My little sisters aren't so little anymore...

Mary Ashley...aka Yahyee

I was always so jealous of how Yahyee would just go against the flow and be her artsy, creative, beautiful self.  She wore flair jeans and jelly high heels when I was too scared...she painted her nails crazy colors and wore makeup like it was her job...she made her own jewelry and wore it better than anyone else...she collected jelly pens and created art like it was second nature...she played piano and sang...she baked and cooked...she laughed in the face of blood and guts.  Yahyee was the President of the Student Body.  Now, my little Yahyee is all grown up, works as a nurse at a local hospital and gives me advice on all things Food and Relationships.

Maggie...aka Magpie

I still remember the days when Magpie was the Tether Ball Queen at Carachipampa Christian School.  Students would line up at Recess and Lunch to take her on, but would always lose...even the High-Schoolers.  Seriously.  She dominated EVERY sport she played.  Tall, thin (her knees were bigger than her thighs), tan skin, blonde hair and loved by all the boys.  Magpie was the President of the Student Body and Valedictorian (I didn't even remember that part until a few days ago when I was reminded).  Now, my little Magpie is all grown up, works in Human Resources at a local hospital and gives me advice on Business and Finance.

Elizabeth...aka Lizzie

When Lizzie was really little she loved to look into the mirror, run her hands along her face and say "Oil of Olay", like she was practicing for her future break in advertising.  Then, as she got older and obsessed with spandex, she would bend her front knee, rest her hand on her thigh, keep her back leg straight, put her other hand on her hip and ask, "Do I look like a Biker or a Runner?"  Lizzie was the President of the Student body and admired by many, even adults around her!  I always thought (and still do) that Lizzie would grow up to be the first woman President or a traveling inspirational speaker.  Now, my little Lizzie is all grown up, going to college far, far away (an hour away is far!) and gives me advice on Fashion and Faith.

So, between my 3 sisters and ALL of their much needed advice, I've got Life covered...my little sisters aren't so little anymore.  Each one has her own strengths, characteristics and talents.  Each one has a BIG, generous heart.  Each one has a serious case of the Travel Fever.  Each one is special to me in her own way.

Although we are all grown up, I recently found something that I really really really enjoy doing...running up and hugging each sister really hard, swaying back and forth really fast and talking to them like they are still little babies...it's the little things that entertain me and make me happy...truly.

I LOVE my seeeeeesterssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

     At 8:45am this past Friday, I was looking outside of my dining room windows, waiting to head to Tennessee!  A friend swung by and after my mandatory Starbucks Road-Trip Stop, we picked up another girl and headed out of town.  We made one more stop about 45 minutes later to pick up our 4th passenger.  

     As soon as we picked her up, it was downhill.  4 new girl-friends riding in a car together, getting to know each other?!?!?!?  We missed our exit and drove 30 minutes in the wrong direction before noticing.  This was the FIRST time we got lost.  Yes, there were more times.  Long story short:  we should have arrived around 3pm, but we made it in time for dinner at 6pm.  Yea.

     So fast forward through our fun weekend to Sunday morning.  I woke up to find out that:

A. A girl in our group had driven over the side of the mountain at midnight and had to get her car towed.

B. The roads in South Carolina were shutting down due to rains and flooding.

    Yay.

     So, we quickly packed our stuff and started towards home, even though we didn't know if we would make it back into SC or not...we figured that we would head towards Charlotte, NC and then try to make our way down.

     All day I was pretty calm because I figured that we would just get a hotel somewhere if we couldnt get home...we had all decided we would not drive through water or do anything risky.  But I really really really wanted to see Ironman.  We kept calling and texting back and forth all day to stay in touch.  He finally called me and told me that he was in his truck on his way to meet us on the road and make sure we got home!!!  Ironman was OFFICIALLY My Hero.  Well, he already was, but then he REALLY REALLY REALLY was.

Relived to be safe in the truck with my hero!

     We had gotten on I-40 in TN and then traveled on 321, I-85, 485, 74, 601, 151 and finally 52.  The 5 hour drive from Tennessee took 9 hours...I got home and slathered myself in Lavender oil.  Seriously.

     So, on Monday, I didn't want to leave my house.  I stayed in my pjs all day long, watched Netflix and worked from home.  I wasn't braving the world.  Nope.  Not even a chance.  Ironman and I decided to skip our Young Couples Life Group because of the 7pm curfew.  We ordered pizza, swung by the grocery store to get a dessert, checked my friends house for flooding, picked up the pizza and came back home to discover that we had locked ourselves out of the house. 

     Guess what my first thought what?!?!?!?!  

"That's great...God is punishing us for missing our Young Couples 

Life Group tonight".  

     I know that's not true, but come on!!?!?!?!?!?

Three things had happened when we were leaving our house:

1.  I decided (against my better judgement) NOT to bring my purse and keys because I thought Ironman had his.

2.  I decided not to ask Ironman if he had the keys because I didn't want to "nag" him.

3.  Ironman decided not to lock the deadbolt (if he would have locked it, he would have discovered he didn't have the right key before he locked us out)...

     It's like that story where there was a flood and God sent the boat, helicopter and (something else I can't remember) and the people didn't take it...like three strikes and you're out type thing!!!!!!!!!  I felt like God was telling us we were getting ready to lock ourselves out, but we weren't listening...

UGH.

     The only extra key was somewhere in my parents house and my mom had just re-organized my dad's office.  Double Ugh.  I knew that we would NEVER find the key.  NEVER NEVER NEVER.  I was SOOOOOOOoooooooo frustrated.  All I cared about was my pizza getting cold.  Our entire state was flooding, people were loosing their businesses and homes and cars and lives.  I really hadn't been worried about any of that over the weekend.  As long as my family was ok, I wasn't worried about my house or car...BUT mess with my pizza and it ain't gonna be pretty.

     Ironman eventually found a key that he thought looked like it could be THE ONE.  We went home to try it out and it worked!!!!!!!  I couldn't believe it.  

     So, we watched Gilmore Girls and ate warm pizza and I felt super guilty about how cranky I had been over getting locked out of my house.  AT LEAST I still had a house.  

     When I was in the middle of "the crisis", all I could think about was how inconvenient this was for me.  I just wanted to be at home, eating pizza and relaxing with Ironman.  As soon as that mystery key worked and we could get in, I realized how ridiculous I was.  Ironman and I laughed about it A LOT, but next time, I hope that I have learned a little lesson here, gotten some perspective and will have a better attitude.