Best Friend #1

As I have 2 bestest best friends in the world, I'm going to be doing 2 letters for the first topic on the list...

Dear Best Friend,

As I was laying in bed last night, trying to relax and go to sleep, so many things began to run through my mind. The letter to you I composed in my head was full of profound phrases and sweet memories...but wouldn't you know, this morning, I couldn't remember a word of it! So, since the emotions behind the forgotten words are the same, I'm hoping that this letter will at least touch and warm your heart.

From the first moment we met, I knew that we were (as Anne-with-an-e Shirley would say) "kindred spirits." I honestly, really and truly, believe that God coordinated our meeting and that we were destined to be best friends for all of our lives. Maybe it's because the other 2 people in our grade were already best friends, or maybe it's because I had only just started that year at that school as a new student myself, but from the instant we first introduced ourselves, I knew two things: 1) I was comfortable with you and could always be myself around you, and 2) we were more than "fair-weather friends." It was a friendship that would stand the test of time, again and again. Even still, we can go months and months without contact, but the moment we see each other again, it's as if no time has passed (except for the amount of talking we have to catch up on!), and we immediately fall right back into that safe haven, that comfort zone. I thank God often for the day he brought you into my life.

I do have to confess, though, that while I tended to be the louder one of our pair, and the one that loved to claim the spotlight, I was always in awe of you. In my mind, there was nobody as amazing as my best friend. (And looking back at how I used to be as a child, I still often feel that way, realizing how much you had to put up with from me! LOL) You talked to adults like equals (though still always with respect), and you used "big words" like "basically." To me, that was huge. It didn't matter that I was 5 whole months older than you, you were the one I looked up to and wanted to be more like. You have always had a grace and poise that I wish I could achieve but have always been too brash, loud and headstrong to accomplish. And your joy is pure. I know you love to dance, but do you want to know something? I love to watch you dance. You are so sincere and full of happiness and peace that you just radiate it onto everyone else around you that's paying enough attention to notice. I felt beyond honored when you let me go with you to a dance class once. I still remember how to do "the grapevine" step.

And I want to apologize. When your dad passed away, I know I wasn't there like I should have been. I wanted to be, and I tried to be, but I didn't know how. I had never before known anyone who's parent had died. You say that knowing that I was there was enough, but I still wish I could have done more. I wish I could have said the right things, what you needed and wanted to hear. To have given you a hug at just the right time. It was an awkward subject for me, but I can't even imagine how hard it was for you. I'm not sure how many 9-year-old's would have known how to act, but I have mentally kicked myself for years over handling it all as poorly as I did.

From writing notes on "cow-tongue paper" to swinging on the swings together at recess. From overnight stays at your place where we had to talk super quietly or we'd be heard through the thin walls (and I'm sure your mom realized we were talking, even at our quietest, because, let's face it...my quiet is not that quiet and your mom is one smart lady!) to dancing with sleeping bags at 3 a.m. From baking food-colored chocolate chip cookies to playing a silly game with a carrot taped to a baseball cap. From belting it out as loudly as we could in choir class to participating in a community musical (to which I still remember some of the lyrics!). From melodramatics to growing into adulthood and realizing that what seemed earth-shattering as a child was really only overreacting. From glasses to braces. From dressing up in prom dresses and going out with the group to swing dancing. From giggling about cute boys to first kisses. And from first kisses to me getting married and having my own kids. You've been there through all of that. I've never really understood what it was that you got out of our friendship, and looking back, I see myself taking so much but not giving nearly as much back into you. But whatever the reason you hung around, I'm grateful for it. I know that, as cliche as it sounds, I would not be the person I am today if not for having you in my life. I've learned so much from you and your example. I may not have been right in placing you on the pedestal that I did when we were younger, mistakenly thinking that you had it all together, that your world was perfect, and that you were what I should aspire to be, but I am eternally grateful that you stuck around me as long as you have. I love you and I am blessed to call you my best friend.

~ Your "Little Donnetta"

Wedding on the Brain

Ever since my BFF told me she was officially engaged, my brain has been swimming with wedding ideas...things I could make, suggestions and tips, things that need to be arranged...I really wish I was there in person right now, so I could truly be in the midst of all the excitement and be able to have a faster reaction time to everything! LOL Anyway, when I asked her what I could make for her, she liked the idea of handmade earrings (for herself and bridal party) and a necklace. So I've been happily up to my elbows in beads, throwing myself into making this jewelry to try and compensate for my absence. (Yeah, the compensating thing isn't really working...LOL) Anyway, here's a look at her earrings, designed to fit her color scheme (red & white):

That picture was deliberately taken with the sun shining right on it to show that the small beads are, in fact, red and not black. LOL Here is her necklace (using the exact same colors):

And here are the bridal party earrings (the pair that's got the extra strand on them are mine, as I'm the maid/matron of honor):

Side note: I'm not sure why the pictures are coming up so blurry...

Anyway, I made the bridal party earrings and just kept going (I have a tendency to get a little carried away...LOL)....

And in so making the bracelets, I had to go fetch more beads from the craft store (horror of horrors, right? LOL) and came up with a cute little sentimental idea for the bride and bridal party (to be secret until presented at the wedding! LOL) which I needed to know everyone's favorite colors for. When I asked the other girls about it (with mentioning the earrings), one of them says "I don't have pierced ears." I must say I find that endlessly amusing...not that her ears aren't pierced, but that I have a pair of earrings for her non-pierced ears! LOL I'm now on a mission to see if I can find some clip-on variation for her.

So even through the insanity that is preparing to move to Germany and all the appointments and paperwork before me, yes, I still make time to craft. Why? Because I'll lose it if I don't...lol I'm serious. I'm not entirely sure why my thing lately has been beading, though. I've lost nearly all desire for yarn crafts at the moment...I'm not sure why...Hmmm But at least the crafting has continued!



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Now playing: Glee Cast - Toxic (Glee Cast Version)
via FoxyTunes

Torie's Pants

My mom taught me how to crochet when I was about 12 years old. I never really completed any projects with just a plain old, double crochet stitch, though. It always seemed so monotonous to me, just to do the same simple stitch, forming rows, back and forth...It wasn't until I was about 13 when someone first taught me how to make a granny square. It was in a van in the 2 hour ride to a youth retreat. I thought they were the coolest things ever! But when I got back home from the weekend, I didn't have any yarn or hooks to use to keep doing it, and quickly forgot how. Eventually, my brother got married, and his wife re-taught me how to make them when I was about 17. I ended up making afghans out of granny squares for my closest friends as graduation gifts. Then, one day, as I was sitting in the college dorm rooms, my best friend and dorm-mate had an idea: I could make blankets, but could I make pants? Only Torie could have come up with an idea like that! She may not be creative in the sense of creating things (like with crocheting) with her hands, but has a true artist's vision. (She can draw like nobody's business, too...) If it weren't for her idea, I likely would never have thought to try. I had no pattern to go with, but the pants began to from under my very fingers. I was actually quite surprised and pleased with how well they turned out. It was the first time I'd attempted anything other than afghans, and it was a major success! In fact, about a year later, when she was living in a 1-bedroom apartment on her own and she couldn't afford a high heat bill (which is inevitable with Colorado winters), she would wear the pants. She said it was like wearing an afghan. LOL To this day, the thing I make most often is afghans, as their the easiest and quickest to make, but I've also learned to try new patterns, try to create patterns with my own ideas, and will very soon be expanding my crocheting projects and abilities. All because one day, she walked up to me and said "Hey, do you think you could crochet me some pants?" So Torie....THANK YOU!