10 facts about my sister and me & dinner with both families.

HUGE HUGE CONGRATS to everyone that raced this last weekend (don’t forget to send in your accomplishments if you want me to feature them—>  [email protected]).  There seemed to be quite a few PRs, medals and great race days… so so excited for everyone!

Just the normal Sunday over here!  (Brooke was very happy about the sun being in her eyes)

Brooke was pretty proud of her art work and writing that she did during church…  PS Brooke calls Andrew about ten different names and we just let her call him whatever she feels comfortable with.  Most of the time she calls him Andrew, shu-shu is one of her favorites and dad happens randomly too.  We want her to decide on what she calls him because at this age she doesn’t fully understand everything and I just want her to be as comfortable as possible.

IMG 9207

They are always playing some sort of game together… Andrew is a big kid when the little kids are around.

IMG 9215

One of my favorite treats are the big pink sugar cookies from SWIG and I tried to recreate them at home with this recipe.  The frosting didn’t turn out amazing but the actually cookie was pretty dang close.

DSC08674

After our cookie baking I fell asleep because I feel like Sunday naps are almost mandatory and woke up to this scene.

IMG 9240

She went from playing with a dog to playing with a cat.  Her definition of heaven.

IMG 9244

Andrew’s family had a get together so we got to go and eat dinner with everyone!  They are amazing people.

IMG 9245

Then we went over to my sister’s house to celebrate my nephew’s bday!!!  He was really excited about his egg and bacon socks from my mom.

IMG 9276

Brooke was happy to be reunited with Curly.

IMG 9251

She and I had a long conversation on the rug talking about everything from PE, to her best friends and to her art teacher only giving her FIFTY seconds to finish a project.

IMG 9266

My nephew didn’t want a cake for his bday… he wanted an Oreo shake.  He is already wise beyond his years.

IMG 9284

I’m ready for an outdoor run today with Josse while the kids are at school!!!  This time of year was made for running.

———————————————————————–

Something fun—>  My sister will be blogging over here one or two times a month.  I’m excited for you to get to know her a little bit better!  But first, I wanted to share a few random sister facts before she blogs here.

DSC08489

1.  We shared a room from the time I was born until she was 16.  Talk about bonding.

2.  When she moved away, she lived all over the country for a few years.  This was before she had a cell phone + she didn’t have a landline.  She would put her little boy (she only had one at the time) in the jogging stroller and run a few miles to the nearest pay phone and make sure she was one of the very first people to call me on my birthday.

3.  One summer when she was living in Wyoming I stayed with her for a few weeks.  We ran everywhere we went with her jogging stroller—>  to the grocery store which was a few miles away, to Blockbuster, to the rec center, to take a step aerobics class and to buy Skittles at the gas station.  I would put the Skittles in the freezer because I was really into frozen Skittles for awhile.

3.  Once when I was in high school my boyfriend and I broke up right before a school dance.   My sister picked me up for the weekend of the dance and drove me down to Las Vegas for a weekend of shopping and eating delicious food together.

4.  When my mom was pregnant with me my sister already had three brothers and prayed every night that I would be a girl.  She lucked out.

5.  When she first moved away to go to college (aka 20 minutes away) it was so hard on me.  I called her dorm room phone obsessively and left messages constantly.  My parents decided to buy me a little white poodle to help keep me company because I missed her so much.  I named my dog’s middle name after her.

6.  Hint of lime chips, bin candy at the grocery store, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Trader Joe’s gummy Mango! Mango! will always remind me of her and our weekend movie marathons back in the day.

7.  Alias (the show with Jennifer Gardner), Felicity and Buffy the Vampire Slayer will also always remind me of her.  We were completely hooked on watching those shows together.

8.  She gets me laughing ridiculously hard.  I don’t think our humor is funny to anyone else but we sure get each other laughing hard.

9.  She is the one that got me running in the very first place.  I think my favorite running memory with her was up in the canyon on a running trail.  When I told her that I might be moving out of state in the next couple of months, she stopped dead in her tracks and just laid down on the ground with her eyes closed.  I was laughing so hard at the whole scene and she said she couldn’t move because her heart was hurting so bad.  PS She is back running again!!! At one point her doctor told her that she would never be able to run again because her back was so bad but after surgery and lots of recovery she is happily running (with her doctor’s approval of course) pain-free again!

10.  She has helped me a ridiculous amount to get me through the toughest times in life.  She loves my kiddos (goodness she treated Knox like he was her very own special buddy since the first time she met him) like crazy.  You should see her as a mom to those 5 kids of hers.  They absolutely adore her and she loves them completely.

————————————————————————–

Any topics you want my sister to blog about?

