HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMBER

This is my sister. Her name is Amber. She is a SERIOUSLY crazy girl! Today is her birthday so I'd like to give her a Shout-Out (aka tribute) to this oh-so-great and beautiful sis of mine!

Let me tell you a little about Amber:

Like I said, she is really crazy! Every city she lives in she rallies together a group of girls and gets them to do things they would otherwise do. She plans wacky parties, gets them to go to romance movies with her and forms fun groups to do things like make and trade cards, etc. I'm sure that if I have people like that out here by me who would do crazy things , I wouldn't know it cuz I don't rally people together like she can. For instance, to prove my point, here are two recent parties she had with her Boise friends (before moving to California). The first picture is from her White Trash Bunco party. Amazing. (SV People...we HAVE to plan some fun stuff! Who's in?)

Second, her friends threw her a Surprise Going Away Party. And she just thought they were going to dinner, but they surprised her with an 80's party on the town. (When she showed up, they crimped her hair, took her in a limo with a Rod Stewart look-alike driver and danced it up in the streets.) I know that Amber was a major part, if not a complete part, in getting this crazy side out of these girls who would normally have a very boring life.

Amber is a very passionate person. Nothing she does is ever done part-way, run-of-the-mill, or ordinary. It's never half-assed. From every GetTogether she plans, to just exercising, she does it with dedication and commitment. Her invitations are always amazing (nothing just thrown-together, and if they're thrown-together, they don't look like it). When she dresses her kids, their hair is always done with a matching bow, or the perfect shoes. Take for example this-when Nan and I moved into my mom's house...we sort of just assimilated into the rooms that were already there and just lived amongst their dwellings. Amber has just recently moved in there. If you walk into her bedroom, you wouldn't even know it was a part of the same house my parents live in. She has seriously made a home out of two bedrooms. You feel like you're walking into a whole new realm. Amazing.

This picture is from the fun and incredible baby shower she and my other sister's threw me.

Amber is also a very sensitive, compassionate and empathic person. I really think she is psychic and can tap into people's energy they're throwing off and really feel what they're feeling. Cuz she is always doing things for people that is perfect for what they need. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten a package in the mail when I've been having a rotten day. And it was a package from my sister Amber with things to either just brighten my day, make me feel like I was at an event that I had missed (like when I missed the retreat...she sent me all the handouts and gifts), or something to get me excited for the upcoming baby. When I asked her why, she said because she knows what it's like to live away from family and she wanted me to feel remembered. Amazing.

Amber is a very spontaneous person too! I can't tell you how many times she will just womp (yes, I used that word) something up at the last minute just because she felt like it. She used to work for Delta and I can't even keep track of how many times she just jumped on a plane and flew out (with two kids!) for some random family gathering. Just recently when Spencer was born she just got it in her head that she had 2-1/2 days to kill, so she hopped on a plane and came to visit us. Know what she said was the reason? Cuz she NEEDED to squeeze and bite Spencer's cheeks and hug him and hold him. That was it! She needed no other reason. hahaha. Amazing.

Our Universal Studios trip. (I used to live 10 minutes from the park so they came out to visit and have a fun vacation.)

One thing about Amber that I especially noticed on my last trip out to California is that she never stops! Never! She's like the Energizer bunny that just keeps going and going and going and going. When I was ready to put myself to bed, she was getting dressed to go for a run. And then when Spencer woke up about 11:00 P.M., I asked her husband where she had gone and he said, "Grocery shopping..." No matter how tired she is, she follows through with what she wants to get done that day and makes sure things are set-right before she goes to bed. Her kids are always in their pajamas, always bathed and teeth have been brushed since before they even had teeth! Amazing.

Some fun memories I have of Amber:

1. I thought she was the cutest cupie baby-doll there ever was. I remember when she was born and I vividly remember my mom bringing her home from the hospital, even though I was only 4. I also remember getting my heart set on the name Melissa. But my Aunt Cheryl had to go and steal that name for her daughter that was born a couple months before Amber. Just to appease me (but I'm sure cuz she liked the name too), my mom named her Amber MELISSA.

2. Amber loves to travel. I love hearing her stories about randomly hopping on a plane with Matt and going to St. John, or Japan, or Hawaii simply because they wanted to (or their flight benefits were going to run out so why not?) A couple years ago, she combined her flight benefits with her talent of rallying people, and a party, together and got us all to get passports, tickets and packed bags to fly to the Dominican Republic for a Sister's Getaway. And this was when she and Nanette were I think 7 months pregnant.

3. I loved when she just up and joined me on a trip to Cincinnatti, Ohio for a conference for Xoe. I was single at the time and really wanted to talk to the doctor who invented the surgery Xoe had just had. She hopped on a plane and met me there, and even attended some of the classes with me to get to know Xoe's condition a little better.

And of course, with Amber, you can't just go to a conference. You have to do something crazy along with it. What did we do? Karaoke! And as deathly scared as Amber was to get up there, she got up and sang 'Redneck Woman' by Gretchen Wilson and not surprisingly was the only one that had the whole place singin right along with her. Fun times!

4. Amber loves my girls like her own. She used to "nanny" for me when I lived in Monrovia and worked in Sherman Oaks (45 minute drive). She would make the long drive through traffic every day to come play and have fun with Xoe & Xanthe. She also flew them out to Omaha, Nebraska to spend a week with her....just because. She took them to a water park, the zoo, made Father's Day presents, made pancakes in the shape of their names and got them plane ride activities, and much more. But not only did she fly them out, she got on two or three planes (layovers) each way to go accompany them to and from Omaha. The girls still talk about that trip.

My favorite picture of Amber, well sequence of pictures, is below. She is the one in blue pants. Does anyone think there is something seriously wrong with the second picture? hahaha. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

Happy Birthday Amber! We're so glad you're in California now and can see you a lot easier and a lot more often. We love you!