This one is for my Brooke :)

Ever meet someone and have it be absolutely ZERO effort to be their friend? Have it feel like when you see them you CAN'T WAIT to squeeze them and squeal and giggle and perhaps jump up and down? It happens. Sometimes. . .

Sometimes you are given a small dose of what it might be like if you died and went back to heaven and were greeted by your 'old friends' and you all went, "Oh my goodness did that just happen?????"

Sometimes you get that. Sometimes you get with people you want to pretty much strangle from the minute you meet them. :) FACT. You have to learn to deal with those people too. :)


My Brooke. Gosh dangit. I met her and just was lit up with this powerful LOVE RUSH! for her! Instantly. Powerful light shock through the heart.

She is one of my people. Period. Call it what you will, she is in my 'tribe' and I love her like air itself. :)

She thinks she is old enough to go off to college. Ha! Like away from my town, ward, state.... I'm pretty sure she is just kidding and will really be sitting by her wonderful mom and stellar grandmother on Sunday for the rest of her life and I can just look across the chapel and get a dose of that LOVE RUSH for her every week of my life.

Nah. Thats not going to happen. :)

And that is not what I would wish for her.

I wish I had ten hundred million thousand dollars. I would give it to her and she could buy a private jet. Come home on Sundays.

I don't.

For some reason we never have money. Its this bizarre reality Marc and I sort of stare at and go, "Really?" What don't we know? Haha.

To be honest. We don't really care. I mean it would be nice to do things I sometimes see other people do...but it is not what we are about.

We had to decide what we were about about 25 years ago.

We decided to raise FREAKING AMAZING HUMANS. Period. :) Its working out pretty okay so far. No one is in prison. :)

I don't have money to give to my Brooke. So I think I will send this beautiful child away with a blog post.

Just for her.


Its about BOYS.

What in heck to do with them. And when. And why. And how. And in what order.

This one is for you my darling Brooke! You are a light. One of my favorites.


Girls... We LOVE to DREAM.... Get all crazy mental. Plan. Future hop. Follow our hearts.

I'll tell you. All that stuff you read in the classics, the romances... All you have watched in movies....

That stuff? Yes. It actually is real. You CAN dream. You can. You can try to re-create those little sweet moments from classics across the board.

But, I am going to tell you a few secrets. :) Hopefully they help you as you navigate your journey through it all.



YOU WILL SEE IN THEM WHAT YOU WANT TO

When Prince Charming shows up and your dang feet go straight up to the sky, you lose your balance and all of the sudden you are looking straight up at the clouds asking yourself, "What happened?"... You will see it him what YOU want to see. Sorry. Its true. You will. You will manifest ON him what you are looking for. He will REFLECT what you are looking for in yourself and in your future. And this is not a bad thing, its actually GOOD. You will have a unique power to INSPIRE a man in your life. You NEED TO set high goals and raise the bar as high as you can. REMEMBER to recognize this and ask yourself if he actually HAS the qualities you are looking for or if you are decorating him with them in your mind...

But MAKE SURE he DOES have the quality YOU want and not just a mirror of you.

CAREFUL Watch your step on this one... Make sure it is HIS steps you see not yours.

BOYS ARE STUPID

This one is my favorite! ITS SO TRUE!!!

Boys ARE stupid. So are we. We are all just fumbling around like a pile of idiots trying to figure out how to get back to God in one piece. Yes, boys are STUPID. Therefore, DO NOT HAND OVER YOUR DECISION MAKING ENTIRELY TO THEM. I had a lot of roomates who would come back to the girl pile at the end of the day and say crap like this, "He prayed about it... he said H.F. told him we were suppose to get married." Yeah? Okay. Well, big whoop. When there is a girl that looks like you and has the personality like yours... Let me tell you.... EVERY BOY IN THE ENTIRE LDS church will try to navigate those feelings to their personal gain. You are a STUNNER in every way. TRUST YOUR OWN INSTINCTS woman. You are hard wired to receive REVELATION just like he is. DO NOT MAKE A COMMITMENT unless you are SO SURE in the answer you have received you would bank Carson's life on it.

