The Weasel

16 years ago today i got a baby sister. 

So today i was trying to find one cute picture of us. ended up with 68.

so here's every one of them. deal with it, because hilarious and we're adorable.

I think i always knew she'd be prettier than me one day, so i tried really hard early on to upstage her in everything we did. just to live it up while i could.

excuse my eyebrow scar...(thanks Katrina! hahaha)

She did everything i told her to until she was about five. then she got smart and grew a brain. and stopped mindlessly obeying me.

the chub was real.

because we  were the two baby girls after three rowdy boys, we ALWAYS matched. it drove me nuts. 

Creating silly plays and making movies has always been our thing. "Saga Shoes" is the name.

here began two things:

1) the name weasel. as a family, we had cheese rations. mostly because me and Jonathan (mostly Jonathan...) were cheese monsters and grated quite literally seven pounds of cheese onto everything we ate. So the time came when my mom bought two blocks of cheese, cut it up into ten peices and we had to ration our cheese. One day it became my job to write everyone's name on a baggie and carefully put their assigned cheese into the baggie. I did. and when it got to Jenae i wrote weasel instead. it stuck.

2) i started smiling with my mouth closed. because my teeth were crazy. second grade was rough, okay?

This picture was taken briefly after i bit Jenae on the top of the head while our family was taking a height order picture. the hilarity HAD to be included. the guilt on my face is priceless.

closed lips while little sister got the attention. hahaha welcome to years 9 through 11 of my life.

When we're together, we're fearless, invincible, and stupid. mostly stupid.

    

lookie lookie, got my confidence back. Hey orthodontist, nice to meet you.

 

 matching hair cuts matching hair cuts

Just don't ask, alright?

and then all of a sudden, BLAM. she's huge. and so am i. and who do we think we are being all cute and girly? what is this, middle school?

and thus began the stage in my life where every time Jenae spoke, i wanted to kill her. well really it started in like sixth grade. I thought i was WAY too cool for her. 

 we only got along when there were cameras around...

But just for the record, this stalemate was me. she was always trying to be friends. I was just the stubborn, PMSing, hormone crazed ttenage sister who thought she was too good for barbies and stuff.

And then once i realized that my life could go on without a boy liking me, I came back to the light side of the moon. And slowly we came back together. Not that we were ever too far apart...

By the time my senior year came around, we were full blown, actual, real, legitimate friends.

I think that's what driving each other around town with music blasting does to siblings. 

Jenae is literally always there. like a good sister. cause she is one. always has been.

She humbles me, and keeps me in line. and when i feel like my actions don't matter to anyone, i remember that even when i'm not looking at her, she's looking to me.

And if knowing that a younger soul is watching and copying you doesn't scare you into changing for the better, i don't know what will.

I love her for adopting my ghetto vernacular and attempting to sign to me in very broken ASL. (not like mine is much better, let's be real.) I love her for not judging me. even though she's seen me in my lowest of times.

I love her for loving me. regardless of all the mistakes she knows i've made. regardless of the idiots i date or the people i let stomp all over me. Jenae knows that i deserve respect. and she always lets me know when i'm not getting enough of it from people. if that makes sense.

I lover her for embracing my weirdness. and joining right along with it. 

I love her for sharing in my love for strange clothes and crazy hairstyles like the kymmber bun.

I love her for copying me in my music and TV choices, even though sometimes it drives me insane. at least she knows how to recognize someone with good taste ;)

I love her for still letting me talk her into stupid things. because isn't that what little sisters were meant for?

I love her for learning from my mistakes. she is just like me, but the better, more mature and blonder version.

I love her for loving yellow and orange and blue, because those are my least favorite colors and that way, we never have to wonder whose stuff is whose. mine is purple and hers is yellow. almost always.

I love her sense of humor. I love that she's okay with being the butt of all the jokes. I love her for tolerating my obsession with pictures and blogging and in-your-face interrogations. 

"Jenae, do you have a boyfriend?"

"no."

"are you lying?"

"no."

"good, because dating boys in high school is stupid and a waste of time!"

"I know."

"very good, weasel."

I love her blonde hair and blue eyes and man laugh. I love that she loves FFA and sports. I love her ambition and her spunk. She's a sassy one. I envy her talent. she's literally good at what ever thing she chooses to do. If she wants something, she always gets it. which is kind of scary. ha. But also admirable. 

I love that she and i are completely separate and different but so similar and complementary.

She is beautiful and smart and hilarious.

and did i mention that she's sixteen? because she is. and i cannot, in any way shape or form, wrap my head around that.

Happy birthday, weasel. I love you!

p.s. boys....I know you want this babe, but SHE'S NEVER ALLOWED TO DATE. EVER. OKAY?!