I really get behind stuff like this..

ok, just because I am THAT much of a dork, and I get behind things like "golden birthdays" and other such things...I am doing a special LIST....or shall we say THEMED blog posts for the next 21 days....I discussed this idea with sam a couple of days ago...of the different type of "21 things" list I could have...and I finally decided on 21 people I think have influenced me the most. Now, I decided this means I had to actually MEET these people and have ACTUAL interaction with them...so, no...authors...or Biblical characters...movie characters ( haha!) or anything else of that nature.

So, each day I will have one post naming one of the top 21 people I feel have helped make me the person up to this, my 22nd birthday. All, with the stipulation that I feel that EVERY one of my friends and family have changed me and influenced me hugely...and also that there have been some people that have been BAD influences..and I left them out too ;-) Because well....we only have 21 days to do this....so in no particular order:

My mother
Here's just a LITTLE of why...
Its always good to start with the person that actually GAVE you life. ;-) But, I have to say my mother's influence in my life didnt just stop with the life-giving bit, though I am eternally grateful that she went through the horribleness of pregnancy and birth a SECOND time to have me...
My mother is one of the most stable people I have EVER met. She has been a source of stability and practicality when I have needed it the most. I thank my mother for giving me a love of books...for reading to me for SO many years-even after I had learned to read myself-it was always better when she read.
My mother understands sarcasm, in fact, I'm pretty sure she uses it on a daily basis in her class room- yet when I went through the horrible phase of being sarcastic twenty-four seven she never gave me any slack and I will never forget her telling me that she use to be JUST like that too...It was so encouraging at the time, to know that my seemingly perfect mother use to be like me...so this meant I COULD be a nice person...there was still some hope! ( i know that sounds really dramatic, but when you're fifteen you really wonder sometimes!)
Yes, my mother did an amazing job, when I was growing up, of being understanding and yet also not condoning of many of my crazy characteristics....having a sister who I felt was perfect and EXACTLY opposite from me...and who took after my father in so many ways...it was nice to know that SOMEONE understood why I was messy...and why I collected gum wrappers...and why I liked little tiny things...and why I dressed up in a clown costume in the eighth grade because I was "having a bad day"....well, maybe she didnt understand THAT...but she went with it...and that kind of support is priceless....
My mother is defintely one of my best friends and I respect her opinion. I have been inspired at how she has sat on the phone with friends in need for HOURS ( that has to be one of my earliest memories...though, at the time it was because I was annoyed that she was on the phone). I have been inspired by how much she has given up for her family, something she contines to do to this day. I have been inspired at the mother and wife she has been, and I can only hope to follow in her footsteps just a little.