To my Momma.

Not that I ever call her Momma to her face.

She's Mom. Not Momma, or Mother, just Mom. Always has been. I was pretty convinced up until I was 5 that Mom was actually her first name.
There aren't many things that are constant in my life, but she's definitely one of them. 

I was blessed with the most fantastic of families. Really, they're superb. Great enough for me to use weird vocabulary in order to describe them.

I would like to write a post on each member of my family, and that's going to take a little while, seeing as I won't be doing this every day. 

But, since it was my Mom's birthday last week, we're going to start with her.

My mom has done some pretty incredible things in her life.

Like raising me.

No, I'm not being conceded.

I'm saying that this girl right here was NOT easy to raise.

Not in the slightest.

We fought all the time, and that was because I was a pain in the butt.

Ever since I was 18 months old I've been opinionated and stubborn as heck. 

If I wanted to wear pink every day, by golly I was going to.

If my socks weren't on right I threw a kicking, screaming, crying fit.

I still have issues with my socks and I'm 21.

Some things you just don't grow out of.

Yet she put up with the sock problems, 

the nothing-but-pink stage, 

the 15 different musical instruments I HAD to learn, 

the part where I almost didn't graduate high school, 

the sass, the tears, the fights, and the all around crazy I brought into our lives.

And I still turned out alright.

She is the most fantastic woman I've ever met, and I can only hope that I turn out to be half the person she is.

Someone that worked full-time as a single mom to take care of her 2 toddlers.

Someone that brought us into our new family, and gave us the best life we could possibly have.

My rock, my example, my best friend.

Someone that has been through so much bad, but still somehow sees the good in everything.

In the last year alone I've watched her go through so much, especially with her sweet mom passing away, and everything that followed afterwards.

She is the sweetest, strongest, most independent woman I know, and every day I thank God that she is my Momma.

Realization.

I bought a new car.
I'm super poor now.
The process of buying said car was... fun.
If there was a "dripping in sarcasm" font, that's what I would have just used.
Italics will have to do.
My sweet parents were much help during this process, and they jumped through all sorts of hoops.
Metaphorically, some of those hoops were probably on fire. That's how crazy this was.
And I ended up with a freakin amazing car.
It's cute. And fuel efficient. Which is awesome, because I drive A LOT.
And it has stickers on it!
Anyway haha...
While searching for a new car to purchase I came across an Audi TT.
It was a fantastic little sports car.
And I wanted it.
But my wonderful father would have none of it.
Even if there is virtually nothing wrong with a vehicle, Cary Mortensen will find something.
Lots of miles, tire tread is wearing in a weird pattern, there's after-market features added... and last, but not least: you can't fit a baby car seat in the back of an Audi.
DAD!
I'm 21, not married, how soon do you think I'm having kids?!
I was convinced this was a really stupid reason not to buy a sexy sports car.
I don't even want kids anyway...
right?
I have spent the last year or so telling myself that kids are not my thing. I don't like children. Well, I like certain children. Well behaved children. Cute children. Children that don't run around screaming just because they don't get what they want. I'm so tired of bratty little kids, and I see way too many of them. Kids were an no-go for me.
So you can imagine my surprise when the whole car-seat thing became important.
I guess sub-consciously I really did plan on having kids. I don't know when. It might be in 2 years, it might be in 5, it might be in 10. I'm not planning on them anytime soon.
Maybe I'm just lazy, but finding a new car and selling an Audi (with lots of miles and weird tire tread wear) because I can't put my kid in the back seems like a hassle.
And on top of being concerned about being able to fit a kid in my car, I realized that I have an "emergency pocket" in my purse.
Which has food, cough drops, cold medicine, etc in it.
So when Bryan Montague needs food I can give him crackers.
OH. MY. GOSH. I'M TURNING INTO A MOM.
This is what happens when maternal instincts start to kick in??
Planning ahead.

Which is why I didn't buy the Audi.
I'm sure you're all wondering why I didn't just buy a minivan and get it over with.

Because minivans suck.