All About That Twin Life

Tomorrow is my half birthday. I've talked before about how a half birthday should be a real thing, and I always make a point to let Parker know it's my half special day in case he wants to buy me presents. Spoiler alert: sadly, no presents are ever given. 

Tomorrow is my half birthday, but it's also someone else's half birthday... my twin's!

If you've read this blog before or known me longer than .5 seconds in real life, you know that I have a twin. She's my best friend and my other half. We are the same person but also very different. She's funnier. I'm more creative. She makes a better first impression. I am more social. The same, but different.

In honor of our upcoming half birthday, I thought I'd give a few facts about our life as twins:

1. We Facetime multiple times a day every day. It's very rare that we go a day without talking on the phone. 

2. We are both boy moms, and her son is only 5 months older than mine. Basically, we have gotten to go through almost every phase of motherhood together. 

3. We switched places at her high school track meet, and you can read that story here. 

4. People always ask if twins can read each other's minds. No. At least, we can't. However, we often think the same thing at the same time. Since we share identical childhoods, different stories or words spark the same thought for us both.

5. We are mirror twins, whatever that means. I am left handed and she is right handed, and our hair naturally parts on opposite sides. 

6. We didn't think it was possible to be any closer, and then we had kids at the same time. Motherhood has brought us together, and we are so grateful we get to do the journey at the same time. 

7. Our husbands are very supportive of this twin thing. They know we are close and have just kind of accepted that we are a package deal. Funny story: Parker filmed my reaction when we had our son, and not 2 minutes after Preston was born, you can hear Parker ask me on the video if I want to call Danielle. I waited, by the way, but I laugh because Parker just assumed I would want to talk to her there on the operating room table 2 minutes after my c-section. 

8. Our dream is to live in the same neighborhood and raise our kids together. The Navy is kind of cramping our style on that one. ;)

9. We have the same taste in pretty much everything... we like the same music, the same food, the same TV shows, the same movies. Ironically, the only exception is our taste in men because our husbands are pretty different. Both are great guys though!

10. Danielle was slightly cooler than I was in high school, and one day Freshman year, she saw me in the hallway and didn't say hi. She was trying really hard to be cool and didn't want to talk to someone "not as cool". WE HAVE THE SAME FACE! I have given her a hard time for that for 13 years with no intention of ever stopping. 

Being a twin is one of the greatest blessings of my life. It's a built in best friend to go through all of the ups and the downs with, and I am so grateful I get to experience it. I'd love to have twins one day since I know just how special that bond can be... but then I think about my saint of a mother wrangling us as toddlers and question the desire. ;)

The Twin Behind The Blog

My twin sister has made the occasional appearance on the blog, so I thought it might be fun to let her be this month's "person behind the blog". I had fun coming up with questions that I thought she would give snarky answers to, and she didn't disappoint. I tend to think she's pretty darn funny. So with that said, here are a few words from the twin behind the blog.

I know, we look nothing alike.

Questions and answers (my responses to her answers are in grey):

1. How do you feel about Chelsea's blog?

I definitely think she's a talented writer, and she has the ability to be both comical and inspirational in her writing.
I think she started out with a nice answer so she could ease her way in with the sarcasm. Keep reading, it comes out...

2.What would you say is your greatest achievement so far?

Potty training Sully
Dream big.

3. What's your favorite thing about Sully?

How much time do you have? He's practically perfect in every way.
Apparently Sully is Mary Puppins. 

4. What is your favorite meal?

Cookies and milk. Fat free milk because it's important to eat healthy, but full fat cookies because you only live once.
Jillian Michaels would be so proud.

5. If you could change one thing about your twin, what would it be?

I'd make her 10 pounds bigger so I could be the skinny one, and I'd concentrate it all around her middle like a giant tire.
...And then she got called a not so nice word, deservedly so. 

6. Did you ever purposely not say hi to Chelsea in the hallway in high school because she wasn't as cool as you?

If you're asking me to affirm that Chelsea was not as cool as me, then yes.
Seriously, this actually happened. She was the cooler one in high school, so she avoided me one day in the halls and pretended she didn't see me to separate her image. Um, hello, WE HAVE THE SAME FACE!  

Surprising The Twin At Her Graduation

I mentioned Friday that my twin sister, Danielle, graduated from nursing school at TCU on Friday. Before we even knew the date she was graduating, I knew I would likely already be living in Virginia by the time her graduation rolled around. I also knew I wanted to fly down and try to surprise her. 

Surprising someone really shouldn't be that difficult. You fly down, you go somewhere you know they are going to be, and you pop out and yell "Surprise!". It's not rocket science, but Danielle made it oh so difficult. The thing is, Danielle and I talk multiple times a day and Facetime every single day. There was about a six hour period when I was flying where my phone was off, and that made her suspicious. Every time she Facetimed me, I quickly declined and made up some excuse why we could only talk on the phone. If we Facetimed, she would see that I was staying at my grandparents' house just 30 minutes away. 

Parker and I did everything we could to try to throw her off. He logged into both my Instagram and Facebook to post statuses/pictures so the location would show as Virginia. I gave her very specific details of what I was up to and what Parker and I planned on doing that weekend. He of course couldn't come too since the graduation was on a Friday, so he stayed back with the pups. 

