A birthday girl who has lots of grit

Today’s the day! Not only is it general conference, but after lots of anticipation, it’s finally here: the day to {continue} celebrating a birthday girl who has lots of grit.

Yep, this girl right here, my baby, is turning SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD.

Dave and I can’t quite wrap our minds around this one!

Anyway I said “continue” celebrating up above because it feels like she gets a birthday week rather than a birthday day. This girl is big into birthday celebrations I tell you!

I’ll have to write all about all the celebrations of her soon, but for today I’m just going to write a little love note of seventeen things I love about her. Almost enough to fill her fingers AND toes with. Ha! (A little tradition we started following my Dad’s lead.) There is so much to love about this Lucy girl. I’m combining these things into a little story about what happened over the last few weeks. Because it involves so many of the things I love about Lu.

1. She is determined. She’s determined in many aspects, but the one I want to highlight today is that she decided a few weeks ago that she was going to have straight A’s at the end of the term. That was last Friday. Then she got to work. Keep in mind, it is not an easy task to stay at grade level with your peers let alone get straight A’s when you have significant vision loss.
2. She doesn’t make excuses. All of us, including teachers, try to encourage her average grades are incredible since she’s dealing with some pretty big obstacles. Just the fact that she can even maneuver her computer enough to find assignments is pretty awe-inspiring to me.
3. She is organized. Her organization paid off because she was able to write up lists of everything she needed to do with little check-boxes. She knew exactly what needed to be done and how.
4. She is a communicator. She talked to each one of her teachers to outline that list. She wanted to know exactly how to get those grades up and exactly when to meet for re-takes, etc.
5. She is a very hard worker. Because her vision is so horrible, she often has to take tests and then re-take them with someone who can read them to her. This takes a significant amount of extra work. She works on homework and studying for hours each day and rarely complains.
6. She has the best smile. When she is happy, everyone is happy. Below this list is the face of that happy girl when she came home from school on Friday with that goal she had made accomplished. WOOHOO LUCY!!!
7. She is a celebrator. Not only does she love to celebrate her special days (her birthday is a big one), she loves to celebrate others. She is always texting people to cheer them on.
8. She is conscientious of the needs and feelings of others. Lucy is always asking if we’re ok. How we’re feeling. She is so quick to say she’s sorry if she is in the wrong.
9. She is a good friend. She is always asking if she can bring over a treat or gift for those who might need a little lift. I also love that she has nicknames for everyone and just loves them so much.
10. She is honest. She doesn’t sugar-coat things or put on false airs. This is mostly a good thing 🙂 I love that she is honest about how she is feeling. I love that she doesn’t take answers, especially about the gospel, that just try to wrap up nicely with a bow. She wants to delve in and really find answers.
11. You know where you stand with Lucy. This is tricky sometimes if she’s mad at you, ha! But I I love that she says it like it is.
12. The piano calms Lucy…and all the rest of us. She fills our house with the most beautiful music.
13. She wants and craves “hard.” This is good when you want to push your way through challenging things. She’s not afraid of a learning curve. She wants the hardest piano pieces. She doesn’t want things to make things “easier” just because she has vision loss. She doesn’t want to take any shortcuts. She’s got some serious grit.
14. You can count on Lucy. If she says she’ll do something, she’ll do it.
15. Lu is particular. She knows exactly what she wants. This is awesome with skills she wants to learn and things she wants to do (she is currently making a recipe book and knows exactly how she wants it). This particularity is a little tricky too in finding clothes she’ll wear, and getting her to branch out on hairstyles. Yow! She has a vice-grip on that braid I tell you!
16. She has a pretty beautiful brand of love. I LOVE her snuggles. The way she tells me what she loves about me. The way she’s so thoughtful.
17. Despite her struggles, she knows she is a daughter of God. You can see it in how she lives her life. And the light she shines.

The straight “A” girl:

(That’s a “17” she’s making with her fingers:)

Love you forever and ever Lucy girl! HAPPY BIRTHDAY with all my love.