The Greater the Storm, the Brighter the Rainbow: 30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 24

For Day 24 (writing this a little late...), I am thankful for old friends!

In 7th grade I met my best friend, Crystal Lohr. She was an 8th grader at the time, and I totally idolized her. She was cool, funny, sweet, and a great athlete... plus, she was blonde like me! We were on the cross country team together, and we got along so well. When I was in 8th grade, she moved over to LSW and I really missed her. We met up today (the 24th) and got to hang out for a while. The thing I love about our relationship is that no matter how much time has passed, it seems like we just saw each other yesterday... like no time has passed at all! She is a wonderful influence on my life and such a beautiful, Christian woman. I couldn't ask for a better friend.

In my freshman year of high school, I joined the cross country team and trained during the summer with the team. I met 3 of my best friends- Allie Dean, Marlee Tegenkamp, and Ryan Courier.

I met Allie Dean one day during summer conditioning when she asked to borrow my phone. She was a year older than me, but it was her first year on the team too. We were super awkward at first, but it didn't take long for us to become best friends. She was a great influence on me in high school and became my go-to girl when I needed advice, even if it was just needing to hear a fitting piece of scripture. I can't believe we have been friends for 5 years, and no matter where we are or what we are doing, she and I will always be friends.

I remember a few months before that summer when us middle schoolers went to visit the high school track team. I did a workout with the girls and I remember meeting Marlee and Ryan and thinking they were honestly the coolest people I had ever met. I had read about Marlee in the LS Journal, and I was totally starstruck. I still had that same feeling about them during the summer, but as the season went on, we became such great friends. Ryan was a senior when I was a freshman, but that didn't matter. We were immediately friends and I still, to this day, love my RyRy! Her beautiful boy Braelyn looks so much like her, and I am so proud of her being a mama! I know she is already a great mother and will always be!

Marlee has always been a really special friend to me. I still look up to her so much as an athlete and as a person. She is a sweetheart and I have always loved every moment I have spent with her. She is funny and the coolest ginger I know. I'm so proud of everything she's done and I always will be!

These are the girls that I have always known I would be friends with forever. We will be the ones at each other's weddings who dance in a group and laugh and act like young girls again. We will be the ones that rush over to each other's houses when we have new babies (already got to do that once- yay!) and answer the phone at any hour to help each other with any problem.

All 4 of these girls took me under their wings when I was younger, and that is something I am so thankful for. They were the older girls that I looked up to so much, and they used that power to help me and mold me and be my best friends. I love them for that. I still look up to all of them in so many ways.

I love these girls, and I'm so thankful to have them in my life. They have helped shape who I am and I love them for that. I hope I've had as much of an impact on their lives as they've had on mine.