Day nine- influential people

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

This is tough to think of these people and to write them all down and to only have 10. Man... Another tough question day. Well, here goes and these are not in any specific order:

1. My mom. She is the most generous person I have ever met. She gives and gives and gives. I know that she would so whatever she could to help me or anyone out. She has a great heart that is big and full of love to give. She is the kind of person who is so giving to the people she loves. I hope I can one day be as generous as her.

2. Alyssa. Carl's mom is a great mom. When I first met Carl, I loved his mom. She would make dinner and leave an extra plate for someone just in case. I was often the "just in case" person that year. She showed me that it is possible to care and love your babies, even when they got older. Plus she is a great mother in law.

3. My Aunt Margot. She is so crafty and is a great cook! I want a craft room like hers and wish I lived down the street so she could show me everything she knows. She is so smart and man, she can cook!

4. Carl. He has shown me how to really feel loved. I know my parents love me, but doesn't almost every parent love their child? It's kind of a given that they love you. Carl was the first real love. The first love through hard times and the first who shows me that he loves me even when I don't love myself. He loves my stretch marked tummy and when he holds me he comments on how soft it is and how he loves that it held our baby. I hate my tummy, but I love that Carl loves it. He is just a great man who shows me love.

5. My step family. My dad remarried when I was 8 and I went from being an only child to all of a sudden having three brothers, a sister, and another sister that came a few years later. I know that no matter what happens, I have siblings that I can go to and people I love to be with. I am glad to have these people to call my family.

6. My friends- don't friends always have some kind of influence on you? Growing up, friends help to mold what you believe in and who you want to be like. As you get older, friends influence where you like to eat out and what products you use... Along with so many other personal things. My friends are no different. They have influenced many decisions I have made and influence many decisions I will make in the future. Friends are a sounding board and a shoulder all in one :)

7. My doula, Nancy. She was such a great, strong force for me that she has influenced me to want to be that for others. I have really though about becoming a doula after my kids are older and when Carl and I are more stable and are living in one place. I think it might be the kind of job I'd enjoy (after all, I can't be a stay at home mom forever).

8. My grandma Pat. She is one strong lady! She and my Papa have been married for something like 53 years! It is crazy! She loves him and has stuck by him trough everything. This woman has shown me the power of marriage. I read somewhere that if your parents married others after divorcing, you're 91 percent more likely to get divorced. Man, what bad odds... But my grandma gives me hope that if Carl and I choose to stay together that we can have a happy marriage and that we can make it!

9. The paster's wife from my old church, Sharon. She is the most godly woman I have ever met. She loves everyone and showed me the kind of sweet, compassionate, godly woman I hope to be.

10. Sheral. This is Carl's step mom. It's weird but she taught me the lesson on loving people you don't really know. When we visited her and Carl's dad this summer, she welcomed us into her home and treated Miles as her own grandchild. She never really spent any time with me and had never even met Miles, but she went out of her way to make sure I felt included and loved. That meant a lot to me. She was more than nice my son and me and she didn't have to be.