Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Let Me tell You About My Sister Kristy....

Today is Kristy my sister’s birthday! Let me tell you a little bit about her….I’ve known her all my life! Of all the siblings Kristy & I are the closest in age-14 months apart to be exact. Also of all my siblings Kristy is the one I’m closest too. All my life it seemed like it was me & Kristy….and then everyone else.

There are 4 years between me & the next sibling. For 4 years it was just me & Kristy so we spent a lot of time together growing up.



When we were growing up all the relatives seemed to have it in their heads that me & Kristy were twins or something. We always got the same things for Christmas & birthdays except in different colors. Anytime Grandmother made us outfits ours were either out of the same fabric or exactly the same. People we are not twins!

When we were really little my sister Kristy couldn’t say my name right. Instead of calling me Meliss-a she called me Baby-sa. She also used to sing that song “Baby Love” (by The Supremes) to me but her lyrics would go…”baby-sa my baby-sa I need you oh I need you..baby-sa my baby-sa.” That song always make me think of her!



My sister Kristy wasn’t always very nice to me when we were growing up & she was forever trying or was succeeding at getting us/me into trouble. Here are just a few examples:

One time we had gotten into some argument & she punched me right in the nose. Nobody will acknowledge that this ever occurred but I distinctly remember laying on the kitchen floor gushing blood out of my nose. You don’t just forget something that traumatic!

In another such argument she decided the best way to resolve things was to pinch me under my eye. Who does that?! Some blood vessels got broken & I had this red mark under my eye for years.



Kristy had a problem with drawing on the walls in our bedroom. My mom told her if she did it again she’d be severely punished. Do you think that stopped her? I say nay-nay. She kept drawing her mural on our wall & then wrote “Melissa did this” next to it. I hadn’t even learned to write yet so obviously mom wasn’t fooled!

One Christmas she woke up in the middle of the night & decided that we should sneak downstairs & get into the chocolates my mom was using to make holiday candies. I told her we shouldn’t but don’t you remember how she punched me in the face & pinched me under my eye!? I had no choice. I had to go along with it. So we snuck downstairs, grabbed some chocolates out of the bag & took them back up to our room. But then we needed more so back downstairs we went. This time my dad heard us rummaging around. we raced back up to our room & pretended to be asleep. “Give me the chocolates.” “We don’t have any” Kristy replied….which might have been convincing if she didn’t have chocolate all around her mouth. I gave mine up immediately! After my dad went back downstairs Kristy lifted up her blankets & revealed a hidden stash of chocolates that we then proceeded to eat. The next day our punishment was that we had to sit there all day & not play or do anything. I had to sit on the bright blue staircase leading up to our room which was completely blocked off from anybody & any other room in the house. There I sat all by myself all day long. Kristy got to sit in this green director’s chair we had in the kitchen….IN THE KITCHEN…with everybody else. She’s the one who masterminded this little plan & I’m the one getting the brunt of it! Those chocolates weren’t even that good.

I could prolly go on & on with these stories but let’s just move on!



The thing about me & my sister Kristy is that as adults we are incapable of getting along if we live in the same state. Weird right?! If we live in different states we’re like BFFs!

A few years ago my sister married this boy Todd. He’s a great time!


She really likes that boy A LOT! I mean yes she loves him but man she just REALLY likes him. Kristy & Todd give me hope for a happy marriage. I see so many of my friends in unhappy marriages & it makes me sad for them & a little scared of ever getting married. I don’t wanna be like that! But then I always hear Kristy say stuff like “if I have free time I want to spend it with Todd. Why would I want to go play with my friend when I can play with Todd?”

My sister Kristy has these 2 kids….Owen & Erin. Aren’t they cute?!

Owen



Erin


Well as cute & adorable & hilarious as they are they are THE most high maintenance children I’ve ever seen. Bless.Their.Hearts. Besides having endless amounts of energy & a 30 second attention span Owen has Juvenile Diabetes which means his blood has to be tested countless times a day & has to be given insulin shots. Also he never stops talking. Ever. He is a riot! Erin has needed to be held almost every second of everyday she’s been on earth. All day. All night. Honestly I don’t know how Kristy does it every day & still finds time to update her blog, make endless amounts of crafty crafts (even she made me a skirt when I was down there last weekend), plan & execute the yearly BHCP (that’s the Betty Hively Christmas Party. Gosh surprised you didn’t know that!), and (this is by far THE most impressive one) get herself ready & her hair done everyday instead of sitting around in mom jeans or sweat pants all day!! Now that’s impressive! And even more impressive how much she LOVES those 2 crazy kids of hers even tho they are SO CRAZY!! I am constantly amazed with all she is able to handle. She is an amazing mother. And she calls me at least twice a week when I’m at work which I absolutely love!

So that's my sister Kristy! I love all my sisters but she is my favorite!

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James




Happy Birthday Kristy! I love you!!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Emancipation Anniversary Celebration!

Can you believe it's been 2 years since I made my big move!? I can't believe it either! Not gonna lie the 2nd year was harder than the 1st. I think I felt it more this 2nd year all the lasting effects it's had on my life....for good & for bad. We won't even get into the bad but 2 of the best things that have happened in this last year are #1 I have been doing some work at the Domestic Violence center here in town & I love it! Which has lead to #2 I decided to go back to school & get a degree in Social Work! Crazy right!? For as hard as it was, had I not gone through what I did I don't think I ever would have gone in this direction so for that I'm grateful. I need for something good to come out of this for me & I think I finally found that something!

I didn't think I could top last year's celebration of running my 5K & then going down to Salt Lake & eating at the cheesecake factory! Please! So i didn't try! This year I got my group together & we had a BBQ. The 1st BBQ of the season! It was great! My dear, Sweet roommate Chalise planned the whole thing. She is so amazing!! For some reason she kept the location a secret from me & no one was allowed to tell me where the BBQ was at. Mostly she did this cuz she knew it would drive me nuts not knowing what was going on. true story-it did!! Matt had just moved to a new little house & he graciously let us have my celebration there. I was so excited to eat my 1st hot dogs of the summer!

Chalise & Matt gettin ready to man the grill



mmmmm burgers & hot dogs! We decided to name Chalise Mrs Lowry after she dumped almost an entire thing of season salt on those burgers!



And even Dain took me for a ride on his motorbike! You know I'm not a daredevil in any respect but I do love a nice motorbike ride!




Sometimes I think of these friends I've made since I moved & I think "what if I had never met you?" If I hadn't made that choice to move I never would have. 2 years ago I made a choice & it was the hardest thing I've ever done in life & they have helped to make that choice worth it!

Me & Matt


Me & Chalise


Anne Kelly


Matt & Chalise


Dain & Chris


Me & Megan


Uhhhh why are there no pictures of Joelyn?!?! She's super important to me!

So here's to another year down. My goal for next year is to not feel the need to observe it!