Who influences you?

Influence. Be it beneficial or not so edifying. Who and what influence you?

When I take a good hard look at the topic I find it a bit of a surprise what I am actually influenced by. I’d like to think it is by godly principles, right living, and an entirely independent way of thinking that doesn’t include worldly voices but is that what really influences us?

Cultural bias. I’m a reader and though I don’t subscribe to any I find that I have plenty of women’s magazines to select from in my house. I decorate, plan and even shop on the recommendations of magazines.

Adds. Aren’t we swayed to veer to an out of the way store often because of a mailer we received touting a sale that can’t be passed up? That reminds me of sales! Is it really a sale if I SPEND where I wouldn’t have spent?

Media. Have you ever spent a day moping simply because of  the depressing things you saw or read on the news? I know I have.

Past  baggage, influential people on TV, family….

Would you take a moment to really think honestly and if you are comfortable sharing, please respond to this question. Who and what most affect how you go about your life?

Do you like the new theme?

I needed a change. Loud is so much older now than he was in the header picture. Not to mention my forest landscape is quickly changing to a more cold looking scene. Sooo…. I am trying out this theme but I’m not sure I like it. It seems a little busy. But I do like the drop down menu’s for pages, which I might take advantage of. I’m not sure if I like dates on the posts or not.

I might have to go back, I love that little nose!

What do you think? What are your favorite blog features?

Talking about blogs and such, I’m setting up a website for my writing. What would you like to see on a website (not an ongoing blog)? Or if not what “you’d like”, what would you include if you were me? 🙂 I can have up to 5 pages. One is the homepage and I thought I’d do a guestbook, other than that it’s a free for all.

I’m feeling random lately so here goes, answer this…

What is the 1st thing you notice about people you meet.

I’m in the mood for a random question.

What do you always have with you when you leave the house?

Link Love

I wanted to introduce blogs as I add them to my blogroll.  What’s the point of having them if they are just decoration! That’s why I was so excited about this meme. Gina at Portrait of a Writer Interrupted is participating as well and just happens to be on my “Blogs I Really Read” list! Click on the button below to introduce your favorite blogs and join in the fun.

Here’s my list in alphabetical order:

Author Kaye Dacus’ blog because she is awesome at making people feel welcome. She comes up with fun ways for readers to participate and she is a gal after my own heart since she is a self professes “non girlie girl”!

Jaime Kubik’s blog Ditchin the Kitchen is full of the funniest short poems, always a pick me up!

Brandilyn Collins’ blog Forensics and Faith. Brandilyn is another person who is great at connecting with readers. She writes Christian “seat belt suspense” and works hard to mentor writers in the craft of fiction.

Just Another Cracked Pot – My mother in law’s blog. She is the brains behind all the crafty things on my blog.

Living Proof Ministry Blog– Beth Moore and her daughters have such hearts for the Lord! Posts are full of hope and encouragement.

Karen at Only Sometimes Clever – Intelligent, funny, Christian sister and fellow gluten free mama of five! Always a great conversation going on at OSC.

Gina Conroy Writer Interrupted, my long lost twin 😉 has a heart for the Lord and an incredible tallent for writing. Also a great place to find encouragement and conversation.

My friend in real life Sharyl’s blog The Little Brown House. Sharyl is incredibly creative. She shares frugile tips for decorating and recipes for the budget minded on her beautiful blog.

The Lumberjacks Wife – another friend in real life who never disappoints. She has the funniest sense of humor. There is never a dull moment on her blog.

Love you all! Thanks for being a part of my cyber world mommy breaks.

Fun Friday – Random Lines From Books.

Kaye Dacus’, self admited, “Lame Game” Join in if you like! I don’ t have 10 different shelves and some of my shelves hold books with less than 219 pages for the Thinglets so I had to improvise.

Today is 2/19/2010

So on page 219 of 10 books (chosen by pulling every 10th book from each of my ten shelves of fiction—counting from left or right, whichever I deem fitting at the moment), I’m going to randomly quote the sentence(s) that falls on the 20th line of the page.

1. Jo’s desperate wisper snapped Kate back to the moment. She scrunched herself down into the box, telling her younger sister as she did, “Hurry and hide yourself in those big leaves.” (Annie Jones, The Barefoot Believers)

2. It looked all brown and black: elf-locks bristled out from beneath a white band which passed under her chin, and came half over her cheeks, or rather jaws; her eye confronted me at once, with a bold and direct gaze. (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre)

3. “Out on te coast,” reported Wisdom as he unsteadily accompanied Perry. “Logging camp, up north of Grays Harbor. Rain! Perry, do you know it’d sometimes rain a week steady? I just did not know it could rain that much.” (Ivan Doig, English Creek)

4. “Yep.” Mike looked north. “There he is going off – but he Ain’t got the purty stud.” (William Marshall Rush, Wild Horses of Rainrock)

5. The mix of excitement and dread had driven her from the little nest she had prepared. (Thoene, Warsaw Requiem)

6. Well, it was printed, and she got three hundred dollars for it; likewise plenty of praise and blame, both so much greater than she expected that she was thrown into a state of bewilderment, from which it took her some time to recover. (Louisa M. Alcott, Little Women)

7. The Pharisees’ misunderstanding about what is required to make full atonement for sin lay at the root of their errant theology. (John MacArthur, A Tale of Two Sons)

8. How many guest rooms would there be in this four-story building? Sixty? Eighty? More? Would a day actually come when all of those rooms would be filled with guests? Morgan must think so or he wouldn’t be pouring so much money into its development. (Robin Lee Hatcher, A Vote of Confidence)

9. “My leg! Oh, God! They cut off my leg!” and Sally collapsed in a faint on top of him. (Lynn Austin, Candle in the Darkness)

10. “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13, Holy Bible, NIV)

Sorry about the formatting. Something is wrong with the post and I can’t fix the italicss and the spaces between lines.

Five Random DVD’s for Kaye Dacus

 At Kaye Dacus’ blog (author of Menu for Romance, A Stand in Groom and more) she asked readers to pull out five random DVD’s from their shelves without looking! Here’s what I got.

Dan in Real Life – Funny story about this one. My husband and I and the midwife watched this while I was in labor with my littlest, Pee Wee. A little slow but heartwarming and funny. Great for having a baby. Haha, I bet you’ve never read that on a movie review before!

Antwone Fischer – I didn’t have a clue what this one was about or that we even had it until about a month ago. This is a moving story but at times quite graphic regarding the troubled past of Antwone, a Navy Petty Officer who is sent to a psychologist for his bad temper and disruptive behaviors. Definitely not for the kids but I think worth seeing.

A Knights Tale – A kick in the pants. Starring the late Heath Ledger.

Fun With Dick and Jane – Somehow I found this to be one of the funniest movies I’ve seen. Maybe it was the husband/wife banter or the series of events, that led this couple on a bank robbing escapade, that were far too close to home. But I laugh and laugh when I see this one. It’s funny in a somewhat terrifying kind of way. Does anyone know what I mean? Or am I just one step out of the loony bin myself?

The Legend of Zorro – All I’ve got to say is Antonio Banderas

The only reason this list is not Toy Story, Cars, Kung fu Panda and the like is because we have two separate CD cases one for the adults and one for the kids.

Go ahead, you know you want to join in the fun. What are your 5 random DVD’s ?