You both kicked off your shoes

Occasionally, I can be easily influenced by the opinions of others. In the past, I could be so influenced that I would lie about how much I liked something so that I could gain someone's favor. It wasn't so much lying as it was expressing interest in something that I had no previous opinion on. I've gotten a lot better at that. I'm always willing to try something new, especially if it's being introduced to me by someone I like (friend or family). However, I'm now more willing to say "I've never tried that. Maybe I should!" instead of "Oh my gosh! I love that!"

Still, I have a few rather amusing memories of things I loved only for the duration of a relationship with someone.

My siblings are going to laugh about this one for sure. The boy I "wasn't dating" in 9th grade had a rather particular favorite after-school snack. Plain bread (eaten whilst tearing it into pieces) and a HUGE glass of milk. So the whole time we "weren't dating", it was my favorite after school snack too. I love milk and bread is great, but I pretty much stopped that habit when he wasn't around any more.

The friends I hung out with most the summer after 9th grade (and a little bit into 10th) only liked Pepsi products, rather than Coke. I had very little previous experience in that regard, so for that summer, I loved Pepsi, even when they weren't around. We were also trying to collect all the Star Wars characters they were featuring on their bottles. I held onto those empty bottles for much too long. Once again, this habit quickly died after I stopped spending so much time with them.

What I've learned over the years is that I don't have to pretend to like something more than I do just to get someone to like me. It's way more important to be myself, and I'm pretty awesome that way.