I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday Funday....

Soooo I decided I wanted to get back into this blogging thing but instead of only posting once every 2 years or so I think I'm going to use it more like a journal. I've pinned so many blog and journal "challenges" over the past few months I figured I might as well use some of them. I'm like a Pinterest hoarder and I pin some really cool stuff...that I always forget about....

The one I picked today was from a post that was called "55 Conversation Starters" and the first question caught my eye so I decided that was a pretty good place to begin. The question is "Who had the biggest impact on you while you were growing up?" I have a few people that stand out in my head. The first is my grandmother, or Granny as I always called her. She was one of the strongest and kindest women I have ever known. She worked a full time job in an age where most women were content to just stay home and raise children. She wanted to make sure that she never had to depend on anyone for anything and she wanted to make sure that if anything were to happen to my grandpa that her and her kids would be ok. She was a successful business woman that even at her 5' 2" stature commanded respect from everyone. She treated everyone the same regardless of their position in life but went out of her way to help those less fortunate. She organized many fundraisers for children in low income families donating clothes and toys at Christmas time. Her and my grandpa also did a lot of things that we didn't even know about until after she had passed. They did things because it was the right thing to do and not because they were going to get recognition for them. I always say that Granny was magic and I still believe that to this day. I don't know many people that can grow a whole bush from a dead stick or make a baby quit crying by just clicking her fingernails together. She had this way of making you feel like the only person in the room even if the room had 99 other people in it. She is what I aspire to be as a woman.

Another person is my Papa. He came from a very humble and kind of hard upbringing. He didn't have the best of things but what he gained were life experiences that he passed down to us. Where Granny spoiled us with things he spoiled us with time and memories. He had a rough life and faced many challenges but he never gave up. He contracted polio when he was a toddler causing one of his legs to never fully develop. Because of that he was in pain for a majority of his life. He had to use a cane and wear a brace on his leg, at times, to help support it because he didn't have any muscle in his leg. He also was one of the most intelligent people I know but never went to college. He didn't graduate high school and didn't get his GED until my aunt was about to graduate from high school but he knew trigonometry and was an engineer. I learned many things from him but the most important thing is to keep going. He could have given up over and over and over again. He could have blamed life for the hardships he faced. He could have acted like the world owed him an apology for the shit hand he was dealt but he didn't. He knew he was going to have to fight for everything and earn everything he had and he did. I'm so thankful that I had these to amazing human beings to look up to. Every time I feel down or like I can't take another step I think of where I came from and it gives me the extra push I need.

Miss Hastings is another one that whenever I think of her I am reminded that you're past does not have to be your future and with enough determination and drive you can overcome anything. She grew up in an orphanage and thankfully her love of teaching was nurtured and was allowed to bloom because she was an amazing teacher. She was just a fun loving woman that was never married and never had kids of her own so she used up all her maternal instinct in her students and we loved her for it.

My 5th grade teacher, Mr Downing, will forever go down in history as the best teacher EVER!!! He is one of those people that prove it's never to late to start a new dream. He didn't decide until later in life he wanted to be a teacher and I'm so glad he did!!!! He taught us not only math and science he taught us about life and and gave us a love of classic rock. My mom was so tickled when I came home from school one day singing Three Dog Night and Don McLean. I don't remember much from class but I sure do remember the lyrics to American Pie and Momma Told Me Not To Come...you know the really important stuff *wink*.


I've had a lot of amazing people in my life that have made some sort of impact on my life but these 4 are really sticking out in my head right now.

Hopefully I can keep up with this and have more interesting things to talk about cause I know this is kind of boring but I needed a way to get back into it somehow.

Till next time, be nice to each other
Love