Blogtember -- September 3

I saw this on Caitlin's sidebar, followed the link, and decided to do this!

Tuesday, September 3rd  Describe where or what you came from.  The people, the places, and/or factors that make up who you are.
I'm going to describe what I came from. Mainly I will focus on certain important factors that I learned or was exposed to at a young age which built the foundation of who I am today! FAITH.

My grandparents and my mom instilled my Catholic faith in me from day one. Some of my earliest memories include attending church at the parish we were at (and went to school at) for 15 years along with my Nana, Papa, and aunts and uncles. Every week we would all grab a few pews together. Our family was so large (extended family) that we easily took up 2 of the long pews. I went to a Catholic grade school from K-8th grade, and I learned all about God and Jesus and my religion there. To this day I believe that my Catholic grade school education had a HUGE contribution to who I am today. God and Jesus are responsible for every wonderful blessing in my life and I am beyond grateful for everything in my life. I can't even express my gratitude in words other than to simply say thank you every morning. In rough times, I know that God is always and forever by my side and that I am never alone. I have faith in God and faith that He has a plan for me and my life. My faith is the most important thing in my life, honestly I feel like if I didn't have it, I would be totally and completely lost.

FAMILY.

My family has definitely played a part in who I am today. When I was younger, even after my parents divorced I thought I had the greatest family. I felt so so lucky. In those days, my mom and us and all of her brothers and sisters and their kids (our cousins) would get together for Sunday dinner at my Nana and Papa's house. Those Sundays were some of my favorite times in the whole entire world. These days, things are not that great (with my extended family, my immediate family is perfect), but at that time in my life there was nothing better than that family togetherness! I was always taught that second to God, family was everything in life.

READING & SINGING.

One of the most special things about me is that I believe that my grandmothers (both paternal and maternal) are responsible for my love of reading and singing. My dad's mother is not alive anymore (she died when I was 11 years old) but when I was a baby and growing up she would ALWAYS read to me, and later we would read together. As I grew up, I read constantly. I mean CONSTANTLY. There is nowhere I would go without a book. I'd bring books to school. When I finished my homework all I did at night was read. I even read in the car just during car rides around town; the longer the car ride, the happier I was! I even would bring my book in restaurants during vacations, until my dad put a stop to it haha.

My mom's mother definitely had an influence on my talent of singing. I sang my first song (Baa Baa Black Sheep) at age 2, and my Nana has it recorded. From age 3, I remember watching Sound of Music and Annie every single time I would be at her house and singing along with the songs. Even when I sang the first radio song I ever memorized (Cherish, by Madonna), I sang it in her garage. I just think it is so amazing how they introduced me to these activities at an early age and now they are such huge parts of who I am.

Hope you all enjoyed this!