The Sound of Silence

I'm back! :) The silence from my part of the blogosphere has no doubt left you weeping and gnashing your teeth, so I thought I'd torture you no longer. ;)

In the time since my last post, I just haven't had anything interesting to say. I've had some hardships at work, a friend passed away, and I've been working at both my full-time and part-time jobs. I've been a little busy and a little stretched and a lot blessed as always! :)

Finally, though, I have something to say! That's because I'm celebrating these two amazing ladies!

Today (Friday, April 15th) is my sister's birthday, and that means it's also Gotcha Day! If you don't remember what that is or haven't read the story, you can read the tale of God's goodness here. Unfortunately, other plans this weekend are keeping me from being with my sister and Hannah to celebrate them in person, but I've thought of them all day and how much they mean to me. So, here's a Top Ten List to commemorate the occasion:

(In honor of her birthday) Top Ten Reasons I Love My Big Sister:

10. When we were younger and the 7-year age difference was more obvious (in terms of maturity and what we had in common), we could always connect by going to the movies and making up our own lyrics to songs on the radio on the way. :)

9. She inspired me to take my education seriously.

8. She loves me fiercely and won't settle for people who treat me badly. She gets annoyed when I do. :)

7. She thinks I'm funny and tells me so all the time. The only person I might laugh more with is my coworker Laura, but even then, it's a tough call.

6. She knows how to talk to me when I'm anxious and doesn't belittle my fears.

5. She makes me feel important by caring about my opinion.

4. She prioritizes Hannah's relationship with me.

3. She worked really hard to overcome some of the challenges in our relationship when we lived together. What I mean is, it's easy for your differences and your sin to drive a wedge between two people when you share a home. We both had some harder edges that needed smoothing down, and she didn't settle for superficial closeness like she could have when our hard edges scraped and bruised each other. Instead, she showed me again and again how important our relationship is to her by hanging in there and working through those things.

2. She initiated our first trip to Disney, which was what drew us closer as sisters and made us friends.

and 1. She's the most generous person I've ever met.

(And in honor of Gotcha Day) Top Ten Reasons Why I Love My Niece

10. Her laugh is more infectious than the flu.

9. When she's having a lot of fun, her dark brown eyes sparkle brighter than I thought brown eyes could!

8. She's creative, drawing pictures, making up games, and playing pretend like nobody's business.

7. She can sing almost any song - even if it's a melody without lyrics - after hearing it just once.

6. She's obedient and doesn't take pleasure in defiant behavior (even if her choices sometimes lead her astray ;)).

5. She's gentle with animals, babies, and people's feelings.

4. She's very forgiving and humbles me with her quickness to forgive.

3. She defends the "little guy" in any group - despite her own small size!

2. Having her in my life helps me better understand the permanency of adoption God gives us in Christ.

and 1. We toss the word around a lot, but truly, Hannah's heart is among the kindest I've ever known a person to have.

I love you, Miss! I love you, Hannah! You both make my life better than I ever thought it could be.