Happy Birthday, Sister!

Today is my sister's birthday!  I'm lucky to say that we are very close. Of course, that hasn't always been the case. And as sisters do, we've had our ups and downs. But for the most part, especially as we've gotten older, we have been very close. To celebrate her birthday, I thought it would be fun to share 25 random facts about my sister and I. These random facts range from our childhood all the way up to now!

1. Her nickname for me is Pookie.
2. When we were little, my sister used to put me in a dirty clothes hamper, tie a belt to it, and pull me down the stairs. I thought this was a fun game at the time, looking back, I'm not so sure...
3. When we were little, we used to play a flashlight game in bed when we were supposed to be sleeping. We would take turns writing messages on the ceiling with the flashlight, and have to guess what the other person wrote.
4. Originally, we shared a room growing up. But, after an addition to our house, we got to have our own rooms. However, I would wake up in the morning to find that my sister had come down and gotten into bed with me in the middle of the night. This lasted until she went to high school. 
5. Then, when I wanted to go up and sleep in her room, she made me sleep on the floor.
6. We would listed to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, "It's Your Love" on repeat as we fell asleep.
7. She doesn't like chocolate.
8. One of my favorite memories with my sister is one summer driving home from Tuolumne Meadows in her little white Toyota Corolla SR5 blasting the Bryan Adams Summer of '69 album on repeat! 
   
9. My sister threw my 15th birthday party at her apartment...let's just say my girlfriends and I still talk about it! So much fun! The next day she treated us all to the movies & breakfast. I still can't believe she did that, so generous! (She was only 19 at the time).
10. One time my Dad took my sister and I to Yosemite, just a father-daughter trip. He was most likely telling us about John Muir or something equally as boring to his two young daughters, and we coined the phrase "ditch the do-do." I still feel a little bad about that, thankfully our Dad has a sense of humor. 
11. My sister's high school boyfriend called me snowball.
12. "Everyone knows I hate Carls Jr.!" - a phrase we still tease my sister about to this day!
13. A few years ago, my sister, brother in law and I went to a Brad Paisley concert with our cousins and family friends. At the last minute, we decided to get a limo so no one had to be the designated driver.It ended up being one of the most fun & memorable concerts I've ever been to! 
    
14. My sister is the one who taught me how to ride a quad. 
15. After my college graduation party, my sister and cousins left to go home because my sister had to work the next day. A few minutes after they left we heard a knock at the door. They were back! She had convinced a friend to come pick them up at 6am the next day to get to work. We went out that night and had the best time ever! And now we can say we've ridden in the back of a cop car...
16. We graduated from different high schools.
17. We used to spend hours and hours scrapbooking together. 
18. My sister, brother in law and I went to Disneyland one weekend. We left at 4am on Friday and were in the park by 11am. It was such a fun weekend, I can't wait to take Phillip in a couple years! 
    
19. We trained for, and ran our first half marathon together in 2010. I couldn't have done it without her! 
20. Although I love my sister, she has really bad taste in professional sports teams. 
21. I threw my sister's bachelorette party in Reno, it was the perfect weekend. We had a blast! 
    
22. My sister got married on the beach in Maui on January 1, 2011. We spent the week leading up to the wedding in Maui with our closest family and friends. It was amazing! 
    
23. We lived together for about 3 years after I graduated from college. We rented a cute little house on a farm, and then I moved in with her and my brother in law again for a year before moving into my own apartment.
24. When we lived together, we'd lay on the floor and have NCIS marathons on weekends. 
25. We've gotten even closer in the past year since Phillip was born. She is an amazing Mom to my little nephew! 
    

A few more pictures, just for fun...

so many fun days spent out on the boat! 

Sisters' bridal shower!

Go Bears!

Happy Birthday, Sister! I love you! I hope you have the best birthday ever!