Milk and Adoption

Well, friends, it's high time I write on this here blog. I've been thinking about it for a while . . . I wanted to go back a couple months and post all the pictures I haven't posted yet, and the thought of how long that would take is part of the reason I haven't even looked at Blogger.

So I'm just going to start fresh (and I might post old pictures once in a while). Here's to you, Lyndel!

I'm going to begin with two thoughts I've had recently -- one involves milk and the other involves my stance on adoption:

Milk -- Despite my lifelong love for 2% milk, I've decided to work my way down to skim. It's healthier, plain and simple. I'm on 1% milk right now, and I didn't think it was going to be that bad. Come to think of it, though, I felt like the cereal that I had for dinner tonight didn't taste quite right. I now think it was the milk, not the cereal. Oh well. I'll let you guys know how my milk tastes are progressing . . .

Adoption -- I've always had a fear that I won't be able to have lots of kids; maybe it's because I want them so much. I don't just want a few; I want a lot! So I decided that if, for some reason, I could only have one or two biological children, I would adopt more! Lots of people might just pour all they've got into those two children, but I think I'd rather give lots of children something, than a few children a lot. I know adoption is expensive, but if my husband and I have the money, I'm going to do my best to persuade him to adopt.


And that's all for now -- it's probably not the most exhilarating post, but it's a start.


Thing I'm thankful for: mangoes.

What I Want In a Husband

When I was about 13- or 14-years-old, I made a list of the things I wanted in my future husband. I found the list tonight, while I was desperately searching for something else. Although I never found what I was looking for, I feel a little better knowing that I came across that list of what my 13-year-old self wanted in a husband. Here it is:

1. Have my standards/church member
2. Intelligent
3. Kind
4. Funny
5. Listens to/respects the music I listen to
6. Good listener
7. Attractive
8. Sensitive/understanding
9. Would be a good dad
10. Shares my interests of things
11. Respects my family/friends
12. Can cook!
13. Wants to be with me

I suppose that was a good list back then, but what I find extremely striking -- besides the exclamation point in #12 -- is how general it was. I mean, who doesn't want someone who is understanding, kind, funny, and attractive? But it's an immature wish list. I didn't know that it's the little details that make a person incredible -- that makes him complement me in a way that probably only a handful of people could. Sure, I want all of those general things now, but here are the specific things that make up my 28-year-old husband-to-be list. I want him to

1. Be curious. I want someone who loves to learn, who asks questions, who wonders. "Why" is the most used question word in my vocabulary, and I want it to be his, too.
2. Be a conversationalist. Conversations with the person I marry should be consistently good and progressively better. Sure, sometimes we'd goof off, but if there's not much to talk about after a while, then I think it's a sure sign that something is wrong. "Good" conversation is talking about everything under the sun. It's inevitable that my husband and I will age, so I'd like to at least have something to talk about when we're old and gray and sitting in wheelchairs. Also, he should be able to talk with anyone -- strangers, even.
3. Be friendly. I want a man who says hi to strangers, who meets new people at church or work. He should be able to carry on a decent conversation with them for at least a few minutes.
4. Read. He doesn't have to read the same books as me, but he should at least read a lengthy article or two per week and a few books per year.
5. Have a little bit of bite! Of course I want someone who is righteous and obedient to Heavenly Father, but I don't think those two characteristics exclude a little bit of sass! A little bit of opinion! A little bit of appropriate irreverence! I want to get into harmless (and maybe flirtatious) debates sometimes!
6. Constantly try to improve. On something. I don't know if it's inherent or societal for men to be averse to self-reflection and personal improvement, but I do think they generally are those two things. Guys are almost always confident, and that's fine. That's great! But I'd like my guy to recognize that he has faults that he actually needs to work on. None of this "Well, nobody's perfect. There's always room for improvement." That's a good start perhaps, but what is he actively working on to improve his character, talents, or understanding?
   
