my little "big" sister

many of you know my sister, kjrsten. Only 19 months my junior. as children we were enemies. oh, how i loved to torture her with feet fights. but even worse than the bruises i left on her shins, were (no doubt) the bruises i left on her pride in junior high when i caught her at school in my clothes. (the horror!) the daggers i gave her in the hallways said it all. lucky for me, she forgave me. and was still willing and waiting to be my friend when we reached high school. my junior year in high school it was obvious i was in need of a REAL and TRUSTED friend. and who better to trust than family? she's my BEST and will forever be. (aw shoot)

yes, i mentioned i am the older sister. sure, she was the first to get married and have children. and while i was off galivanting in salt lake city she was spending precious moments with her husband and daughter in monterey....and growing up. actually, she started taking care of me when we went to russia in 1997. while there, she was always better with her time and her money. sure, i spent more time with pete (her husband) hanging out in the metro, walking the streets of moscow, and (even) visiting a club. she was studying to get college credit, preparing her lessons for the next day and just being more responsible. AND she managed to actually lose weight in the country of sunflower oil and potatoes while i gained 35 pounds!

it's all too funny, since in high school i was the one who played sports, got really good grades, did all that crap that got me into a really good college...only to go to russia, decide that i hated my college and just wanted to relax and take life (A LOT) less seriously. kjrsten spent high school having fun and not worrying about taking life seriously... now kjrst...she's the one who got serious in college. and obviously, had it figured out THE WHOLE TIME. because when is it more important to take life seriously? exactly.


why do i bring this up? well, i find it noteworthy that she takes such good care of me? she is always the one taking care of me these days.


let me count the ways:

1. she makes sure i'm still cool by making me new cd's. without her i might still be listening to babyface. just today she sent me an email with a good new song to add to my itunes. she took me to a highly touted concert in PDX a few weeks ago. maybe you have heard of the band? THE RACONTEURS. oh, you have? hmmm...it was so awesome i couldn't even see straight the next day. thanks sis!

2. she is "journalling" my life for me. whenever we are together takes the most amazing pictures! i often forget my camera...and it's a good thing, because my pictures never compare to hers. check out this pic she snapped of my boy.

oh, and this one she just "snapped" of her girls at the Columbia
3. she loves my babies...soooo much! she is sure to pick up a really cute "find" for the boy whenever she's out because she knows how hard it is to find the really great boy stuff. and let's be honest, she loves my chubby boy!
4. she comes to see me. okay, sure, i live .4 miles from my mom's house. but i firmly believe part of the reason she visits 1-2 times a month is to see ME, mostly. partly. she took this picture a couple of weeks ago at Stella's birthday party at Old McDebbies Farm. Now, she could have had Stell's birthday party in Gresham, but instead, she chose to have it up here with all of us. 5. she calls me. a lot. for little reasons.


6. she inspired me to start running. she ran a half marathon in 2003. she talked me into training for one in 2006. and she even joined me at the race without training. oh, and she beat me...without training. ha!

and finally,

7. she tells people i'm the prettier sister. even though i know SHE is. it's sweet for her to say it.

see what i mean?


and by the way, i stole all of these picture from her blog ...so check it out and you'll see what i mean.