The Men
I was thinking today about people who have influenced me in some way or another. I came to realize how heavily masculine my list was, I definitely have a preference towards guys. It's interesting to me that I could not even make eye contact with any of my male peers without turning red until my junior year of high school. Before then, I still had a preference for guys, but it was adult men I looked up to and felt comfortable around once I got to know them.
My dad has always been one of my very favorite people. I have a good deal of his traits, including a ridiculous sense of humor and standoffish attitude when in large groups of people. He can do no wrong, and I am always glad to see him and give him a big hug. They say girls go for men similar to their fathers, and Austin definitely has moments that make me smile and thing of my dad.
Becky's dad, Dave, has always been another father figure to me, though I didn't always approve of his attitude towards his wife and children. I often found him to be very lazy too. But he had many moments that made him one of the stand out men in my life. Emma's Dad was another father figure, he's so much like my dad I couldn't help but adore him, and he cracks me up.
The guy to break the ice for me when it came to any sort of interaction with males my age was Ben. Ben has a way of being influential everywhere he goes, and he's still very dear to me. He makes me want to be a more outgoing person, but I'm a natural introvert. Jared and Austin walked in to my life towards the end of my senior year, and they too were a huge help in making me more relaxed around men my age. Also important to my social development was working at McDonalds. I would never take back the time I spent there because I grew so much while I was there, not to mention guys there I became friends with, like the Seans(there were 3), and Brandon. Brandon really became special to me, and I'm still horribly disturbed by what he did to land himself back in prison.
Austin has definitely been the most important man in my life. He and I have both changed drastically since we first started dating. I totally married that guy, so, yeah. XD I love him.
Austin and I took to living in Bozeman after he graduated high school, and Mike would visit us the most, being Austin's best friend. We all talked online all the time, and when Austin and I moved in to an apartment, he was able to visit more. It took Mike and I a long time to be able to really talk to each other, because we're both painfully awkward with people we don't know well. XD Eventually he became one of my good friends too. We all spent a good deal of time together when we could, and they were typically very funny times. He'll always be special to me, and I still enjoy talking to him, but it feels like we've taken a step backwards to that shy stage again.
Elijah is one of my newer friends, but so dear to me. He's a large, intimidating man, but such a teddy bear. He and I bonded over sugar gliders, and eventually we talked about other animals, and then even other subjects. Austin and I started hanging out at his house with him and his brother, and Elijah and I would just sit and talk, while Austin and Josiah played video games. It's been a privilege getting to know him and his alien lifestyle, and he's one of the more unique people I have ever befriended. Austin and I both enjoy his company, and the three of us usually have quite a bit of laughs when we're all together.
These men have all taught me a great deal and helped me grow as a person. That's not to say that I don't also admire many women of my life, but that's what I was thinking about today. I hang out with mostly guys these days, so I've traveled far from that horrified 15 year old girl turning red when spoken to by a (gasp!) boy. Today, it's girls my age who I don't know who make me nervous. o_O Weird.
In other news, we finally have a working sink after about 2 weeks of washing dishes out of plastic dish tubs. This week we're getting a fence estimate done. :D I'm very excited to have a fence. More excited than one should be about getting a chain link fence.
Ha.
My dad has always been one of my very favorite people. I have a good deal of his traits, including a ridiculous sense of humor and standoffish attitude when in large groups of people. He can do no wrong, and I am always glad to see him and give him a big hug. They say girls go for men similar to their fathers, and Austin definitely has moments that make me smile and thing of my dad.
Becky's dad, Dave, has always been another father figure to me, though I didn't always approve of his attitude towards his wife and children. I often found him to be very lazy too. But he had many moments that made him one of the stand out men in my life. Emma's Dad was another father figure, he's so much like my dad I couldn't help but adore him, and he cracks me up.
The guy to break the ice for me when it came to any sort of interaction with males my age was Ben. Ben has a way of being influential everywhere he goes, and he's still very dear to me. He makes me want to be a more outgoing person, but I'm a natural introvert. Jared and Austin walked in to my life towards the end of my senior year, and they too were a huge help in making me more relaxed around men my age. Also important to my social development was working at McDonalds. I would never take back the time I spent there because I grew so much while I was there, not to mention guys there I became friends with, like the Seans(there were 3), and Brandon. Brandon really became special to me, and I'm still horribly disturbed by what he did to land himself back in prison.
Austin has definitely been the most important man in my life. He and I have both changed drastically since we first started dating. I totally married that guy, so, yeah. XD I love him.
Austin and I took to living in Bozeman after he graduated high school, and Mike would visit us the most, being Austin's best friend. We all talked online all the time, and when Austin and I moved in to an apartment, he was able to visit more. It took Mike and I a long time to be able to really talk to each other, because we're both painfully awkward with people we don't know well. XD Eventually he became one of my good friends too. We all spent a good deal of time together when we could, and they were typically very funny times. He'll always be special to me, and I still enjoy talking to him, but it feels like we've taken a step backwards to that shy stage again.
Elijah is one of my newer friends, but so dear to me. He's a large, intimidating man, but such a teddy bear. He and I bonded over sugar gliders, and eventually we talked about other animals, and then even other subjects. Austin and I started hanging out at his house with him and his brother, and Elijah and I would just sit and talk, while Austin and Josiah played video games. It's been a privilege getting to know him and his alien lifestyle, and he's one of the more unique people I have ever befriended. Austin and I both enjoy his company, and the three of us usually have quite a bit of laughs when we're all together.
These men have all taught me a great deal and helped me grow as a person. That's not to say that I don't also admire many women of my life, but that's what I was thinking about today. I hang out with mostly guys these days, so I've traveled far from that horrified 15 year old girl turning red when spoken to by a (gasp!) boy. Today, it's girls my age who I don't know who make me nervous. o_O Weird.
In other news, we finally have a working sink after about 2 weeks of washing dishes out of plastic dish tubs. This week we're getting a fence estimate done. :D I'm very excited to have a fence. More excited than one should be about getting a chain link fence.
Ha.