for my sister, on her birthday.

my sister has been, without a doubt, one of the most influential people in my life. to quote my good friend jane completely out of context, "it is a truth universally acknowleged" that growing up with an older sister has a profound effect on a girl. 

i'll start from the beginning. our history is kind of funny. kerri was the model baby. not only was she born with good hair and a mild temper, she was literally a baby model. at age 2, i think. and as i imagine it, she basked in all her 4 and 1/2 years of only-child glory. 

enter: me. now, i don't really remember the early years, but as I'm told, Kerri was highly disappointed with my arrival. always good-natured, she liked the thought of my coming, but later complained that all i did was "poop and cry." 

i can't blame her. she was the first child, and the first grandchild - an experience that could only reinforce that to someone so young and influencial that she is, in fact, the shiz. then, with no one consulting her first, comes a crying, screaming, demanding baby. 

i'm afraid the following years didn't improve the situation much. i think it was at the age of 3 when i realized that i liked the spotlight. and that i caused a lot of trouble. and that i wanted to be just like paula abdul. and that i liked to make my sister make up dances to amy grant songs and teach them to me. 

i have no excuses. 

but she soon learned, and it wasn't long before she was saying, "hey, crawl through this gutter and we'll be right behind you!" only for me to look back and see no one. 

but enough about that. what i really wanted to say was thanks - to my sister, that is - for putting up with me for all those years.  thank you, for so may things: 

thank you for feathering by bangs everyday for kindergarten. who knows how i would have turned out without some decent feathered bangs. 

thanks for pushing play on the tape player all those times i demanded the family to watch me perform. and thanks for choosing quality music including wilson philips and ace of base. 

thanks for setting a fashion example by shopping at gap from the age of 12. 

thanks for keeping your room clean because it was easier for mom and dad to deal with just 1 completely out-of-control bedroom. 

thanks for getting your own phone line when you were 15, and letting me use it when I was 11. because we know i needed it.  

thanks for helping me set up my first email and IM account. I owe my middle school social life to you. 

thanks for letting me rollerblade with you and your friends when you were in high school and i was just an 8th grader. that must have been annoying. 

thanks for always supporting and loving me, no matter what kind of shananigans i was into. 

thanks for always bringing some perspective and making me laugh, when my type-a perfectionism got the best of me.  

thank you, most of all, for loving and following christ with your whole heart, and showing me how to do the same. you are the best sister. 

all of this to say... 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! last year of your twenties! woooooo!

"children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply."

-jane austen, mansfield park