We just got back from a GREAT trip to the beach - seriously, outside of our trip to France and our honeymoon, Michael and I agree that it was our best vacation ever. I know a lot of people want to see pictures, but I'm still in that post-vacation recovery time, and haven't uploaded the pics/videos yet. But I know you want to see something new, so here's a post I've been meaning to do anyway...
And if you want to see some cute pics/videos of Shaelyn and Clara at the beach, go to Nicolle's blog. She's much more on the ball than me and already has stuff up. But mine is coming...
For Michael's birthday, he got a bunch of presents from people at work, including a gift certificate to P.F. Chang's - one of my very favorite restaurants. Since quitting my job and becoming a SAHM, we don't go out to eat much at all anymore. We used to do it all the time when I was working, and it was one of my favorite perks of our dual-income-no-kids life. Of course the sacrifice of that and other luxuries is well worth the chance to stay home with our kids, but I do miss eating out on occasion. Michael, however, gets to eat out when he travels, and eats at better places than we did even when we had the money to eat out. So he told me I could use the gift certificate for myself - how sweet! But I told him it wouldn't be fun going out to eat if we didn't get to go together, and since Shaelyn loves eating out, we made it a family affair. But Michael said he would just order an appetizer, so I could spend the majority of the gift certificate money on myself. Yay!
I packed a dinner for Shaelyn, since I knew that 1) P.F. Chang's probably wouldn't have a kids menu (although they did...), and 2) that she wouldn't want anything on the menu even if they did. I was right about #2. But when the fortune cookies came, she was VERY excited about those! We let her pick her own cookie, and she knew which one was hers because her fortune said "Your cheerful outlook is one of your assets" - and since Shaelyn's such a happy little girl, we figured it fit!
Mom, why don't we have fortune cookies at home every day? After we left, Shaelyn spotted the big horse statue that is outside all P.F. Chang's restaurants and very proudly declared "COW!". It's her newest animal to name, since reading Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? to her every night. She does not distinguish cows from any other animal that looks like them - so horses, zebras, donkeys - they're all cows. And anything black and white that walks on four legs can also be confused for a cow. So even though she knows "dog", she saw a black and white spotted dog the other day and again proudly proclaimed "cow". I love it!
We couldn't get Shaelyn to turn around for the picture because she was so mesmerized by the big giant cow-horse.
On the way home, Shaelyn couldn't stop saying cow. She was so excited she had just seen one SO BIG that she was in cow shock. Her little voice is so adorable, and I wish it would stay this little and cute forever!
While we were there, we realized it was prom night for one of the local high schools when a large group of teenagers came in wearing beautiful dresses and tuxes. There was one girl among the group (maybe 8 couples total) who stood out, not because she was the most beautiful or her dress was the most elaborate - she was cute but her dress was actually the most plain. She stood out because she had on a very pretty, dark blue, modest dress with sleeves. Right away I knew she had to be LDS - it was obvious the dress had originally been strapless and blue cap sleeves had been sewn in. I mean, who else but a cute little Mormon girl would add sleeves to her prom dress? I decided that before we left, I was going to compliment her on her choice to be modest on prom night. I was trying to decide how to go about it without calling attention or embarrassing her in front of her group of friends. I also wanted to make sure I worded my compliment in a way that she could easily repeat it if her friends asked her what I said to her without being self conscious. I had to pass their table on our way out the door, so I just put my hand on her back and leaned in to her ear so she would know I was there. Then I whispered, "I love your dress. It's beautiful, and I'm proud of you for setting such a good example for your friends". I could see her smiling as I walked away. I figured if her friends asked her what I had said, she could just say that I complimented her on her dress and edit out the setting-an-example part.
I'm an outgoing person and not scared to approach strangers. But my nerves almost got the better of me in that situation (not sure why) and I almost didn't deliver my message. But I'm so glad I did. I remember being 16 and going to the prom and wearing a modest dress when all my friends weren't. While I was happy with my decision to be modest, I also questioned it. All the other girls were, in my opinion, more glamorous, more sexy, more trendy in their dresses than I was in mine. And a part of me wished I could look like them. Now of course, dressing like celebrities or super models is absolutely no temptation for me, but it's hard to be strong in your convictions when you're 16 and you want to feel beautiful and fit in. I wanted that girl to know that someone noticed - someone appreciated her effort to be beautiful and modest, and hoped that it would make her feel like her decision was worth it, even if she was second-guessing herself just like I did. And now that I'm a mother, I could picture her mother at home, hoping that her little girl felt beautiful and clean and peaceful, knowing she had made the right decision, and would not be swayed in her desire to choose the right based on the trends around her. I hope that girl went home and told her mother that someone complimented her dress and her decision - it was my way of reaching out, Mormon mommy to Mormon mommy.
