Just like you.

When it comes to my mom, I think Abraham Lincoln said it best: 

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." 

I may be my father's daughter, but I'm just like my mom. 

We look alike, we talk alike, and we love the same things. 

It took me a long time to realize how much I needed her--18 years, actually. 

I used to laugh when my aunts would call my grandma dozens of times, every single day. 

Now, my siblings probably make fun of me for doing the same thing. 

She's basically both of the angels on my shoulders. 

She knows exactly what I need to hear, and helps me decide what to do--whether I agree with it or not. 

She's the one telling me to try whatever it is I'm debating; and she's the one telling me to wear longer dresses and different shirts. 

She's the one keeping my head screwed on straight when I want to strangle a friend/roommate/boy/coworker/sibling, and the one that constantly offers support and input in everything I do. 

She gets my obsession Audrey Hepburn and Michael Buble, and understands my love for the heel of the bread loaf. 

She's the reason I love music, Broadway, and baking cupcakes.

She makes my favorite foods (sometimes even lets me get away with not drinking my milk), and makes sure I'm getting enough sleep. 

She never questions my decisions, but she's always there to offer help when the decisions I make aren't exactly the best. 

She knows how I feel about being ignored by people I care about, and continually feeds the army of people I always seem to bring home with me. 

But most importantly, she gets me. 

She didn't question me when I wanted to fly to a national convention in Anaheim, or when I decided to play lacrosse two days after the season started. She didn't discourage me when I applied for A-Team, a job neither of us knew nothing about, and she doesn't try and talk me out of the various adventures I tell her I want to go on. 

She makes a point to get to know all of my friends and then takes care of them like they're another one of my siblings.
In the face of many family issues the last few years, she's made a special effort to make everything easier for the rest of us: helping us build relationships to replace family members who have abandoned us, emphasized the doctrine of eternal families after my grandma passed away, and making an effort to teach us the importance of not holding grudges, Christ-like service, and learning to forgive. My mom's testimony has been a vital part of the last decade of my life, and I don't know where I'd be without it.
I don't know where I'd be without her, either. 

She's ambitious, dedicated, and passionate. She's patient, honest, and caring. 

And someday, if I can be half the mom that she is, I'll know I've done something right. 

Happy Birthday, Mom. :)