Caught. Again.

If you're female, you know this badge of shame well, or at least you've done the walk of shame. No, not that walk of shame.  I'm talking about the ones at weddings.  The ones where the emcee announces it's that time, the time for the bouquet toss.  When you're 16, it's exciting because you're still dreaming of that cupcake dress and ostentatious wedding to some missionary serving in your ward.  When you're 18, your dream may shift to the missionary you sent off.  When you're 28, it's just embarrassing.

The first bouquet I ever caught, I believe, was when I was 15.  It was at David and Rachel's wedding.  It was exciting.

The second bouquet I caught was when I was 17, almost 18, I think.  It was at Gary and Natalee's wedding.  I think I shared the honor with a niece who really wanted to catch it.  I held her and we caught it together.

I won't bore you with the third, fourth and fifth bouquets I caught.  Let's just say that the supersition that whomever catches the bouquet will be the next to wed is not true, and I have single-handedly proven that fact.

********

Two of my cousins got married this last week, within 3 days of each other actually.  The weddings have been beautiful.  There is something so special about attending a sealing where the spirit is so strong.  You know they love each other, that they are faithful, and that they will do their best to live the gospel.  I love seeing people so happy.  

Rich's wedding was on Saturday in the San Diego temple.  While San Diego no longer really feels like home, the temple here always will.  It was where I received my endowments and it's where I feel like my adult life really began.  The reception was both freezing temperature-wise and informal as far as emcee and structure was concerned, so when I found myself being herded into a single female mass against my will, I immediately turned and headed towards the warmth and safety of the house.  On my way there, I was harassed by my brothers, parents, and male cousins and guilted by my single cousin Jayne who was also being forced to stand in the Crowd of Shame, clumped both with the girls who couldn't get it done and the ones who were twittering with the excitement of cupcake dresses and returned missionaries (or whatever it is teenage girls dream about these days).  

"Julie, if I have to stand there, so do you."  And so I did, because I love Jayne.  Here's the only problem.  My competitive spirit.  One of the reasons I abstain from this dumb tradition now is because if I'm in the group of women, I'm going to get that bouquet, not because I want it, but because it's there and the point is to get it.  This is the only reason I have caught so many.  The problem is...it makes me look desperate.  Which I am not.  At all.  For the ten foot walk of shame across the dance floor, I had this internal struggle.  Do I go for the bouquet or do I just stand there like an idiot and not even try.  I sized up the group.  Pathetic.  I had 5 inches on all of them with my heels on.  I stood a little off to the side, still indecisive about what to do.  Rich's bride counted.  1...2...3!!!  The bouquet flew into the air.  All I had to do was stick my arm in the air.  I couldn't help it.  It shot above the crowd.  I felt the bouquet in my hands and then in an instant I decided: I didn't want it.  I took my hand down.  Some 16 year old sister of the bride caught the bouquet.  She was ecstatic.  My family was appalled.

"Shameful withdrawal of the hand, Julie."

"You totally had that! What's the matter with you?"

"[head shake]"

The truth? I don't know why I didn't just grasp it.  I think because I could feel the tension of the little girls behind me.  They wanted it so badly and I didn't care for it at all.  Plus, I had no relation to Rich's bride.  I was just some cousin.  Give it to a sister, I say.  

Today was wedding number two, my cousin Abigail, Rich's sister.  We had a great day with our families.  The sealing and reception were both so beautiful.  The toasts were moving, the daddy/daughter dance brought tears to my eyes, and the cake cutting was cute.  Then...the bouquet toss was announced.  I rolled my eyes.  For the last three days all I've heard from my family is the hand-withdrawal debacle from Rich's wedding.  Sure enough, Jayne and I were made to endure the walk of shame one more time.  We stood together sort of huddled off to the side, shooting our parents dirty looks, while the groom's sisters all stood excitedly in a group.  

"Julie," Jayne said, "I really don't want to catch this, but I think you should."

"Why me? She's your sister.  I think you should have to catch it."

"No really.  Please catch it."  

"Seriously, Jayne.  I really don't want it."

"Please?"

I told her I would at least reach out my hand in committment this time.  

