How I knew what to look for...

A few years ago I decided what it was I was looking for in a wife. After some reflection I came up with 5 things. I wanted someone who was:

1) Attractive- Not only cute but someone I had fun with and always wanted to be around.

2) Funny- Someone who could make me laugh so hard I'd pee my pants.

3) Smart- Someone who loves to learn and who knows a lot about things I'm clueless about.

4) Spiritual- A girl who lives and loves the gospel of Jesus Christ.

5) Charitable- A mother for my children. Someone who could sacrifice everything for someone else.

As I was coming up with these things I realized where I got them from. My Mother and my sisters. These are qualities I see in all of you but there's one attribute I really associate with each one of you. Can you tell what it is just by looking at the list?

It's creepy to say that your sister is attractive so I won't say it but Amy is someone I always love to be around. Even when I was being a punk teenager I still went and stayed with her and Dan in Utah. After my mission when she was living at Mom's house we used to stay up late talking all the time. She was the only person I would talk to about the girls I liked. Even now I still call her when I have a problem.

Just thinking about Kate makes me laugh. Seriously I just started chuckling when I wrote her name. I remember growing up so many times when Kate would say something that would make me crack up even if she was making fun of me. Like once we were listening to the Smashing Pumpkins song- 1979 and it says "hung down with the freaks and ghouls" and she turned to me and said you're one of the "ghouls." It caught me totally off guard and I just said "no way you are." As a joke she acted really offended and started hitting me. I couldn't stop laughing long enough to fight back.

Smart as she is I'm certain Sally saw the list and immediately knew which quality was hers. There's no getting around it she's bright and talented. The only one of us that can really play the piano, and she's been in college longer than the rest of us combined. I remember in high school having her teach me how to do algebra. Even then she was a great teacher. She remained patient even as I was being obnoxious and telling her it was pointless to learn this stuff she carried on until I finished every problem. I don't like arguing with her you never feel like you win you just feel like she gets tired of talking about it. What's most remarkable about her intelligence is the fact that she never shows it off. She never tries to make you feel dumb for not knowing something. I guess that's another thing I can learn from her.

Who's that little girl bearing her testimony oh it's Miranda every month without fail. I'm certain that she actually read The Book of Mormon before I did. She was probably ready to serve a mission before I was too. It's one thing to read your scriptures a lot but quite another to actually live it but that's what she did. How else could she have forgiven me so often for being rude and insensitive. When I was 17 we both went to get our patriarchal blessings I realized then that she really had a stronger deeper testimony than I did despite being a couple years younger. And I'll bet that's still the case.

"Charity suffereth long and is kind" I could substitute charity for Mom and it wouldn't change the meaning in the smallest degree. If everyone had a mother like ours the the world would be a completely different place. I feel guilty when I think of how much Mom has done for me. I can't count the number of times she stayed up late with me. How many times she made dinner, drove me somewhere, replied with kindness to an angry word. After the saviour the person I feel most indebted to is mom. She gives until there's nothing left with no thought for herself. I'm beyond blessed to have a mother like her.

With Carrie I really feel like I got it all in one incredible person. As you can see in the photo she's so pretty! I really didn't think I would be able to get a girl this good looking. More importantly after being together almost everyday for the last year and a half I'm not tired of being with her. We laugh all the time about the stupidest things. She says the weirdest things that crack me up. There are times when it gets to be so much that my sides ache and my eyes water. While writing this blog I've asked her how to spell several words she knew all but one of them. She can play the piano and has tried to show me a couple things but I'm hopeless. She's so faithful. She never worries about anything because she knows the Lord will bless us if we live right. Charity is where she really shines. We've only been married for like 7 weeks but she's learned how to make tons of different meals, cleans the house when I'm at work, goes to work herself and generally tries to make sure that I'm happy. I find myself more in love with her everyday.