11. your family

dad and i at my best friends house before sr prom

we convinced my dad to be santa this past christmas at work. a few kids were scared of him. it made me giggle.

we'll start this off with my daddy-o. i'm am quite possibly the biggest daddy's girl ever. i still love spending time with my daddy and adore him so much. he's part of why i wanted to get into the medical field, and specifically pharmacy. he's been a pharmacist since before i was born, and has worked in a hospital most of my life. so many nights we would stop by the hospital on the way home from football games, and i'd meet some of the people he worked with. we still go to a lot of KU games and royals and chiefs games together. i love spending time with him. he was at every piano recital, soccer game,  band and choir concert, track meets. he made sure to always be there for us kids. and he still tries to the best he can. he's a hard worker, and a great family man. i'm blessed to be able to call him my dad. 

mom holding claire when she was just a little one month old baby

next we have mom. she's always a hard worker, but always been there for her family. growing up i had a hard relationship with mom. it's way better than it was before, and i come to her more often than i used to. she is a great role model for me to live up to. she is the quiet, crafty, read-y person. she has taught me how to crochet (i can still only make one scarf, but i'm pretty good at making it), and has taught me how to sew. (i'm not good at it and usually avoid it) i'm glad i am able to come to her about things, even though it still hard for me to open up, even to my parents. 

my brother ethan and niece claire on the train in the park for her first bday

claire playing the guitar with daddy

claire and kristen, my sister in law

mom, claire, and ethan

sweet claire playing in the fountains last summer

griffin taking a nap on aunt emily when he was a month old. (and that's his binki, not a drip of any kind)

next is ethan, my oldest brother. he's seven years older than me, and i always wanted to be like him. (i even wanted to be left handed because he is. i still think it'd be cool to be left handed) i still look up to him, even though i never see him. he lives in austin, tx with his wife and kids and i miss them sooo much. i haven't seen them since g-man was a month old (that was may of last year). it's really hard on me to not see them. i am jealous of people who get to see my niece and nephew grow up, and i hate that i haven't seen them in over a year. i'm really hoping i can see them soon. i miss them more than words can express. (it's actually making me cry thinking about it.)

joel and i before graduation in may 2008

next up, and last in the blood family, is my brother joel. remember when i talked about my brother driving me to the color run on three hours of sleep? it was this crazy kid^^ he's another great big brother. he's pretty protective of me, which sometimes can be annoying, but i love it. we don't see each other as much as i would like since he works basically over night and spends the weekends at his girlfriends house. it's weird living with him but easily going a week or more with out seeing him. sometimes i want to ask him to just spend a weekend here and spend time with him. 

christina and i at stone canyon, great pizza place here

this gem of a girl is my best friend christina. i consider her the sister i never had. we claim we were found under a rock together. she has been my best friend for 11 years, and i would not have been able to get through a lot of crap if i didn't have her beside me. (she's great at listening to my crying, babbling stupid issues and not judging me for it) so thankful to have her in my life, and i could easily do a whole post on her and our friendship. stop by her twitter on monday and wish her a happy 22 birthday!! 

she might kill me for putting this on here

so last but not least is felicia, my holland girl and soul sister. we met one semester at college, and had an instant connection. she helped me so much with a lot of stuff, especially when christina was at boot camp and i could cry to her. march was the first time i had seen her in years. and hopefully in a few weeks i can see her again. she's one of the best friends a girl could ask for. even from michigan, she helps me so much and lets me cry to her about anything. i can't wait for june to get here and see her marry her best friend. (and hopefully she's starting a blog soon on healthy living. if she does, i will let you know and you need to go follow her.) 

so that's my immediate family plus two. if you get to know them, it'll explain a lot about me haha.