Would you say that POSITIVELY you know you are suppose to marry this guy and that you are so true you would bet darling Carson's LIFE on it.

If not, GOOD GRIEF GIRL, BE BRAVE, BE COURAGEOUS, BE HONEST. Step back and THINK. No amount of any certain quality you have been looking for will EVER SUBSTITUTE for your own judgement for your OWN life. God set you up to figure it out. Listen VERY closely to the INSIDE of your brain.

Follow it, even if its painful. Even if its SO PAINFUL you don't think you will ever recover. FOLLOW YOUR GUT. Period.

CAREFUL. Don't be stupid.



DON'T DATE ANYONE YOU WOULD NOT MARRY

FACT: We FALL IN LOVE with the people we date. Therefore ONLY date men that you can marry in the temple. Its time to stop that child like acceptance thing. Don't do it. You are done with that. You are WAY to wonderful.

ONLY DATE BOYS WHO CAN TAKE YOU TO THE TEMPLE. PERIOD. Eternity is a freaking LONG time. Plan well. :)

FIND YOUR 'PERSON'

My lovely.... Marry your person. Do you know what I mean by 'your person'? Marry the person you would call FIRST if someone died, you crashed your car, you burned your house down, or when you don't feel safe and you need help ASAP.

THAT is your 'PERSON'.

He is also the one who you will want to call and celebrate with, talk to about the things in your life that hurt you the most, and will want there when you are your VERY HAPPIEST.

THAT is your 'PERSON'

He is the one who will help you. Watch over you. Accept you. Inspire you. Built you up and never tear you down.

THAT is your 'PERSON'

You will know who he is if you can sing at the top of your lungs TERRIBLY. Talk to him while you are on the pot ( What? Its true!) and help you figure out what in heck happened to your prives after a baby's head comes out! :)

THAT is your 'PERSON'

Trust me on this one baby girl.

FIGHTS ARE A FILTER

Don't be afraid to fight with your prospective husband.

Its actually an EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY in sheep's clothing.

Fight fair.

But go ahead and fight. You will LEARN EVERYTHING you need to know about how LOW of a person he is. He will show all his cards in this situation. His ugliest, his meanest, his most selfish, his most infuriating, most maddening flaws of character... all. ALL of it will surface.

Okay.

Now take that fight and times it by a million.

If you can still live with it....

Marry him. If you can't...... Don't.

WE SEE LIFE AS WE ARE.

All of life happens between your ears. Its true. You can 'act' or be 'acted upon'but the reality is this. We don't see life how IT IS. We see life how 'WE ARE'. You will never marry anyone BETTER or WORSE than you are. FACT. Therefore, you should work on being YOUR VERY BEST self. You will marry your EQUAL. So WORK ON YOU. Find your joy in life and your talents. Develop them. Be autonomously happy irrespective of someone else. When you do find him you will ADD to each other rather than TAKE.

WATCH WHAT HE DOES, IGNORE WHAT HE SAYS.

Baby girl...

As we wrap up, I will tell you this is the most important one. . .

Watch him.

Sure, listen.

BUT

WATCH WHAT HE DOES COMPARED TO WHAT HE SAYS.

E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

You need to know is RIGHT THERE.


Everything about who he REALLY is will manifest itself in HIS ACTIONS.

Especially towards Y.O.U.


You and I had a short chat Sunday that illustrated this point a little. Someone who HAS BEEN THERE. Chose you. Still chooses you. Is YOUR PERSON....Well, those ones... Sometimes you have to let the Lord have them for a while so he can refine the rough edges and teach him how to be a killer husband and father.

Let the Lord have him.

He knows what He is doing.

That I DO KNOW my Brooke.

And sometimes the best things have the highest price tags.

Don't be afraid to 'pay up' and I can guarantee you....

You will be SO GLAD you patiently waited upon the Lord and his blessings.

I love you with my whole stupid heart.

Mama Reeves