Oh dear friendlies.
Today was Family Day.
Umm, some back story? (warning: impending info dump)
Every year around my parents' anniversary (Feb. 10th for those in the know) the way we celebrate it is a family tradition unoriginally called "Family Day." Gifts are exchanged, recently there's been cake, and we spend the day doing something fun and family-ish. Sea World was a few years back. We used to go up to the "high country" or just do a board game day when we lived in Arizona.
This year, what with our new house and all, it was Ikea. (Note: my sister is currently putting her desk together.)
YES, FRIENDLIES, WE CELEBRATED MY PARENTS' 26TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY WITH A TRIP TO IKEA.
So that was fun. I got a cute ugly monster poster THAT I LOVE.
My sister (helpfully) said it looks like it should be a little boy's room. Umm, thanks.
Anyway.
What I really want to talk about are the gifts because I'm sure I'll share with you a picture of my room when I get it finished (I also got a book case! woo!).
Let's talk about THE PREZZIE. The one me and the Lovely spent all that time working on and that we were SO SO SO excited about. I guess I can unveil it now, now that my parents have opened it.
It was a book from Blurb - a history of our family from the time Mom and Dad got married. Pages of me and Taylor and our parents and cousins and grandparents - important events, stories, etc. Even a recipe.
It was quite something. It made my mom cry. My dad said it surprised him - apparently he'd been gearing up for something really stupid. He said he thought it was going to be a magnet-holder or something.
I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A MAGNET-HOLDER.
So there was that funness. It was proclaimed the "best Family Day present ever."
And then there was THE SURPRISE.
OH. MY. GOSH.
Months ago (months and months and months ago), my sister told me she had a "surprise" for me. She kept telling me this, mentioning it every couple weeks and never giving me any hints to when I would get it or what it was.
Naturally, I got annoyed. You would too if someone kept telling you they had a surprise for you BUT YOU NEVER GOT IT.
I decided there was no surprise. She was just talking.
Then tonight, after all the prezzies had been opened and we'd had cake (YUM cake), her eyes suddenly lit up and she said, "OH MY GOSH I HAD NOTHER PRESENT FOR YOU! Remember the surprise I was going to give you??" And thus began a duck hunt (is that a phrase? it should be) of her looking for this surprise in the few yet-to-be-unpacked boxes from the move.
It was a manilla envelope.
I opened it up.
It was a bunch of pages of notebook paper, bound together in page protectors, with her handwriting on them.
"Letters," she said. "I wrote you a letter every day for the first term of freshman year."
OHMYGOSH.
Best. Gift. EVER.
Seriously.
Don't I have the greatest sister in the world? Aren't you jealous?
BE JEALOUS.