elizabeth arden, red door!!!

i love my mom.

she's the best role model.  ever.

i hope to be as wonderful and as beautiful as she is...  

i had to write this essay the other day, nominating my mom for something.  we didn't win, but i don't think it was her fault!  she's amazing.  i thought i would share the essay with you...  there were things i left out, like when she drove me 8 hours to see a boy i liked.  or surprised me after thanksgiving.  she's been here with the birth of each of my kids.  and kept me sane through deployments.  she points me to God daily, and the example she set with her faith is paramount to my life.  i recall her, frequently, with her Bible open.  and i was just telling someone about a Bible study we did when i was in high school.  what a blessing!!!

before i do, i also want to mention my mother-in-law.  i am so thankful for her, because she raised a wonderful son.  i cannot imagine being married to a more wonderful man, and i am thankful for her influence on his life!  

I am nominating my mom, Kristin Presley, for the dream vacation.  She is my role model, my example, my best friend.  She raised four children to be successful, independent people.  She is a nurse by trade, but gave up her career to stay home and raise the four of us.  She was at every party, fixed every hurt, did lunchroom and recess duty.  There was never a doubt in my mind that she was my biggest cheerleader.  

Out of college, I joined the Navy to be a nurse (following in my mom's footsteps).  She made the transition easy.  Her phone calls and visits meant the world.  I got married to a Naval Officer and we started a family.  On one big military move, she drove with our (then) two kids and me to help us move in.  The house was a disaster.  I wanted to sit down and cry, but my mom took charge.  She cleaned the house from top to bottom.  By the time she left, four days later, the house was perfect.  

She flew out to Hawaii to help me say good-bye to my husband as he deployed.  She helped me fly my three kids back to Ohio so that we could spend some of the deployment with family.  And then, when it was time for my husband to come home, she came back to Hawaii and welcomed him back.  And then kept the kids so we could go away.

The military life is hard and can be lonely.  Friends come and go all the time.  Family doesn't usually live close.  The constant in my life and my kids lives is my mom.  She visits, she calls, she Facetimes.  She answers the phone, any time of day, knowing that I might just need to hear her voice.  Or a quick bit of advice.  I don't have to start over with her every time she moves.  She has been with me every step of the way, either in person or in spirit.

She raised four kids and knows how hard it is.  She did an awesome job.  As a mother of three, I understand better now how much she sacrificed over the years to take care of me (and how much she STILL sacrifices to take care of me!).  Words don't begin to express the gratitude I have for her love.