What are some special memories with your siblings?

Are you a dog or cat or both person?

What fitness classes have you tried in the past?  

-My sister and I were really into step aerobics for awhile, spin, zumba, pump and yoga!

You May Also Like

47 comments

Reply

Love the bond you have with your sister. My sister is my best friend, and one of my favorite memories with her was when we were in high school, and one day it started pouring rain, and we decided it would be fun to run barefooted to the end of the street. We did that, danced around in the rain for a little bit, and then ran back to our house. It sounds so pointless, but it was so much fun and is something I will always remember doing with her. :)

Thanks for sharing the sugar cookie recipe! I’m definitely going to have to try that one. My sister made confetti cake sugar cookies for my birthday yesterday, and they were SO good. I highly recommend!

Reply

Favorite sibling memory: I have a lot of sisters, and we were always in trouble. I think my favorite was when it snowed one night and we sneaked out of our house (I was nine at the time) and built a snowman at midnight. Can’t wait to hear from your sister! Weightlifting tips are appreciated.

Reply

brooke’s face in that first picture! i’m dying haha. she’s such a cutie. and it’s so awesome that you have such a great relationship with your sister. I’m always jealous I didn’t have one. I would love to hear more about her living all around the country! I’m sure she has many stories.

also, I don’t think there’s a workout class I haven’t tried. right now I’m teaching spin so that’s my main, but I have loved everything from zumba to step to water aerobics to trampoline classes to hot yoga. i guess you could say I like variety.

Reply

That bond you have with your sister is so awesome. I’m an only child and I was adopted because my parents couldn’t have children of their own. Even though I knew I would never have a brother or sister I always secretly hoped that it would happen. Now I’m grateful to have friends that are like sisters! :)

I’m definitely a cat person, but I would love to have a dog to run with!

Reply

I love both dogs and cats but if I had to choose…CATS :) I always say that people who don’t like cats have just never met a good one; once you are around an amazing cat you will never go back!!! I have two and they are my world. Well, along with my husband ;)

I didn’t have any sisters until I married my husband but I enjoyed growing up with two brothers. My younger brother and I did EVERYTHING together…he would play whatever I wanted and never complained. I think we have fought maybe twice EVER and are still super close today. He will sometimes ignore texts from everyone else in the family but will always respond right away to me haha!

I love your sister – can’t wait to see more from her too!!

Reply

I always said I was a dog person; but the older I get and the more I just want to vacation on a whim I am held back by the dog. Thus, I am becoming a cat person because they can be left alone for a few days. ;-)

I have 3 sisters and I am not THAT close with any of them. We are all just different enough to have a bit of separation among us…I honestly can’t imagine having such a connection with someone. **but I am ok with that**

Reply

i love that she picked you up for vegas after the break up! that’s the sweetest thing and the perfect distraction.

Reply

For your sister: her typical foods, eating style (mini meals, 3aday, snacker) indulgence.
Make-up/hair blog
being the older sister. I am a youngest like Janae, and always find the older sibling perspective interesting.

Reply

Excited to see your sis on the blog!!

One of my most special sibling memories:
I have one brother whose four years older to me and has always been my rock. My dad passed away when I was young and my mom was a single/working mom so my brother often got me ready to go to school in the morning. I remember having school picture day one day and my mom had to leave early so my brother did my hair for me. It was awful … That picture was awful … But we laugh about it today :)

Reply

I’m excited your sister will be blogging!! I enjoy her posts & perspective & admire her ability to handle it all. I would love to hear topics similar to those u cover- fitness, food, family & also style… She looks amazing, I can’t believe she’s a mom of 5!!

Reply

I used to be a cat person til I got my first dog in 2009. Duncan is now my favorite thing ever and I have become a dog person but I don’t love all dogs. ;)

Reply

Sisters really are special! I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters and even though one sister lives out of the country, we don’t even skip a beat when we get together. And I’m sooo thankful that I have 1 sis still in town!

I have both a cat and a dog and don’t tell anyone but I think the cat might be my favorite ;) I didn’t even know I liked cats until our littlest one begged and begged until he finally broke his dad down and now she is such a sweet part of our family!

I’ve done yoga, spin, Pilates, boot camp, and a dance class. I really like doing group exercise but running and lifting at home is free and right now that’s where it’s at.

Reply

This blogpost was so sweet. My siblings live in another country and I only get to see them once a year. I’m missing them like crazy all of the time. We share with each other funny pictures of cats through social media almost every day. That’s our way to say “I love and I miss you so much”.

Reply

Sunday’s are the best! How great that you let your girl just call him whatever. I’m sure she’ll grow into a comfortable role soon. I’m the youngest of my siblings so there’s not too much but I loved reading about yours!

