on to texas.

it has been a few weeks since i last posted. life has as gotten really busy. well...maybe busy isn't the right word choice, lets just say things are changing. in the last few weeks i had fall semester finals, they went better and worse than expected. i cleaned my apartment and packed up my things. i went home for christmas. i got a new haircut! and i now have bangs or fringe as my auzzies would say. tomorrow i'm going to place all my possessions into lord darlington (my beautiful ford focus) and get ready to make my next big move.
my brother and i are driving from central utah to texas because i'm moving to there for the next five months. why? you might ask. i'm going to be a nanny. that's right i'm gonna nanny in texas. the family is great, parents and two kids: girl age 5, boy age 2. i'm really excited for this latest chapter in my life and i've decided that for these upcoming months i will be keeping a separate blog filled with my texas adventures. you can read up on my experience as a nanny on my other blog http://nannyintexas.blogspot.com/ which will be up and running in two weeks.
i wish everyone the best of luck in the new year. :]

23. moving to texas and doing something completely different with my life.

family.

family. such a common term, but far from simple. it seems obvious that we would all know what family is...but my sociology class today got me thinking about what family really is. 

my church defines family in a  proclamation that is a little over 600 words consisting of 9 paragraphs which i think is a bit much to quote in a blog. ( for those of you  interested in reading about the church of jesus christ of latter day saints' beliefs on family please read the family: a proclamation to the world  https://lds.org/study/family-proclamation ) the key points it covers are: a definition of marriage, our relationship to god, the importance of gender, sacredness of procreative powers, the responsibility of fathers, mothers, husbands, and wives, and we learn that "happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the lord jesus christ." all in all it states important aspects of a family and our belief of eternal families, yet it does not state plainly what a family is. 

so i was forced to search further and look up the term family in my handy dandy macbook dictionary. i thought it might make things more clear legally or i don't know easier to understand. but no! it says that family is 
"1. a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household" or 
"2. people related by blood or marriage" or 
"3. a person or people related to one and so to be treated with a special loyalty" or 
"4. people united in criminal activity." if that doesn't clear things up for you, well it didn't clear things up for me either.

basically based on this dictionary to be a part of a family one might be treated with loyalty by a person or people, and they might be living in the same house, and they may or may not be related, and perhaps be involved in the same criminal activity.  i imagine if you are at all a sarcastic person you are thinking the same thing i am: oh! ya... umm... hmm... that's my family summed up in one ambiguous statement, for-sure!

if you would like a more clear definition of family olive garden has the only straightforward definition i've heard, you may be familiar with it: "when you're here, you are family." sooo- if you want family or to know who is your family just go to olive garden. but, then that makes my date last saturday and all those strange italian food loving restaurant patrons  my family and i don't know how i feel about that. 

so... when restaurant chains, the dictionary, and my religion can't seem to clearly define what a family is, i'm left to come to my own conclusions...maybe they are similar to your ideals of family, maybe not. (i'd love to read your thoughts about family and your definitions of it please feel free to leave comments)

what is my family?

my family is obviously the relatives i've lived with and who know me the best my mommy and daddy, brother and sister they have seen me in my greatest and worse moments and yet somehow still love me. and yet my family is so much more. 


it has extended family members that are easy to identify because they are blood related. they're the one's we have titles for. aunts, uncles, cousins, gparents, basically all ancestors and their brother's mother.


also, there are the family members know lovingly as: the in-laws. people related by marriage, or have been related by marriage, or will be related by marriage a.k.a. my aunts' and uncles' spouses, the children of my relatives' spouses: step cousins, my cousins' dad whom i call  uncle, cousin's fiance, those that come to holiday dinners and are invited to special occasions. 


the people who taught me and cared for me since i was a small child: my church family. 15th ward (now west valley ward) is where it is at. 


my other church family at byu: 2nd ward (now the 181st), fhe 10, sunday fhe


those that i grew up with and who practically lived at my house: friends. da quatro. ms. pacheco. ms. deakins. ms. daily.  


a boy i met by the ocean and have buried chicken with many a times.

the girl that became so much more than just a roommate: my rfl and her husband. 

those that i share meals with on an almost weekly basis. 

teachers who became in a way my school parents.

my non-related family: barlows, batmen, myers, and trebor.  

my royal purple family sisters of the sash and purple mama. 

this is my family. 

it's not simple. i can't map it out in a tree-like pattern how we're connected, and i doubt they would all like to be at the same reunion, but that doesn't matter because they are my family none the less. 

they are the people who love me without apparent reason. those that i have shared a special bond with. people that no matter how often we see each other or talk to one another, we still care. they are the ones who are always there for me and who i hope know: 

i will always be there for them.

