Day 21: Write About Your Best Friend (Not Your Significant Other) and What Makes Them Special

Why'd you have to limit me like that? ;)

I guess then I will tell you about my best friend from middle school. We became friends towards the end of 6th grade. I felt so comfortable around her, like I didn't have to pretend to be cool, she just accepted me for who I was. I remember we always had a blast together in Study Hall - our teacher Mr. Harmon was probably the best teacher in 6th grade, so we always had a fun time in his Study Hall class. He would let us bring our mp3 players, snacks, books, etc., so of course Tori and I took advantage of that. I remember one time Tori was showing me her new earrings (they were clip-ons), and we told Mr. Harmon he should try them on. So he did!Why he put them on one ear - I don't know. But it was hilarious!

Tori and I shared our best memories in middle school - whether it was at school or at her house. We weren't exactly the most mature pair, but we had fun nonetheless. We rarely ever had disagreements or fights, but thankfully we did believe in the same thing when it came to God. We talked about Him a lot and even sometimes prayed together over Instant Message. We watched Passion of the Christ together, and we had our good friend Katherine join us. I remember the actor who played Satan in the movie scared us so much, that we turned on all the lights in the house and didn't go anywhere by ourselves. I also remember the first time I told Tori about Christ's second coming. She was scared and I think she even cried, until I explained to her that as long as we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior, we were going to go up to Heaven with Him.

We did the craziest things together. We played ping-pong while we were lying down, named inanimate objects (including a dead cricket in her basement - his name was Jimmy), took pictures until 2:00 in the morning, and even made our own music videos. There was also a time when we watched Titanic together... at our own houses. We made it so that the movie played at exactly the same time so we could literally watch it together. We would laugh and talk about certain parts of the movie, when all of the sudden towards the middle of the movie, I tried to tell her something and she wouldn't respond. Yeah, she fell asleep. At first I was irritated because no matter how loud I yelled, she wouldn't wake up. Then I thought it was kind of funny.

But what made our friendship special was that we were always there for each other. We always tried our hardest to understand each other and whatever it was we were going through. She was and still is very special to me. What made her special was how caring she was. I remember one time in particular when my parents had gotten into a huge argument, and it was a school night. My mom was working night shifts at the time, and I didn't want to be home with my dad because he was still so angry. I called Tori as she was about to go to bed, and she told me I could come and sleep over at her house. When I got to her house, she just held me for a little while, along with her uncle (I knew him pretty well because her and her mom lived with him.) The next morning, I was able to ride the bus with her to school. It meant the world to me, and it still makes me smile when I think about it.

Our memories and fun (and funny) times are too many to write down, but they are unforgettable. Though we've drifted over the years due to me being home-schooled and various changes in each others lives, we are still able to pick up where we left off and bond the way we did in middle school. That's what I love about our friendship. She still means the world to me and nobody could be a better friend to me than her. In fact, I plan on having her be a part of my wedding, because she is still a very significant and special person in my life.

Day 20: Discuss Your Favorite Movie and Why it's so Special to You

My favorite movie would have to be Titanic. It's "special" to me because it's educational and intriguing to me at the same. I've learned more about the story of Titanic through watching the movie than I have doing research. I'm not typically a big fan of history, but the movie made it interesting for me.

I also enjoy the romance that takes place between Jack and Rose. It makes the story more realistic - like there was so much more going on than just the tragedy of Titanic hitting an ice berg and then sinking. Jack reminds me a lot of Karl - he's not an artist nor is he poor, but he's caring and gentle like Jack. He also cares for me and wants the best for me as Jack cares for Rose and wants the best for her. The two of them just want to be together no matter what, even while the ship was sinking. The part that reminds me of Karl and I the most is when Jack is falsely accused of stealing Rose's diamond, and is sent to the bottom of the ship in hand-cuffs. Rose sought to rescue him, even though it meant going all the way down to E-Deck, which was already flooded with ice-cold water. She found Jack cuffed to some sort of pipe, and once she realized the key to the cuffs was nowhere to be found, she ran frantically to find help. When nobody would even listen to her, she found and grabbed a hatchet, then sprinted back to the room that Jack was in. She cut through the cuffs with the hatchet, and her and Jack made their way back to the top level of the ship. I know in my heart that I would do whatever it would take to rescue Karl, even if it meant risking my own life.