Reply

Love the relationship you have with your sister!
My sister is one of my best friends too! She was always the girly/beautiful/funny one and I was the awkward kid sister that liked sports and couldn’t do makeup.
We weren’t as close in her high school/college years due to silly parental issues bleeding into kiddo issues (you having a good relationship with the exes…thats a really good idea), and when she moved to Texas with her husband my heart broke.
Fast forward to now and she is an amazing mom to 2 kids and our relationship is stronger than ever (communication!!) And she even runs now! Sisters rule.

Reply

Her back recovery! I have a bad back and it has recently gone down hill- I’m worried I might have to have surgery, so it might be nice to hear her story!

Also- funny facts about Janae ;)

Reply

I suck at remembering to do anything other than run, so any cross training or weight lift tips or motivation from your sis would be great!
I am the oldest of 8……………I used to make my 4 sisters dress up and we would make music videos…………….mostly to SheDaisy or Reba McEntire or Martina McBride songs!

Reply

What a wonderful blog post. I don’t have any sisters but I am very close with my brother.

I would definitely be interested in hearing more about your sisters workouts and possible runs.

Reply

LOVED Alias!!!! Sundays are definitely when I pray I can get in a nap to catch up on some sleep! Just something about Sundays and naps that go so well together! One of my favorite memories of my siblings is when my twin and I were on our gap year to spend more time with our family in Japan (before starting college), so we didn’t have seminary anymore. But our little sister did, so we would wake her up by jumping on her bed, singing the Lion King song that plays when the sunrises!

Reply

Wow, you and your family are something else! The bond you have with your sister is just beautiful. She is an amazing person and so are you! This was so amazing to read through!

Reply

I live for my Sunday naps. It’s my favorite thing after my long run. I eat a big breakfast, do a few chores around the house and then pass out for a few hours. Weird how I can sleep after drinking coffee :)

I’m excited to read all about your sister. I hope she will do something similar to what you do – kids, family, workouts, random daily activities, and of course cooking & eating!!

I have two brothers and never really wished for a sister because I have so many girl friends that I grew up with and we are still pretty close. But my H has two sisters and they are the most awesome sisters anyone could ever want. I got really lucky there. They are good at all the stuff that I’m not, so we really balance each other out with our knowledge and different talents :)

I’m a dog person, but I love all animals. H is allergic to cats. If he wasn’t, we would probably have one.

I’ve done all the classes at the gym…Body Pump, Spinning, Step, Boxing, etc. I’ve never tried Zumba. I’m always afraid I’ll injure something running related if I tried to dance like that.

Reply

I’m definitely a dog person. I’m looking forward to hearing from your sister on the blog.

Reply

I’ll never forget your sister jumping into mile 20 of your marathon and running the last 6.2 with you in jeans and flipflops. That speaks volumes. She reminds me of my big sis and I’m excited she’ll be on the blog!

When my sister and I were little and would fight (17 months apart, sister fights happen) our mom would send us to our separate rooms as punishment. We had this little intercom system circa 1981 so within 1 minute, we would be “secretly” talking to each other over the intercom and be friends again and think we were so incredibly sneaky. Years later we realized our mom was a parenting genius.

To this day, my sister is still the first person I turn to when I want to share something exciting or scary or need someone to listen.

Reply

That’s so cool you have such a close bond with your sister. I don’t have any sisters! Great to hear that she is running again too. What a relief that must be for her. I’m looking forward to reading some posts from her!

Reply

I LOVE LOVE LOVE alias!! I like your sister already!! Can’t wait to see what she blogs about!

I have 2 brothers- so I understand why your sister wanted you to be a girl so badly!

Definitely a dog person!

Right now I’m really into barre classes. They tone all the little muscles in your body. Being a runner, I thought the leg work would be the easiest in this class…but no! I turns out unless i’m running in a straight line, my legs find it very hard to do other things (or move in any other direction). This class challenges me and I really enjoy it!

Reply

I love your bond with your sister and can’t wait to read her blog posts!
My sisters and I are best friends and I am so thankful for their support they’ve given me over the years. When we are together, we are usually laughing hysterically- obviously, we are classy people. ;)

My sister Abby and I shared a room for about 12 years and I think that is one of the reasons why we are so close :) so many memories.

Reply

I want those sugar cookies!

Reply

My sister and I shared a room for 13 years, until I started high school. We’re about a year and a half apart in age (I’m older) and we fought a lot as kids. Now, we are pretty close, though we live in neighboring states!

