Raise Your Flag for Deirdre!

Some of you know June 14th as Flag Day, but we Lauers raise our flag for something just as special.... DEIRDRE'S BIRTHDAY!! My little sis is 24 this year. I feel like it was just yesterday that she recorded herself singing "Colors of the Wind" on our cassette player and came tumbling down the stairs screaming, "I'M GONNA KILLLL YOUUUU" when a friend and I discovered it and played it for the whole house to hear. Those were the days.

So in honor of Dee's birthday, here is a repeat list of the reasons why she is just so lovable....

She thinks its funny to creep up on people in the ocean or pool and yell "SCISSOR!" while trapping their legs in hers. So do I. We make a great team.

She has had more hospital emergencies than any other kid and most did not involve sporting events (think somersaulting off the couch into the living room table or how about freezing a bottle of water and it exploding in her hand).

She knows almost every word to every song written.

She can fix anything. I'm serious. Computers, dressers, phones, you name it.

She owns 800 movies. Legally? Not sure.

She is the best listener, and for 24, gives better advice than most grown adults.

She was a really creepy baby. She just stared a lot and made cupie doll faces.

She spoke with a New York accent until she was four even though she only lived there for a few months.

My Mom thought Deirdre had gone missing one day when she couldn't find her anywhere in the house. After searching our entire home, pulling together friends to search the neighborhood, and on the brink of calling the police... Mom thought to check the bedrooms one more time and found Deirdre tucked underneath a desk... smiling.

She doesn't mind looking like a fool on the dance floor, which I love and appreciate. She was brave enough to dance on the bar at Coyote Ugly in Nashville with me in front of a HUGE crowd of seven customers.

She loves karaoke. She performed Weird Al's "Amish Paradise" at a bar called Beerland with my sister Nicole... who does that?

She has a huge heart and is always looking out for her friends and family.

When my Uncle Jerry was babysitting for us while Mom and Dad were in Hawaii, he took us to a "tie-dye your own t-shirt" store (she was about three years old) and when she didn't get something she wanted, she began to scream, "YOU'RE A MANIAC! MANIAC!!!!!!" Poor Uncle Jerry, the kidnapper.

She keeps me hip. Music, lingo, clothing, etc... I need her to survive in this day and age.

She is one of a kind. All of her friends and family would say the same thing - she is the best friend, daughter, and younger sister out there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEE! I LOVE YOU!!!