all about Molly

Soccer has been the all-consuming thing in Molly's life these last few months.  Soccer is always part of her life but never so intensely as it is during high school season.  The season is over now (end of October/beginning of November) so I will sum up how it went for her.  Overall, it was a great season for her.  She started every game and played the majority of each game so she was very happy with that.  She was a rock defensively and I don't think I remember anyone getting past her all season.  She was just all-around so consistent and reliable out there on the field and I loved watching her be so solid.  She loved the girls on her team-all 14 other seniors, two juniors, and one sophomore.  She was also so good to reach out and be a mentor to the younger girls on the JV and sophomore teams.  Justin and I heard more than one report from parents of underclassmen whose daughters loved Molly.  She became the team deejay on all the bus rides home (at least the happy ones).  She struggled a little with the way Tara coached her but, overall, she couldn't be too upset because she was getting so much playing time.  But she occasionally felt under-appreciated and got mixed messages. Tara didn't take a lot of time giving Molly positive feedback and tended to be really hard on her when the team was having a bad game.  She had high expectations for Molly, which is great, but didn't always match her high expectations with the positivity that would have been motivating for Molly.  If that makes sense.  Molly played for herself and for her team.  But Tara is a good person and someone Molly really likes to spend time with outside of soccer.  We are thankful for the lessons learned from all the coaches Molly has had.

As always, once high school soccer is over, club season starts up right away.  It's a little less intense which is good.  Molly is a not quite as excited for club season...her beloved coach Derek wasn't able to get enough girls together to make a team so she moved to a different team...same club, new coach, new teammates.  She is nervous about liking her coach, making friends, etc.  It's hard to move teams and start new when you are a senior.  But she did talk one of the girls from Wasatch into joining her team so that made her a little more excited.  And when it comes down to it, she wants to keep playing soccer and play at the highest level she can and this team will provide her with both of those.

Molly's happiest place is the mountains.  She will escape there as often as she can and especially when life gets stressful for her.  I know when she calls and says she's going on a drive up the canyon that it's been a hard day and can recognize that she needs the peace and calm she finds in nature. I can't imagine she will ever live too far from the mountains, at least not long-term.

Molly loves soccer and the mountains but her love of music might beat everything else.  Yes, she still loves Taylor but her love of music spans all genres.  Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Billy Joel, Noah Kahan, Taylor Swift, ABBA, Broadway...the list goes on and on.  The amount of knowledge she has about all kinds of music is astounding-artists, bands, songs, albums-she just has this wealth of information stored in her brain.  I'm amazed at how much she knows and how much she appreciates.  I love when she is the passenger in the car because she is the best deejay.  She has exposed me to more music than I ever would have experienced on my own.

Molly has become an experienced driver with two years of driving under her belt.  She is a confident and smart driver.  Being on a Salt Lake County soccer team forced her to learn how to drive out of our little valley-canyons and freeways don't intimidate her anymore, if they ever did.  It's been fun for her to have more and more freedom.  This summer she drove herself to Bear Lake, Plain City a couple of times, Farmington, and lots of trips down to Utah County for various things.  It used to make me nervous but I'm pretty comfortable with where she goes these days, as long as there is not any bad weather.  It's been good prep for wherever she ends up next year.

Speaking of next year: it's still up in the air for Molly.  She knows college is her plan but she's not sure where that will be.  She's explored playing soccer and thought she only wanted to stay in Utah but that could change depending on interest from other coaches, etc.  She likes the idea of Utah State and has already applied and been accepted there.  She also plans on applying for other schools in Utah as well.  Really, her options are wide open and she has some big decisions. I have full trust in her ability to make the right decision for her and we will support her in whatever she decides!

Update on this:  Molly's name was given to a coach at a junior college in Casper, Wyoming who was very interested in Molly.  She sent him a highlight reel and he invited her to go to Casper and play with the team.  So her and I made the drive, took a tour of campus, she worked out with the team, and then we met with the coach after practice.  He liked what he saw, told her she does things that his current starters don't do, and offered her a full tuition + yearly stipend scholarship on the spot.  She was excited but entirely overwhelmed.  She had not planned on going out of state and that is still the #1 negative for this college.  She liked everything else about Casper but the distance and that she'd be going on her own.  So her BIG decision has come a lot sooner than she thought.  She is working out with USU Eastern in a couple of weeks so we will see how that goes, but I imagine by Thanksgiving she will have to make a final decision.