Abi counted.  1...2...3!  It was headed straight for the group of sisters.  But the flying orange and white was too much for me.  The girls were just standing there, waiting.  Because I refused to make any grand gesture to strip these girls of the bouquet, I stood exactly where I had been and reached my hand up and over.  And waited until the last possible moment to snatch it out of the air.  And snatch I did.  In fact, I snatched with more force than I meant to; a couple of flowers were lost in the effort.  

It was actually kind of fun to catch the bouquet of someone I loved so much.  And it's always fun to win.  :)

4GB of RAM. Take that.

I finally broke down and bought a new laptop.  I told myself I wouldn't buy a new one until next year at the earliest but I have secretly been shopping around for the last few months. The decision was ultimately made when it took me a full 2 minutes to open my iTunes to play my brothers a song.  This may not seem like a big deal, 2 minutes shouldn't justify a multi-hundred dollar purchase, but it was indicative of a larger problem.  I could only run one program at a time if I wanted my computer to play nice.  Blogging was becoming increasingly difficult as my processor seemed to be stuck in molasses mode.  Defragging the hard drive had stopped working.  I was simply out of disk space and working with a processor that had simply run its course.  

So last week I braved the dreaded Fry's.  

Fry's = geek heaven.  It's actually a great place if you have money to spend.  If you don't, it's the worse tease of a store there ever was.  For those unfamiliar with Fry's, it's bigger than Costco.  No joke.  It was an old Incredible Universe store/warehouse, so the store is ginormous and they've filled it with every possible electronic you could want or dream of.  Displays of high-def televisions, Blue-ray players (I can't tell you how much I want Planet Earth on Blue-ray), washers, dryers, mixers, mini-laptops, sound systems for your car, house, bedroom, computers...the list goes on and on.  I went in focused: all I wanted was my laptop.  They had the one I wanted for a really good deal.  All the brothers and Dad came, which meant it wasn't going to be a fast trip.

Sure enough it wasn't, but it was okay.  It was actually fun to stand in the Bose demo room and try to talk my dad into buying a new sound system for the family room.  And to sit in the plush chairs and watch Indiana Jones in high-def.  The only downside was that they didn't have my computer in stock.   Ha.  So they gave me a raincheck and told me to call back in a few days.  Which I did.  No luck.  The boys "had" to make another run out there the following day.  They checked for me again.  No dice.  So I called today.  Only to find out that they had discontinued my laptop.  Pray tell, why would you give someone a raincheck for a computer you weren't ever planning on getting in?  [sigh]  I fumed internally for about 2 seconds and then asked Tom if he would help me find a new laptop.  Off we went. 

First stop: Circuit City.  Packed with customers, short on help.  Ugh.  They had my laptop, but...not in stock.  Of course.  At this point, I'm sure you're asking yourself why I didn't just order one online, and I have a good reason for that.  Because Dad has all the software I need right here at home and Tom has the skills to easily transfer all my files from one computer to the other.  It was just easier to do it here at home with the safety net of nerds.

Second stop: Fry's, to see if they had any satisfactory alternatives.  Negatory.  It was picked so over it really was a wasted trip.  And there were SO MANY SHOPPERS out today.  We couldn't figure out why people were out en masse on a Monday.

Third stop:  Best Buy #1.  Also packed.  What the?  Despite the packed-ness, we found a GREAT deal on a laptop almost exactly like the one I wanted out at Fry's but of course they were, you guessed it, out of stock.  By this time I hadn't eaten in several hours (and had gone on a long run this morning and been cheated out of the bagel I had thought about all morning [cough-Tom-cough]) and was starting to get very grumpy.  I started snapping at no one in particular.  Tom knew it was time to 1. feed me, and 2. find a computer. STAT.  The guy at Best Buy said they had my model out at the store in La Mesa.  I handed Tom the keys and said to drive me there because I was done.  He did.  Happily. 

Fourth stop:  Best Buy #2.  We walk into a deserted Best Buy.  Amazing.  We described the laptop to the salesperson.  They had no record of the model in their store, on their website, or anywhere in their system.  So they call the store in Mission Valley.  No one answered.  Why would they?  By that point I was ready to walk out of the store and eat my old laptop for lunch.  Low blood sugar really isn't good for me.  My brothers like to say "feed the beast" when I get like this.  It's fair. 