I would love to hear your sister’s “older sister” perspective, her workouts, and her hair/beauty tips! I am useless at makeup and anything beyond flat-ironing my hair.

Also, I didn’t get a chance to comment on your body image post from last week but I loved it!! I started reading your blog for the running inspiration and kept reading for the positivity, realness, and of course the cute photos of your family! Please continue to post articles like that (as you are comfortable, of course)!

Reply

Can your sister blog about how she manages to be a mom of FIVE and still look so amazing and well-rested?! #goals
I ALWAYS wanted a sister. No dice, but I hope that one day my daughter will have a sister to play with. It seems like such a special relationship.

Reply

What does Brooke do when you nap? I can’t imagine my 3 year old letting me nap. He’s not good to play on his own.

Reply

So we were watching a movie and Brooke was just snuggling with us. It was a short nap but long naps give me a headache anyways so I was happy to catch a few minutes:)

Reply

When I was 7 I would throw salt over my shoulder, and wish on dandelions for a baby brother and sure enough, (he was a ‘mistake’) he arrived. I loved this post about your sister. I think she is so amazing!

Hold on to that picture of Curly on the rug…Brooke will be the exact twin of her in a couple of years. :)

Reply

Your sis is hilarious and I can’t wait for these posts!!!

CAT PERSON!!!!!!! x100000

Reply

What is the age difference between you two? My sister is 3.5 years older than me and I am actually moving to Nashville to live with her at the end of the month while I try my hand at this crazy entrepreneurial world! Eek!

Reply

Oh that makes me SOOOOO HAPPY that you are going to be living with your sister! I love that. GOOD LUCK JILL!!!! My sister is 7 years older than me but it feels like we are the same age!

Reply

I would love to know how your sister balances her time for workouts while managing a family and other (work?) responsibilities!

Also-healthy meal prep for family meal time.

Thanks for sharing her with us!

Reply

GREAT questions!!! I will have her write about that! Thanks Wendy!!!

Reply

My sister is 12 years older than me, so most of my bonding with her happened when I was older and she was already living on her own. I wish we lived closer now because she has two adorable little girls who are growing up so fast! I am definitely a dog person, but I don’t mind cats. I’ve never had one, but I could see myself having one in the future (although my husband doesn’t like cats, so maybe not ha).

Reply

I am so excited to read posts from your sister! I absolutely love all of your posts so I’m sure I’ll love hers too. I would like to hear how she balances exercise with a busy schedule, her typical eating routine, and staying fit throughout pregnancy. I would love a day in the life and WIAW (what I ate Wednesday) post from both of you. Thanks Janae!

Reply

Ditto to what Erica just posted!! (She’s my identical twin so we think alike ;)

Reply

We had twin beds at my grandma’s house separated by a night stand. When I would get scared she would reach across and hold my hand until I fell asleep. I’ll never forget that.
Dog person. Can’t help it, I have the best dog ever.

Reply

I’m the oldest in my family of ten….so six younger sisters for me!! It wasn’t until I grew up and moved out, my sisters grew up a bit, that we finally appreciate each other and are best friends. I have an absolute blast spoiling them rotten.

Reply

There is nothing like the love of a sister!!! My sister and I are the same way. :)

Reply

Where is that rug from? It looks so similar to one that I have in my living room!

Reply

Loved learning more about your family! I have 3 sisters, 2 older and 1 younger. One of my older sisters, Laura, is only 2 years older than me. We shared rooms pretty much our entire life until we were teenagers and fought everyday. I then began sharing a room with my little sister. Laura and I were super close as kids, but could not be in the same room as teenagers. Once she got pregnant with my nephew, Jackson, we started hanging out together all the time. He is almost 2 now, and we are so close i don’t know what i would do without her. She got me into fitness, and has made my life so much better. My favorite memories with her recently have been all of our gym workouts and runs together.

Reply

Question! I am expecting a new one and am looking at strollers…would you recommend a running stroller? And if so, Do you have any brand recommendations??

Reply

I am the youngest of 3 sisters and I totally get that special bond…its irreplaceable. I have so many great memories with mine but a favorite was running a Chicago 10k with my oldest sister (her first race) and I had to sing Bon Jovi to her so she would keep moving toward the finish line! haha! My other sister and I are so different but our common love is music and we have been to a million concerts together..from underground crazy concerts to skipping my high school graduation to see No Doubt in Washington D.C. She now lives 5 minutes from me and I love it.

How fun that your sister will be blogging! Personally I would love for her to start off with getting a sense of her day! 5 kids, family, staying active etc…I know it can get crazy. Oh and her getting into sharing her workouts. I love getting new weight routines!

Leave a Reply to ALYENA SHEREMETA Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *