The Best Birthday Present!

My little sis knew I had a bit of a crappy birthday, so she posted this birthday ode to me on her blog. It was definately my best present, so I decided to put it on mine. Thanks sis!


Happy Birthday Ashley!

Ok, so this post is over a week late, but I just wanted to give a shout out to the best sister in the entire world!!!! It was my sister Ashley's birthday on January 2nd, and she turned 29. We haven't always gotten along great (we were the only daughters in the family and five years apart... what do you expect?), but now she is one of my very best friends, and I am so excited that we can hang out together now that I am back in AZ. Here are 29 of the things I love most about her...

1. She always made sure I looked my best when I was little... she always wanted to do my hair (of course I rarely let her) and she even let me chop it to ears length (even though she had specific instructions to only let me have a trim at the mall) when I was about 8... nice, but bad idea.
2. She loves me even though 2 or 3 of her many black eyes from childhood were my fault.
3. She’s smart, reads SO fast, and can kick my booty in jeoparty.
4. She can go off drinking soda for months at a time... I have tried- it is impossible.
5. I love her thick, black hair (especially when it is super long)- she could be a hair model.
6. She’s loyal and she will always be there for her friends.
7. She is always encouraging me to try new things... like when I was little and she encouraged me to take a lick of the hand lotion because it smelled so much like cream puffs... it didn't taste like it.
8. She always let me borrow her clothes, even when she didn’t know it :)
9. She didn't yell at me too loud when I would spy on her and her dates... how could she, my parents might have heard and then asked me about it.
10. She made Jaxon and works so hard to be a great mom.
11. She introduced me to Brandt... and almost ruined any chance I had with him by bragging about test scores... how embarrassing!
12. She would wear matching vests with me and let me play 4 square with her friends in elementary school.
13. She is one of the most well spoken people I know... this is a big deal to me since I feel like a dud most of the time when I open my mouth.
14. She is one of the only people I would want to drive across Germany with for 3 days straight sharing one bench of a utility van. But next time I would prefer her not to have a bladder problem and have to stop for the bathroom every 20 minutes.
15. She is VERY QUICKLY becomeing an excellent photographer... you should see some of her stuff!
16. She is probably the most creative person I know.
17. She wore a bright pink dress to my wedding without argument because thats what I wanted.
18. She is funny and tells great stories.
19. She tried out for who wants to be a millionaire with me... we both still want to be millionaires!
20. She's ambidextrous
21. I can still remember when I was about 3 and I would refuse to go to bed unless I got to lay by her for a few minutes first- she let me.
22. She tells a great joke about Jackie Chan and Burger King... you should ask her about it... but not in public.
23. She can laugh about almost getting eaten alive by a giant german shephard on Christmas Eve.
24. She is not embarrassed to tell a lady that her four year old daughter has a nastily stinky diaper at the play area at the mall... we had to leave because I was about to throw up, and the girl kept running past us.
25. She does not hold it agains't me that I asked her boyfriend (now husband) if he would play with my hair when they were dating.
26. She let me rip hairs out of her big toe with tweezers after just putting ice on it (for any of you who don't know... do not put ice somewhere you are about to tweeze... it closes pores and hair folicles). I think she actually cried.
27. I learned how to flirt from the best (her)... I have pictures of her sitting on Brandt's lap hugging him, and of just their feet hanging out of a toilet stall from the day before I met him.
28. She is a good listener and a very good communicator.
29. She is a wonderful example to me of service, an excellent YW president, and I couldn't as for a better sister!
Happy Birthday, Sis.
We took this picture together... yesterday...