Sister Acts

Today is my sister's birthday. She's nearly two years younger than me, but I feel like I glean more wisdom and inspiration from her than the other way around. As I reflected this morning on how thankful I am to have her in my life, I thought about some of the things I've learned from her:

* Be yourself. Like what you like, and don't let anyone stop you.

* If something bothers you, do something about it.

* Love animals.

* Work hard and passionately at what you want.

* Be good to your friends.

* Allow yourself to change -- and to change your mind.

* Throw in a little mischief. And lots of laughter.

* Care deeply.

* Surprise yourself with how big you can love and how much you can do.

Happy birthday, sista!

Photo by my dad.

An Arrival

This morning my sister gave birth to her first baby, the adorable, perfect, don't-know-how-we-ever-lived-without-him Evan. My heart is so full of love for him and happiness for my sister and her husband. What a truly wonderful day.

Photo by me.

Thankful Thursday

Growing up, my sister and I bickered a lot. We were just a year apart in school, so we were quite competitive with one another.

One of the greatest blessings in my life is that this has completely changed as we've grown up.

My sister is now one of my very best friends. We are opposites in many ways (although we share the same laugh) but she understands me better than possibly anyone on earth -- and she still loves me nevertheless. You really can’t ask for more than that. And you know how when you see or hear something and have to tell the one person who would appreciate it because no one else would really get it? Well, she's usually that person for me.

Since she’s the younger sister, I’m afraid she doesn’t know how much I look up to her and how much I learn from her. I’ll have to make sure she knows because I can’t imagine life without her in it.

Photo by my mom.