Finally another salesperson overhears the drama of the non-existent laptop and solves the mystery.  Well, not so much solves the mystery as to why it's not anywhere in the system so much as points out that there is a box with that model number in the cage behind us.  Sure enough, it rings up with the specs and price we had seen in Mission Valley.  Retail really makes no sense to me at times, so I didn't ask questions.  I just purchased the computer and we walked out of the store.  Tom then drove me directly to Santana's.  I was then not only in possession of a new laptop but also a California burrito.  It takes so little to make me happy.

Now instead of 512 MB of RAM I now have 4GB, along with a whole bunch of other cool things, including an unexpected remote control that wasn't in the computer specs.  Take that!!!  

(We still have yet to actually figure out how to use the remote, but it's still cool!)

Sabbath Day Highlights

1. Most public dollar earned:

Scene: Julie at the organ at church (filling in) playing prelude music.  Tommy comes to the organ before church starts to tell me I was doing a good job (a joke from an earlier conversation).  I start practicing one of the songs I have to play, "Ring Out Wild Bells."

Tom: Julie, I will pay you one dollar if you will switch that song from minor to major and play it.  

Julie: Uh, no.

Tom: C'mon Julie, it will be the easiest dollar you've ever earned.  Just ditch the flat and add a sharp.

Julie: Uh, I'd have to add two sharps and I'm not doing it. I'm just filling in for Suzie and Zelma would have a fit if I pulled that on her during sacrament meeting.

Tom: [blank look]

Julie: What?

Tom: No, I mean just do it right now...before church.

Julie: Right now?

Tom: Yeah.

Julie: Done. 

I play "Ring Out Wild Bells" in a major key.  No one bats an eye.  Tom tosses a dollar on the organ and goes to sit with Mom and Dad.

[Just as a side note, the most public dollar I ever made Tom earn was at a pops concert on the waterfront a few years back.  There was a "donkey song" being played by the orchestra and I paid him a dollar to put a blanket over our friend's back and ride on him like he was a donkey in front of our seated row.]

2.  Dinner Conversation:

Brian: Tom, just as a word of advice, when you get married--

Tom: --if I get married.

Brian: If you get married, don't ever withhold something from your wife just because she wants it.

Tom: [blank look]

Brian: What?

Tom: Brian, what are you talking about?

Brian: Abby won't let me bite her bicep.

Abby: Honey, that's because this sweater is new and you just ate.

[silence]

Julie: I love how that's the reason she won't let him bite her bicep at the dinner table.

John: Julie, I think that's worthy of your blog.

Julie: I was thinking the exact same thing.

3.  The dishes:

Julie: Tom and Brian, I think you should have to do the dishes today.

Brian: What?

Tom: Yeah, what? I totally set the table and grated the cheese for dinner.

Julie: Yeah, only because I threatened you.  Plus, I've done the dishes like three times since I got into town and you haven't done them once.

Tom: [gives me his innocent face]

Julie: I'm calling you Dead-beat Tommy the rest of the day.

Mom: Julie, that is not nice.  I will do the dishes.

Julie: No you won't.  The boys just ate and they need to clean up after themselves. [Boy was I bossy today]

Tom: I do dishes all the time at home.

Julie: That's because you live alone.  Mom has fed you all week.  The least you can do is do the dishes once.

John: Look guys, I will do the dishes.

Julie: What?

Tom: See, Julie.  John will do the dishes.

Julie: And you will help him, Tom.

Tom: Fine.

What actually happened:  I washed and rinsed the dishes.  Abby dried.  Mom put them away. What were the boys doing?  Sitting in the living room watching clips of Brian Regan.

Note to Self

It is possible to get tan at 9:00 a.m. in San Diego in the winter.  Must wear tank top for next long run to counteract farmer's tan acquired today...  

Gold Star Wednesday

This week's gold star goes to the obvious.

It's Christmas Eve.  It's a sacred night.  As I sit here under the Christmas tree and type this, the house finally quiet, I have some time to reflect on this week's star.  

As I flew across the country this week, I started a book called Trusting Jesus. It's been a long, hard year.  That's no secret.  I've been really looking forward to this year's end, ready for a fresh start but I think part of me is afraid that next year won't be better.  Usually I'm an optimist, always hopeful, always believing.  But lately believing has required an increase in energy.  

