My freshman year of college, a good friend of mine compared the weather in Texas to a pregnant woman's mood swings: changing often and to great extremes.

This is certainly the case in Austin these days. We've had an extremely cold winter so far: several days in a row with weather in the teens! (I don't think I've ever experienced that in Texas.) We've also had days like last Thursday, though, which hit 78 degrees. Because I am a fickle person, part of me enjoys the fact that one day I can need a parka and the next I can enjoy a few hours on a patio with chips and salsa. The other part of me hates it. I don't enjoy having to dig through my disaster of a closet several times in one week just to find a different thickness of coat or sweater to accommodate the weather. I also don't enjoy having to turn the heat on at night when it's almost 80 degrees in the afternoon.

All of that being said, I do love that such crazy weather provides gorgeous days like this in January. Even though it was too windy and too cold to sit outside, it was beautiful to enjoy through the windows of Mozart's.

On a completely different note, I have been thinking a lot about identity lately. I am, by nature, not an introspective person. Thinking and/or discussing my feelings absolutely terrifies me. I've always hated answering those "What are your greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses?" questions. Well this morning I was reading an article on job hunting in the newspaper. A supposed expert was offering advice on networking, and she emphasized the idea of "branding" yourself. She described it in the following way: because our economy has made most jobs very temporary, there is no longer company loyalty. Instead, individuals should view themselves as their own small businesses; decide what you want your "brand" to represent, and then do what it takes to convey that to others. To decide your "brand", just determine what exactly you want people to remember about you, what impression you want to give.

That got me thinking: what would my "brand" be? Obviously there are certain characteristics I would want people to associate with me, but when my name comes up, do I really want people to say "Oh that Kelly is such a nice girl?" I don't think I do. As a teacher, students (not mine) have described me as "that mean lady" and "the teacher who always wears boots with her dresses and tells people 'howdy' all the time." As a Christian, I have been taught to find my identity in Christ. What then, does that look like in a practical sense? Is that supposed to be the overwhelming impression we give off to others? I feel like it's such a non - pc thing to discuss. I know people who have hugely turned me off because they're over-religious or over-spiritual or over-... well just too much in general. But I also know some amazing people and truly the first thing I associate with them is their love for the Lord.

Any thoughts? What would your brand be?