Beauty Queen

This is my adorable little sister. She's 20 years old, has a heart of gold, and had one of the best weeks of her life this week. She's a Beauty School Graduate!!!! She looks awesome here, by the way. On Wednesay, the 11th, her school had a miniature ceremony just for Jodi. She got to sit in a hair-chair with balloons while everyone at the beauty college who knew her got to say nice things about her & congratulate her accomplishments. Mr. McCoy, her teacher said some wonderful things about her smile & the energy she brings to a room. He also talked about her determination & accomplishment in finishing at Earl's Academy as it hasn't been an easy road. He said it was awesome to get to see the look in her eyes when she saw her score on her final examination & knew that it meant she passed & was done with her program. He said that she was so excited & kept saying, "I've got to tell them, I've got to tell them," but he needed her to get some paperwork first & he said that he couldn't get it fast enough, b/c she was so excited to share the news with her family.
Jodi and I have been study partners for the last couple of months. She's been at my house almost every single day for the last couple of months. She's been studying for hours at a time as I've been calling myself the "Test Nazi". Holy cow were there so many tests to take. She's been working so hard! She's made hundreds of flashcards, answered and re-answered hundreds of workbook questions, read and re-read chapters from the text book, and tested on tough material--some of which I had no understanding of because it was so hard and I had to learn it with her in order to be able to help her with it. She has tested and re-tested, and let me tell you, graduating beauty school isn't an easy thing to do. I'm so proud of her for her accomplishment; she's earned her diploma all the way.

I couldn't stop crying when she called me on Monday after she took her final and said, "Guess what?! I passed my final!" I was pretty honored when I realized I was the first one she called (even before Mom & Dad). That meant a lot to me & I was so excited to share those precious moments with her over the telephone. She told me thanks for working with her, and I told her she was worth it. It's really been a blessing for me to have her over at my house every day. I feel we've become closer as sisters & know each other better. I love her so much, because she loves me despite all of my flaws, and I'm lucky to have her as my sister.
Because her ceremony was on Veteran's Day, it was actually pretty easy to make sure all of the family could get there. I'm so glad we all made it to celebrate with Jodi--she deserved a party! It's kind of hard to tell in this photo, but Erin & I crowned the "Beauty Queen" with a flashy pink & sparkly sash that Erin made, and a tiara with flower on on it that I found. It was fun to have her wear that--it even matched her outfit.