Whether it's sitting in the back of your mom's car in a painfully awkward situation listening to you two argue about the volume of the radio, or traveling to Rome or New York City (and everywhere in between), or just laughing for twenty minutes straight about the time we got stuck in the woods by the creek on your side-by-side Ranger-there's no one in this world that I would have rather grown up with.

Anne Marie McAtee- the girl who gives the most constructive feedback whether you ask for it or not. The one I call for fashion (and music) advice. The soul who lives in the moment and is always down for last minute shenanigans. The heart who has compassion for strangers and dogs. The mind who thinks critically and can create an entire trip itinerary in less than two hours.

But most importantly, the best friend I've had since I was two years old.

It all started in 2002, two little girls: one with curly brunette hair tied back in a big pink bow and the other with dirty blonde slick straight hair that was lucky if it was brushed, playing together while their moms were out running errands. Fast forward to elementary and middle school where friendship was not an option, always being together because of sports, church, and other activities. High school came and went, but we stayed together through every aspect, even getting the exact campus for Governor's Scholar. Teammates, academic team partners, fellow club members, scholars, youth members, you name it- we were almost identical on paper, which always meant we were (and are) each other's biggest cheerleaders and competitors.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Even though my Dad likes you as his “other daughter" better than he likes me as his real one (and even though I get along better with your mom), I'm so glad that we got to grow up together and continue our journeys side by side. Mainly because you're someone I can partially put the blame on when that situation arises.

Thanks for always being so good to me and my family. Thanks for understanding me (maybe because you, too, were forced to join a Lego engineering team at age 11 when we both knew we had absolutely no business being a part of it). Thanks for always being there, no matter what. Thanks for the laughs (especially the 3 am texts asking me to send you a video of the 2015 church choir performance).

Anything you need, I'll be there in a heartbeat (NOT including packing your twelfth pair of shoes for a ten day trip in MY suitcase).

Even though we fight like sisters sometimes, I love you just like you were one.