Looking to Adopt

Both of my parents came from pretty large families, so naturally I have a lot of cousins. On my mom's side there were five of us born in the same year and thankfully we all got along pretty good growing up so we could be friends then and now as adults. But on my dad's side, I am kind in between. I have cousins older and younger by a year or two. We all grew up in Manti so we saw each other a lot in school and church. I have one cousin, Patricia who is younger than me. She was a grade below me in school and a year behind in Sunday School but we still played together. It wasn't really until high school when we really started to hang out a lot. All the time. We even had a math class together. Oh the things she taught me! She is the reason I passed! We also worked together at our little family business. The Shop is what we called it. But to the public it was known as The Universal Impression and The Horseshoe Trader. As a kid it was fun and exciting to go and play around and "help" my dad. But as a teenager and working there it wasn't as fun...until we got to work together. Endless hours of manning the loud collating machine and being torn between wanting to kick the machine or wanting to cry when it stopped working. Alone it was a nightmare, but together, with Patricia's positive attitude I felt we could conquer anything...even the collating machine. With her stories, singing and deep, heartfelt questions suddenly working at the shop was no longer a chore. If Patricia was there I would gladly work there.

So we did math together and worked together. But we also played and schemed together. One of my favorite things we did was our little Van Bash. My family had a big fifteen passenger van and we got the awesome idea to take all the seats out and have a sleep over in it. We even strung an extension cord from my house into the van so we could watch a movie on a little TV. Man that was fun! No adult supervision or younger siblings crashing the party. Just us, the movie and our mint oreos. We took longs walks on the beach to the temple. Rain, snow or shine (Okay it wasn't really shining, but the moon was usually out). Those walks were great! We talked about deep dark secrets, the problems of the universe...mostly our own personal universes, as teenage girls of course we talked about boys, our family ups and downs...anything that was on our minds. We ranted and raved the bad and praised all the good. One would talk, the other would listen.

It was crazy! We grew up together all our lives and played, but it wasn't until we were older that we really connected and became best friends. She was one of my pillars that I held onto for dear life when my life got turned up side down. I knew I could always count on her. She would always be there for me.
I graduated high school and took a year break before going to college to help my mom. Then Patricia graduated high school and in the Fall, we started Snow College together. But because Patricia is so amazing she was already a year ahead of me because of all the college credits she took in high school. But that didn't stop us. I moved to Ephraim, so she hung out at my apartment all the time. She got along really well with my roommates.

After that year she graduated and moved up to Logan to continue her schooling at Utah State. She made new friends and forgot all about me. Just kidding. She did make knew friends, but we were still friends. We would talk on the phone and she still came home to visit. I even went up there to visit a few times. I met her new friends and neighbors, even her future husband, who I thought was super funny. It all seemed so fun! And I missed being around this amazing person! So I decided that I was going to go to Utah State once I graduated from Snow. But before that happened I got a call from Patricia announcing that she was going on a mission. I was so happy for her, but really so sad for me. What was I going to do without her? A couple of months later I got another call. She was going to Texas! And then another call. She was engaged! What a roller coaster! But all for the best! She found her answers to so many questions and found her happily ever after and she wasn't going to Texas for a year and a half. It was a win win. They finished school at Utah State. Then another phone call. They were moving to Idaho (really not that big of a step from Logan, but all I heard was out of state). We have seen each other a few time since the move...thank goodness for Thanksgiving! Had a few phone calls, email, texts and Facebook. Not a lot of contact but I still consider her one of my best friends.
So what is the moral of this story? And why in the world did I ramble on for so long about a cousin? Let me tell you. First of all I miss her. But one of the best things about our friendship is; it doesn't matter how long we go between conversations or visits we can pick right up where we left off, just like we saw and talked yesterday. Second of all I think Patricia is completely and utterly amazing and I want the whole world to know her. Lastly but most importantly right now is this; Ryan and Patricia are wanting to be parents. They have waited and tried for a long time and they are ready to adopt. So if you or someone you know is looking to place their baby up for adoption please consider them. I know I didn't say everything I wanted or should have in this post. I was trying to convey everything that is Patricia so you could get to know her a bit. She is so kind, caring and thoughtful. She has one of the strongest testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and has been such a huge example to me. Every time I come in contact with her, in person, phone, text, email or reading a blog post she strengthens my testimony. She has such a strong belief and knowledge in our Savior and His teachings. Patricia is extremely hard working. In her schooling (which she finished before I completed my first year in my bachelors program), her home and her work. She is dedicated to her family and her friends. She is fun and spontaneous and brightens up a room.
I'm sorry I can't give you an entire blog post about Ryan, I don't know him as well. But if he is good enough for Patricia he has got to be one awesome person! Two awesome, amazing people make really awesome and amazing parents. Don't you think? So please, check out their BLOG and spread the word!