I swear we are related

The Dry Family:

Yeah, I know. I am well aware that my sisters and I look nothing alike, but I can assure you none of us are adopted... I think. Now that I think about it, our Christmas card was kind of hipster - rusty cliffside road barrier and all. I love my family, they're the best. I cannot fathom getting through these 20 years of life so far without each of them. I want to share with anybody who reads this why I love my incredible family.

Let's move left to right, shall we?

My dad: Ed Dry - aka Rad Dad. He still plays soccer every week and is upset if he doesn't score more than 4 goals against the other slow paced 50+ year old guys he plays. I swear, watching those games is like watching soccer in slow motion, except Rad Dad of course - he's the only one that can run across the length of the field without having a heart attack or kidney failure. I broke his heart in 3rd grade when I made the switch from soccer to (American) football. Despite my treachery, he came to every single practice and game for the next seven years I played the game. I just did the math: that's well over 350 practices and 90+ games. I didn't realize what kind of commitment and sacrifice that was until recently. He's also a BOSS high tech sales-pitchman / 'business development manager' for Ricoh EWS. Thank you Rad Dad for your commitment to me and to our family, thank you for being the man of God I wish to become - I love you Dad.

My mamma: Lorinda. Can you say best mother in the world? Yes, yes you can. I don't know how the heck she did it, but she raised my sisters and me without throwing us unruly gremlins off this cliff. OK, I don't think we were that bad, but we were no angels. From my mom is where my photography genes come from. When we were kids, she would take countless pictures of my sisters and me as if we were the most important people in the world. Now she's a substitute teacher at my old high school, and she is everybody's favorite sub. I quickly went form ruling that school and being Mr. ASB/school spirit to simply Mrs. Dry's son. She is the most loving, humble and God trusting woman I know. Thank you for helping me through the greatest trials of my life; I know I don't tell you I love you enough mom, but I really do - I love you Mom.

Oldest sister: Annalise. If you were to watch our baby tapes you would ask yourself, 'Why is that mexican girl always playing with the ginger boy? Is she the cleaning lady's daughter or something?' Nope, but to this day nobody will believe we're brother and sister. We were inseparable growing up. In every tape my parents made (trust me, there are seemingly more hours of film of me as a kid than hours I was alive) Annalise was always by my side. Since she's the oldest, Annalise set the bar for the rest of us in school - and she set that bar way too high. Anna is a brilliant and graduated from Pepperdine - I think she's still a little bummed I chose Westmont over her Pepperdine. She now works at a super cool advertising agency in Santa Monica (TBWA/Chiat/Day) and travels constantly: Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, New Zealand, who knows where she's going to end up next! Annalise, thank you for giving me the travel bug and thank you for always being someone I can aspire to be like - I love you Annalise.

Middle sister: Janelle. Ok, we look somewhat alike - except for the fact that she can get tan and all I do is burn like some kind of mutant land lobster. She's the super artsy child and is studying fine art photography at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Janelle is the one who gave me the photo bug and awakened the photography genes our mom gave us. I owe basically everything about this blog to her and her passion for photography (especially film) that infected me. Janelle is the sister I traveled to Scotland with this past summer. We spent five weeks together traveling aimlessly through the Scottish highlands and countryside. She has the slowest pace of anyone I've ever traveled with, but it was such a blessing because she forced me to slow down and really absorb everything we were seeing and experiencing. Janelle, I know you're not gonna like me putting a picture of you up - sorry, but I'm too proud to call you my sister not to do so - I love you Janelle.

I guess that leaves me: David (hopefully you already knew that...). I'm the baby and the only boy. Thank God I had my dad around, and thank God he had me! We kept each other sane. I am unbelievably blessed to have this amazing family and to come from such a supportive and faith based foundation. Because I'm the youngest, I had to experience my sisters leave home to go off to college. I vividly remember the days when both Annalise and Janelle moved out. Each time I felt like a part of me had left with them. Thankfully, the three of us have only grown closer since we've all left the nest. As for my parents, they're empty nesters now. I appreciate them and appreciate home more and more every day that I'm gone. Senior year of high school I couldn't wait to leave. Now, while I thoroughly enjoy every minute of college, I always love going home and spending time with my family.

So yeah, that's my family. I love them like crazy and they are the most important people in my life.