30 Things: Those who have ifluenced me

So we have been sick for the last two weeks. It was not fun. But I will be posting about our trip to sea world soon! 


These are those in my life who influence or have influenced me. When I started this I was wrote so much about each person (They are all such amazing people!) so I had to pear it down a bit. Try to keep it to a paragraph. I wish I could go into more detail but since I have mentioned these people in my personal journal I think this will suffice for now.

Family

1. My husband. Obviously. He is my best friend and my partner. Life is just better with him.

2. My children. Right now, probably the most influential people in my life. My whole day is planned around them. From what we eat to what we do, the decisions I make on a daily basis is influenced by them (good thing the are so adorable!)

3. My parents - Bel and Penny. I did a post earlier on how wonderful these people are so of course they are influential to me.


4. My Siblings - This goofy group of individuals are amazing. I love them so much, and even though I am sure I am not always the best sibling, I am glad they still put up with me.

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Friends

5. Krysti - She is amazing. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met. She was one of the few friends I had after I moved high schools and the only one I have kept in contact with (no so good since having baby #2, :( sorry krysti) I love this lady so much and am so grateful that I met her.

6. Holly - (Okay, I know you read this blog - and I am sorry I have probably never told you how amazing I think you are. For that I am sorry. Love you rock buddy) I consider my relationship with Holly as one of the greatest I have ever had, not to mention easiest. We just naturally 'fell into step' with each other. I am pretty certain that without her influence, I would not have been prepared to meet my husband and marry him when I did. I haven't talked to her in forever and seen her even longer than that, but she will always be my friend. Of that I am sure of.

7. Ruth (On the right) - Another amazing lady! Amazingly kind and self sacrificing. You can't help but love her. We were room- roommates for a semester and we did so much together. She was always a true friend and I always admired her for the example she set.

After writing about Ruth, I thought I should mention that my roommates from that year were amazing (shown in the picture above are Sarah and Elizabeth). We had the greatest time and I love those girls. I will have memories from that year forever!

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Teachers

8. Kim Smith and Ashley Brunjes - Both were my YW leaders. They obviously put thought and care into each lesson and activity. The ways they influenced are numerous and I will forever be grateful for the hard work and sacrifice.

9. TheRedheadedhostess.com - Okay, this seems silly to me because it is a website, but she has forever changed how I do my scripture study, and thus affected my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I don't think there is a more influential thing you can do.

10. My religious professors at BYU-I - I did a lot of research with my religious professors before I signed up for the classes I needed. I did not want to feel like it was just another class, but I wanted good teachers that would help me learn and grow in the gospel. It was 100% worth it. Don't get me wrong, (1) I had some amazing teacher while at school and (2) those classes were not easy, however, I remember the lectures, paper, and projects of my religion classes with joy.



This was a hard list to put together, but I believe that this is the 10 ten most influential people in my life. I feel like so many other people should be mentioned but like I said earlier, this is good enough for now.

Things: Passions

 To see the beginning of this series go here.

5 Passions

1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Learning, reading, or teaching, it is my rock.

2. My family. Jeremy and our children are my favorite part of my day (also sometimes the hardest.) I love every decision that has brought me to them.
An excerpt from our "I love you because..." board this week.
Jeremy: You always put my happiness first, Sweet Girl.
Maria: It's because you are my happiness.
Jeremy: Then you must be Uber-Heepmo-Happy-Tastic because that's how happy you make me. 
Yes, we are still gloriously happy (and a little sappy.) No, I will not apologize for it. 
My family extends beyond this little group, I have my parents, sisters, brothers. I love them and though they might not see it, they are my examples and I don't know what I would do with out them in my life.

3. Music. In my opinion, very few things has power like music does. Have you seen this? Absolutely beautiful.

4. Family Time. I believe strongly that your time should be building those relationships that you will keep through the eternities. Obviously, you can always have family time, but when you can it should take priority over cell phones, computers, etc. "Family Time is Sacred time" - Boyd K. Packer

5.This last one tends to change. I choose "themes" for my life. It can be cooking, photography, sewing, organization, etc.

Things: Dream Job

What is your dream job and why. Oh, boy. Can I have more than 1? I am going to say yes because, well, I am writing this.

 Before I go on with this list, I would like to say I am doing my dream job. (1) Being a stay at home mother to these little ones is what I have always wanted to do. I would choose nothing else, I firmly believe that I am doing the greatest work that I could possibly do. (Look how cute they are!)

 So, if I wasn't doing my dream job already, this is what I would do:

2) Architect - I love houses. No sorry, I LOVE houses! I could look at houses all day. I also make house sketches all the time. If I had discovered this passion before college I probably would have made it my major (or a double major! Yes, I would have done it.)

3) Archeologist/Museum Curator/Genealogical researcher - This was actually what I was going to do with my degree. History is one of my favorite things ever, I just love everything about it. I took a couple classes of anthropology and afterwards considered transferring down to BYU for the Anthropology program. This is making me smile. I am kind of a dork.

4) College Professor, especially at an LDS school - I thought my professors had the coolest job. I love that they were not only able to teach what they loved, but they were also able to combine that with the spirit and religious connotations. (I would teach any of the things I mentions above, Humanities, or any of the religion classes!)

5) Book Publisher - I read a lot. Well, not so much since having a baby. I would love to read novels and choose them to get published. Nothing is better than a good story. Also, I wouldn't have to edit it, that is what editors are for. (lol)