Tomorrow is my sister's birthday, and in true Rachel fashion, I haven't sent a gift or card yet. It's just kind of how us sisters roll. Sometimes we're on top of things and other times we send gifts during random months of the year because we finally got around to it.
I thought since I haven't even bought a card yet, I'd resurrect my blog and dedicate a post to her. I've shared memories before, but sometimes it's just fun to relive those moments.
Erica and I are 3 years apart, but have been best friends from the day she was born. Well, maybe not, but close enough. I was the quiet one. She was the loud one. I was the "follow the rules" girl. She was the "rules are meant to be broken" girl. I had more common sense. She was the book smart one. We were opposite in so many ways, but we still were always doing things together.
5 Favorite Childhood Memories:
1. Playing in the snow. I was so bossy and had OCD about the snow. I loved perfectly fresh snow and didn't want it ruined, so I would make Erica and Kendra walk through my footprints so that the yard would still be pretty. You could be certain that at some point, Erica would get fed up with my rules and run all over the places and "ruining" the yard.
2. Making up games in our bedrooms. We had radio talk shows that we recorded on a cassette player. (We called it, "Wake Up, Cedar Rapids!" We also made up a club we named, "The Friendship Club". The one rule is that you can never quit the club...so we're still members.
3. Spending hours at the Cherry Hill pool. We were always trying to impress the lifeguards with our flips and handstands.
4. Spending hours at church in the summer when mom was the custodian, and wreaking havoc in the process. Wheel chair races, which would usually end in Erica pushing me and letting go so I'd crash into a wall or door. Stealing VBS cookies and Kool-Aid. The "Hippie Hangout". We also had our "SHS" aka Secret Hiding Spot. If one of us said it we'd meet there to ditch Kendra. We were literally just sitting in the sanctuary in between pews. But, then there was the time we decided to see who could throw their shoes the farthest...in the sanctuary. I threw a little too hard and knocked a light cover off. We hid it under the pulpit and I made Erica vow never to tell. LOL!
5. The summer we rode The Dragon 7 times in a row without getting off at Adventureland. Finally Erica said she had to get off and then promptly barfed over the railing.
5 Favorite Teenage Memories
1. Getting my first car and going "Ghetto Cruising". I don't know why we called it that, other than we liked the word ghetto. We had some fun times cruising 1st Ave and East Post Road. There was one time we turned around to help a dog in the middle of the road, only to discover it was a garbage bag. Then there was the time she dared me to run over a laundry basket. Yeah. It got stuck under my car.
2. The night my car died at the fair. For some reason Erica thought it would be a great idea to call mom from my super awesome TracFone, wake her up and tell her that we were on a Ferris Wheel. Mom was not pleased to be woken up. Imagine how much fun it was calling back a little while later to tell her my car was dead and we needed her and dad to come get us.
3. Being the Valley View Bunnies. What started as kind of a joke, turned into something fun we did for a few years. We'd fill up Easter eggs, Erica would write a silly poem and then we'd deliver them to people's houses from church and sneak away. (Although we did scare Linda one year. Still feel bad about that one!)
4. Jubilee Amusement Park in North Carolina. Sketchiest place ever. We finally almost used all of our tickets so we could leave, and the park gave us more for free because we were extras in their commercial.
5. The time we stayed at camp on a weekend no one was there. We had so much fun until we freaked ourselves out and ran as fast as we could back to our cabin to so we could hide.
5 Favorite Adult Memories:
1. The night of the exploding Burger King. We had finally reconnected after a falling out when she moved to California. That night we were talking on the phone and I was like, "Oh, By the way, the Mt. Vernon Rd. Burger King exploded today." I'm fairly certain she laughed for 10 minutes straight.
2. Going to see a taping of Family Feud. Erica took us to Hollywood and then ragged on me for being too "touristy" and also told us not to talk to or take things from people on the street. A few minutes later she comes running back, "Hey guys! Someone just gave me tickets to Family Feud!"
3. The night before Kendra's wedding. We had so much fun staying at the cabin, binge eating and watching/quoting Bridesmaids.
4. Wedding Fire Alarms. We will never forget the midnight wake up call we had on Erica's wedding day as the fire alarms started blaring in our condo. These things only happen to us!
5. The ultimate Mother's Day surprise. Pulling off a surprise visit from Erica was so much fun and we all kept it a secret for 5 months! She flew into Chicago, took the train to Springfield, then the boys and I picked her up and we drove to Iowa the next day to surprise Mom!
There are so many more memories. There's been laughter and fighting. We were girls, but we definitely did our fair share of inuring each other.
We may live far apart now, but she's still one of my very best friends. She's the one I can talk to about anything. She has been one of my rocks this year. Especially these past couple of months. I can tell her anything and she's always there to lend an ear, give me advice or just tell me that I'm not stupid when I say I am.
It wasn't in the cards for us to see each other this summer like we planned, but hopefully one of these days the world and life will take a dang chill pill and we'll get to see each other. I still need to meet my niece!
Happy Birthday, Sis! I love you so much and I hope this next year is good to you.
(Stay tuned for tomorrow for the Father's Day post, since I forgot to get my dad a card too! )
