Due to a certain sister of mine's 22nd birthday (my favorite number!) I decided to write my favorite 22 things about my sister and reasons why I love her. I know I do not deserve such a sister, but the 19 years I have had with this sister have been the absolute best. I owe her so much.
1. I love how much she loves math. Sometimes I am just sitting there thinking to myself how lame my life is and she will come in wearing something math-y (for example pi earrings, i love math t-shirt, etc.) and is as excited for that particular item as I am for lets say.. an A on a test or a new song on my iPod or an iPod itself. I mean, she gets real excited! It makes me realize that I have nothing that I am very passionate about. She's going to be a brilliant math teacher for that reason exactly. Math is her life, she is so passionate about it, and she is so talented and good at what she does. She puts the rest of us to shame.
2. Her smile! Natalie has one of the most real smiles ever- pictures or in person. This kid can smile. I love how in every picture of her she just looks gorgeous. It helps that she has that killer smile that is like "well hello boysss look at me!" Its almost as if she knows some boy is going to be looking at her picture in the future and she wants to look GOOD. Actually, I think i've figured it out. She knows mom will show all these pictures of her from childhood on, at her wedding reception, and she wants to be careful. No one wants a picture of them with a half crooked smile with pizza and spaghetti in their teeth and all over their mouth at age 13 on an 11 x 13 photograph on the wall. I mean, how ridiculous would that be? Summary- love the smile.
3. Natalie has a musical gift you may (or may not) know about. First of all, Natalie played the flute in (I think) middle school. She was brilliant and played it beautifully. That romance didn't last very long and the two lovers soon broke up. Natalie discovered her new love- singing and dancing. Natalie was in some show choirs and standing choirs in high school and made the most elite groups in our school. Despite the fact that I secretly think I am way better (okay... well thats not so secret anymore..) at singing, she obviously won over the hearts of our choir department making Madrigals and Personality. She has one of those pure/good voices. The ones you don't vomit from their ridiculous vibrato that seriously makes you shake your head going "Really?! really?" I mean, who teaches them that crap? No one really sings that terribly unless someone convinces them that the way they sing isn't good enough. Natalie Marie is lucky enough not to have been corrupted. I thank my mother and father for that.
4. Work ethic. I respect and am kind of jealous of her work ethic. I mean, she's a smart girl, but its because she worked hard, and I mean like really hard, that she did so well in high school and college. She now has graduated both with what, a 3.9! I mean, I fail in comparison. I don't think people realize how hard she had to work to be so successful. School and life hasn't always been easy for her, but she persevered and worked hard and BAM! After all those hard years, it paid off and I am for sure proud of her.
5. I think of Natalie as my best friend these days. Natalie is too good to me. I love the child. If you want a loyal and dedicated friend who won't betray you and will always be there for you... She's the gal you want. You just better treat her right, or my fist goes into your face! Seriously, if you break her heart (as a boy or just as a friend) I will beat you.
6. How cute, cute, cute! Especially now that she has all her cute teacher clothes. I don't know how she does it, but every time she goes to the store, she comes back with another fantastic article of clothing. And she looks super cute in them :)
7. I love my sister because she sacrifices her time to spend time with me. When I am being all depressing and lonely in my apartment, she will bring things she needs to work on or cook and she sits with me and keeps me company while we sit and eat snacks. Its my favorite past time.
8. I love that she talks fast. One of the reasons I like it so much is because of the fact that I talk even faster than she does and she is one of the only people that talks just as fast as I do, can understand me, and that I can understand. Its fantastic because everyone else just stares at me blankly as I talk, especially when I am teaching a lesson, because they miss 90% of what I say.
9. She has this theory I love- that in heaven before we came down here, we all waited in line for talents. If you want to hear more of this theory just ask and we'll explain it to ya. But anyhow- natalie happens to have some of the best talents EVER!
10. Talent- organizing refrigerators. She is the best at it, seriously. You don't think its a talent? Well wait until everything is so full that you have to duct tape the doors close- and then try to put a gallon of ice cream or a bag of frozen fruit into that freezer, or a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk into the fridge. Yeah... not so easy now is it? This child needs 5 minutes and its all in there with room to spare.
