and smarter than me. Sigh.

We have some great times together, though! Oh, and she is also a much faster swimmer than I am, as she showed in the meet I attended on Friday afternoon.

Luke is a silly goose! This photo was taken without his permission or preparation, but I just loved his expression! And he has the same style of glasses that I bought last summer! Great minds think alike.

Mom. She is amazing. When I left BYU, I had just gotten to the level of independence where every other sentence out of my mouth didn't begin with "Well, my mom says..." I guess in August I'll start over in square one.

While I was making gourmet sandwiches on Saturday (more on that later) Levi read Eragon to me. He is so cute. He loves reading, though not quite as much as I do, and he has decided that when he grows up he'd going to be the next J.R.R. Tolkien.

I didn't have any pictures of Tess from this week yet! Lame! I'll get some soon, don't you worry, but here are the three girls at the top of Observation Point a few weeks ago in Zion's national park.

This last picture does not show what I missed, obviously. It just shows how happy I am to be home!

More on Saturday through the present later. This blog post is quite long enough!

Love all,

Eliza