Mother's Day

Ryan and I have wonderful mothers. I wish I had some older pictures of them, but these are a few I have on my computer. In honor of my mother's 27th Mother's Day, I have written 27 things that I learned from my mom.

1. Do not chew gum in church. According to my mom, we all look like a bunch of "billy goats" when we chew gum.

2. Euphemisms count. We were never allowed to say "gosh," "darn," "shoot," and especially not "freaking".

3. A lady really shouldn't drink out of anything but a glass/cup (no cans or bottles). She never enforced this, but just wanted me to know proper "etiquette".

4. Every Sunday should look like this: church, lunch, nap, snack, church, dinner, family time.

5. If your pant size is above a certain number, you might want to stay away from pants with patterns.

6. We eat healthy food just so we can eat dessert.

7. A mom is the only person who knows what you want/need without having to ask.

8. There are certain places where linen and white shoes may be worn year round. Jackson, TN is not one of those places.

9. Lock your car doors the second you close them.

10. Always eat with one hand in your lap. Cut your food one bite at a time. And bring your food to your face, rather than having your face inches from your plate.

11. Say "yes ma'am" and "sir".

12. Say "excuse me" instead of "huh" if you need someone to repeat themselves.

13. Always say your prayers. Especially before eating a meal and before bed.

14. Sing out in church. God created your voice, so He must think it's beautiful.

15. Family is more important than anything else.

16. Always write thank-you notes.

17. Jesus loves me.

18. Mom's cook your food and fold your clothes exactly right. Everybody else does it just a little differently. Ryan and I still can't agree on fabric softener. I want my clothes to smell like snuggles, and he likes his to smell like the fabric softener his mom always used.

19. Mom's will always be on your side, even if it's all your fault.

20. If you're going to grill a steak, buy it fresh (never frozen).

21. If you're going to have cream on your dessert, make fresh whipped cream yourself. It's way better than cool whip or whatever comes in cans.

22. If you are having people over, having fresh flowers and lighting a candle instantly make you home more inviting.

23. You can leave a letter and money in the mailbox and the postman will put a stamp on your letter for you.

24. I said all 66 books of the Bible in front of the church when I was 3 because my mom practiced with me so much.

25. Never turn your nose up or comment that someone's food is "gross", "disgusting", or anything bad. In my house, we didn't have to eat things that my parents ate if we did not like them, but if we commented that their food was gross, we had to take a bite.

26. Moms are a girl's best friend. She's old enough to have all that wisdom, but she's young enough to remember what's it's like to be you. She'll stay on the phone with you for as long as you like and just talk about nothing, and pretend she's not too busy to talk about nothing.

27. Nobody loves you like your mom (except maybe your dad, but today's not his day)! They love us to Dominica and back.