11. I have never seen such a lotion applyer as Natalie, and I love that about her. I love how she has a particular lotion that she uses- the Vaseline Intensive Care Total Moisture. I love how faithfully she applies it. Its actually pretty smart because while I am complaining about how dry and cracky my hands are, she is sitting there all moisturized and its like she's laughing in her head at my poor hands.
12. She is a fantastic cook! She takes all sorts of recipes with foods she's always assumed she hated, and makes these dishes that even the picky-eater-me can't resist. My favorite is her home made tomato pizza- it is kind of different, and yet, it is so so delicious. Its one of those foods you can't help but keep eating. Ask her for her favorite recipes and I'm sure she'd be glad to share because they are so delicious and she makes them the best!
13. Natalie is really quite funny. Her humor never ceases to amaze me. We'll be sitting there doing something completely random and all the sudden she'll say or do something utterly hilarious (or just random) or even just make a funny face and then for the next half an hour we'll just sit there and crack up. (Which brings us to #14...)
14. Maybe my favorite thing about Natalie is how we will randomly break into laughter. You may know it as "the giggles". Well Natalie is the QUEEN of the giggles. Whether it be watching tv, hanging out, doing work, sitting in church... you name it, we've gotten the giggles there. And when we get the giggles, we get the giggles! Most commonly we'll each open an eye during a prayer and look at each other and LOSE it! :D
15. Natalie is a GREAT sister. All the time she'll be over at my apartment hanging out with me and Molly will call needing help with homework. Natalie will sit on the phone with her until she's answered all her questions. Natalie is the sweetest most patient sister ever. And Molly and I couldn't ask for a better sister!
16. Easy to talk to. If I am having a rough time, when push comes to shove- Natalie is always there to talk to. And she doesn't make you feel uncomfortable when you talk with her, she just helps you understand things and helps you feel better.
17. Never gets really mad. I admire this quality so much because when things get heated during family events or during any situation, she's usually the clear headed one who sets things straight, sees everyone's point of views, and calms people down. She is the best at calming people down when they feel they were gypped or treated unfairly.
18. Natalie always thinks of others first. She always is taking care of others even when she has every right to think of herself. Even today on her birthday she was volunteering to help with all sorts of chores around the house when others were tired of working, even though she didn't need to help out.
19. She's helpful, compassionate, and definitely service oriented. She spends time even when she is way way busy or stressed to help others. Today the family went out and shoveled driveways of elderly and needy people and Natalie was right out there being such a good sport in completely broken snow boots shoveling tons of heavy snow. And thats not a rare thing... thats Natalie in a nut shell. Seriously, the whole ripped apart snow boots and still shoveling thing = Natalie.
20. Natalie is really adaptable. When plans have to change, she is always willing to negotiate and change her plans and be adaptable. She doesn't realize how nice it is to have someone who is willing to be adaptable. Sometimes its people like her that make all the difference in an overwhelming or stressful situation.
21. She's a go-getter. When she decides to do something or decides something needs to get done, she's out there doing it. Whether its service, school, work, or things with the family, she is always determined to work hard and get things done. Her motivation and determination is something I look up to and hope I can work towards.
22. The reason I love her most is because of the person she is. I am not a fan of people- to be honest. They annoy me with their stupidity and sometimes are just ridiculous. I question the sanity of the human population. But Natalie, that girl is something special. One of those reasons is simply because she is who she is. She is nice, kind, honest, beautiful, smart, funny, a hard worker, determined, hilarious, cute, etc. You name it, she's probably it. One of the best things about her is how humble she is. Her humility makes her unique, and makes it so I don't "hate" her like I "hate" most people. She doesn't think she's as great as I know she is..
Natalie, I love you! You are seriously the best sister I could ever ask for. Thank you for always looking out for me and taking care of me out in Provo and being my friend.
You are the best!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!
With love,
Jenna
