High school soccer is over. The team did well which I will post about in October's post. Molly was so happy and so excited to earn a spot on varsity after tryouts and the first half of the season went so well for her. She played amazing, she melded well with the team, and they were placed 2nd in the state for 5A halfway through the season-and Molly really felt that she had been influential in that ranking. Then in started to get frustrating. She got less and less playing time. When she was playing, she was playing a position that she wasn't familiar with or used to. She wasn't getting much feedback from the coach and the little bit of feedback she got, she worked so hard to accomplish but didn't really feel like her effort was being seen. She showed up and worked hard day after day and she quickly became frustrated and confused. We are not exactly sure what the reasoning was but we just told Molly that different coaches see players differently and what one coach values another one maybe doesn't. Molly is a smart player, she reads the field well and is good at anticipating and then cutting-off passes. She has good footwork and control of the ball and makes smart, hard, on-the-ground passes to move the ball forward. These are all the traits that her club coach loves and the consequence of that was that she got a ton of playing time in the club season. Because Molly is a smart player, she is not often a flashy player. That is the only thing we could think of to explain why she stopped getting playing time. Who knows? So, she was frustrated often but it was still the team she wanted to be on. She loves all those girls and, with nine seniors this year, it was her last chance to play with most of them and she was grateful for the chance. But she is so looking forward to getting back to her club team and that starts this week and she is so happy to get going!
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| Wasatch Varsity-Molly is furthest left |
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| 2023 Wasatch Girls soccer-Molly is top row, furthest left |
Molly does tell us that she is anti-social but I think that is a little dramatic. She says that when she is at school, she just puts in her airpods and doesn't pay attention to anything or anyone around her. So she says she doesn't know anyone. I have a hard time believing that. A lot of people know her and like her. April told me that when they took her out for food for her birthday, she knew tons of people at the restaurant and then more people in the parking lot. So, I'm not sure how much of her anti-social claims I actually believe. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall and follow her around the high school for a day to see what she is really like while there.
She has also always told us that all the boys at Wasatch High School are immature and basically not worth her time. Then she went to Homecoming with Micah and her opinion changed, haha. She really enjoys spending time with him. I'm not going into detail with this but basically they like each other but neither of them want to have a relationship in high school so they are just friends who like each other. Their schedules don't line up (he's a senior and isn't on campus for the entire day) and he has a different friend group-so if they hang out at all, it's usually because he has planned something or invited her with his friends. He took her bowling once and another time they got a big group together to play glow-in-the-dark soccer. She actually went and hung out with him and his group of friends one night. He parks by her in the morning so they can walk in together and, during the season, he went to all her home games. And Sadie's, of course. I'm not sure this will last or not and Molly isn't super forthcoming with many details beyond that so that's all I got on this. Their lives will take them who knows where in the next couple of years so it's probably a good thing that they are keeping things casual, although we do encourage Molly to be friends with him and make an effort, just because it's good for her to broaden her friend group and to have positive experiences with nice boys.
Molly doesn't like school but she works hard at school. She is a good student and is diligent at staying on top of her work. I've never had to follow up on her homework or make sure she is getting her assignments in. I don't think I even checked her grades after first term because I know she is more worried and stressed about them than I am. It was quite the juggling act for the first two months of school this year-junior year is a heavy year academically and then she was playing soccer every day after school and on away game days, wasn't getting home until 10 or later-then she would do a couple hours of homework and get up the next morning at 6:30 to do it again. Add a little bit of work and a good amount of friend-time and it was a lot. There were a few days that I thought she might break down but she held it all together and the final three terms maybe won't be quite as intense. Her cumulative GPA is a 3.87 which is I think is pretty fantastic with everything else she has going on.
Molly is serving as a ward missionary right now. She is pretty new at this calling and hasn't been given a lot of direction but there is a girl in our ward boundaries who is showing some interest in meeting with the missionaries. That hasn't started yet but Molly has been taking her to church and activities. Kennedy lives on our street, is a sophomore, and has played at our house plenty when the kids were younger so it helps that her and Molly already have an established relationship. I'm excited for Molly to potentially be involved in this. Molly has a solid testimony and her spiritual maturity has always impressed me. It's a treat to be able to hear her testimony and I learn a lot from her. She has a gift for accepting others, no matter where or what they are, and treating them with compassion and love while at the same time being firm in her standards and beliefs. A true Christ-like trait and I am trying to be like that as well. She has seen Heavenly Father's hand in her life and has a trust in Him that will help guide her through these next years of so many big decisions. I feel blessed to be able to watch this part of her life grow and develop.
