Happy Birthday K'Ann!!

My 'little' sister, K'Ann, turns 21 tomorrow (if you are reading this on 9/30) or today (if you are reading this on 10/1).

This makes me feel extremely old for some reason. There is no way she should be a junior in college.

So, in honor of this big day I decided that I would share with my little world 21 reasons I love my sister. (And, yes, I got her a real gift. This is not a cheap way out.)

These are in no particular order.

1. She has a huge heart and a true compassion for others.
   
2. She finally realized the greatness that is Kings of Leon. And I quote, "Katie, I am obsessed. I have been listening to the new album, like, non-stop."
3. She reminds me of a lot of my favorite things about our mom, and I'm glad that those personality traits, ideals and talents will live on in her.
4. She pretty much kicked her portfolio's butt.
1. This is the thing you have to do to make it to your junior year as an Interior Design major. Yeah, she made a perfect score or something like that.
5. 21 years ago today she was almost swapped at birth.
   
• The nurse brought another baby in for my parents to meet. My dad was innocently playing with the other baby while my mom was yelling at the nurse about it not being hers. Turns out, it was a little girl who actually had a twin(her bracelet had gotten swapped with K'Ann's) and turned out to have blonde hair and blue eyes later on in life. I wonder how long it would have taken for us to figure it out?
6. She is a voracious reader and always has been.
   
7. She can sleep. Anywhere, anytime. I once saw her sleep for 16 hours straight without even getting up to go to the bathroom.
8. There is nothing that excites me more than spending a day with her just shopping, talking and catching up.
• Sidenote: She is one of the only people who will go shopping with me and put up with my indecisiveness.
  
9. When I was in third grade and she was in pre-school, our cat died. She put her little arms around me and told me, "Everything has to die, Katie. We loved Patches and that was all we could do." Then she let me cry on her shoulder.
10. She once wore Vans that had little neon hearts on them.
11. She has the one and only M&M cookies recipe committed to memory and can bake the heck out of them.
    
12. She once sent/received over 10,000 texts in a month. Need I say more?
13. She is the complete opposite of me in a lot of ways. I think we both need that balance.
14. She has a great flair for the dramatic. She once woke our whole house up in the middle of the night claiming she had fallen in the hallway and 'broken her hip.'
15. We are going to make millions one day with her pillow and purse designs and my business sense.
16. She pulls off outfits I could only dream of wearing and looking cute in.
17. She is an excellent and all-around creative soul.
18. She has put up with my bossiness all her years, not always quietly, but she has accepted it as an oldest child trait.
19. She continues the Bulldog tradition--cowbell and all.
20. She is steady.
• i.e. When I am freaking out and worried about something, she puts it all in perspective and calms me down.
21. She is all a girl could ask for in a sister, and I know we will be best friends for life.

I love you K'Ann! Happy 21st Birthday!

Only By The Night released today

The Kings of Leon fourth album released today--go buy it. That is all.

text messaging fools

Can I just say that if someone, somewhere in the world paid me, my sister and my dear old Dad to text, our bank accounts could simply look like this $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ with lots of zeros.

My sister and I have done enough damage for a lifetime. We've been texting since it was invented and unlimited text messaging seriously changed our lives. For a while our bill was on 'full detail' which means that every call and text message was documented. One month, our cell phone bill came in a box because there were so many pieces of paper. That same month, my sister sent and received over 10,000 text messages or roughly 322 a day.

Well, about a month ago my dad decided it was time for him to get in on the texting action. Not only because me and my sister are pros and it is a good way for him to communicate with us quickly and efficiently, but because the greater percentage of his 40+ aged friends all text too. Well, let me tell you, he is loving it! Im not quite sure how he accomplishes texting on his tiny phone with his big thumbs, but he is getting quite proficient.

I've heard parents talk about those times when they were full of pride for something their child accomplished. I'm pretty sure that's how I feel about this. Not only because it's technology, but because he just decided it was something he wanted to do to make his life easier and better, and after a couple of phone calls with my sister for instructions he dove right in and hasn't looked back.

Now, if we can just get our grandparents in on the action, we will be three generation of texters. Surely, AT&T would want to give us our own commercial or free iphones or something.

29th OIympiad

I freaking love the Olympics.

I am obsessed, absolutely obsessed.

I've waited for months and not to mention it is a great break from stupid summer shows and a great buffer before college football starts. (There will be a 6 day lull, but maybe we'll survive)

If I could come up with a way to place a ticker on the outside of my cube with the medal count constantly being updated--I would. I have it bookmarked on my phone, so that i'm never out of the know.

The main thing I love about the Olympics is that you get to cheer for your country in sports you never you knew you cared about it. I never thought that I would care about men's gymnastics, but those guys are pretty awesome. Of course, the 4x100 men's relay will live in infamy. What else can you say but GO USA!

So for now, I'm off now to settle in for men's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and of course a little of this guy: