September 2009 Weddings
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Siblings
Tell us about your siblings:
How old are they are where do you fit in (youngest, middle, oldest)?
What was your relationship like growing up? Now?
Share anything you would like about them (personalities, career, etc).
Lets see some pictures 
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
Re: Siblings
This is my sister Melissa:
She just turned 21 in January. I'm 4.5 years older than she is.
Growing up, we were far enough apart that we got along fairly well. Since there were only 2 of us we fell into the stereotypical roles of oldest and youngest. I had a strong protective instinct over her (kind of like the "I can pick on you, but nobody else can" way) and she tattled on me like nobody's business. She was a ham and a bit of a drama queen:
Now we are still pretty close (and she is still a ham). We very rarely fight and hang out a lot. We only live about 15 minutes apart and talk every day (if not by phone by text.) There are times when we finished each others' sentences. We have fun together all the time.
She is currently a student, studying English at WVU; she wants to go into editing and publishing. Her personality is split; once you get to know her, she is extremely extroverted and sometimes in your face. She is very opinionated and doesn't hesitate to let you know it. If you don't know her really well, she seems introverted and shy. But that's a very thin shell of who she is and is very easily cracked; if you talk to her about books, movies, or music you'll be in her good graces in no time. Politically, she has very liberal views. She's a true goofball, somewhat of a pessimist (though she'd say "realist"), always ready to laugh, very sarcastic and snarky. Like I said, she has a split personality and both sides tend to balance each other out so she's neither too irritating nor too wishy-washy.
And if you want a picture to sum up her overall personality:
I love my sister very much and wouldn't trade our relationship for the world. Even when she does get on my nerves.
I've mentioned this before but I'm an only child by my parents together and my mom's only child.
I don't have any pictures of just my step siblings but there's Brain, Alan and Allison. They're all at least 10 years older than me and I didn't live with any of them so we're not very close. Brian's wife, Michelle, and I are pretty close but don't get to see each other a lot. I love all of my nieces and nephews though! Here's that side of my family at our wedding.
From my dad I have a half sister, Samantha (21), and a half brother, Nick(20). I didn't live with them growing up either but spent much more time with them and truthfully the "half" in our relationship is technicality and certainly not the way we see ourselves as a family. My sister is one of my best friends and one of the best people I know. She wants me to make her an aunt more than anyone else in our lives and has offered to move back to IL from FL if we would just have a baby already! She's fiercely loyal and an amazing photographer. My brother is still in the process of growing up a lot and gets a lot of things done for him but I love him to death anyways. He is super funny and really dedicated...if it's something he likes! This is them when they were little...
And here we are a little more recently...
My sister and I laugh because when we're together everyone says we look exactly alike, but when separate we're told we look just like our moms...funny since we clearly do not have that in common!
This is my brother, Rob. He is 3.5 years older than me. When I was younger, our relationship was the typical sibling relationship. We were constantly poking fun at each other. As we got older, we became closer.
Tell us about your siblings:
How old are they are where do you fit in (youngest, middle, oldest)?
I am the oldest and I have one younger sister, Sara. She is 3 years younger than me.
What was your relationship like growing up? Now? Growing up we were enemies. If we were getting along, it was truly a rarity. We are both super stubborn and hate to admit we're wrong. My mom says that I liked her until she started to crawl and from that point on, we were just oil & water. Even for the few months we lived together as adults, we got on each other's nerves.
Now, we get along really well... probably because we don't live together!
Share anything you would like about them (personalities, career, etc). Sara probably has one of the biggest hearts ever. She truly believes that there is good in everyone. She is becoming slightly jaded because she works for an energy assistance program to help low income families pay for their heat. She finds that there are a few bad apples who will do whatever is necessary to get a "free pass."
She loves animals and is considering fostering special needs cats.
She is 23 and still enjoys going out most nights of the week. She lives in a very small apartment in downtown Madison because she likes to be near the action. She works part time at Target and full time for energy assistance as a case worker.
She very much enjoys, MUCH to my parents dismay, body piercings and tattoos. At last count she has 16 piercings and 3 tattoos with more planned.
Lets see some pictures
This is us at a Poison concert. She has the bandanna:
Here's another from Christmas a few years ago:
Tell us about your siblings:
How old are they are where do you fit in (youngest, middle, oldest)? My step brother Garrett is 34, my step brother Mike is 33, my half sister Amy (same mom) is 34, and my youngest step brother, Caleb, is about it be 19. I guess growing up, I was the youngest because my youngest step brother didn't come into the picture until my Dad's most recent marriage (7 years ago).
What was your relationship like growing up? Now? Growing up I really was a lot younger, or so it seemed, so we didn't have too much of a relationship. I really remember looking up at them and admiring them all. Sometimes my brother Garrett would play with me, but for the most part, they were all teenagers and just picked on me.
Our relationship is much different now. It almost seems flipped a little. I'm now more on their level and I've seemed to accomplish more "gown up" things than most of them have.
I have a great relationship with my sister, Amy. She's is Afghanistan right now and "lives" in CA. I asked her to be in my wedding, and that was the very first time I saw her in 8 years. I loved having her here. She and I had a lot in common and we are now very close.
Share anything you would like about them (personalities, career, etc).
My older step brothers are very sarcastic and hilarious. They truly make the holidays extra fun! My brother, Mike, lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and two small boys. He is a engineer. My Brother, Garrett, works for microsoft and makes a ridiculous amount of money. They live near Gettysburg.
My sister is a medic in the airforce and it about to retire in 4 more years. She has plans to go to nursing school after she "retires" from the airforce.
My little brother is currently attending Penn State. He just started his first semester.
***Interesting weird sibling thing: When I was in Middle school, my Dad married this woman with 4 kids. 3 boys and 1 girl. We lived with them and it was truly like a Brady Bunch kind of life. We all had to share rooms even though our house had 5 bedrooms and had 1 bathroom for everyone. It was so crazy! After a few years of marriage, my step mom (at the time) ran after my Dad with a butcher knife and tried to stab him, so needless to say that relationship ended.
My sister, Teresa, just turned 40! She's married and has 3 adorable kids (10,8 & 6). She's way craftier than I am, she puts me to shame. It's almost embarrassing. She's 15 years older than me.
(she's on the right)
My brother, Kevin, is 39. He's an eternal bachelor and of a loner. He's got an odd sense of humor, if you don't know him you'd probably find him offensive.. lol. He has two kids (8 and 6). He's 14 years older than me.
He managed to escape all but THREE pictures from the wedding... He's in the upper right holding my niece:
I have another older brother, Randy, that would be 32. He passed away from Leukemia when he was 9. I was only 1 when he died, so I really don't remember him at all. It's sort of depressing to think about.
I also have a half brother, Justin, he's 18 I think. I've honestly only met him about 5 times, maybe less than that. Once when he was born, once when he was about 6 months old, again when I happened to be teachers aide in his middle school class and the last time I saw him was at my Dads funeral in 2007. I don't really have a relationship with him because my Mom kept us away from him and his mother (he was born while my parents were still married and my mom wanted nothing to do with him). I wish I knew him better, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards.
With the large age gaps, it was almost like I was an only child. It was nice! A lot of people used to think that my sister was my Mom when she would take me places when I was like 5 or 6 - she hated it, I thought it was hilarious.. lol
I'm an only!
My dad's wife has two kids who are psycho -(for real. one married a pedophile) but i in no way claim them as family. I never see them, as in, its probably been years. My dad also has a random other daughter who I also don't claim very much.
I really dont consider 98% of that side of my family "family" because of the negative impact they have on each other and me.
I have a wonderful relationship with my mother, stepfather, aunt, cousins, and grandparents.
I am the youngest of 3 children.
My brother, Phil (AKA PJ or as I call him, Peege) is 29, he'll be 30 in October. Growing up, we hated each other like most siblings do. After he went off to college we became super close but he's made some choices in his life that I don't particularly agree with and he lived with Doug and I the year leading up to our wedding and that really put a strain on our relationship. He is currently unemployed (doing some roofing for a friends uncle on the side) and he lives in my old bedroom at my parents house.
My sister, Erin is going to be 28 next month. However, she has an uncontrollable seizure disorder which has caused significant brain damage over the years, so her mentality is of a 6 year old. She lives in a residential program S-Th and goes home to my parents house every weekend. She loves being able to live at the residence because its her version of the college life that my brother and I had. Since she's older than me and she's had seizures since I was 1, there's always been a ridiculously large expectation of me to take care of her, and to be someone that I never have wanted to be. My mother expects every decision anyone in our family makes to be about Erin (ie, she doesn't think I should put blinds up in my house as opposed to shades because my sister could have a seizure). It's been a lot of pressure on me my entire life, and unfortuntely, it's effected my relationship with sister.
Tell us about your siblings: I have two brothers. Erik is now 26 years old and Ryan is 19.
Erik is married with a two year old daughter who is absolutely adorable...
He just joined the army and is currently finishing up his boot camp and graduates soon. In this picture, he is all the way on the right in the back - the tall one. :-)
Ryan and I have a ten year age difference as you can see in these pics. I took a picture of the pictures I have on my china cabinet of the two of us. One is taken at Christmas in 1991 - a month after he was born. The other was taken at my wedding in 2009 - where he was a groomsman.
Ryan is working part-time job right now while he takes a year off from attending college to figure out what he really wants to do. He is also heavy into parkour lately - if anyone knows what that is.
Definition: It is a non-competitive, physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, using only their bodies. Skills such as jumping, climbing, vaulting, rolling, swinging and wall scaling are employed.
Yes, I laugh sometimes when I think about it, but he says it really helps his self-esteem and motivation.
And here is the three of us together at my college graduation in 2004...
This picture is both terrifying and hilarious... and season appropriate! Here we are at the Easter bunny, I'd say about 3 and 5 yrs old. Poor T abt to cry and I'm trying to escape! LOL
Here we are at the children museum... and as a bonus, Mom and her terrible haircut!
Here's him and Dad
The now infamous "watermelon slice" costume he always wore for his fraternity's watermelon bust
And our family at the wedding
Tell us about your siblings:
Oh dear, alright, you may be sorry you asked...haha. I don't have any full siblings, just half and step, but I have a lot of them! Eight to be exact.
My mom and bio dad got divorced when I was 2ish and then he remarried. His new wife had one son from a previous marriage, so that's step-brother number 1, Nate. He's like...two years younger than I am, I think. Then they had four children: Natalie, AJ, Shelby, and Max. They're all younger, obviously, but I don't know their ages exactly. The youngest is 10ish. I've only met them all once, and she was pregnant with Max then. Natalie has developmental issues, but I'm not sure what they are.
My mom also remarried, and had my (half) brother, David. He's 19, and if I ever talk about my brother, I'm talking about him. He's a bit of a genius, although you wouldn't really know it from his behavior lately. Damn teenagers!
Then my mom got divorced and remarried again, and had my (half) sister, Madeline aka Madi. She's 6. If I ever talk about my sister, I'm talking about her. She was my flower girl. She's a little diva, but also really sweet.
Madi's dad / my step dad also had another son from his previous marriage, Michael. He's 20. He's a brat and really just not a good person, I really dislike him. He took advantage of my stepdad's guilt for a really long time.
How old are they are where do you fit in (youngest, middle, oldest)?
I'm the oldest of them all. I said ages above.
What was your relationship like growing up? Now?
Like I said, I only ever met my bio dad's kids once. I must admit, I was pretty rude to them. I wasn't quite over my anger about not having my dad around, and I resented them for "stealing" him. I've never made an effort to have a relationship with them, even though there have been plenty of opportunities.
David is my little brother! We grew up together with my mom as a single mother, so it was just the three of us for about ten years. I was a super protective big sister, and really kind of jumped into the second parent role when it was needed. We weren't super close in the traditional sibling sense growing up because of how much older I was (almost 5 years) and because of how obsessively protective I was of him, but we've been getting better as we get older. I think I always liked him a lot more than he liked me, lol.
Madi was born my senior year of HS, so we don't have much of a relationship really. But she is really adorable, and I love hanging out with her when I go home to visit.
Share anything you would like about them (personalities, career, etc).
Like I said up there, David is a freakin' genius. When he applies himself, he accomplishes so much. I lurve that kid.
Lets see some pictures
David and me at graduation; David blowing bubbles for Madi (the blonde)
So yea, I highly doubt anybody wants this mess of a family tree I've got, haha.
How old are they are where do you fit in (youngest, middle, oldest)? Denise is 14 months older than me. It was just us two, so I'm the youngest.
What was your relationship like growing up? Now? She was my best friend growing up, and now. My mom worked a lot as a single parent. So we often entertained ourselves. We even learned how to play jump rope without a second rope swinger. Now we're even more close. We lean on each other for so many things good and bad. She is my ultimate support system as my sister. I love her. We also have matching tattoos. Well they coordinate (see pictures)
Share anything you would like about them (personalities, career, etc). My sister has such an AMAZING voice. She sings almost every Sunday for praise and worship at church. She has such a passion. She's also a wonderful mother. I want to be able to handle my future kids as well as she does. She also teaches children at a charter school. She friggin rocks.
Tattoo pic hers is on her shoulder. Mine is on my hip:
Zuma Zoom
I have two younger sisters.
The closest to me in age is Stephanie, she's 26 (2 years younger than me).
Growing up, we were really close since it was just the two of us for so long. (I was 7 when my youngest sister was born). We did everything together; walked to school, played outside, made up games at home when we were bored...we were great friends but of course we had your usual sibling fights. I was always so bossy!
Here we are as little ones! Steph is on the right.
Steph has made some bad decisions in life - as I'm sure you recall me talking about on here. She has a lot of great qualities though. She's very compassionate toward people and animals, she has a kind heart and she's hilarious. She's very talented too. She's an amazing makeup artist (she did my wedding makeup), she has an amazing voice, she can break a horse to ride or even train one around the race track on a jogging cart. Speaking of the race track, she knows how to read a racing program and make fancy bets! She's been trying to teach me this since we were kids:)
My youngest sister is Cori, she's 21.
I was more like Cori's second mother when we were growing up. I've always felt very protective of her. I'd walk her to school and hold her hand until the bell rang, cause she was afraid of being alone:( When she got older, I would help her with homework and show her how to do her makeup:)
Here's Cori when she was a little one. So chunky and cute!
Cori has a great personality. She can make friends with anyone and is always super bubbly. She's also totally gorgeous and photogenic! She also loves animals, especially horses and is great at riding and taking care of them. She has a great voice too (don't know why I didn't get that gene!). She's funny, caring, super stylish and charming.
<a href="http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/adia83/?action=view
I have none! Can I talk about my first cousins instead?
I have 3 cousins (our moms are sisters) that I was very, very close to as a child. We go to the beach every year together (still do) and went to Disney a few times together. The girl is a year older than me, and the boys are 3 and 6 years younger than me. We're not really that close any more, the youngest one is the one I would actually want to see, but he lives in Dallas. The middle one doesn't do family things anymore, and the oldest one is a really sweet and kind person but we don't have much in common. The middle and oldest ones live in the area where we all grew up in CT. The middle one got engaged a few months after I did, but 1. they're still not married, and 2. he still hasn't told grandma (the matriarch/boss of the family) he proposed to his gf. Scandal! Gram knows, of course, she's not stupid, but it's weird he still hasn't told her.
On my dad's side I have 22 first cousins. I don't actually talk to any of them anymore, but we're all friends on facebook. One of them has turned into a real ass, sigh. He was such a cute kid! All of those cousins live in OK, MN or SD. I think. One that I'm not sure I've ever met lives in VA or MD and seems a little crazy.
Be prepared for a lot of pictures
I am the youngest (26) of all girls...
My sister Melissa is 29. I am very close to her. She has a very outgoing and vibrant personality and people are usually drawn to her. She is very protective of me and would kick anyone's a$$ if they'd hurt me. She is single and enjoys going out. She has a very certain type when it comes to guys, and they are usually more of the 'bad boy', so I am not sure if marriage is in her near future.
She was almost killed by a drunk driver when she was 17. He was in a full size pick up and didn't realize he got off the freeway and slammed into the little compact car she was in. He pretty much broke/shattered the majority of bones in her face and left a 2 inch gash on her lower cheek. She also lost short term memory. You wouldn't be able to tell because she is gorgeous and now just has a scar along her jaw line.
My sister Jenny is 31. She is also not married and at this point, has zero interest in having kids. She is a nurse practitioner. Jenny has quite the personality. She is very stubborn and will never sugar coat things. She is one tough lady and also VERY protective of me. Even if she has a very tough shell, she also is very generous and a very good friend. When I was 22, she bought a house and all three of us lived together for a while. The following picture is with her child, Zora.
I have a step-sister named Amy. She is 30. She is like a sister since her mom and my dad have been together for like 20 years (my parents divorced when I was 3). She had some problems when she was a teen, but now has a great life. She is married and has a son and daughter. Her family is very important to her and since she was a only child, really cherishes her relationship with my sisters and I. I don't have any pictures of just her available, so this picture is all of us together. I would say it is from like 10 years ago. We always joke that it looks like a hair dye commercial.
From L-R (Jenny, Amy, Melissa, Me)
Here are some picture of us together:
(Jenny in back, Mel on L, me on Rt)
At our mom's wedding with our aunt.
This is at a friend's wedding where they were both bridesmaids.
ETA: My dad was shocked when we found out that Weston was a boy, because he is so used to all girls lol!
Growing up, we were close, because we were homeschooled so we really only had each other to play with. We did fight a lot though, and I have the scars to prove it! When we were teenagers I really looked up to her, but she treated me like the annoying little sister, which I suppose I was. She was always really unhappy at home with our parents, and in an effort to get out of the house, she married her first husband at age 17. I remember feeling like she'd abandoned me. We grew apart after she married, I went off to college, she had a baby, she moved to Atlanta for a year, she moved back and had another baby.
We only began to grow close again when she was going through her divorce. It was pretty rough. She had a 4 year old and an 18 month old, and she'd never lived on her own before. So, I stayed with her for a little while and helped her with the boys until she found a job and got back on her feet. That brought us closer together. When I graduated college, I moved closer to her, and we got the opportunity to spend more time together and we discovered that we have a lot of the same likes and opinions about things. We're still pretty different, but we compliment each other. We've become great friends.
And of course, last year we were pregnant together and gave birth within a week of each other. That experience really bonded us together. She's taught me a lot about being a parent and she is always there to listen. She loves Ellie and was excited that I had a little girl, since she has three boys. We live about a mile away from each other now and we love to get the kids together, have dinner together, and shop together. We really enjoy each others company.
Her personality is soft spoken, very poised, and always put together. She likes things neat and she is always dressed to the nines, with her hair done and makeup on, which I have no idea how she does with three boys running around. She's extremely intelligent. She works in a medical office as the office manager during the day, and she is currently attending nursing school at night. She really amazes me at how she manages to take care of herself, her husband, and her boys, and work and go to school all at the same time. She's remarkable.
I can't post any pics of her and I together because the computer I use to do that on is being worked on (which sucks because we just got a really good one from our Dad's wedding!) but I did post one of her maternity pics yesterday, if anyone is interested in that, it's below.
I'm the 2nd of 5. The oldest is going to turn 33 in Sept and the youngest will be 23 in Oct. My sister ( Melissa) is an assistant director of a well-known childcare center. Then there's me. Then my 1st brother (Richard) is a mechinacal engineer and works on planes (the company he works for is a gov't contrator). My next brother (Mathew) is a financial advisor for a major financial place here in Boston. The youngest (Jonathan) will be graduating collage soon (changed majors = extra time) with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.
Honestly, as crazy as some people on the outside thought it was, it was really fun. There was always someone there to play with, when younger. As we got older, there was always someone to go to the mall/grab lunch/etc with.
Now that we are older, we are all still close. The only drawback is now that 3 of the 5 are married, celebrating birthdays and getting Christmas presents for everyone is getting a bit out of hand. Also, both my parents were one of 5 kids so it seems like there is some sort of party every.single.month ( can get draining). J is the middle of 3 kids so it really gets overwhelming for him at times.
Here's the gang:
I used to annoy them by playing Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" on repeat every.single.morning during high school (while getting ready). As a tribute, I had it played at our wedding and we all got together in a circle and sang it together.
Here's us when we were younger :
And a shot from our 1st trip to Disney World ( it was very hot and we were annoyed at how many pics our parents were taking):
And lastly, a horrible Halloween pic:
Dx: Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism After 2 years TTC & failed IUs,we have our IVF baby born 9/24/11
LO#2 aka 'Miracle Baby' Orig. EDD= 9/28 EDD moved to 10/3/13
"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." -- Dale Carnegie
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." --Thomas A. Edison
Cassie is 26, 4 years younger than me. She is currently a manager of a wine bar and bistro in Foxboro, MA. She is sarcastic, funny, thoughtful and always there for me. I think as we've grown up we've gotten a lot closer. We've definitely been through a lot together and I think it's helped to make us really close. I consider my sister my best friend.
I unfortunately can't find pictures of her at the moment
( Boooo
ETA: I totally forgot about my half brother. He's 38 or 39, is currently living with/mooching off my my mother and is a scumbag. He spent years not working or even looking for a job, only be surprised when his unemployment ran out. He got picked up by police the day my dad died and I had to go to the police station only to find he had already left without calling me to tell me not to come. We don't really speak much and until he gets out of our mother's house, I don't really have a lot of nice things to say about him.
How old are they are where do you fit in (youngest, middle, oldest)?
my brother is 5 yrs older than me
What was your relationship like growing up? Now?
ebbed and flowed our whole lives..sometimes close, sometimes not. i've never thought of my brother as my bff, but i have hated him more than any person in the world before. currently, it's OK. he lives in nevada, so it helps that i don't see him all the time. it's not bad, but it's not good.
Share anything you would like about them (personalities, career, etc).
he works at nordstrom and has been for the last 10 yrs or so...he's a hopeless romantic, however he's dating a 19 yr old right now (he's 30) and i'm not a fan of that. they are giving into each other's unrealistic expectations (he buys her nice gifts, she's attached to his hip and listens to his every word). he loves baseball, and he is a MOMMA'S BOY. when he comes home to visit, my dad sleeps in the guest room and my brother sleeps with my mom.
♥ bfp1 06/14/2011 ♥ edd 02/22/2012 ♥
♥ baby jennlin born on 02/15/2012 ♥
who says you can only wear your wedding dress once?
honeymoon bio ♥ married bio ♥ planning bio
jumped ship to the new and improved nest. back to TB for baby boards.
I am the 2nd oldest of four kids
Erica is 2 years older than me. We were very close growing up. I was super shy and she was always helping me through school. We were in dance and other musical activities together and we worked at Carvel together too. Somehow over the years, we've swapped roles and I've become more confident and outgoing and I have to hold her hand! She's very thoughtful and dedicated to what she does - sometimes to a fault - we're working on that with her! And she's a little skinny b*tch
Danielle is 4 years younger than me. She's ridiculously funny - she could have her own reality show. She was always the energetic, happy child that you couldn't disappoint. Nothing really bothered her - she was very easy going. Now she's a bit more put together, organized and particular. But still a bowl of laughs. She makes these faces sometimes and I cannot keep a straight face!
she was an adorable kid:
Christopher is 6 years younger than me. He was definitely more of a wild child and having 4 moms probably didn't help! We weren't really close growing up because the age difference was awkward, but now that we're older I think we both appreciate each other more. He doesn't see us as authority figures anymore and we can just have fun! He still loves to be the wild card though!
He was the cutest baby boy ever!
We have a lot of fun together - I really do look forward to spending time with them
| cute shoes make me happy |
I'm in the middle. I've got an older sister Doree and a younger brother John. Doree is 5 years older, John is 2 years younger.
growing up we were not close, John and I faught a LOT and honestly im surprised we're both alive. Doree was older and always kind of in a different phase in life then I was. We tolerated each other, but we're not close. I always admired my sister because she was the popular pretty girl that had a million friends amd that all the guys woo'd over. My brother was and is uber athletic and aced everything he tried.
