A tale of two twins : Happy Birthday, Ashley!

If you know me at all, even just a tiny bit, you know I have a twin sister, Ashley. You may or may not know how awesome she is, and you may or may not know that is my best friend. Let me remedy that for you. :)

Today is our 24th birthday. For once, I can finally say my age is catching up to where I am in life. I still feel a lot older than I am most days, but that's okay, the years are starting to speed up, so I'll just choose to be content with being a youngin'!  My 24th year has big shoes to fill, for sure. I was engaged at 18, married and moved to Salina at 19, moved back to GC and got pregnant at 20, became a mother at 21, moved to Texas as 22, and became a homeowner at 23. I'm not sure what this coming year has in store for me, but I'm sure it will be great and I'm looking forward to it!

That said, I just wanted to take a minute to say Happy Birthday to my sister, Ashley. Almost exactly 24 years ago, we were born via c-section, smack dab in the middle of wheat harvest. Talk about bad timing! Everyone in my family remembers how hot it was that day, too. It was a scorcher!

The first question we are always asked is "Who's oldest?". I tend to avoid that question, but the truth of the matter is, she is. By one whopping minute! What a turd.

My sister is the most generous person you could ever hope to have in your life. From a young age, she was always willing to spend her last dollar if it meant she could buy something for you, too. She's the most honest, up-front person I know - if you want her to tell it to you straight, she will. She is kind, tender-hearted, and compassionate beyond belief. She has big feelings and loves bigger and more openly than anyone I know. She is fiercely loyal to her family and doesn't tolerate any riffraff when someone makes a slight against any us.  I'm lucky to call her my sister.

We have an unbreakable bond and I like to think a lot of it is because we have navigated this crazy thing called life together every step of the way, from the moment we were born (and even before then!). We were never apart and we chose to spend all our time together. Sure, as kids, we fought like cats and dogs on a regular basis,  but we could never stay mad. Within minutes, we were back to being best friends and it was like nothing had ever happened. There were few milestones we ever had to do alone - we always knew we had our support system, our built-in lifeline.

She is an amazing aunt to my sweet little girl. Piper loves aunt "Ashee" so, so much. Their relationship is so special and I can't wait to be an aunt to her children some day. I have no doubt that our kids will be the best of friends.

Here's a quick stroll down memory lane..

Newborn aliens! (Ash on left)

I told you we were inseparable. LOL.

I've always insisted she was the sinister one! :P (Ash left)

80s kids! Ha. Ash left, me right.

Me left, Ash right.

Senior Prom

My wedding day!

Happy Birthday, Ashee Booger! I love you bunches.