Holidays and Cell Phones

A rather healthy ego often leads me to resist anything that makes me seem too much like everyone else (in highschool I refused to learn Spanish and opted instead for Japanese. Any bets how long it lasted?). But since coming to school it has become more and more difficult to keep in touch with people at home. Fortunately both my sisters started their own blogs, making it a little easier to stay connected with their lives. So I gave in. I joined the ranks of millions of homo sapiens with blogs. Having done so, I find it necessary to set myself apart by periodically offering a little more about "me". I'll start with my family, where it all began.

Here I am with my beautiful sisters, Eamers (right) and Liz (center), on Liz's wedding day.

Liz is almost three years older than me. She is one of those people you come across who is just "good". She is funny and silly and loves to laugh. Especially at me (I make it easy). She has been married for more than two years and now has a little boy. I look up to her a lot, probably more than she realizes.

Eamers is my younger sister by five years. Liz and I had spent so many years pulling each others' hair that we were really excited when she finally came along. She has got to be one of the coolest people I know. She's easy-going and extremely goofy. If I ever need a good laugh, she's the one I go to. I look up to her, too. She's about three inches taller than me.

This on the right is Dad, standing next to one of his favorite collectibles. That was Liz's first car, which I "helped" him drive home from California. The goofy gene in our family definitely came from him. He likes to make up funny songs and tell jokes. He is very creative and is almost solely responsible for the crazier adventures of my youth.
Here I am with Mom at a special mom and daughter activity at church. If I remember correctly, it was all about health and beauty and in this photo I am actually painting her fingernails bright blue.

My mom is irreplaceable. She fills a role no one else could. She is the glue that holds everything together. I can always look to her if I am ever unsure what I should do. She is steady and strong and beautiful and smart, and I couldn't live without her.
Here we are all together at Christmas two years ago. FYI, the strapping young lad in the front is my brother-in-law, Bill. He is a walking wikipedia. He seems to have collected a giant bank of random knowledge that can come in very handy. We've talked for hours about everything from boys to black holes. He's the brother I never had.

Another interesting note—in the previous photo Liz is about five months away from having this guy:
This is a photo of my nephew, Bobby, that I stole from Liz's blog. He is now almost a year-and-a-half old, and we are all hopelessly in love with him. He is incredibly bright and shows signs of inheriting Liz's facial agility. One of the things I hate most about being so far from my family is not being able to watch him grow up. Every time I see him he has changed.

So that is my family. They are all wonderful and goofy and infuriating and hilarious and loving all at the same time. And I wouldn't have them any other way. I never knew how much I depended on them until I left for school. I'm sure my mother knows. I call her almost every day without a single practical reason for doing so. Sometimes it is just good to hear their voices and know that I didn't imagine them.

Thank goodness for holidays and cell phones.