She's a lot more emotionally outgoing and volatile than me. She often comes across as shy and often says she feels it. But she can be very loud and playful, with people she knows and doesn't know alike. While I think I tend to have a calming, rationalizing effect on her, she still tends to act crazier than I do even when I'm around. You know, running through stores with shopping carts, pretending to be secret agents, climbing objects like fences and the random sculptures we have around town.
She's a little more health-conscious than me, with regard to diet and exercise. She does more working out and calorie watching than I do. However, I'm a lot more germ-phobic than her. And I tend to turn to natural remedies more often (e.g. chiropractors, naturopaths).
She doesn't like to be tied down or feel controlled. She likes to do things differently than the rest of the family. For example, all four of us siblings have spent at least one summer volunteering at a camp. I and my brothers worked at the camp that we grew up going to; my sister worked at a completely different camp. Same job type, same mission, same goals, different place. She wanted to be different and “not have to rely on her family.”
She's pretty and has a sweet, girly, innocently flirty way about her that has led to more than a few broken boy-child hearts. However, recently, she's commented to me that sometimes she wishes she could wear a paper bag over her head when she goes to work so she doesn't have to worry about all the attention that her looks get. She's a genuinely sweet girl who wants to do the right thing, just (in my mind) doesn't always go about it in a rational manner.
She likes to talk on the phone way more than I do. Her social circle is much wider than mine. Well, perhaps I should qualify that. I know just as many, if not more, people than she does. It's just that the people that she does know interact with her on a very regular basis, so it looks like she has more friends. She gets fulfilled by all that interaction; I get exhausted just watching her.
We've gotten along pretty well for the majority of her life. When we were kids, she was a good doll-playing partner and sidekick for when we had adventures with our cousins. When she got to middle school and early high school, things got a little rough. I realized during that period that I had to be very careful not to come across as trying to control her. Before, she would listen to me as her older sister. Now I have to be careful to come across more as an older friend.
She can be a lot more practical than me. While I'm still thinking through a solution to a (usually simple) problem, she's already halfway done taking care of it.
When we fight, it's usually over little things and we never stay mad for long. Neither of us likes to maintain conflict.
We're both people pleasers, but in slightly different ways. She tends to follow along with people's ideas, whereas I tend to follow along with what people are doing. She's usually sweet and complying with people, but she doesn't like it when her immediate family takes advantage of that too much.
We ask for each other's opinions on different things, too. Like I've said before, I'll get her advice on fashion. I'll also ask her opinion on how to treat people and her interpretation of people's actions. She in turn will often ask my opinion on theories or ideas. For example, she'll ask me what I think about evolution as it compares with creationism. Sometimes she'll respond with something she's heard, occasionally she'll give me an original thought. Those conversations never go very long, though, because she generally just asks what I think then clams up to mull it over. She also likes to ask me how to spell words.
When we're together we can be very cuddly. Especially when we're in the presence of other people. It sort of establishes that extra bond between us.
That's all I can think of at the moment. As more comes to me I might add it on. So, what do y'all think?