Tonight, as we read the Christmas story, I thought about the birth of hope and redemption, an event to which the prophets looked for thousands of years.  And why?  Because without this birth, and subsequent life, the plan of God would have been frustrated and we would have been lost to Him.  What an exciting day it was, the day these prophecies were fulfilled!  We have lived our lives with the knowledge that Christ has come whereas they spent their lives looking forward to that event.  What a relief all must have felt!

I also thought a bit tonight about the faith required of the Nephites as they waited for the sign in the Americas.  Some waited, I'm sure wondering if, if not feeling almost sure, they were going to be disappointed.  Some waited, I'm sure knowing they would be delivered.  I wondered tonight where I am right now.  Am I on the side of believing?  It can sometimes be scary to believe, though I didn't used to feel that way.   In fact, it has always been just the opposite for me.  I think my new, fresh start needs to include the choice to be more believing, to take things as they come in faith, to trust that God will lift the burdens that feel too heavy to bear.  Because as I read back on the record of my life, the evidence that He cares is there, that he is not, as Elder Holland says, a divine referee waiting to tag us out on third.

Tonight's Gold Star definitely goes to the Star of Bethlehem, the signal of the dawn of redeeming grace, a sign that God keeps His promises, a sign of His infinite love for His children.  With evidence like that, how can we not believe?

Merry Christmas.

Why I had to get home by Monday night

The Monday before Christmas our family has a caroling party.  Part of the crisis in getting home through cancelled flights this year was making it home in time for this party.  I know that seems a little melodramatic, and it was a little bit, but the family caroling party is a big deal for me.  This is usually how it goes: First we sing to the neighbors.

Second, we all pile in the van.  Everyone who doesn't have a seat sits in the back of the van.  Then the swan biting/wrestling match begins in the back of the van.  Scott usually starts the fight. He's 38.  And a bishop.  I'm just sayin'...
Those in the back of the van do their very best to drag everyone who has a seat into the back of the van.  It can get a little brutal...
This is me avoiding getting dragged into the back of the van...

This is Brian getting worked by Tommy and our nephie Paul...
This is me getting worked while working Tommy...
This is Abby trying to protect her husband...  I love Tom's taunting face.
Utter chaos.
And me cowering in the corner.  At one point my face was pressed up against the glass and I prayed that the side door wouldn't come open...  Mom was afraid we were going to ruin our singing voices with all the screaming.  She has stopped worrying about the roughness.  She knows if it starts to get out of hand Dad will take care of it by hitting the brakes.

Of course the caroling has a destination.  We go sing to the widows in our ward.  

This is Betty.  She's like another grandmother to me.  

After we sing, we go home for goodies and games.  Christmas Basket is a Bradshaw Family favorite.  I just tried to explain it here but I just don't think I can.  It requires a sturdy whacking device, fast thinking, and a good sense of humor.    

Brian was the victim of a Christmas Basket secret combination.  He chose "Present"  as his Christmas Basket identity.... It was the most popular name of the night.  My brothers dubbed me Vixen, despite my requests to be "bow" instead.  Anytime my name was called I called out Comet...who wasn't in the game.  I kept meaning to say Candy Cane (which was Tommy's identity) but it never came out right before I got whacked.  There was no mercy last night.
Brian did an awful lot of jumping up and down and dodging. 
And Tommy was the victim of revenge... 

We had a great night as a family, singing to our friends, singing to our neighbors, playing as a family.  As we all stumbled into bed, I heaved a sigh of relief that I was home and had made it in time for the party.  When I was in Dallas, stuck, I wondered if it was worth it.  

It definitely was.

Today was the last bit of Christmas shopping, Santana's (finally - delicious), and a nice, long run down to the cliffs with my AWESOME GPS WATCH.  It's really good to be home.

Next year I'm paying the money to fly direct...

Take 1:

Pack Saturday, run errands like crazy, get to the airport in just enough time to catch my flight.  Check in, get to the gate, watch my flight time get pushed back further and further.  Realize I won't catch my connection in Dallas, discover it's the last flight out of the night.  Rebook my flight for the following day.  Go home and watch BYU football.  Buy a new toothbrush at CVS. Sleepover at Katie's.

