Sister, Sister

Anyone who knows me and my siblings, knows that we are all very close.  With each sibling, the relationship developed differently.  Katie and I always got along well, but it wasn't until she went to college that we became true friends rather than just sisters.  My brother and I spent two years in high school together, and Casey took me under his wing.  I loved those years I got to spend with him and his friends, and I missed him a lot during my junior and senior years.  Fortunately we got to spend another year and a half together in college as well.  I was so grateful to have my brother nearby as I adjusted to college life.
But since the day Annie was born, she has been my best friend.  As kids we spent all of our time playing together, laughing with each other, and watching Walt Disney movies.  Actually we still love to watch Disney movies together, and we quote them to each other all the time.  Once Annie and I took a long walk together and recited the entire movie, The Emperor's New Groove.  Fortunately I've loosened up and long since abandoned my rule of "absolutely no talking during Walt Disney movies" which I used to enforce upon Annie.  :)

This weekend Annie came out to visit me, and we got to have some good sister time.  It happened to work out that Taylor was even out of town for a bachelor party.  We didn't do anything terribly exciting, but to me it was wonderful. We spent some of the time in Garden City working out, grocery shopping and meeting a friend for lunch.  We also worked up a bunch of peaches I had, made peach butter and froze some zucchini, squash and okra out of my garden.  But during the time she was out here, my favorite part was watching the movies Tangled and Mama Mia together.  It reminded me of all the wonderful movie-watching memories I have with her.
On Sunday Annie headed back home.  I've decided that it is much easier to be the person leaving to drive across the state than to be the person watching them go.

Me and Annie

On a another note, Taylor and I frequently joke that we act like old people.  Well, this week our "old people" behavior has intensified.  Last week a friend of Taylor's asked if we could come play on their softball team because they were short a couple people.  I don't know if they knew what they were asking.  The only softball team I've ever played on was during high school P.E. In those instances, generally we had extra people in the outfield that knew what they were doing and they could cover me and any mistakes I might make.  :)  Anyway we've played softball on this team a couple of times in the past two weeks.  On Monday while Taylor was sprinting to first base, he said it felt like he pulled his quads, and he spent the rest of the time hobbling around.  While he was doing this, I was trying to stretch out my lower back which still bothers me occasionally from an old high school injury.  We spent the rest of the evening groaning as we moved, icing various body parts and applying liberal amounts of Biofreeze.  Yep, we're old people! :)  There is an upside though!  I've found out that I'm not quite as terrible at softball as I thought I might be.  Plus Taylor and I bought some mitts and balls so we can practice some at home.  Things are looking up!

Western Kansas Fact:  I've decided that most people in western Kansas were either race car drivers in a former life, or missed their calling to be one in this life.  Driving fast is definitely the norm.  When I told my old roommate, who is from western Kansas, about how quickly everyone seemed to drive out here she told me, "Well,  you have to if you want to get anywhere without packing a lunch."  She does have point.  We live over 4 hours from the nearest big airport, 30 minutes from a Wal-Mart, and the closest mall is over an hour away (but it is a pretty small one.)  But it's okay with me, I love the rural life.  You couldn't pay me to live in the city.

The Scripture I liked most this week was: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.  Ecclesiastes 9:11  The lesson for this scripture talked about how many things in our lives may not go as we planned.  But we need to trust in God and know that He is the one who is in control, not us.  There are many times when I need this reminder.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!
Lyndee