Top Ten Reasons Why I Love My Mom

10. She has a really loud, genuine, infectious laugh.

9. She takes a lot of interest in other people, and always asks new acquaintances questions about themselves to make them more comfortable. (Please note: the below picture is of my sister, and not a “new acquaintance.” I just thought it was a nice picture.) 

8. She’s really, really, really smart, but she also still enjoys learning new things.

7. She’s a really good cook! (See this guacamole recipe for proof.) Still to come: her lemon-poppyseed cake and her magical chicken-tetrazzini thing.

6. Her sympathetic phone voice and text message tone are very well-honed and mom-like (see above screenshot, and also imagine a 25-year-old phoning home complaining, “I’m siiiiiiiick”).

5. She uses lots of exclamation points, and those illustrate her personality well. Also, when I send her text messages and pictures about mundane things, she reacts with an appropriate amount of enthusiasm. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

4. She is really dannnnnggggg purdy.

3. She is a very wise mom-person.

2. She and my dad are endlessly, intensely adorable and love spending time together. The prospect of getting married is far less daunting when I have the two of them to watch.

1. She’s my mom! I love you, mom. Happy mother’s day. 🙂 (PS: I even love you enough to put this old, outdated, and fairly unattractive picture of myself on my blog. That’s how much. That’s a LOT.)