We've all gotten really close in our adult years, I think it took us until College age to mature enough to become each others best friends. We now all live in different states and only get to see each other 4-5 times a year. Luckily we all live in places that flights are usually cheep. I speak to my sister almost daily and my brother a few times a week. Doree is an account manager for a large marketing firm in Chicago, John is an IT guy for casinos in Vegas. our closeness magnified when my dad got sick and now that he has passed, we're more united then ever.
I'm the middle child, but that wasn't the case for the first 16 years of my life.
This is Mark:
He is 29 and my only brother. He was a bit of a wild child/rebel so he was always causing problems for my parents when we were in school. I always hated that about him and looked down on him for that. We weren't particularly close, we fought a lot and he was always ordering me around. Now that we're older, we get along better.
He didn't follow the college path and worked for a few years making a good amount of money for a local Jiffy Lube like place. He quit that job, only to bum around for a bit. He wound up getting a degree at ITT Tech but didn't find a job so went to a nursing program which he finished 6 months ago. He's failed his nursing license exam twice already because he doesn't know how to study. He's pretty irresponsible despite his age and that is really frustrating to me.
I admire his ability to get along with everyone, particularly the close bond he has with my cousins. I've never been good at making friends and he is able to so quickly.
This is Danika (on the left):
She is currently 10. When I was still in high school (16-17), I spent my time at home watching her and babysitting. She didn't like my brother very much when she was a baby so I would always take care of her. One time I had to write a paper and I had to put her in my lap so she would fall asleep. I spent 4 hours in that position. For a while, I was very mad at how irresponsible I thought my parents were. Irresponsible because my dad had to get a second job and money was so tight because they had another kid. Unfortunately, my anger was directed at her so when I would come home from college and when I was living with my parents, I would leave my door closed and be mean to her. I was her favorite sibling but after a while she didn't want to hang out with me.
After we moved out, things got better and I grew up. We now have her sleep over every weekend and take her to the movies. We feel like parents to her and we try to teach her how to be responsible and behave. Even at her age, she has an attitude towards my parents that we are hoping to change.
She's very talkative and loud, but at the time, shy when the attention is on her. She won't tell the servers at the restaurants what she wants to order and always says maybe or "I dunno" when asked what she wants (even though she has a preference). Being around her has made us realize we want kids and that we are prepared to be parents.
I have a hodge podge family as well... but I LOVE it.
I am the oldest of 5- here is the breakdown.
Only full sibling is Keith- he is 28 and is a general manager of a very cool diner in Cincinnati. He has a wonderful girlfriend who we hope he finally proposes to soon. She is a pharmacist. We hated each other growing up, but we get a long well now. He just made all the food for my baby shower and it was fabulous! He hosted it at his diner which was very cool. (one on far right)
I have two half siblings- Kathy and Kenny- Kat is 21 and is a runner for the University of Cincinnati- I am very proud of her. She is a deans list student in Clinical Laboratory Science, a Big East Champion in Track and holds roughly 6 school records for UC. She is awesome. Here is a pic of her from the UC website:
Kenny is almost 19 and is the baby... he is treated as such. He is a student at Franklin College in Indy and plays soccer. We were all athletes so he just carries on the tradition. He is a super pain since he is the baby, but we all still love him.
John is the last and is actually my cousin who we adopted. He is 29 so falls right between Keith and I- we are all like 9 mos apart. He is married to Marci who we love and is pretty great and handy when it comes to helping. He struggles sometimes with work, but he will always find a way to make it work. I am proud of him for that. He had a rough upbringing before he came to live with us, however, he has made the best of it. We didnt get a long well when we were younger because he always had people giving him tons of stuff feeling sorry for him, but I see now that it was pretty stupid to get upset over something that petty:
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels like this! Jay tells me all the time that she's his now too and I tell him he's wrong! I also love that our kids will be her first biological grandkids because I know as much as she loves my nieces and nephews it will be nothing compared to our kid(s).