I Love Being a Girl

The title of this post comes from a friend's Facebook post. She spent time crafting--making a cute pillow with which to decorate and another cute wooden thing for her porch. She was bubbling over about loving being a girl and a wife and homemaking and looking forward to motherhood. She is just where she needs to be and I am truly thrilled for her.

I started out with those same types of desires but my life has taken a different path. Motherhood drained out of me over the course of days and weeks--on four separate occasions. Fabric stores are foreign countries to me. Crafting is not my...thing. So I decided to click through the last few years in photos to remind myself why I too LOVE being a girl!

I love being a girl because I know I am a cherished daughter of Heavenly Father. I love to visit the House of the Lord, the Holy Temple. It is there I find myself most grounded.

I love being a girl because there are so many interesting things girls can do! I can photograph cows at sunset and hike the Grand Canyon. I can set a pretty table for Christmas Dinner. I can visit my woods in Yankee Springs where I wandered as a girl child. I can also enjoy the outdoors right after snow--Spring Break is Spring Break and I wouldn't want to waste it. I love being a girl that reads. I'm a girl that can say she took Brandon Mull on a cave tour. I can dress up like Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm a girl that pulls out a V-8 after climbing to the tippy-top of Naomi Peak. I can move rattlesnakes and teach others to do the same. I can laugh at duck butts.

This girl has grown tomatoes on the porch and in the garden. She has followed her husband to some interesting locations with interesting weather. She visits students after they've had their helicopter rides with Life Flight.

What's not to love about having dinner with the Japanese sister with whom you shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Girls can fall in love with caves! And dinosaur tracks. Girls can help out at Bat Night even when the bats hiss ferociously. Girls can swirl melted chocolate expertly. Girls can adore their darling husbands. And petroglyphs! Girls can make friends with men at the Hutterite Colony. Honestly, not everyone is on a first name basis with Hutterites, but I am. Girls can laugh so hard it sounds like they're shifting gears (maybe they get it from their dads?).

Oh, I craft once in awhile. I arrange fruit. I display shrimp to make it easier to grab. Perhaps my craft consists entirely of amateur photography. Just maybe my craft is the words you are reading (all five of you). Girls can exercise for 57 weeks in a row! Girls can love the faces of sea lions. Girls can help their family members receive saving ordinances.

I had the same dreams once upon a time. You know that classic one...children bringing a fist full of dandelions, freshly picked? Well, my reality has turned out to be a tad unique. Not everyone gets a bouquet of grizzly bear on Mother's Day.

I also love being a girl. :)