First off, I want to wish all of you mom’s out there a Happy Mother’s Day! I wanted to make the last mom-blog in the series to be about my mom, as she is one of the most influential people in my life. Without her, I don’t think that I would be the woman I am today.
When I started Rusty Creek Designs, I started it with my mom in mind. She absolutely loves turquoise, and I wanted the first piece that I ever made to be just for her. I kept it a secret for months on what I was teaching myself and sent her my first turquoise necklace for Mother’s Day last year. Since then, she has been one of my biggest support systems with my jewelry business.
While I was growing up, I was in a few extra-curricular activities including piano, basketball, volleyball and my favorite, softball. My parents even coached my softball team for a few seasons, and they are the best memories I have with any of my sports. My mom was at every single game cheering me on, and most likely, chewing her nails off, because she was scared I was going to get my teeth knocked out while on the pitching mound. If she was not able to be there, she had me call her after every game to let me know how the game went.
For my wedding, Cody and I eloped to Catalina Island, and we didn’t have any one but our 2 best friends go with us. The weekend before Cody and I were prepared to leave, I went camping with my parents, sister and nephew, on their land in the mountains. During this weekend, I was afraid that I would break my leg or get hurt (because I am one of the most graceful people I know), but instead, I got a little too close to the fire and burnt my hair! My family died of laughter, but through my mom’s laughter and tears, she reassured me that everything would be fine. I did have few crispies, but luckily, I had a hat on, so not too much of my hair caught on fire. Before it was time for me to head back to Colorado, we drove back to Douglas so I could go get the bouquets that my mom and dad put together for our wedding. As soon as I saw them, I started to cry – they were the most beautiful brooch bouquets that I had ever seen. My mom told me that during the 2-year long engagement, everywhere she would go, she would look to see if there were any sparkly brooches or jewelry that she could use for them. The fact that she had been working on these bouquets for 2 years touched me more than I could ever say.
One thing that I admire about my mom is her creativity, bluntness, and patience. I am always blown away with all of the creative ideas that she comes up with. She has amazing sugar cookies that she decorates all by hand and they are all done so beautiful – and taste amazing! The patience and time that it takes her to make these cookies is truly a skill not many people have.
In the last almost 6 years, I have also gotten to see my mom become a Nana – and I have loved every minute of it. I really can’t wait for Cody and I to have kids so she can have that same bond with them.
All in all, I got pretty lucky with the mom I was blessed with. She instilled in me to be strong, follow my dreams, have a great work ethic, treat everyone with respect and so much more. She has been an inspiration in my life, and I hope that I become at least half of the woman and mom that she is.
