33 years with you

For as long as I can remember, people have asked me the same thing. “What’s it like to be a twin? Do you like it?” It’s nearly impossible to answer. Because I don’t know what it’s like to be anything else. And, to be honest, I didn’t always like it.

That sounds horrible, right? But, I don’t think anyone who knew Karrie and I growing up will be totally shocked to read this. We fought like cats and dogs (Sorry, mom and dad. Sorry, cats and dogs that get along.)

We were (and still are) very competitive individuals that fought like hell to create our own identities. Doing everything possible to separate ourselves with different haircuts, clothes, hobbies, favorite colors, music tastes, social circles, etc. Name something Karrie did and I did the opposite. Although, looking back at old photos, I should have followed her lead on style & hair.

I was a stupid kid that wanted desperately to fit in. So, I tried way too hard to be exactly like everyone else. Everyone but my identical twin sister, that is. How ironic. How dumb. I took being a twin for granted. I took my sister for granted. I took all the things that made us awesome for granted and focused too much on things that made us “normal”.

Now, this isn’t a new realization. I’ve come to appreciate her (and the rest of my friends and family) more and more every year. I’ve also learned to appreciate myself more, and I don’t think the two are unrelated. Because if you can’t love yourself, how in the world can you appreciate the one person in the world that is most like you? That’s not to say I haven’t always loved Karrie, of course I have. But over time, I’ve learned to love her even more.

So, as I sit down to reflect on our trip to Bail, for our 33^rd birthday, all I can think is – thank goodness I’m not a stupid kid anymore. I’m glad these years have made me smart enough to realize how lucky I am to walk down life’s path with such an amazing person.

Karrie, thanks for using all your vacation days to come all the way out here so we could spend our birthday together. Thanks for being a kind, beautiful, and faithful woman who I want to be more and more alike every day. And, thank you for letting me slather my entire body with your tiny bottle of fancy ass face sunscreen 😉

I love you, sister pants.

Here are some photos from our visit.

 seaweed farm. Took a tour of this small island right next to Bali where they dried seaweed to sell to cosmetic and vitamin companies around the world. It was smelly.   Karrie on our snorkeling trip  Kelly snorkeling. Kelly posing at the resort.  Karrie posing at the resort While being driven around Ubud, we ran into this.. which is a tower built to honor someone who recently died. They put the body inside and burn it as part of the ritual. They also burn other things they want to deceased to enjoy in the afterlife. When I die, please burn me a pizza and a bottle of wine.  Funeral procession. From what I understand (from our driver) the community carries the family of the deceased.I think this is another one of those pictures I will look back on and think “why didn’t I follow Karrie’s fashion lead?”    I think the Smurfs live here.. and here.. Karrie sprinkling holy water over her head before entering the temple.  Amazing wooden bowls that we really regret not buying for our father….

 Tampak Siring – Holy Spring water temple.

 Karrie rocking the latest camera technology after she tried to machine wash her iphone…  entrance to Goa Gojah, aka The Elephant Cave Temple, in Ubud. 

 our Villa in Ubud.  Volcano pose- Kelly  Volcano pose – Karriefruit stand – duh  this animal eats coffee beans, then poops them out and then humans pay lots of money to drink it.  Karrie’s facial expression says “this coffee is the Sh**!”  Coffee Roaster  Baby coffee poopers  lunch at the rice paddy  Hand carved wooden giraffes, another thing we regret not buying for our father…Road to our Villa in Ubud singapore sling, Raffles Hotel, in Singapore.  Chili Crab night on the East Coast, Singapore Shameless selfie with my wombmate. Deal with it.