All right, Sparky. Ear's the deal.

Traveling down from my baby-powdered wheaten hairs you will find my ears. I’ve never been too conscious of what my ears look like, but now as I check them out I see that they’re actually pretty stinkin’ adorable. They’re not too big, but they aren't tiny like Brad’s and Kelsey’s are.

My earlobes are detached (a fact that fascinated me when I first discovered that some people's are attached) and just under two years ago I got them pierced. From the time I was six (when my argument was “but Christina and Mallory have had their ears pierced since they were babies!”) until I was eleven, I always asked my Daddy if I could get them pierced, and he always told me, “Maybe next year. For your birthday.” After my eleventh birthday I gave up. Didn’t really care anymore. (I think that was his intent all along.) Anyway, my sophomore year of college, I decided to defy my parents’ authority and go get my ears pierced. (I am such a rebel, I know.) To this day, earrings are my favorite – and often my only – accessory. And as much as I would love to look grown-up and sophisticated with some pearls or diamonds in my ears, I just can’t stay away from big, bright, bold, bouncy earrings. They make me feel pretty. 

I also love to wiggle my ears up and down for fun. I got ear infections all the time as a kid, though, and ear-wiggling was pretty painful at those times. Even so, that talent, however painful it was at times, helped me get ear drops to the drum even more quickly. Because of all the fluid and consequential bad hearing (and because Mama got sick of my shouting), I got tubes put in my ears when I was ten. My first surgery, and my only one to date. Before that, I never knew just how loud a toilet flush was! It took some getting used to, but I am so grateful for my hearing. I love that with my adorable wiggling ears I can hear beautiful music. Motown. Bluegrass. Folk. And the voices of handsome men. And also baby laughs and flatulent noises that make me giggle and foghorns and wind chimes and high heeled shoes and General Conference talks. And words like “I love you” and “Take it easssyyy.” I love that in the moments where I am closest to the people I love, I can hear their heartbeats. 

My ears are a blessing.