The evening of the graduation, the twin was really suspicious. I mean the thing is, we practically have the same brain. Even if I did everything right, there is a good chance she would just guess it. Surprising your twin is like telling Jenny not to chase cats. It's just plain difficult. When I walked into the building she was graduating in with my family, you had to go a few floors up the elevator to get to the right room. Danielle was up there with the other graduates. I had my entire family go up first. This way, even if she did think I was coming, once she saw I wasn't with my family, she would lose hope. It sounds so cruel when I say it that way. Oh well, it was worth it. 

 

When I finally went up carrying the beautiful sign I had made, I spotted her in the crowd and waited for her to see me. As cheesy as it sounds, it was a moment I will never forget. Her eyes locked on mine, her mouth dropped open in shock, and she covered her mouth as the tears started rolling and ran towards me. By the time we hugged, I was in tears too. We made quite the scene in the middle of the room, and everybody was cheering and clapping like it was some sort of military homecoming, but we didn't care. We were just so happy to be reunited. It meant so much to both of us. That moment right there ranks in the top 5 moments of my existence.

The rest of the weekend was perfect. I got to hang out with my family and grandparents, Danielle and I got to watch Friends on the couch together, and we found a delicious ice cream sandwich shop with some of the best desserts ever. If that's not a good weekend, I don't know what is. Perfect. I am so happy I got to be there this weekend to celebrate such a huge accomplishment and milestone in Danielle's life, and I am  so glad the surprise went off without a hitch. We will treasure that moment forever!

 

So proud of my idgy! Also, don't ask about the weird nickname. We don't know why either. All I know is we have been calling each other that for 10 years, so why stop now? I think my dad started that one and we kept it going way longer than it probably should have.

Confession: I Was A Package Deal

I always hoped the man I married would have a good relationship with my family. Those are my people, after all. My parents love Parker and have been supportive of our relationship from day 1. I know this is a huge blessing and it's not always like this, and I'm grateful. My parents loved Parker, my grandparents loved Parker... sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. Reversing it, I also have a great relationship with Parker's family, and they have loved me as their own from day 1. Again, sounds like we're set, right? That was all wonderful, but there was another part of me that Parker had to accept before we got married. He wasn't just getting me.

 

I was a package deal. With me, you get me + twin.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, my life isn't an episode of sister wives or anything. Weird. Awkward. Moving on. If you have known me for .2 seconds or read this blog long, you know I have an identical twin sister. Being a twin is a part of who I am, and we are best friends. Our dream is to live next door to each other and watch reality television on the couch while our kiddos play. The Navy isn't on board right now, but we're working on it. 

 

In all seriousness, we are really close. Like, really close. We talk on the phone/Facetime at least 3-4 times a day. We tell each other everything. We stick up for each other even if we think the other is in the wrong. People used to go up to one of us in high school and tell us they thought we were the prettier twin. All I hear when someone says that to me is you don't think my best friend is pretty. Rude. It's not a compliment. It's awkward. I mean, for one thing, we have the same face, so there's that. We get into laughing spells for no reason whatsoever and can't even control ourselves. They had to separate us in the 7th grade for laughing too hard during a standardized test. How did we get so worked up when the whole room was under silence all day? All I can say is it wasn't the first time. Twins are just a different breed.

Thank goodness our husbands are so supportive. Seriously, thank goodness. They are supportive, but that doesn't mean they don't think we are completely ridiculous. I can't blame them, really. Parker actually thinks we are funny and loves listening to us talk. In his words, "It's so good that you have someone that thinks you're as funny as you do". It's like receiving a giant hug, obviously. So our husbands have to deal with daily doses of weirdness and understand that if we don't get to talk to each other, we get mopey. It's true. You can't make this stuff up. 

 

 

That twin of mine graduates from nursing school today as a RN! I couldn't be more proud of her! She took the road less traveled and stepped out of her comfort zone, and today she celebrates the culmination of so much hard work and dedication. Proud to be her twin today and every day, and thankful for a husband who recognized that I was a package deal and chooses to put up with me anyway! That's all I can ask for, really.

And, naturally, our dog children are best friends. Sully and Jenny forever!

25

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovebirds out there. Today, I am celebrating something a little different. It's my 25th birthday! It's always been fun being a Valentine's baby. With all of the chocolate and flowers floating around the universe on this day, it's just sort of a neat day to have a birthday. Hands down though, my favorite part of my birthday is who I share it with. 

 

 

Being a twin had its advantages and disadvantages growing up. I remember thinking how nice it would be to have my very own day that I didn't share with anyone. Now, I kind of want to slap the 10 year old version of myself for ever thinking that. The most special aspect of my birthday is that I share it with my twin sister. From wombmates to roommates, she has been my very best friend and confidante my entire life. I really can't imagine what my life would be like if I weren't a twin. It's obviously all I've ever known, and it's also one of the biggest blessings I have ever received. There would definitely be less laughter in my life, that's for sure. My twin happens to be fairly hysterical, if I do say so myself, although nobody thinks we are funnier than we do. This is something our loving husbands remind us of often. ;)

 

 

25 will be an exciting year for Danielle and me. Godwilling, I will move to Virginia and start a new life on the east coast with my little family, and she will graduate from nursing school and officially be working her dream job. We will be farther apart than we ever have been, but we will be closer than ever. If there is one thing this distance and military life has taught me, it's that my relationship with my sister is a constant in a sea of unknowns. By the time I'm 26, I could be living in Japan, or I could not. I could have a child, or I could not. I really don't know much about what the next few years hold, but I do know I am blessed to have my birthday buddy now and always. 

 

 

Happy birthday Danielle! I love you!