Molly is the thrifting queen!  Besides what I bought her for school, a huge chunk of her clothes have been thrifted.  She is a frequent (read: near weekly) shopper of our local thrift store and I know if it's Wednesday and she is not home from school at her normal time, she is probably at the thrift store since Wednesday is the day they release new merchandise.  She has found some really great things!

Molly still works at the train.  She loves it there.  Not every train is her favorite train but she enjoys most of them and is especially excited for Christmas trains to start soon.  Molly calls her boss, Julene, her "work mom" because she just loves Molly and loves to hear all about what is going on in her life.  She worked at the garden in the summer and didn't love it as well as the train so her plan is to stay as long as she can...including working lots more hours in the spring semester when she has big gaps in her class schedule, all summer, and coming back from college during the Christmas season to work trains then as well!  It's been the best high school job with the flexibility to pursue soccer and other things.

Here is how senior year is going, as far as I can tell:  Molly has two harder classes-English and Math.  English is her strongest subject, she really doesn't, nor has she ever, had a problem with anything English-related. But it is a 1050 class so there is a lot of work involved which causes stress when there is a deadline.  She is writing an essay about teaching black history and racism in public schools-I guess it is a hot topic right now-and that will be the big project for the entire semester. Math is another story.  It has always been a tough one for Molly and she has to put in a lot of work to understand the content.  She is hoping to take it in high school and be done with the subject completely for college. She has a great teacher who is willing to help but she is just a proctor for the UVU professor so she helps Molly as much as she can and then Molly has fill in the gaps with help from friends or studying on her own. Molly is hoping she can put more energy into it this second term with soccer being a little less busy.  She is very much looking forward to being done with Math!  Her other classes don't seem to be a problem at all.

Molly has the best group of friends.  She doesn't need big groups to make her happy but prefers hanging out with one or two people, or a smaller group.  Regan and Jackie are who she has been friends with for the longest and they have introduced her to other girls who she likes to spend time with and it's been fun for her to broaden her group.  But she is also okay to just stay home if there are no options or if she doesn't really love the options that are being offered.  I also know she has lots of other friends at school that she likes to see and talk to but doesn't necessarily feel the need to be involved in several different groups.

The biggest thing Molly will not miss from high school is the dating scene.  She hates how it is these days.  Girls and boys "talk" and then that can progress into dating...I'm not sure how it works but she sure wishes it could be a lot simpler: boy likes girl, boy asks girl on date, girl and boy go on date, and so on from there.  She hates all the conjecture and gossip from other people and doesn't like boys who can't just talk to her face.  For example, she had a really good time with Tommy at Homecoming, went on a couple of other dates with him, and maybe could have "liked" him but Tommy kept texting Molly's friend about whether or not Molly liked him and if she would ever want to "make-out but just be friends" and she wishes he could have just talked to her directly.  That puts him in a bad light-he is really nice and Molly had fun hanging out with him-but it's just an example of what it's like in high school these days.  She misses a certain boy she got close to last year and looks forward to reading his missionary emails, especially the ones he sends just to her.

Molly has always been spiritually mature and that remains-the gospel is important to her and she works on her testimony each day.  She surrounds herself with people who have the same values but she's so good at being inclusive to all while not compromising her standards.  As a mom, I really couldn't hope for anything more in this area.

Molly's birthday interview:

Favorite color: dark green

Favorite movie: Wait Until Dark or Knives Out

Favorite breakfast: Huevos Rancheros or French Toast

Favorite dinner: Indian food or Thai food

Best friend(s): Regan and Jackie and Carol

Favorite thing to watch: Gilmore Girls

Favorite scripture/scripture story/Conference talk: the story when Brigham Young got up to talk and everyone saw Joseph

Favorite book: Daisy Jones and the Six

Favorite game: soccer

Other kids think that I am: that I am just chill

What do you like about mom: she's my friend

What do you like about dad: he's also my friend but in a different way than mom

What do you like about Stockton: we laugh together

What do you like about Brynn: Brynn is very confident

What do you like about Ivy: she's very smart

What do you like about yourself: I like how I treat people

What do you want to be when you grow up: I don't know

What do you like to learn about: music

I want to go to: Iceland

If I had one wish it would be: to live in a van

Favorite thing to do: drive around and listen to music and talk to my friends and laugh

Favorite Song: Dancing Queen (ABBA), Gypsy (Fleetwood Mac), All My Love (Noah Kahan), All Too Well 10-Minute Version (Taylor Swift)