National Sibling Day

Hello Friends!  Long time no see. If I were here to apologize I would be offering you all kinds of excuses such as nursing school, work, nursing school, dogs, nursing school, husband, nursing school, and (of course) Dancing with the Stars.  But I don't need to apologize, so I won't.  Thank you for understanding.

The real reason I have gathered you here today is that apparently, it is National Sibling Day.  I don't know if that's true or not, but if social media can be trusted, it absolutely is.  And social media can always be trusted, amIright?

I figured I would take this opportunity to give a bit of a shout-out to my sibs.

Ah! Here's the whole family, the last time we were all together, which was in July.  Allow me to introduce you (left to right): Dad, Mom, Kelly (the oldest), Sven (the youngest), Kevan (Mandy's husband), Mandy (younger than me), me, and Tim (I think we've about covered that topic... for more info see BTTJDNMA)

This one time when I was in college, I came up with a little thing that I thought described the many personalities in our family at that time. I was assessing each of our views on (what I call) "stupid people."  Since I know stupid can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, in this case we are mostly referring to intelligence, or book knowledge. Here is what I feel each of us would say about stupid people.

Dad (to any of us kids): There are stupid people in this world, but you are not stupid.
Mom: Nobody is stupid.
Kelly: No one's really stupid, they just need to work harder. Push through the stupidity, and you will find out you're not really stupid.
Me: I don't care if you're stupid.
Mandy: I'm stupid.
Sven: Everybody's stupid.

It's kind of funny to look back on this and see how we have grown and some of us have changed our tune on the topic.  I won't say who...

I have noticed that our world tries so hard to reject labels, yet loves labeling people.  I, for one, LOVE to label people.  For better or for worse.  Let me apply some labels to my siblings for you...

KELLY

Kelly is The Driven One, The Sentimental One, The Extroverted One, The One Who Moved to Albuquerque, The One Who Travels The World, The One Who Gets So Absorbed In A Book That It Interferes With Her Daily Functioning, The One Who Likes Fancy Food and Fancy Places, The One Who Likes To Get Dressed Up, The One Who Likes to Do ALL The Things, The One Who Loves to Be With The Whole Family, The Energetic One, and the Civil Engineer. To me, she is The One I Was 18 Months Behind, and The High Achiever In Everything That I Always Had to Follow, and The One Who Took Her Slow To Warm Up Sister Under Her Wing. I love her for it, and I'm super-proud of her.

MANDY

Mandy is the Always Surprising Herself (but no one else) With How Well She Does One, The Least Sentimental One, The (sometimes) Overdramatic On Purpose One, the Active Imagination One, the One Who Likes To Sleep, The Tall One, The One Who Got Married and Moved to Denver, The One With The Dimples, The One Who Almost Died When She Was A Toddler So Mom & Dad Coddled Her So We Accuse Her of Being The Favorite One. Mandy thought she had no future and was convinced she would spontaneously combust when she graduated from college.  Also, she and I were really good at playing Barbies together. When we get together, we laugh. I love her and I'm super-proud of her.

SVEN

Sven is The Brother. He is The Baby.  He is The One Who Marches To The Beat Of A Different Drummer.  He is the Laid Back One (if there is such a thing in our family). He is The Procrastinator, and he is The One Who Didn't Go To Taylor.  He also could currently be accused of being The One With the Coolest Job (but we're not sure, cause it's kinda top-secret).  Sven is The Charmer and The Entertainer. He is The Storyteller, and he has been known to be The Thoughtful Gift Giver.  He is also The One Who Gives The Toast when such occasions arise. He is The One Who Will Call Me At 10 pm Because He's Making Butternut Squash Soup for His Office and Wants to Know What I Know About Cooking With Leeks. Sven and I argue about which of us is the better piano player (we each insist it is the other), and maybe we've each been accused of "not working up to our potential"... at least in our high school years.  Again, with the love and pride.


The four of us are four opposites, and I love it.  We drive each other crazy, but we love each other like crazy too.  I can't wait to get an updated sibling picture in May.  I love you guys!