I never thought my family was anything out of the ordinary. In grade school, when we had to raise our hands to denote the number of siblings we had, everyone would cap out at one or two, leaving me and usually two or so kids with their hands raised.Yes, there were always other children with bigger families than mine, but I guess I raised a few eyebrows when I told everyone that I have three older brothers. I would always joke and say that I was the princess of the family, but being not only the youngest, but also the only girl, I, in a sense, was the princess. I was the youngest by at least seven years, putting a considerable amount of years between me and the boys. And yet, I was still pretty close to all of them in different ways. I honestly couldn't imagine my life without my brothers in my life.

When I was younger, they would tease me, as big brothers would, but they would also try to include me in things and teach me things, no matter if they were inappropriate or not. This got me into trouble a few times, but I was never really to blame. They also taught me to be strong and stick up for myself. By growing up with them, I learned to have a quick wit about me and not take anything for anyone. Growing up shy and not really talkative around strangers, I was really only outgoing around my immediate family and my close friends-and I'm still like that.

My brothers play different roles in my life: Jamie, the one who is closest in age to me, is the level headed one. He is kind of the voice of reason and will tell me if anything I'm doing is stupid-which is quite often. And yet, Jamie is the sweetest kid, I was the closest to him growing up because we both were still in school when the others were out. I love him to pieces and can always have a really intelligent, but hilarious conversation and time with him. TJ is the middle child and the second boy in the family, so obviously he is a little troublemaker. I don't think it's a debate to say that I'm probably closest to him. When I was beginning middle school and Jamie went to school, TJ came back home and I really bonded with him. To this day, he is my best friend and he is one of the important people I have in my life-all my brothers are. But if you put TJ and I in a room alone together we will become the weirdest people ever; there's a lot of inside jokes and common interests that surround us, so we never really run out of conversation topics and things to talk about. And finally, Andy is the oldest and was always independent, separate from us. I've never been the closest to Andy, but at the place in my life where I am right now, I can appreciate the way Andy lived his life growing up. I see him as my big brother, the protector of his younger siblings. He has his fun side and his grown up side, but he's alway one to get a smile out of me-and the one who raises my temper the fastest. He is the responsible older brother and I couldn't thank him enough for that.

With that little introduction of my older brothers, I do have to say that the dynamic of my family is changing-and I couldn't be happier. See, all of my brothers have long time girlfriends and have had them for five years and up-so obviously, I've grown up with these women in my life, acting like my older sisters and giving me even more protection and love than I could've ever asked for. So, I'm happy to say that two of those girlfriends are officially part of my family, that some of the girls I've been desperately wanting to call my sister actually have that title, with an "in-law" pinned at the end of it. Either way, my family is growing and becoming better in the best way and I couldn't ask for anyone better than Arielle and Alicia to join the Crymes family. And who knows, maybe they'll be more additions in the later years.

But for now, I have my amazing parents, my best friends (brothers) and their wives and girlfriend that I can confidently say are my sisters.

Cherish your family, they're some of the closest people in your life and I'm so blessed to have been placed into this one. I couldn't imagine my life any other way.

be safe and stay happy

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