Strong Woman Spotlight #5

Welcome to spotlight #5! Every month I will highlight one woman I know to be a "strong woman". I believe we are here to learn from one another and be strengthened, so what better way to both learn from and celebrate a beautiful friend than a special blog post dedicated to her? I'll ask questions that I personally want to know, as well as questions I think others might be inspired by.

I'm so excited to start this up again!

Kristie is absolutely hands down one of my most favorite people in the world. She inspires me to be a better friend and mother. She has seen me when I am down, and too-silly up, and loves me anyway. She gives the best hugs. Is that teenage-ish to say? So be it. It seems that every time I call her she has a friend that is there visiting. Women flock to her because she is the best kind of woman who makes you feel like you are the most important person to her. I am so grateful for her friendship and truly aspire to attain so many of her wonderful attributes. Introducing... Kristie. And for some old maternity photos of her that I took.. check it.

1.What makes you laugh? The things my kids say, the stories they tell, the songs they make up, the way they dance, the pictures they draw, home videos, Molly trying to think of something she is patient about and basically anything Ryan says under his breath to Levi, when we're alone, and especially his morning monologues. Also, I have late-night-laughing disease. A condition marked by bouts of laughter, lasting up to an hour, about absolutely nothing. Ryan experienced several of my episodes before he proposed, so I feel like he made an informed decision. :)

2.Before you became a mother, what kind of mother did you hope to be? Have you fulfilled that hope? I think my own mother is a saint. Her only fault is that she is too careful not to hurt any one's feelings. She gives freely of her talents, energy, and time to anyone who needs it. She never lets a teaching opportunity pass her by. She is thoughtful, she's smart, she's perfectly honest, dependable, she works on her genealogy and she always chooses the right. She might be right in the middle of a million things when you call, but still makes you feel like talking to you is the most important thing she has going on. I don't pretend to have attained any of her virtues, but I care about those things, a lot. That's who I want to be. So far, I think I'm good at taking advantage of every teaching opportunity with my kids, and my girls talk to me about everything (that's bound to change when they get older, but I pray that it won't.)

3. What is the most attractive thing about your husband? Muscles! Just kidding, I do love his muscles though. I would say the most attractive and unique thing about my husband is that he can fix, build or improve anything! Construction, cars, landscaping, computers, plumbing, electrical... and when he does a thing, he never takes shortcuts. We're so spoiled, it's common to overhear the girls say "It's broken, but dad will fix it." Anything breaks, we don't replace it. We just put it at the bottom of Ryan's long to do list. He always says, "anyone can do this stuff. Just research it." but, I think he has the confidence to try. He knows that everything was put together, so it can be taken apart, and put together again, because he's been dismantling stuff since he was little. I took apart my cd player in college and that didn't exactly end up repaired. :)

4. You have literally re-done or are in process of re-constructing every room in your house. What project (or room) are you most proud of and what advice do you have for someone undergoing the same thing? Our kitchen is just my favorite thing! You know you love a room when nothing about it ever irks you. I designed it and we built it over the course of two years. My advice would be, buy everything you can on craigslist! :) Also, be patient and expect projects to take twice as long and cost twice as much as you originally anticipate. And, don't go into debt for unnecessary remodels/upgrades. I love my kitchen, but if I owed anything on it, I would love it much less.

5. Favorite color? Why? I love lime green. I like how it looks on me, and I always swore I would paint my living room lime green with white trim. :) Not happening, yet.

6. You have been blessed with sisters to grow up with. What do they mean to you? Oh, I'm crying just reading that question! They are my very best friends and I wish I had appreciated them this much when I had the incredible opportunity to live in the same house with them! I look up to them and they look up to me. We rely on each other's advice. My sister Kamie refers to me as her second conscience. :) It's really nice to have several (I have four sisters) highly regarded advisers when you are learning how to be married, experiencing firsts in motherhood, determining your family's standards, teaching a lesson at church, having a hard day, having a great day, or just planning dinner... there isn't a situation where it's not wonderful to have a sister. Too bad the one that lives nearest to me is 880 miles away...

7. What do you struggle with right now? What are your plans to overcome that struggle? I overbook my life, because everything seems important, and then I don't keep up. I love my little house, but it gets easily overwhelmed with toys, papers, laundry. Every night I take the baskets of laundry off of my bed and move them out to the couch so that we can sleep. In the morning, I move the baskets back to my bed, where I forget about them until I go to sleep. I feel like I'm in charge of everything, but that's not true, nor is it the problem. I don't put my responsibilities first! I love that I have been blessed to care for my home and children full time. It's a shame that I ever let my #1 priority take a backseat. And I do, way too often. I'm praying to focus on the essentials, and keep from being sidetracked.

8. Favorite memory with a loved one? One of my favorites is the first summer we were married. Ryan was selling satellite TV. He would drive hours sometimes just to get to his area. Since I was only working temp jobs, we would go together and camp along the way. He'd say "keep a sharp eye" for satellites that needed updating. Keep a sharp eye? Who says that? We'd pack a cooler full of food, and Ryan would put a can of chili on the engine, so it would be warm for dinner.

9. What inspires you? Is it cheesy to say that the Holy Ghost inspires me? Because that's the truth. I feel like whenever I'm creative, or moved to do something, or a song touches me, or a new way of doing something comes to mind, that it all comes from God. I'm so glad I have access to Him in that way.

10. Ten years from now, what will you have hoped to accomplish with your family? I hope my kids will know who they are. I hope they won't let anyone else tell them how or who to be. If they have that basic knowledge I think I will have accomplished a lot. I attended an event for the young women at church the other night and I saw a 16 year old girl there who looked a lot like Eva. She was beautiful! I cried a little thinking that my daughter would ever grow up that much, while in the same moment, I hoped Eva would be as lovely and committed to the gospel as that girl appeared to be. I also hope that we will be a family who plays together. Right now it seems like we're a family that mainly works together. If there's a spare hour, we're working on something. But after all the home/yard overhaul is done, I hope we will spend our time and money playing. In ten years, I want to see my kids leaning on each other's shoulders at church, and overhear them laughing at the kitchen table. I hope that my kids' love for each other will increase by playing and working together through the years.

Thank you Kristie!