First of all, I was just thinking how crazy it is that our one year anniversary of moving to England is quickly approaching. I can’t believe how quick that went. That whole first day of our arrival is an exhausted blur. Since moving here, I haven’t felt homesick very much. Yes, it was hard around the holidays, but we managed. And it’s rare that I actually feel sick for “home”… it’s usually just family that I miss.

In the years that I lived in Milwaukee for college and then life after, it was a big comfort to know that I could pretty much go home whenever I wanted. It was roughly a 90 minute drive to my parents’ house, so I really never missed holidays or birthdays.

My second sister stayed in the area after high school, so I always got to see her when I was home too. But then in 2009ish, my dad took a new job in Tennessee. I was not happy! My mom stayed in Wisconsin for my youngest sister to finish her last year of high school, but then she moved down to Tennessee to join my dad. Sister #3 went to Tennessee as well, and my youngest sister went to school in the Chicago area. And then Andrew joined the Air Force, we got married, and plans to move to another country started coming together. Basically, in about 2 years, my whole family got torn apart geographically. How sad!

As it turns out, I will be going “home” (somewhere in the States!) at least once a year while we’re living in England. The sole reason is weddings, haha. But that’s a lot less face time than I’m used to… and I don’t like it! Thank goodness for Facebook and phone calls, but once in awhile I get really sad about being away from family. Like this weekend. My sister, Amanda, and my mom met halfway (somewhere in Indiana) for a girls weekend of shopping. I was so excited for them, but I was so jealous for me! And when my mom posted something about when we all lived under the same roof, I just got sad. Sometimes I just REALLY miss my sisters and my parents. I think we are just an awesome family!

I know I did a whole post about Kelsi on her birthday (I had a lot more time on my hands then, haha!), and I’ve been feeling bad that I never wrote anything for Manda & Becki. So, since I’m missing my family a lot right now, I’m posting some sister (and family) love. 🙂

Best friend since as long as I can remember? My Manda Panda. 🙂 She was born just after my 2nd birthday, so I really don’t remember life before that. She’s always been my playmate and best buddy.

Oh, we fought like cats and dogs once in awhile, but I think we got along pretty well for the most part. We were pretty much opposites growing up, and our grandma always said Manda wasn’t naughty, she was “spirited.” 🙂 And a story I heard a lot growing up was how I was a very particular kid. I liked things just so, and I would spend a lot of time organizing the play kitchen I had. And then Amanda would crawl over to it, pull herself up, and shake that little kitchen! All my little teacups I had lined up just right… ahh, it was awful, haha.
I can honestly say that, despite how close we were in age, Manda and I never went through that phase of hating each other as teenagers. I mean, like I said, we were pretty much opposites in terms of what we liked, the activities we got involved in, and hobbies, but she was always my closest confidante.

It was probably more fun to hang out once I was in college (woohoo, no parental supervision!), but we were pretty well-behaved. 🙂 And we’ve stayed close ever since! She was even my maid-of-honor at  our recent wedding blessing:

Kelsi is my next sister, and I wrote about her right here. 🙂 Since there’s nearly a four year gap between Manda & Kelsi, and then only 18 months between Kelsi & Becki, my youngest two sisters were really close growing up too. Becki was my parents’ last shot at having a boy… but they got stuck with us four crazy girls!

I kind of remember Becki being born… I remember waking up one summer morning to find the neighbor lady instead of my parents! I don’t remember going to see her in the hospital or anything though. She was kind of a naughty kid, haha! Letting her watch “Dennis the Menace” was probably a bad idea…

I remember it driving me nuts that Becki would put together the strangest combinations of clothes. Remember up there when I talked about being a nut about organizing my play kitchen? Well, I really liked clothes to match too! Here’s Becki being Becki:

Really? Polka dots and floral? Like I said… drove me nuts, haha. She definitely keeps you on your toes. From a young age she was really independent and a leader… never one to follow the crowd. I went to college when she was 11, so I had a few weekends when I would have one of my sisters visit. One-on-one time is pretty awesome when you have three sisters!

Once Becki turned 18, I think it finally sunk in that she was not a kid anymore. She was already off to art school  and exploring Chicago by then! I love seeing the photographs she takes as well as the ones she models for (many talents, this one!).

I’m sure you can see why I miss my family… they are amazing people! We’ve been through a lot, and we’re adding every year (babies, marriages), and I could not ever ask for a better family. We are silly, sarcastic, supportive, and honest. I know Andrew has always thought I was a little quirky, but he had no idea how goofy I can be until he met my family! As he said, “Wow, I thought you could be ridiculous… but your family really brings it out in you!” Yes, I take that as a compliment. 🙂