I'm having a B.A.D day...

I stole... and I don't care if I go to jail!!!
Okay, I just stole this picture from Sarah and Crusty's blog. Today is officially declared as and BAD day. A little something I like to refer to as "Brother Appreciation Day". You may be wondering how I can make a post called "Brother Appreciation Day" and start it by calling him "Crusty", it's because... I just had to start with teasing him... it just wouldn't feel right otherwise. Plus... isn't that the coolest name ever? Heck yes it is. My friend Jodi and I called our brothers names when we were younger, Rustin was Crusty and Mike was Mucas. Rustin should really be grateful because his sounds a lot better than Mike's.
Okay... I would like to take this opportunity to post some things about Crusty. Lets say this may be in lew of the previous "new brother" post, of which... just to clarify, I neither regret, nor take back. How can I... it's too dang hilarious.
Let's call this the "Top 10 Reasons I love my brother" (these are not in order)...

1. Because he always knows just when to call me. It's like the craziest thing I have ever had in my life. It happens a ton. I will be struggling or something will be wrong and all of a sudden, he calls me. He has endured many a tearful phone call during these times. I would like to point out that he endures it well. I always feel bad that I am crying on the other end of the phone, but honestly, knowing that he cares, just makes me more teary eyed. I almost can't help it when I see him calling.
2. His funny sense of humor (for the record, not funnier than mine). He says and does some of the funniest things I've ever seen or heard. You can always count on him for a good laugh. I love it. I will never admit to this again, but some of the funny things I have said, I have stolen from hiim. ONLY SOME... not all!
3. He is a GIANT (not in size- haha), Spiritually. He knows SO MUCH. I can ask him any question and he usually has an answer for me. I can listen to him talk about this stuff for hours nad not get sick of it. Even though I tease him a lot about some of it.. .I love to listen to it. My brother has a photo graphic memory. I'm convinced of it. He can read something once and never forget it. It's amazing. When he was on his mission, he really grew... he amazes us all.
4. He likes to play games. This, my friends and family I am learning is an uncommon trait in the male world (as two of my sisters know), but Rustin will play just about any game with us. My favorite game to play with him... Battle of the Sexes. And I love how competetive he is. Our family is pretty competitive, but that is part of the fun.
5. You should see him do magic tricks. Now there's a laugh. Hahaha... he see's it... tries to do it- fails, and then leaves the room to be "taught" how, then comes back it... gives the trick up by ruining it. And then we all laugh. It's AWESOME!!! Okay... he did successfully do some of them. This was one of the funnier Rustin moments.
6. He is a protective brother. If you are a girl and single, you will appreciate this. When John and I were talking about the idea of getting married, and what I refer to as "the unfortunate situation" happened and John told me that he "wouldn't risk his life for me", after talking to Dave and Nic (I have to put a plug in for Dave... he also thought John was an idiot, and it made me feel good), but when I called my brother, he was mad. It brought tears to my eyes. I really needed him to be mad at that moment, and he was. Especially when I told him I had to buy my own icecream up at Bear lake- which I know sounds trivial, but it made me feel like he didn't really love me. When I wanted to break up with John and end it... it made me feel good that Rustin wanted me to as well. I always know I can count on him to back me up. I love that he thinks he needs to be able to "have a talk" with the men we decide to marry. Although I am the only single one left. I always want his approval. I want him to like the guys I date, and approve of them. He may not even know this.

7. He gave me my first guitar and passed along his method of playing. It helped me learn to play the guitar. He is amazing at it, and sings so well. I love to hear him sing and play his guitar.
8. He let me follow him and some of the things I now love to do, are derived from him. Like... basketball. I learned to love it because of all the times we all played together in the driveway when we were younger. I miss those days. They were awesome. I only went ice fishing because I wanted to spend as much with him as I could before he left on his mission. After Rustin left on his mission, the day we took him to the MTC, I struggled. He was my best friend. I came home and sat on his bed and my eyes welled up. I honestly just felt so lost. I didn't know what to do now. I had learned to like things he did, and now he was gone. I went for a walk on the dirt road by our house. I prayed to Heavenly Father to help me to be happy. I realized on that walk that this was going to be good for me because now i was going to have to "find out who I am", and what I like to do, instead of what he likes to do. I just admired him so much. I did just that. I wrote him all the time on his mission. I had to... I just missed him so much and wanted to feel like he was still part of my life. I learned a lot about myself during his mission.
9. He is Alma the Younger. Well... in some ways. See... Rustin had a hard go of it this summer. I won't post details, but... he amazed me so much. I was talking to a friend one day about Alma the younger and how he watched all those women and children burn. He could have stepped in and saved them. But as he said he was constrained by the spirit to so so. Did he want to just stand there and not do anything. NO! He loved those people. But he loved and trusted God. What does that teach us? Well... constrained means to hold back, right? Well that tells us that he WANTED to step in. He did. But he couldn't. He had to let those people that he loved suffer through that, even though it was probably killing him inside. This teaches us a lot about him. (I can go on and on about this story, but I won't) Well.. that day, I was going off on one of my infamous gospel soap boxes and it hit me... I even stopped talking to think on it for a minute. Oh my gosh... Rustin is Alma the Younger. He has to sit and watch the person he loved more than anyone suffer, and it is killing him inside, but he did it because he is "constrained by the spirit". I of course watered up thinking about it. Just like Alma... he could have stepped in and saved the person, but he is so obedient to the Lord, and so trusting that he didn't. He suffered, so that she wouldn't have to anymore. I love him so much.
10. I love that he reads my posts and laughs, even though he lies about it and pretends that I'm not funny, I know he is dying with laughter on the other end and thinking... MAN MY SISTER IS FUNNIER THAN I! Oh... since I can't make number 11 (seeing as this is top 10), I will add that I love that he is so outdoorsy. I also love that although he likes to say that I am a pain, and a pest and I typically make him shake his head in disappointment of my behavior, he thinks I'm freaking AWESOME!!!! LOL!!!

Okay... HAPPY BAD DAY!!! If any of you have brothers as amazing as mine... you should celebrate Brother Appreciation Day too!!!

Fine Print:
After today... I go back to being a pest and picking on, teasing, and being the most annoying person that stepped foot into your life. This is only for one day and one day only. I will not admit to said things in this post after this day, keep this in mind for the future. I also take no responsibility for my actions from here on out. Future posts will not be backed up by appreciation days, you get one and one only. Enjoy it while it lasts. Oh.. and don't even think about using my comments box to gloat about the body of this post- just read it, smile, let your head swell for the today, and move on.