7. Eat sugar.
   Because I like to bake desserts and other foods rich in carbohydrates.
   
8. Be musical. He should sing or play some musical instrument. I know that's hypocritical, since I don't play an instrument anymore, but I am slowly learning to play the piano. And I sing in choirs sometimes. I enjoy listening to people play music they've written, and I want my children to be musical, too.
9. Appreciate art. He should have a favorite style of art or at least know the name of a few paintings and artists he likes. He should appreciate the difference art makes in a home.
10. Play sports.
    I'm totally uncoordinated, and my parents didn't teach me how to play team sports when I was young. As a result, I know that it's crucial for kids to be involved in sports. I certainly can't teach them, so my husband needs to.
11. Be clean! I think my indicator for "clean enough" is in the way he cleans dirty dishes. Does he quickly wipe a plate, for example, and leave tiny bits of food on it? Or does he make sure he gets it nice and soapy and spotless and know that the dishwasher is only a sterilizer? Does he clean the outside of a bowl as well as the inside? All I want is to know my family is eating off clean dishes.
12. Respect Mother Nature. No littering! Period.
13. Consider adoption. Even if I can have kids of my own, I might want to adopt. I feel very strongly about it. (See Milk and Adoption.)
14. Believe in unstructured play time for children. What? See 21st-Century Education and Parental Expectations. (Okay, okay. Maybe he hasn't thought about that yet, but he should at least put some thought into parenting and have some ideas of how he wants it to play out.)
15. Be a goof-off. At least sometimes. I take myself waaay to seriously (See #11.), and I need someone to remind me to be silly.
16. Realize winter clothes are more expensive than summer clothes. Because I like sweaters!
17. Be okay with my impersonations. I like to quote movies. I like to speak in accents. My future husband needs to be okay with the fact that I will break into character with no warning.
18. Have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This should be near the top, but it's not an exactly prioritized list. You may ask, "How do you measure something like a testimony?" Here's how (for me, at least):
    
    • He attends the temple.
    • He participates in service projects.
    • He bears his testimony, in church or to friends.

Okay. I think that's it.
I don't think my expectations are too high, do you?
And now that I'm re-reading it, it still isn't very specific. I don't know if that's good or bad . . .


Thing I'm thankful for: my sister's future husband.

Alternative Plans

It's late, and I'm tired.  But tonight I feel something indescribable.  I thought maybe it was time for me to post a recap of the music festival I went to last weekend.  No, that's not right.  Maybe a song would convey what's on my mind and in my heart . . .  No to that, too.

Instead I found this:



I want to be a woman like that.  I want to change the world by helping children -- not just my own children that I may have in the future, but children that aren't mine.

I wish I had a husband, and I wish I had kids.  I wish I could lose sleep because I was calming a fussy baby and not because I was doing homework.  I wish I could run around crazy in the mornings trying to get six kids ready for school.  I wish I could gather all my children together at 5 or 6 o'clock and wait by the front door for the mister to come home; we would have a mini-party in the foyer.

I don't have those things, though.  Instead what I have is a different perspective.  Not getting the things we want forces us to come up with alternative plans, and so it was for me four years ago.  I realized that if I never got the chance to have biological kids, I'd adopt the children who don't have parents.  But that's not right, either.  Not now, anyway.  And so, yet another alternative plan has to be made.

That plan is still fuzzy, but it's starting to form.  I can just slightly discern the outline.  It's inspired by Elder Oaks' General Conference talk,* which may well have changed my life.  Elder Oaks has a way of connecting to my soul.  When he speaks, I listen intently.  When he commands, I want to obey.

This video reminded me of his General Conference address, and it reminds me of a tiny spark I feel inside my spirit -- a little ball of light that's waiting to grow and spread to my toes and fingertips, that fills me with the desire to serve more often than not.


*For Elder Oaks' full address, see Protect the Children.


Thing I'm thankful for: cool weather and cool breezes to match