Take 2:

Sunday: Get ready for church without any of my toiletries since they are all on their way to San Diego (quite the adventure).  Go to church.  Find a ride to the airport.  Move my luggage to driver's car.  Discover a voicemail on my phone.  Flight has been cancelled due to mechanical failure.  Awesome.  Reschedule flight for the following morning.

Take 3:

Still Sunday: Call Jay to get online and see if there were in fact no flights left for that night. Discover I've been hoodwinked by the airlines.  Katie calls the airline while I'm on the phone with Jay demanding they put me on one of those available flights.   I call my dad to tell him what's going on.  Shed my first tear of the saga.  Aaron offers his handkerchief and a shoulder.  After an hour, we get my flight changed to go out of BWI, leaving in just a couple of hours.  Move my luggage again to the new driver's car.  Have an uneventful drive up.  

Take 3 continued: Get to Dallas.  Have way too much time to think.  Discover when I get there that we will be delayed another 3 hours due to flight crew time-outs.  So tired and so frustrated, with a nearly-dead phone battery due to the rescheduling drama earlier in the day (and having stupidly checked my phone charger), I sit in the Dallas airport and try not to cry.  Miraculously there is a plug nearby that isn't being used, so I plug in my computer and watch a movie.  The moment I get on the plane (2 a.m. DC time) I immediately fall asleep and don't wake up until we are approaching San Diego.  I thank my lucky stars I decided to pack my neck pillow.

We land at 2:15 a.m., San Diego time.  I'm pretty much delirious at this point, stumble down to baggage claim, call my mom (who stayed up waiting for my phone call), get both my bags immediately (miracles of miracles) and get into the car.  Brian had come along (thanks little brother) to help with my bags, and no one asked that I be particularly chatty.  I step on Tom as I try to get ready for bed, which really just consists of me putting on my pajamas and falling into bed.  

The End: I'm sitting in my living room with a fuzzy mouth, smelling my dad making breakfast, listening to Tom play the spinning song and Brian running through the living room like a ballerina (sort of...I'd have to post video for you to really understand). Oh dear, now he's shimmying.  Okay, I have to go.  Time for showers, breakfast and then we're off to Fry's!  

Birthday Magic

I turned 28 on Wednesday. It was a good day, nay, a great day. The birthday before--27--was rough. I didn't know why at the time; I dreaded it months in advance. I think maybe it was a sense of foreboding; something in my psyche knew that it was going to be a rough year. This birthday, however, did not come with the same feeling. I have actually been pretty excited about 28. 28 feels like a good, solid age. Firmly in my very adult-feeling late-20's, I have a better sense of who I am, am more comfortable in my own skin, and am surrounded by really great friends.
The day started off well. I woke up early to work on my blog posting so my mom could read it first thing. Then I opened a couple of presents my family sent. I made the mistake of opening the card Mom and Dad sent to me when it was still early. It sang VERY loudly to me. :) I about fell out of bed.

I got dressed and headed out into the misty morning with a surprisingly good attitude about having to go to work on my birthday. I ran into a good friend on the metro which added a little more bounce to my step. I didn't get much work done at work, what with all the phone calls and gchats and Facebook messages popping up. Plus, I played "hookie" during lunch and trekked back to Pentagon City for a lunch date with J who then drove me back to work. It wasn't NYC, J, but it was still fun! I felt so much love all day. Really, my birthday could have ended there and I would have been happy.

BUT.

It didn't. I came home and bought some dance music with the iTunes gift card Tommy emailed me. Then I went to dinner with a few friends. At the Palace. Kabob Palace. Of course. I received a gift of Oreos from A (a great reminder of the scandalous consumption of Oreos at Shakespeare in the Park this summer - ha!) and had a lot of good laughs as we relived some of the funnier moments of age 27.

It didn't end there either. My roommates (present and former) and visiting teacher cooked up a small get-together at my house. Very casual. VERY fun.

My parents sent me 12 days of birthday, a small gift every day leading up to my birthday. Mom doesn't like the thought of me potentially celebrating alone, so she tries to spice it up. She's good like that. Towards the end I started receiving various parts of a birthday party: balloons, birthday banner, confetti, noisemakers, a candle that sang to me and microwavable cake mix...

and....

