Things I Learn From My Siblings

Today is my brother—the youngest child and only boy in the family—Mckay's birthday. While most of us in the family still think of him like the picture below, he is actually turning 22. (What??)

I have to say that little Mckay has grown up to be a pretty cool kid. I have the lucky role to be the only immediate family member in the same state as Mckay, so I get to see all of his grown-up skills and characteristics a lot. I find myself looking to him as an example for things I don't do well and realized I do the same with each of my siblings. (I was also thinking about this on my sister Julianne's birthday a couple weeks ago.) So I've decided to give a little shout out to the amazing people that they are and share some of the many, many things I learn from my siblings—youngest to oldest.

All of the siblings together in May 2013 at Aspen Grove, Utah.
Julianne, Susanne, Mckay, Christianne, Karianne, Ruthanne

Mckay—This guy is very responsible, organized, and dedicated to excel. Even as a freshmen at BYU, he never goofed off or wasted time. (And we all know how the stereotypically freshmen male behaves.) He continues to show this dedication to doing well—in his school work, in his music, and in his professional pursuits. Mckay schedules to spend his "free" time in practice rooms (he's a drummer and music major). He knows when he needs to be doing school work and dedicates WAY more time to that stuff than I remember ever doing as a student. He is currently trying to get an introductory job related to his major and has dedicated his time this past week to learning programs and skills needed to spiff up his application. He's impressive. And he is never idle. Never. As a college student, Mckay doesn't necessarily have much money, but he is so incredibly responsible with his spending. He knows exactly where every dollar is going and what he is supposed to spend. He has a budget and sticks to it. Plus he's a saver—he rarely even spends his dedicated "spending" money. Happy birthday Mckay! Some girl needs sing this to ya: "I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22. Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you!" 

Susie—She inspires me to be more outgoing, become a morning person, and also pushes me to be a better runner. Growing up, Susie was always the most fun and bubbly girl that everyone wanted to be friends with. She sees the fun in everything and has no problem striking up genuine conversations with perfect strangers (not a natural ability for me!). When she sets her mind to something, she does it! For a while, we'd go to the gym together at 5:30 am, and she'd have to call me every day to wake me up. She makes the perfect running buddy because she is patient with my slow running but also encourages me to go a little longer or a little faster. She also doesn't settle for the status quo. She is also a great example of taking leaps in life and letting go of what I'm comfortable with to experience a little adventure in life.

Ruthie—She pretty much knows everything, or at least how to find information about it. She is always the one I call with a question about how something works, where something is located, or who said what. (Before smart phones, she was my go-to GPS.) She is super smart and can pretty much pick up any skill. She learns quickly and will often dive into projects and learn how to do things as she goes. I'm pretty sure she could do almost ANYTHING just because of these skills, and I think that is amazing. She is also a great teacher and speaker and impresses me with her preparation when she does those things. 

Julianne—She is the business queen and who has already paved a path for me to follow by earning her MBA and using her awesome skills to get a start-up company off the ground. She shows me that hard work and some smart skills pay off and to not let my training go to waste. And that sometimes you have to invest a bit of time and money to get a result that pays off in the end. She is also a world traveler and inspires me to embrace unique opportunities when they come my way. She is always game for a trip and is AWESOME at balancing her career and personal life. 

Christianne—As the oldest of the bunch, she is a natural leader and knows how to get things done. One thing I always notice when I'm with Christianne is that if we talk about something, she'll just do it. I tend to want to plan things out and think about things before I do them. But if we're like, "Oh let's make a headband," she leads us to just sit down right there and make a headband. She is also the craftiest of us all and knows how to do all kinds of projects. I'm pretty sure she could create anything. And she's not afraid to learn new skills. She is also the mother of 4 and is so good and teaching her kids and being able to teach them at their level. I hope to be a mom like her some day.

Pretty much all of my siblings are awesome. And this small post doesn't even touch on all of the great characteristics they each possess.