I have seven younger brothers and sisters...Four terrific brothers and three amazing sisters and I'd like to think that my influence had something to do with them all being so terrific and amazing but I'm pretty sure it is in-spite of my influence that they turned out so great and all due to God's grace and our WONDERFUL parents.
One of my AMAZING sister is Olivia, and today (2/7/2011) just happens to be her 17th birthday. 17 was a good age for me. I'd have to say my 18th year is one I wouldn't mind living over and I pray Olivia has an even better 18th year than I did!
For her birthday I wanted to share a little about what, in my opinion, makes Liv so amazing.
We use to call Olivia CNN or CSPAN, a nickname she got from our Grandma Bushnell because she would always tell everyone what was going on, even the most boring information...even at a young age she always kept us up to date with what everyone in the house was doing, or what she heard someone saying or saw someone doing that maybe could have been kept to herself. She was pretty perceptive for a little kid and a good listener and she still is. The best part about her "all grown up" now is that she is not as much of a tattle-tell and does not gossip or tell secrets like you'd think she would given her early years of constantly "spilling the beans." Still perceptive, still a great listener but not a gossip. Buuuut she is still the go-to person in the family if you want to know what is going on. Somehow she still always knows.
Olivia is a caring friend, loyal in tough situations and sensitive to others needs. She is also a fun friend and she has many deep friendships to prove it. When I was her age I didn't have as many people claiming me as their "best friend" as she does. I think it says a lot about someones character, and personality, when so many want to claim friendship with that someone. Either that or their famous or rich, but she isn't...
While Olivia loves all her friends dearly I know two who always have and always will be her very best besties....these two right here. No better friend than a cousin, not in my life anyway.
Mariah and Mallory
Brian always says Olivia is the funniest Bushnell, and while that isn't saying much (Bushnell's don't have a typical sense of humor) he is right. I'm not sure when it happened but Olivia says the funniest things It might just be the waaay she says it or her timing that makes it so funny, either way Olivia constantly has her family and friends laughing.
She has a servants heart. She is very willing to serve her family and her friends without complaining. Although she isn't shy about saying no to helping out, like when Emma asked her to take over supporting her adopted girl in Haiti...but for the most part she has a big heart and is willing to do just about anything to make life easier for those she loves.
There are many other wonderful things about Olivia that make her so special and such a fun gal, but my day got away from me and, well I just don't have the time to go on. If you know Olivia feel free to leave a comment about what you most like about her.
Happy 17th birthday little sister, I hope this year is your best yet!
Brian and I had no plans for Valentines Day, we had not discussed if we were going to get gifts or not or if we would dine out or in...no discussion at all, but we have had many other things to discuss these days so I figured I'd just have a nice dinner ready for him after work and we'd leave it at that. Saturday he mentioned something about Valentines day, something about spending it in Dallas with our youth pastor! He has been trying to go with Ryan to his seminary classes and we both think it would be a beneficial visit, so I'm all for it. I made plans to have my sister and some of her friends over for cookies, cupcakes and coffee after school and made dinner plans. Sunday afternoon we went out and got ice cream to celebrate Valentines. We very rarely go out together so it was nice and then we spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon together playing Call Of Duty and taking a nap. Guess who did what! That's just us, I never expect much else. I love big gestures of love, but I'm thankful for the little things he does, like unloading the dish washer or putting away his clothes! I'm all about showing love everyday, remember? And he knows it, I have a necklace he gave me randomly one Sunday in September, flowers I got after coming home late one night from work, love letter for no special occasion, and he helps out around the house all the time. As we got in bed Sunday night Brian set his alarm for 4:30am and talked excitedly about 'going to school' the next morning...So I was a bit surprised when I woke up at 6:30am to find he was still in bed! We spent the morning sleeping in and enjoying each others company at home, then spent the afternoon enjoying time together over lunch at Breakers (we were wishing we had gone to Genghis Grill, my pick) and then went to the mall where we parted ways and did a little shopping, yes that's just us....we were going to use some free movie tickets we had but ended up skipping and joked about already feeling like an old married couple. We talked about dinner plans and decided that we didn't want to spend more money and would just go home and chill. I ended up having my sister and some of her friends over for those cupcakes and cookies and we played some games while Brian played some COD. Always my gift to him, letting him spend an hour or so on that even if I'm home. What kind of wife is OK with that? 
Brian and I have many more Valentines days to celebrate together, but more importantly we have day after day of forever to emphasis our love. I'm looking forward to every one of those days. I know they won't all be super romantic or easy to get through, but I know they will cause us to love each other ever the more and after all, that's what I married him for. I wanted him to be my forever Valentine, and he is! 
