Don't Hate Her 'Cause She's Beautiful.

Don't let the title fool you. I'm not talking about my arrogant Arabian, Sky--(and yes, I know that using Arrogant and Arabian in the same sentence is a redundancy.) I'm talking about Anna.

Take a minute to travel back to your high school days. You remember that girl...the girl who was drop dead gorgeous, who made perfect grades, who was kind, happy, approachable (so approachable that you were afraid to approach her), and above all, genuine...not to mention skinny. The girl who was so perfect you wanted to hate her, but you couldn't.

(Okay, maybe you hated her just a litte bit.)

Well, we have her at Forever Sky. Her name is Anna. Anna Kimura.

Anna has a horse named Sonny. Sonny is big and beautiful, sleek and shiny. He's almost as spectacular as Anna.

(Okay, now I'm probably embarrassing Anna and making her mom really proud--She has the perfect mom, too, btw.)

Today is Anna's birthday. She is now 17. (I know,(insert sarcasm) Over the Hill!) I often forget how young she is when I'm around her--possibly because she's just shy of 6 feet tall. Did I mention that Anna is a model? I know. Her perfection verges on absurdity.

She has a contract with Elite Chicago, a classy modeling agency. In fact, Anna just returned from Chicagoland, where she joined other girls from all over the U.S. for a debutante--a coming out party--for new models. "When the lights dimmed," says Anna, "we walked the runway amidst a shower of camera flashes and applause. For the first time, I felt like a real model."

While in Chigaco, the other models kept asking her how she had such good posture even though she was one of the tallest models. "Try riding a horse three times a week," she would say. "Slouching isn't an option, unless you plan on falling off."

And Anna isn't one to fall off, not in any aspect of her life.

Anna just finished her Junior year at PHS. She's in the IB program, which is the most demanding, intense college prep program in the area. Yes, she succeeds academically too.

"Congratulations," I told her, "on getting excellence awards in Math and English."

Anna's eyes clouded just a bit before lighting up again. "How did you know about that?"

"You're mom put it on Facebook."

She rolled her eyes. "I told my mom if she was going to get a Facebook page, the requirement would be that she couldn't talk about me."

I laughed. Later, when Anna added me as a "friend" on Facebook, I told her "Don't go giving your mom a hard time now that you can see all her posts talking about how fantastic you are. Face it. You're fantastic and your mom is proud of you!"

"Jolee," she replied, "I HAVE to give her a hard time! It's my job as a daughter!"

Yes, she has a good sense of humor too...

You can find Anna at Forever Sky Ranch, riding (or swimming!) with her horse. When you see her walk by, you may at first be taken aback by her aura of beauty and perfection, but take a step closer, and you'll see she is a down-to-earth, caring, horse-loving girl who's easy to talk to and a pleasure to have around.

We love you, Anna! Have a great day, and a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!