happy birthday, allie!

Today is my dear sister, Allie's, birthday. Yes, we were born two years and a day apart. Growing up, our mom always made sure we had separate parties, presents and cakes (vanilla for Allie, chocolate for me) just to make sure we each felt special. And even though she still makes the same sweet effort today, there's nobody I'd rather share my birthday with than with Allie. :)

Allie, you're truly one of a kind. As my older sister, you are innately "cooler". So many times I wanted to do things because you did them: ballet class with Dawn, jazz class with Krissy, hang in the cul-de-sac with the older neighbors, have a million friends (girls and boys), take A.P. Psych from Shauna Kay and Honors U.S History from Mr. Loose, go to BYU, get married in the temple, have kids ... the list goes on.

But the thing is, not only did I want to do these things to be cool, but i knew that if you did them they were something worth doing. To this day, I still consider dance a part of who I am and occasionally make up a routine or two. And to be honest, having kids still scares me to death, but seeing you with Mark makes me realize that it is so worth it.

So thank you for being such an amazing example. Thank you for blazing the trail before me. Thank you for letting me tag along with you. Thank you for letting me sleep on your couch. Thank you for listening to all my problems. Thank you for being an excellent example of optimism and faith. Thank you for being the best older sister a girl could ask for.

I love you! Happy birthday!