The mystery aspect of the movie is great, too. When I first watched the movie, it was fun putting the pieces together as to where the "heart of the ocean" was, and how it actually ended up in the ocean. And of course, the mystery as to why Rose's record wasn't valid. All in all, it is a great movie. It has a little bit of everything - action, drama, romance, comedy, and most importantly, historical truth.

Day 19: Something That Shook Your Belief System to its Core (A Big Disappointment in Your Life)

If you're asking me if a big disappointment in my life led to a shaking in my belief system, then I can't come up with anything. I've learned to not believe that I can trust everyone, and that ultimately the only person I can trust fully is God. I guess to some degree I believed I could trust those I was close to, but eventually those beliefs changed as they let me down at some point. They never failed me, but they let me down or disappointed me, therefore I learned I cannot put my entire trust in anyone otherwise it'll raise my expectations for that person, which will lead to them hurting me or disappointing me in some way.

I believe I always stood on the promises of God ever since I was a little girl. A lot of things happened in my life that would fall under the category of "big disappointments" but somehow, I always knew He was there and that He was going to make everything okay. My parents struggled a lot in their marriage but I never anticipated nor feared it was going to end in divorce. Nothing pulled me away from knowing God was going to bring us through anything life threw at us.

I don't believe either that something shook my belief system in a disappointing way. When I started reading the Bible, I was open to the truth and wanted to know the truth. I was never disappointed in what I read or learned. If anything, the only thing I would have been disappointed about was the fact that I couldn't comprehend everything I was reading - that I was still so young in my faith and understanding that certain things in the Bible didn't make sense to me. But that changed over time. My belief system has always been this: Everything happens for a reason, God loves His children, God will bring His children through anything, and He will always provide for His children. And He has never disappointed me.

Day 18: Someone You Met Randomly That Made an Impact on Your Life

The only person I can come up with is someone I met a couple weeks ago at a friends' baptism. Her name escapes me, but my mom knows her from Target (my mom works at Target.) My mom was unaware that she attended our church, but since she does attend our church, she was also at the baptism as her son was being baptized. After the ceremony, my mom decided to greet her and congratulate her and her son. My mom was worried that she wasn't going to recognize her because they'd only seen each other a couple of times, but the second she saw my mom, she recognized her right away and even gave her a hug. She was obviously pretty emotional having witnessed her youngest son getting baptized, and she just had the biggest smile on her face. She was happy as happy gets and kept explaining to us how thankful she was and how much she loved the Lord, it was the coolest thing. She even shared with us how the devil had been attacking her and her family for the past two years, but then she followed that up with knowing that Jesus had already won the battle and that everything was going to be okay. It was incredible seeing the Lord radiating from the inside out of this woman. How humble and gentle she was yet truthful and bold.

Eventually she looked over at me and asked my mom if I was her daughter. I introduced myself and she just looked at me with the most loving look. Then she asked if she could hug me. "Of course," I replied. She then started describing how we are all a family in Christ and how excited she was to meet up with her "family" in heaven. As she was talking, she would occasionally look to the sky and raise her hand in thanks to God. Her joy was contagious, as was her smile. This impacted my life because it made me realize how much I have to be thankful for, and that we need to always "give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18). It also made me realize that I really do have a family outside of my blood family - I have a family in Christ that I look forward to meeting one day. It uplifts me beyond words knowing I have brothers and sisters and we all share the same Father. I wish all Christians could take hold of this truth.

Day 17: Someone With Whom You Shared a Friendship/Relationship That Simply Drifted out of Your Life

The only person/people I can come up with are these twin boys who lived down the hall from me (we were living in an apartment complex at the time.) Their names were Robert and David. We went to school together and hung out practically every day. From 1st grade to about 3rd grade they were considered my "best friends," even though I had a bunch of other friends that I hung out with on a weekly basis.

When we moved out of the apartment complex, we were still relatively close and our parents made sure to set up "play-dates." But since I was going to a different school, I made new friends and saw them more often than the twins. They still came over for birthday parties and such, but as the years went on, we drifted further and further apart. My family moved a lot, and it seemed that each time we moved, it was even more far away from them than we were before. My elementary years were my "tomboy years," so the older I grew, the more I started hanging out with girls, because any time I tried to innocently hang out with boys, I was made fun of and given the old, "Katrina and so and so sitting in a tree." By the time I was in middle-school, the twins' dad had re-married, so they had a whole different life, and I wasn't apart of it. I haven't seen them since probably 4th or 5th grade. It was a great friendship while it lasted, but we've grown and matured and have become different people, so I'm perfectly okay with not having them in my life anymore. Some friends aren't meant to stay in our lives forever.