22. my family:  bonds that are deeper and messier than blood or words can define.

dec. 1st

      this post is mostly for ms. fisher, my best friend that i have yet to officially meet. 

i have no idea what to type. when i sat down to write this i felt like there was so much i could blog about.  ms. fisher and i talked for nearly an hour, but now that it is nearly midnight the emo noodle joke seems like one of those you-had-to-be-a-part-of-the-conversation-to-understand type stories and so i don't know why i thought i should blog about it. and we both know that i am not about to discuss last month's challenge for the whole wide world to see. so...with all that being said. i'm sorry for those of you who are not ms. fisher and who are for some insane reason still reading this post. i would like to take this moment to wish ya all a very delightful december (for some of us it is more joyous that today is dec. 1st than it is for others) and a very merry christmas. 

hours and hours later.

i'm typing this blog post under the most strange and marvelous conditions. first of all it is 1:48am. secondly, i'm sitting in 15C my assigned seat on a detla flight, enjoying a fizzy cup of ginger ale and gourmet center biscoff cookies (which are wonderfully delicious i highly recommended them). thats right! i'm using the internet in the sky. i'm pretty sure if this were a different day and age, i might been shun for writing such blaspheme and at the very least scoffed at for talking about writing something people can see instantly while flying.

it's interesting when i notice just how ungrateful i am. seriously, how many modern conveniences are taken for granted or no longer even sees as a convenience. i know that i catch myself complaining about slow internet on an almost daily basis, but i rarely am overjoyed when i can share videos and pictures with my family instantly. i'm quick to forget just how blessed my life is. 

the situation in-which i am even making this post is an excellent opportunity for me to reflect on the wonders of life. i'm flying home for thanksgiving. i get to spend a week with my family and all i had to do was show up at the airport. sure, it wasn't the easiest flight experience i've ever had, but really?!? all i had to do was get a ride to the airport, take off my shoes walk through a metal detector, wait in some lines and try to be patient as the members of my flight and i waited 7hours to be able to board. it was really hard not to complain about boredom, orange juice prices, inopportune snow fall...but i was warm, nor was i hungry or thirsty, and i was still able to get on a flight and by the time i land in my beautiful home town it will have taken me only 9hours. 

if i had to walk home it would take a modern girl like me a year. driving the trip takes 12 hours on a minimum, so i'm still getting there sooner and safer than that option. 

plenty of my friends aren't going home for thanksgiving this year because of the blizzardous weather or cost or lack of mode of transportation. i get to. 

many people are starving and parched. i am neither. 

well...we are started into the descend. so i'm afraid that is all i have time to write.

21. blogging in the sky. 

my mommy.

this an extra special post in honor of the day my grandmother gave birth to my mother...aka...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!

reasons why,

I LOVE MY MOM 

she has loved me all twenty plus years of my life.

my mama dealt with me as a baby, and lets just say both she and i aren't really baby people. although rumor has it i was pretty chill.

she cared for me even when i ignored her because she left me for Hawaii. Mom you can’t just up and leave and expect things to be the same duh?

she enjoys re-telling the diarrhea/pillow chocolate story, and other equally awkward baby stories. 

the fact that she didn’t name me or consider naming me sally.

my mom was brave enough to let me try things myself even when she could have done it a bajillion times better, like painting my room.

her gift for adding color  to a room changing  a hideous green living room a lovely shade of Pink and the rest of the Farm house wonderful colors. The MacArthur white with hints of apricot. Our house Raspberry when Dad was away, Burgundy when he decided color was ok, and for all the future awesome changes for the walls of this place. The bright blues and teals. 

she lets me help her paint. :D Thanksgiving is going to be so much fun!

taught me how to put on make-up.

informed me when I put it on way way too much. 

her curly hairstyle that she found in her twenties and never gave up on. 

she isn't in love with country music. How else would I have found Queen?

but she has an appreciation for all types of music. Camp-cheer, tone-deaf, lyric-off, and all other genres. 

my mom was a patient parent leader for DI and that whole fishy thing.

 no one else would have made costumes for the many many events and such i was apart of. 

doing laundry, she is awesome at it! i know thats what every mother dreams of hearing their children say. hehehe

doing all my lilac laundry (cause we both know that was a whole other job).

taught me how to do laundry, long before i left home.

reminding me how to make grandma’s lipton rice, even when i called way past her bedtime.

my relief for relief society.

spilling icy cold water on dad and letting me -in her baby bump- have some cred for that awesome prank ;) we both know it was carefully planned.

the softness and hairlessness of her skin.