...an inflatable pin the tail on the donkey. Which we promptly hung from the ceiling fan in the dining room. Then we started an impromptu dance party with my newly-purchased dance music until the guests arrived.

First order of business: sing to the birthday girl (who was having her birthday party in pajama bottoms and slippers. Happiness is...)

Second order of business: Play pin the tail on the donkey. This is Katie cheating.

Third order of business: have the obligatory butt conversations. This is me thinking I'm funny, but really, I'm just being an idiot.

We were a little bit confused as to how all 8 tails were supposed to fit on Jack's (the donkey's) rear end all at once so I decided to read the instructions (to see if we were supposed to remove tails after putting them on in order to make room). Turns out the back of the box's instructions gave much more fodder for laughter... And that's when things got interesting...

The tails started appearing other places other than Jack's behind.

If you look in the background of this picture, you can see the new variation on the game...we tied jack to the fan blades and, um, turned on the fan... We tried to incorporate the blindfold, but that only led to trouble. I'm waiting for Aaron's video ...

Meanwhile, the tail art continued.

Pirate donkeys. Classic.

THEN. As if my birthday couldn't get any better, we played.... THE BLANKET GAME!!

Round 1: The laughter that was going at the moment this picture was taken... Priceless!

When I said this is what I wanted to play, and even after I explained it, everyone looked at me like there was no way they would ever play this game if it wasn't my birthday. In fact, I may have even pulled the "it's my birthday" card when I got the uncertain looks people give when they're about to submarine your idea. I began to wonder if this was maybe a Bradshaw game whose funniness did not transfer outside the walls of the Bradshaw home on Wisteria Drive, but I pressed on. I wanted to play.

All it took was two rounds, according to one participant, in order to be hooked: one to be under a blanket and one to be a guesser. The game is this: most everyone goes outside the room with enough blankets, one for each person. Everyone gets underneath a blanket and then crawls out one by one into the living room and stops. A few people stay in the living room to guess who is under which blanket.

I know, it sounds lame. But it really is so fun. In fact, one participant (male) said, "I could play this game for hours." And we did. Because once you get the first few rounds out of your system and people start recognizing your body shape, you start getting creative with ideas of how to trick the guessers.

Such as tying Jack the Donkey to your back and then putting a blanket over you...

If my birthday day was a portent of the year to come, I'll take it!

Thursday's wish (a day late)

Yesterday was a busy and scattered day and I didn't get around to posting. My wish yesterday was very simple: for me to magically snap my fingers and have my room packed and ready to go. My wish was not granted. I had to settle for packing while watching Abbott & Costello's The Time of Our Lives. A rather satisfactory substitute if there must be one.

I also made a wish before I blew out my birthday candles. That wish has not come true either. Yet. And probably not ever. But one can hope. There's always hope.

Gold Star Wednesday

This week's Gold Star Wednesday is dedicated to:

Mom.

28 years ago today my mother gave birth to me, her ninth child, her second girl.

My amazing mother holding her chunk of a child (one week old)

This is what I get for being born a week before Christmas. :)

My mom is an amazing woman and deserves far more shout-outs than she gets. She is the mother of 11. She married my father at the tender age of 18. He had just finished college; she was just starting.

1965: Gold and Green Ball

They started their family soon after.
And it quickly swelled in size. She started with three boys. They were very...energetic. And cute.
All the while she remained terribly fashionable... (what I wouldn't give for an outfit like that). Mom is always good at making birthdays the child's most special day, making a cake of their choice and ensuring that each sibling had bought a present, even if it was only a box of candy.
Their small family grew even larger, though thankfully adding in one girl along the way. Some might be daunted by the large family, but mom only grew in organization. And love.
Together with my dad, she fought the good fight each week to hold FHE. We have never missed a week. Ever.
Despite our protests and occasional disinterest, we were eagerly taught the gospel, not only on Monday nights, but every day. My parents lived the gospel fiercly and faithfully.
The family kept growing, and the Lord kept sending my parents boys... (We call this picture of Mom the Statue of Liberty picture. The positioning was an accident, though it wouldn't surprise me if one day I found out that Mom had secretly positioned herself there.)
Some might be cowed into keeping life simple with so many children, but not Mom. Life was meant to be lived, even if it meant making a huge mess. She taught us to have fun and instigated most of the rowdiness in the house (or at least encouraged it, along with Dad) She also taught us how to clean up after ourselves afterwards. :)
28 years ago she was blessed with a second daughter. :) Her fashion sense didn't always get passed on to her children, however, as evidenced by the bonnet that appeared in only one of the many baby photos. Clearly I was unhappy.
However, I must have forgiven her for the bonnet. I think because it was clear we were meant to be best friends.
She encouraged all my wild behavior, my laughter, my love...
She did that for us all. That's one of the reasons we were voted "Family of the Year" by the Kiwanis Club in 1983.

