My mom says...

that she knows the guy I'll bring home will be perfect, so she doesn't need to worry.

I don't even know how the guy I'll bring home even came up, but it makes me think about a couple things...

Oh! I remember now! We were talking about how some parents (friends of hers, who have children I'm good friends with) are very vocal about doubts/questions they have about their children's either fiancee or boyfriend/girlfriend, while others are not so vocal. Maybe they just face the fact that they have no say over the matter, or maybe they just voice their concerns to their children and don't talk about them with their friends/my mom. I think my parents would definitely voice concerns to me about any guy I was dating/engaged to.

Back to what it makes me thing about...

My mom is teasing/making fun of me and perhaps this should be insulting, but I didn't really take it as such. Is my mom telling me I'm so picky that the guy I FINALLY bring home would have to be perfect? The problem with this is that there are no perfect guys/people, so does this mean I'm never coming home with anyone? I didn't take it as an insult, because I really think that while I realize there are no perfect people out there, I still believe in falling in love -- like head over heels in love. And I believe I will find someone who I think is perfect while in the dating/courtship period of time. (Of course, after marriage is a different story. You are supposed to keep your eyes wide open during dating and half shut after marriage, right? But that's kind of depressing to think about -- that you think he's amazing before you get married and then you realize he's not?) I go to a marriage prep class at church. I think both last week and this week, we talked about a quote from a talk given by Julie Beck. It addresses the fact that many people go about finding someone to date as a shopping excursion. They are looking for someone with specific attributes, rather than how we should look at it as a blessing from God. So, I KNOW that the person I end up with won't be perfect, and that I'm not looking for a specific person with specific attributes, but rather we are looking for someone you'll share in doing God's plan for both of you.

Spencer's been telling me recently that the characteristics of your spouse before you marry don't matter that much, because really the two of you become one and you shape who you both are going to be for the rest of your lives. I agree and see how this is the case. You change and adjust your lifestyles/personality to work with the person you want to spend the rest of your life/eternity with.

I'm done. Enough. It's exhausting to always be thinking about it, and there's no reason to. Life is good. I'm happy.

Love to you all! XOXO

Thanksgiving

I went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving. The day prior my mom and I made the stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Steph made the rolls and pies. Hunter spent Thanksgiving in Utah, but he provided that turkey that Foulger/Pratt gives him every year. It was a fairly small group; just mom, dad, Steph, Aaron and family, Naomi and Josh, and me. It was nice though to spend some quality time with everyone. 

The second table with Samuel, Paige, and Juliette:

Me and sweetest baby Daniel:

My cousin, Emily, and I maybe look exactly alike and even dressed exactly alike on Friday evening when I got together with Emily, Tim and baby Corinne, Allison, Tim and newborn Ian, Drew, Jen and family, the Osguthorpes, Naomi and Josh, Cynthia and Glen, and me, my mom and dad.

Naomi, me, and Emily:

 Allison holding 3 week old, Ian:

I'm so grateful for my family. They are such wonderful people and I enjoy spending time with them so much.