You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.
Emmanuel Teney

I'm stealing this idea from my good friend Jaime. It's been a hard week and I think I need the boost, not to mention I hate doing these kinds of things about myself. I get uncomfortable when talking about really personal things about myself. It'll be good for me.

25 things I Like about Myself

1. I read and I read a lot. I've pointed this out before but I really do like this fact about myself. A lot of my random facts come from my readings. Most of what I know comes from it too. Even if my favorite genre is fantasy.

2. I'm a gamer chick. This makes me a rare breed. The boys tell me I'm a hot, good gamer chick, which makes me even rarer. I don't quite believe them on the "hot" aspect but whatever. I love the fact that I can pick up a game the boys have been playing for ages and be almost as good as them a week later. My proudest moment is when I shocked Gaxor into silence and got a "Well done" from Georgia Boy during a StarCraft match. Gaxor is the man to beat and Georgia Boy has only shocked him into silence twice and they've been friends for ages.

3. I dabble in a lot of things. This is frustrating sometimes but usually I like it. I mean how many people have taken a welding class, woodworking, game, are a rec management major, plays at being an artist and photographer, plays basketball, writes, laughs at most of the nerdy jokes on Big Bang Theory because they actually understand them...this list could go on forever.

4. I listen to people. This has gotten me into trouble when I don't do any of the talking but meh. It's helped me establish a lot of relationships that I cherish. I mean I don't think me and Love would have as good a relationship as we do if I hadn't seen she needed an extra person to bounce ideas off of, the same goes for Mal and Kwistin, Writer and once upon a time Hols. There are so many people that just need an unbiased ear in the world. Like the kid I've only talked to once before Sunday who came over, sat down and told me all his girl problems. Poor heartsick kid.

5. My taste in music. It's all over the place and I love it. I'm listening to a playlist right now that has Paramore, Parachute, Mumford & Sons, The Script, Adele, FloRida, One Republic and others on it. If that ain't the craziest mix of music tastes, I don't know what is. This past semester I was sitting with Georgia Boy playing some music while helping him with a final. He mutters something under his breath and then says "Why is it I always find good music when I'm with you?"
"When will you learn? I am a music goddess." (I did something flourishy with my hands even) I meant it as a tease since we were broken up but he just nodded his consent and went back to work. So I stand by my statement.

6. I try to expand my horizons. Most people are happy with what they know, when I sink my teeth into something I have to know more. And then I love to share what I learn with others. It's fun being able to do stuff like that. So I guess this relates back to number 3.

7. I like that I like to teach. I've never found it to be a calling of mine but others seem to like how I teach. I had a couple of girls in my ward last semester that had nicknames for everyone. Mine was "The good, not boring Relief Society teacher." It made my heart smile, I get real nervous about teaching cause I don't think anyone else is interested by what I'm saying so positive reinforcement like that is good for me.

8. This relates to teaching but... I can take something potentially complicated and put it into everyday terms. Like the comment that set off the mission alert. The teacher had asked the difference between knowing of Christ and knowing Christ. I raised my hand and said something to the effect of " I don't live in this ward so I know of the people in the ward. I know you exist and have lives but that's about it. I know Llama and Jay. I have a personal relationship with them." *shrugs* you can be the judge.

9. My loyalty. It's gotten me bit in the behind more times than I can count but to the people who actually care about me, I feel like it's what glues us together. Even if we don't talk for years on end. I always say I'm like a dog: affectionate and loyal. Once you have that loyalty it's pretty hard to lose. Though I have met one or two people who kicked me a little too often and a little too hard.

10. My eyes. They're a tricky thing. They look brown till you get real close, then you see they are actually green with a brown ring. They also change colors depending on my mood, not by much but still. In high school I started calling them Dragon Eyes, because in some myths the dragon's eye color changes with their mood.

11. I can pick up an accent mighty quick. It can be annoying and does get me into trouble sometimes. People think I'm making fun of 'em when I'm not. You might have noticed this post has a bit of a southern feel to it. It's cause I just finished The Help. I'm excited to see what kind of accent I pick up in Boston.

12. I still have the awe of a little kid in some things. Mostly nature. I love clouds, forests, the snow. I love being able to text Kwistin and have someone to get excited with about how pretty the mountains look cause they're all pink with a light blue sky behind them and the full moon rising.

13. My facts. They might drive some people crazy but I like being able to say things like "Did you know you replace 92% of your atoms annually?" or who sings a song and what the title is, and knowing it within the first 10 seconds of the song playing.

14. The fact that I decided to serve a mission, and that I'm actually following through. It's a bigger step for me than I think I realize. I'm excited and nervous, all at the same time.

15. My writing. Not that I would show anything past what's on my blog to anyone. Not that I've written anything since that poetry class two, two?!, years ago. I have a lot in my head but I never seem to be able to sound right on paper. But when I was writing regularly I did have some pretty good stuff.

16. My ability with kids. I adore children, I really do. I love playing with them and seeing their sense of wonder at everything. Seeing how they work out problems and seeing their imagination run wild. It also makes me smile when a mom says "Wow, she usually screams when she doesn't know someone." Gives me hope that I'll be an okay mom someday.

17. My imagination. I know that it's a lot smaller than when I was little but it can still get away from me sometimes. This is slightly embarrassing but meh. When I took my avalanche class last year we went out into the canyon between Jackson Hole and Pocatello to do some beacon training. As we trudged through the snow and snow covered pines on our snowshoes, I imagined I was in Narnia. It made the half hour trek seem a lot less long and made it that much more magical. I mean the scenery was breath taking anyway, but it added an extra bit of magic. I do little things like that sometimes, makes life more interestin.

18. My adventuresome self. Drove my Mum near crazy when I was little, me running off for hours at a time but I had a grand old time. It's carried over to adulthood too. Snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, and the random adventure with a friend. Grand times are made, my friend.

19. Going everywhere barefoot. Well not everywhere but as close as I can get. It's just another one of my lovable quirks. It's a great thing when your friends invite you to something and then say "Bring shoes, we're going out in public." Or when you actually wear shoes and everyone is shocked.

20. This next one is total geekery and will cause and uproar but here I go. I like how I've embraced the Slytherin House from Harry Potter. Let me explain some. One year I was cast as Slytherin at Halloween cause I had all the green clothing and since then I've slowly come around to the idea. Not the evil part of Slytherin but more of becoming an... activist.... for the house. Everyone always says that Slytherins all turn out evil. I like to point out Andromeda Tonks, Tonks' mother. She was a Slytherin and she married a muggle. Just sayin. It drives me crazy when people focus on the bad of the house when there is so much more to the house. I guess it relates to a nation that I'm mighty fierce about defending.

21. I'm a total geek/nerd. What ever you want to call it. Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, gaming, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings. Yup that's me.

22. I'm a nature person. Send me off into the woods, canyon, mountains, whatever, and tell me to go play. Yes sir!!

23. My true laugh. The one where you have to sit on my stomach to get out of me. At first I hated it when Gryff found out about it. It's loud and obnoxious, or at least it was to me. And once she told Georgia Boy about it there was trouble. He soon found out that all he had to do was give me a good squeeze and the laugh would come out. He finds it endearing while I hated it more and more. Couldn't I just have one thing that was girly about me? Well, it's grown on me. Just don't let him know that.

24. My quirks. There are a lot of them. At least 23 are listed here. I do like them, even if I do curse some of them.

25. The fact that I spent most of the night blogging when I should have been sleeping. Gotta use that freedom while I can hahahaha.