bbq's like her dad. 


bbq-ing in the rain cause we be from washington!

our christmas tradition. she gives me a book every year and
 those books are the presents i am most excited to get, even if i don’t show it.

she comes from dog-town.

she waxes my legs and lets me paint her toenails.

we tried that crazy candle business.

she always encourages me to try. 

the craft room chamber.

her patience.
  

costco trips....and chicken bakes.

she can simultaneously task, like watching knights tale and sewing.

our shared love of heath, (both the actor and candy bar). 

my mama can gut and will gut a fish. 

if you can’t say something nice...don’t say it. 

she took me to piano lessons and listened to lessons and umm music for endless hours. 

she is often my inspiration. 

my mom knows how to relax and have a good time.

all our vacation memories.  

her billion hobbies and interests.

she’d give up chocolate, but she is no quitter.

if i ever need help, she is my go-to person, and she always at least tries to help.

mom you’re funny. Where do you think I get it from?

 i just liked this photo sooo much!

when I am away at school, she sometimes sleeps in my bed. when dad is out of town she lets me sleep in her bed with her and sleeping there feels like the safest place on earth.

FLINCH

she loves animals. 

i love her morning phrase: “wakin’ upin’ sugar lumpin’.”

that one  time she pinned michael and all the other 8th grade trip stuff.

check out our garden, she is an awesome gardener when she wants to be.

DOVE you.

she is silly. 

she is so flippin’ punny! :D

my mom is compassionate: especially with tammy.



this woman is a killer rummy player.

the endless hope she has for the world and her children’s lives in it.

my mama can listen to me for hours and understand my super fast talk (very impressive).

she can make sweet crafty stuff. the aprons, my rug, my favorite mount saint helen's mug. 

i love her selflessness. 

the fact she likes icky stuff and makes me try it, but then doesn’t make me like it. (the last part is key)

she came and ate “hot lunch” and then never made me eat it again.

she was always involved with my education and didn't let me skip grades and  insisted i start school when i did.

class mom and made awesome treats! like nessie the cake.

she styled my hair and we both know it is ridiculously thick. can anyone say afro?

mama loves my drama. ( http://jnets-reasons.blogspot.com/2010/11/drama-for-yo-mama.html )

she taught me to read and love it! the big hill

her love of reading, especial historical stuff.

she read to us all of narnia. we sat on the pink couch and she made the adventures seems so real. 

i love her for listening to harry potter on cassette (ya we’re that old school) with me, while she fixed up the farm house and i stayed at home sick. 

she took me to the doctor countless times. 

umm...watching the countless “doctor visit jeannette-ism/spaz attacks". remember the karen info-merical?

she talked me through throat bleeding, school stress, and my first strep experience and not acting scared when she was probably more scared than me.  

everything that she lets me “borrow”.

her smile :)

her laugh.

i love her because of all the support she gives her chillins, especially emotional. 

and for all the support she gives me.

i love her eyes, brown just like mine.

our shared love of Mika and Big Girls.

my mom answers late night calls.

she was always there to pick me up from school or to let me stay home.

she teaches us about bible scriptures.


she even made me a queen ester halloween costume because that's who my childhood heroine was. 


my mom encouraged me to be creative especially with halloween costumes and helped me become an awesome rhinestone wearing sideburn rocking:  elvis, a linen wrapped mummy, an elegant peacock with a full tail, a jewelry saleswoman, a happy clown, miss scarlet from clue, a m&m and i few others. 

her HUGS!

she waked up every morning to see us, especially painful seminary mornings.

sandwiches: she makes the best. 

in her twenties she joined the church of jesus christ of latter days and raised her family in it.

'cause she reminds me to pray.

i love spending time with her. 

she gave me her middle name which happens to rock!


she gave me fun nicknames like loulou. seriously, mom, who else calls me nettielou? well...actually a few people do

her olive skin that doesn’t burn too easily and tans very nicely. 

she married a crazy mormon-salesman, 
with little idea why or 
what the future would hold.

being the mom everyone else who’s not your kid loves. mr. bergan, mr. gordon, miss cox, miss pacheco, etc. 

this woman suffered through childbirth and all the pain before that day even arrives two more times. i couldn't imagine life without darb and babycakes.

she is accepting of both my successes and kind-of-not-really-anywhere-near-successes.

mom- you've let me be one of your best friends and you've always been mine.

being an example of how to have christlike love. 

she loves me, which makes all the difference in the world for eternity.

mom- 

i know you've seen a version of this list before and i probably could have put a billion other reasons why, but i just wanted you and everyone who reads my blog to know----I LOVE YOU.

jeannette