9 of 30

By the by- I hit 50,000 views the other day. That's kinda awesome.

The List

9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.

1) Nathan
How... How has Nathan influenced me? In nearly every conceivable way. Nathan brought out a lot of the best in me. He convinced me that I was beautiful and I learned what a good and healthy relationship is with him. I learned how to love and how to be loved, and if that isn't soul-altering I don't know what is.

2) Kara
The thing about Kara is that she's bossy... but the thing about me is that I need a little bossy-ness in my life.  One of Kara's strengths is that she is an activator. So she will "boss me" into stuff that I really want to do, but am too shy or too afraid to do. She's the perfect excuse that no one ever really asks me for, but I can keep in my back pocket if questioned about. She also has increased my confidence level by about a million percent. She thinks that I'm the greatest friend ever, and while I don't believe that- having someone constantly telling you so, means that you at least think that you are worth people getting to know.

3) My Parents
 Ummmm how do I even begin to list the ways that my parents have influenced me? Between them and God my personality came into existence... so I will just mention a few things. They are the reason I'm the strong silent type. They are the reason I have such a deep and abiding faith. They are the reason I am creative and funny and love learning/reading. They are the reason for so much!

4) Rhonda
Rhonda also has had an incredible influence on my life, obviously. She taught me patience.... not because she was so trying as a little sister, but because the way to make her the angriest was to remain calm cool and collected in the face of her temper. :)(I know, I was such an ornery big sister!) She also taught me how to be less annoying, though I'm not really sure that all of that sunk in... and I think that in a lot of ways Rhonda kick-started my empathy.  When you have someone who is so similar to you and yet *so* different... and also so close to you... well in a lot of ways you are forced into seeing the world from someone else's eyes. And that's a pretty important life skill... and something I prize pretty highly in myself.

5) Dawn
I'm 12 years younger than my aunt Dawn, but I always felt like she was just as much my friend as my aunt. Dawn spent so much time with Rhonda and I as we were growing up and that was invaluable. To have a "cool" adult so invested in me and so excited to spend time with me. ...At the time I didn't realize how important it was to who I was becoming... but important it was, indeed. At the time I just knew that I was really lucky to be the girl who was related to Dawn.

6) My cousins
My cousins were my first friends. And they still number among my best friends. My cousin Wyatt talks about how the most fun he has ever had was with his family. And he's got a point. We had some amazing times... I've laughed so hard with them. My cousins were the first people who I was ever myself with and they thought(think) I'm awesome (as I think they are) And when I was growing up and being awkward and going through all sorts of self-esteem issues with my peers at school... well I always had my cousin's love to fall back on, and I never had to doubt that. I think it's because of them that I've never really questioned my self-worth. I remember one night in particular with all of us piled in the back of a pickup truck with blankets and pillows talking and laughing and joking on a chilly fall night while our parents were inside our grandmother's house. I kinda wish we didn't have to all grow up and go our separate ways.

7) Mrs Couch
Mrs. Couch was my Drama teacher in high school. And I was her favorite student. No, really, she said as much when I went back one year for her 10 year celebration of teaching at my school. Ok, I'm sure I wasn't her only favorite student, but I'm certain I was one of them. Mrs. Couch wasn't always the most popular teacher in the school. She set high expectations and expected them to be met, and she didn't let you feel ok about it if you didn't. She was at times abrasive, and I think that put some people off, but I loved her. She was my director in over 10 shows and you always knew that even if you were working like crazy to put on the show, she was working harder and I really respect that.
 
8) Ann Luther
Ann is possibly the sweetest lady I've ever met. She is also the most talented pianist I've ever met. She played piano for our church... and for the Community Theater shows... and for the kids' theatre shows... and put together an extracurricular singing group for high school girls (Ann's Girls)... She has always been so kind and encouraging and lovely to me. She was shocked and sad that I'm not on the worship team at my church because she thinks my voice is so great. She always encouraged me to be in the theatre shows. She took Nathan and I out to lunch one year when we were in town for my family 4th of July, and just kept telling him how special  and beautiful I was and how special he must be for me to choose him. I don't know why this lady took such an interest in encouraging me, but it has certainly influenced me.

9) Tim
I don't think you can work in a church for 4 years and not be influenced by the pastor. I think the thing that Tim has changed in me the most is believing in the value of my opinion. We do not think the same, Tim and I. Not even a little bit. And he really valued(s) that in me. Tim trusts me and has often used me as a sounding board for his thoughts-in part just because I was there, but in part because he wants the different viewpoint and he doesn't disqualify my thoughts just because I arrive at them by intuition or feeling. It's really affirming.

10) Ryan
 Someone had to be the first to suggest that I make a career out of this whole writing thing, right? Well, that was Ryan. And it was before I had a blog or a book in the works. It was before most people even knew that I could write. It was all because I wrote a comment on a picture that he posted on fb. And then after Nathan had passed away and I was freaking out about what I was going to do with my life, he brought it up again. And then he put money where his mouth was and hired me to do copy-writing for his video game company, even though I don't have a degree in it (yet!) And that said more to me about his belief in my talent than any pep-talk could. I don't know if he can read everyone this well, but Ryan doesn't put up with any excuses that I give that are based in my fear and not so long ago I was talking to him about something and he said to me, "I'm not going to give you an excuse to not do this, if that's what you're looking for." He's almost all thinker on the thinker-feeler spectrum, and so his "encouragement" is less "You can do this! I believe in you!" and more like, "Why are you even asking me about this? Of course you can do it. What are you waiting for?" But sometimes that matter-of-fact line of thinking is exactly what I need.