Birthday Wishes!

Dear Friend,

Today is my birthday. It's my dad's birthday, too. We were born on the same day, a couple decades apart. My dad told me today, like he does every year, that I was the best birthday present he's ever had. He even teared up about it. The older he gets, the more tender his heart is.

I think the best present I could ever is get is to have the relationships I have with my family right now forever. What more could I ask for? As I starred at my fattening cheesecake with a small candle set on top, I thought about my family and how precious each of them is to me. I never want to loose them. So, I breathed in... and mom blew out my candle from across the table. Course, I went into a state of panic and, squealing all the while, grabbed match and rushed to relight the tiny candle, nearly fumbling the flame on to Meg's hand. Everyone was laughing. Dad sat at the head of the table, mom on his left, Meg on his right. I was to the right of her, with Sarah on the end. My cousin sat next to mom. The table seemed to float in the air with the cheer in the room. How could I possibly want any more than this? Carefully covering the flame from everyone else, I closed my eyes then opened them again, deciding I wanted to watch the flame. Everyone started shouting out things to wish for. Dad asked, "What's his name?!" I looked at that tiny little candle, confident on the only thing I really wanted then quickly blew it out with an exaggerated buff of air. Everyone clapped. It's the best wish I've ever made.

I mentioned my cousin. I have to tell you about the crazy circumstances that landed her in my crazy home. I was at my friend's house watching Dr. Who (yes, I've been hooked) when Meg got a call from mom. She quickly related a story to Meg. Our cousin was starting at BYU this semester and, upon her arrive, she found that her apartment had no heating yet. It's been an unforgiving winter, so she was like, literally freezing. We got a call from Grandma who knew what was going on and so we were going to have her stay at our house. Meg told me this and we started heading out the door. My mind was blow. See, I had no clue who the heck this cousin was. Sure, she's my dad's brother's kid. Doesn't mean we've ever even spoken. But, we were gonna take her in. Okay, cool. I was just totally weirded out because everyone else seemed to know who she was. So, we get home and bam. Find out she's staying my room. I've never met this chick and she's gonna be sleeping in my bed, among my things! This girl could be a thief and we'd never know! Those thoughts are very Christian like, so of course, I began tidying up my room without a word of complaint, quietly taking care of hiding away my valuables. What can I say? I'm a moron. I know.

She got here, and she looks like me a little. Kind of weird. Not only that, she's suuuuuper nice and sweet and has the most darling smile. She puts up with our insanity pretty well, too. So yeah, I was an idiot, but better safe than sorry. We don't know how long she'll be staying, but either way, I hope we get to see her alot more now that she'll be near by. She's moved here from Texas so, the weather change is a little dramatic. I hope to take her shopping soon for some warmer clothes. She came as prepared as she could be, but where do you find winter clothes in Texas? You don't. But she's really cool. Makes me wonder how many awesome friendships I'm missing out on just because I never seen any of my cousins.

So yep! Life's good today. You know, you never really appreciate the hard times till you compare them to the bad times. And you never really appreciate the bad times till you realize how much better the good times will be.