One thing that always amazes me is how organized my mother was and is. How she got dinner on the table for so many every night is a mystery to me.

Chaos is the only way to describe our home during those years, but it seemed Mom and Dad thrived off of the noise of little children screaming and laughing. A bustling house was a happy house...
She took time out of each day to play with and love each of her children...And we could definitely feel it.
Everything that could be was a family affair. She made sure we supported each other in each thing that was important, such as baptisms, award ceremonies, graduations, recitals, etc. She still works tirelessly to make sure our family stays glued together. She makes sure that the glue consists of right gospel teaching. One thing I admire most about Mom is that she is unfailingly obedient, faithful no matter how angry her kids are with her or how unpopular her beliefs are. She was having a large family during the zero population years. She endured years of ridicule and scorn but she was undeterred. I wish I was as strong as Mom.
As if teaching all of her children wasn't enough, she taught the ward's children as well, seminary being one of the many ways in which she did that. She taught early morning seminary for over 12 years. I've never met a more competent scriptorian... (this picture is of her making breakfast for her seminary kids on test day--seriously...the woman is amazing)
Seriously, my mom is super-woman. When my youngest brother graduated from elementary school, it marked 25 years of Loma Portal having a Bradshaw at their school. I think by then Mom had been president of the PTA several times, had run a holiday gift shop for the children to come to in order to shop for Christmas presents for their families for years and years, volunteered in classrooms, directed the junior chorus year after year, and the list goes on and on. It was impressive. So impressive that they named the school auditorium after her. She ran that thing for 25 years. She earned it.
Mom likes to be cool. She thinks wearing sunglasses with us is cool. We let her think so. She also likes to use words like "disked" and "word?". We think she's cool because she tries so hard.
Mom was not only a spiritual educator, but a champion for secular education as well, always encouraging us to do our best (and, if possible, to be the best). :) She's a pretty smart lady, always learning, always curious, always asking questions.
She taught me that a lady should always look her best...Even though the tomboy in me bucked against this time and time again, as I get older I realize the valuable lessons she taught me about appearance and behavior. I hope I can always be as classy and appropriate as my mom.
Classy does not always mean refined, however. As a mother of boys, she was often the instigator of chaos. Such as the times she challenged her boys to wrestling matches...
Or the times when she chases them down the beach...
And falls. This night was maybe one of the funniest as far as Mom's physical blunders. As she was chasing Scott through the sand, he quickly changed direction. Mom tried to follow but ended up running almost sideways before she finally ate it in the sand. The best part was she just laid there straight as a board and laughed and laughed and laughed...

My mom is my best friend. She taught me how to love the world, how to love God, and how to love learning. In turn, I tried to show her the world. This is her first international trip.
One thing I love about my mom is how gutsy she is. Less than one year after her first international trip, she was on board with my trip to India. From a crowded marketplace in Delhi...
To an elephant ride at the Amber Fort...
To wearing traditional Indian dress...
To becoming an adoptive relative to Hitesh for his wedding...
To a camel ride in Mandawa... She was an amazing sport and adventurer through it all.
She saw me through my entire education, supporting, cheerleading, helping through it all. Cheerleading is one of Mom's greatest strengths. She has unfailing hope and believes her kids can do anything. She is always ready with words of encouragement both in times of hardship and in times of plenty and happiness. She is a natural optimist, choosing to look on the faithful, good things in life.


She deserves today's gold star and the gold star for every week throughout her life and mine. I'm so grateful God blessed me with such a mother.


Happy Birthday, Mom. I know it's mine, but it's yours too, you know, since ya done borned me. I love you. Thank you for everything.