Feature Friday–Mindy Worley

This is fun Feature Friday for me because this is my best friend.  We have a LONG history that comes with a good story. 

Mindy and I have been together since 3 year old pre-school, but we were arch enemies until 10th grade.  I’m pretty sure I was the bigger brat, but there was definite mutual dislike.  We were in school together all but one year because I went to public school in 2nd grade and she came in 3rd grade.  We were also involved in all the same activities.  We were in the same youth group and we were both football and wrestling managers, so we were together ALL the time.  In 7th grade we had to share a hotel room for a youth group event and I can’t remember who spilled whose fingernail polish, but there was SCREAMING about it.  The other girls in the room had to get involved to get us to stop.  Finally, in 10th grade we were fighting after one of the football games, typical for us, and one of the coaches pulled us aside and told us that we needed to get over whatever was the problem because we were a lot alike and all we had was each other, which was true, as all of our friends were starting to party.  Somehow, whatever he said worked because we became fast friends and we were connected at the hip from that moment on.  We were still more like sisters than friends, but we loved each other.  Anytime we were roommates for more than a 3 days we got into HUGE fights, and we were roommates a lot.  But, we always got over it and moved on. 

We were part of a very special youth group.  We all hung out every weekend, all weekend; from 7th – 12th grade, from Friday night to Sunday night, we were always together.  Mindy and I both went to Oklahoma Baptist University our freshman year.  And again, I went to public school first.  I transferred to the University of Oklahoma our sophomore year and she came our junior year.  We were roommates again, this time for an entire year.  I’ll let your imagination decide how well we did with that…  Today, we are just as different as we have always been, but what we have in common runs deep. There is NO ONE who knows me like Mindy does.  Even times when we haven’t been as close she is still the only one who knows what a brat I was in 2nd grade, who were my first crushes and why, and all my success and failures since I was 3yrs old.  It’s fun to share that kind of history with someone.  It’s a lot of years of notes and secrets. 

        

This is our Kindergarten graduation.  I’m the girl on the right and Mindy is with her brother on the left.

 

This is a picture of some of the core people in our youth group.  Mindy is on the couch and I’m with my brother on the floor.

This is us, um, being us (9th grade)… (I’m at the bottom and Mindy is to the right.)

And, more present day…

Now that you know our history, I want to share more about Mindy and why I’m featuring her today.  She is an amazing person who loves ALL people unconditionally.  It’s a gift she has always had, but that I didn’t appreciate about her until I was older.  She is a total free-spirit, but is also extremely smart. 

Two years ago, she became mom to one of the cutest kids I’ve ever seen.  Being a mom has allowed her to blossom even more.  She is an INCREADIBLE mom, and I love watching her with her son. 

Recently she started a website.  One of her posts is about creating a digital home organization system.  I LOVED reading it.  I immediately went through and downloaded all of the apps she uses and I wanted to share it with you, but as goes with Feature Friday I wanted to interview her so that you can get to know her better.  (This was especially fun for me because Mindy let me pick all the pics to go with her answers.) 

I’m please to introduce Mindy!

1.  What is your full name and age?

Mindy Worley *newly* 30

2. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Ponca City, OK. It's a medium sized town in Northern Oklahoma that kindof bores you and grows on you all at once. They don't have anywhere to buy sushi though, which is just heartbreaking and wrong.

3. What are a couple of your favorite childhood memories?

Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around the skits my brother, and later my younger cousins and I would always cook up around the holidays. When I got older, we converted our skits to video and made mini movies with intricate characters, scripts, plot lines, and props. I have been re-watching some of them recently to put up on my website and even though I've seen them 1000 times they never fail to make me cry from laughing. I love that my brother, cousins and I have those memories together.

4. What is your son's name and age?

My son is Cash Beckett and he is two. He will tell you every time that he is three (with a mischievous look on his face) but don't buy it. I once picked him up from Sunday school and they tried to tell me I put him in the wrong class because they totally believed him.

