happy birthday, nee bird.

Neely was born two years before me.

People, often times, confuse me for the older sister. I always thought it was because I had kids first. But now that I think about it, maybe I'm just aging faster. dang it.

Anyway, today is her birthday. Figures she'd share her b-day with a famous president. She's a very determined, focused and driven person. I'm not ruling out the chance of her being a president some day. She's young yet.

Here's some things you probably don't know about her:

1. In 2003, she flew in town for my birthday as a surprise. It was awesome.
2. She skipped 7th grade. woo-woo!
3. One time, I came to her house with extremely dirty Crocs. And my feet weren't so pretty either. (I had been gardening.) She got our her hose and scrubbed my shoes and washed my feet.
4. She and her husband let us (Brent, me and the boys) live with them for 2 1/2 months before we found a house in the Twin Cities.
5. She received an award for successful business peeps called 40 under Forty....when she was 32.
6. She totally a tiger-lady business woman.
7. She's a softy, too. She'll cry with and for you...and during certain hymns and praise songs.
8. She's been creating recipes since she was 10 years old. Here's her latest.
9. While I was afraid to try-out for anything in high school, Neely was on the soccer team, tennis team, cheer leading, drama team, and probably fifty other things. In college, this continued, but I can't remember the titles. Something like GM of the radio station and, like, student senate or something. (In college, I just rolled Drum and hung out at the theater.)
10. She loves Jesus and will probably tell you that's really all that matters about her.

Happy Birthday, Neely! We love you!