Molly got her patriarchal blessing in January. She was having a lot of overwhelming thoughts about life and where it would take her so she approached Justin about getting her blessing and he was able to interview her and give her the recommend. She scheduled her appointment and Justin I took her to Patriarch Seiter's house one January morning and were able to be with her for that special event. It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. Molly is a very special, important daughter of God-her blessing made that very apparent.
If Molly thinks too hard about her future, she tends to get a little stressed out. She thinks she needs to have things figured out already, despite all my reassurances that most people don't have things figured out at her age...and if they think they do, they will for sure take a detour at some point! Molly would love to play soccer in college so I think that is the number one goal. Most likely at a junior college or D2 college. That is an overwhelming thought-I have no idea how to help her accomplish this goal. For now, she is working on collecting a bunch of highlights of her playing and then she will upload them to a YouTube channel. Then she will need to reach out to coaches and get them to watch her highlights. She has a couple of coaches who are willing to help her with the process. We will see what happens here. She has also thought of a mission so that is not completely out of the equation either, but it would probably only happen if she doesn't play soccer. I am okay with either. She is definitely entering the stage of life where a lot of huge decisions will need to be made.
Molly is still diligent at skincare...and it shows. Her skin is very healthy! Someone asked me what she does to keep it looking so good and when I asked her she said that she just washes it morning and night (we both just use Cetaphil) and she drinks lots of water. She doesn't cake makeup on her face. And there is one "magical" serum that she uses often. She wears a low SPF every day as well. She is self-taught, I am definitely not a make-up mom, but it's a good balance-she looks very natural when she does her makeup and I'm relieved for that!
Molly's favorite show is Gilmore Girls and she watches it on repeat. She will even pick a specific episode from a specific season if that is what she is feeling. I swear she has every episode memorized. Her next favorite might be Stranger Things, but she doesn't watch that on repeat. I think she is working through Vampire Diaries with Regan. She tells me I have to watch it, but it doesn't appeal to me too much.
On the rare non-school night that we have Molly home, she enjoys watching movies with Justin or I, or both of us together. Justin has watched the entire Stranger Things series with her, as well as the Bourne movies, the Batman movies, and a few other stand-outs like The Count of Monte Cristo, Italian Job, Fried Green Tomatoes, etc. Stockton joins for some. With me, she likes to watch chick-flicks like Miss Congeniality, Confessions of a Shopaholic, 13 Going on 30, etc. She told me a couple of weeks ago that she feels deprived that I haven't watched Little Women or Pride and Prejudice with her so that is on our to-watch list when we get around to it.
Music is Molly's jam. She is always plugged into music and she memorizes the words very quickly. Obviously Taylor Swift is her favorite-she knows every bit of Taylor Swift trivia a person could know-but she mixes it up with several other artists as well. She already bought tickets for Noah Kahan next summer. She got Spotify premium for Christmas last year and she has already told me that she will "die without it" so she will probably get it again this year. I love when she dee-jays, although our time in the car together has dropped significantly so it doesn't happen too often.
Molly is a foodie and loves to try new foods and ethnicities. She loves Indian food and curries. She's not picky at all and is always up for a food adventure.
Molly still works on the train. She hasn't worked a lot these last few months and often bemoans how little money she has. She's hoping to pick up some more shifts going into the Christmas season this year so we'll see.
Molly has a dream to travel the world. She loves being in the mountains. She would love to buy a van she can live in and travel to all the national parks. She would make travel videos and make money to support herself. Sounds like an amazing dream, I hope she gets to do some of that! (Although I don't think I like the idea of her setting off on her own in a van...too many creeps out there.)
Molly's birthday interview:
Favorite color: green
Favorite movie: Wait Until Dark or 10 Things I Hate About You
Favorite breakfast: huevos rancheros
Favorite dinner: Thai food
Best friend(s): Jackie and Regan
Favorite thing to watch: Gilmore Girls
Favorite scripture/scripture story/Conference talk: Clarissa Jane Lee (this is an ancestor who was in the meeting when Brigham Young took on the appearance and voice of Joseph Smith)
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Favorite game: soccer
Other kids think that I am: that I'm nice
What do you like about mom: she's my friend
What do you like about dad: he's my friend
What do you like about Stockton: he's funny
What do you like about Brynn: she's bubbly
What do you like about Ivy: she draws me pictures
What do you like about yourself: I'm smart
What do you want to be when you grow up: I don't know (maybe something with film)
What do you like to learn about: history
I want to go to: Iceland
If I had one wish it would be: never have to go back to school in my life
Favorite thing to do: play soccer
Favorite song: Taylor Swift or Noah Kahan
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