5. What is your favorite thing about being a mom?

There are so many things I really love. I think one of my favorites is watching how he interprets the world with such a fresh perspective, and the excitement he generates over the smallest things. I washed his blankies the other night and when they were ready to pull out of the dryer I swear he almost wept for joy. Over a blanket. Its so fantastic. I also love how polite he is. It warms my heart every single time I'll do something simple like fix him a glass of milk and he tells me "Thanks mama" without any prompting.

6. What is fun about having a boy?

Cash is such a great combination of baby and rough & tough little boy right now. He's becoming so independent and wants to open the door for me and "fix" things with his little hammer, but he still comes running to me and puts his little head on my shoulder when he hurts himself. I won't mind a bit if he's always a little bit of a mama's boy.

7. What is the hardest part of being a mom?

When he was a baby, it was cutting his fingernails. No one tells you this, but it is the most traumatic thing you will have to do as a mother to a newborn. I cut him once and wouldn't touch them again. I only recently found out that my mom has been cutting them for him once a week ever since. Grandmothers are awesome!

The hardest thing now that he's a little sturdier is when I have to do something that I know is the best in the long run but really really stinks right now. I hated taking away his nighttime bottle, but I didn't want him to get cavities. Or putting him to bed when we are having a good time because I know he'll be miserable the next day. I feel like such a traitor because I can't explain to him that I'm actually doing what is best for him.

8. What advice do you have for new moms?

Don't stress out. Honestly, you can do a really great job using instinct (and google) alone. I was so nervous because I was all of a sudden going to be solely responsible for a very very tiny human being's every need. But in the end, everything comes to you. You know your kid, you know what he/she needs. I try and stay approximately one step ahead but that's it. Right now, I'm focusing on potty training, not how I'm going to discipline him as a teenager. And you're never going to be a perfect parent, but I think if you are in tune with your kid, you'll figure it out.

9. Do you have any advice for single mom's or mom's to be?

Being a single parent is tough, I'm not going to say it isn't. But focus on the positives. My son and I are very close because no one else is competing for my attention. I also love that if I want advice or help, I know where to go for it, but in the end I get to decide what I think is best for him.

10. You love to read. How many books do you read per year, including repeats?

I have actually wondered this for awhile, so this year, starting January 1st I decided to keep track for the first time. In four and half months I have read 20 books. So maybe between 50-60? And I'm a single mom with a full time job and somewhat of a social life....so don't anybody tell me you don't have time to read!

11. What is your favorite book and why?

This is absolutely impossible to answer. I read depending on mood. I have read some books so many times that they have become like old friends. There are several books that I read around once a year, and its a varied list. Off the top of my head, they include: Animal Dreams (Barbara Kingsolver), Where the Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls), The entire Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood series (Rebecca Wells), Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy), Straight Up and Dirty (Stephanie Klein), the Harry Potter series, Pretense (Lori Wick), Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) and more recently I'm a huge fan of anything by Pat Conroy, the Hunger Games series and the Girl With a Dragon Tattoo series. Sorry I couldn't narrow it down any, and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

12. You are also a videographer. Do you have any advice for novices with a video camera?

When you are filming, don't be afraid to get close and get a good shot. Nothing is more boring than a really grainy wide shot with 6 people in the way of the action. Also, keep rolling. You never know when something exciting is going to happen. And the more you keep the camera on, the more people relax around it. That's when you get the good footage.

13. Who is your hero, fictitious or not, and why?

Nearly everyone I read about or meet has some quality that I admire. In the fictitious world, two women stand out in my mind. The first is Dagney Taggert, the main character in Atlas Shrugged. I realize this is a very controversial book, but I am always inspired by her incredible work ethic and how she is not willing to settle for anything but the best. The second is Lorelai Gilmore of the Gilmore Girls television show. I really admire her attitude and her parenting style. I love how she approaches life with creativity and doesn't apologize for not blending in to the norm.

(I personally think Mindy is Lorelai in the flesh.)

 

Here is the link to Mindy’s article about creating a digital home organization system.  I think you find it just as helpful as I did.  It really is a brilliant idea!

http://www.constantlytalking.com/2012/04/19/home-management-binder-gone-digital/