Kristin

In the spirit of being grateful, I realized today how much I treasure the time I get to spend with my sister.

Kristin and I are 6 years apart. When I was in high school and she was in elementary school, I would have NEVER imagined that we would have the kind of relationship that we do now. She used to annoy the HECK out of me and I would get so frustrated when she interrupted my sleepovers and things. Now, with each year that goes by, our friendship grows stronger and stronger and I am continually amazed at the wonderful bond we have formed.

The reason I chose to write about her today is because we had an absolute BLAST together today. She wanted to go look for an Easter dress, so we headed to the mall to try and find one at Macy's. Between the "rompers" she was trying on to make me laugh, french fry cigarettes, and her creepy deep laugh, she had me literally laughing so hard that I had crocodile tears running down my face. We were only out for about an hour and a half or maybe two hours, but I haven't laughed like that in a LONG time.

What I realized today that I've known for awhile is that Kristin and I are so much alike. We've gotten to the point where we can complete each others' sentences, we sometimes look like twins, and if we call my grandparents' house, they can't tell which one of us they are talking to sometimes. We buy the same clothes, dance the exact same way, part our hair on the same side, and even have some of the same pet peaves (like people clapping off-beat). When I was younger, all of these similarities would NOT have been cool, but now that I'm older and wiser, it just makes me see how incredibly lucky I am to have someone so much like me as my sister and best friend.

I am so grateful for my sister that words can hardly do it justice. She is one of the most hilarious, generous, sweet, and loving people I know. She blesses my life everyday and I don't know what I'd do without her kind words and free spirit. I thank God for giving me a sister that I know I will have a lifelong, one-of-a-kind relationship with. She really does make my life better just by being in it!

And So It Begins......

So, after seeing my friend Raina and my mom's blogs, I decided to start my own. I wasn't sure what exactly I would write about or why anyone would want to read this, but then it came to me! What a great outlet this could be for me to stay positive and keep a record of what I'm thinking throughout the year.

I was originally going to have this blog be dedicated to the "trials & tribulations" of teaching, writing about the crazy, comical, and sometimes frustrating things my kids say to me at school everyday. However, I began to realize that this might have become a dumping ground for my sometimes negative thoughts about "kids these days."

The conclusion I've now come to is that this blog is going to be a source of positive thinking and writing for me. I'm going to dedicate each month to a certain theme or idea and every post I make that month will relate to the same topic.

The first theme is for the month of April and I'm going to call it "Grateful April". This month, I'm going to make each post about a different person in my life that I am grateful for. Luckily, I am truly blessed and I have LOTS of amazing people that I'm looking forward to writing about!