Quote
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes."
--Charles Swindoll
Contest - Win! Win! Win!
TAKE A FRIEND ON A 7-DAY EASTERN OR WESTERN CARIBBEAN CRUISE!
"That's What Friends Are For!" Contest
Runs June 1 – August 31, 2008
In 250 words or less, tell me why your friend deserves to win this fabulous prize. From the entries I receive, I’ll choose a semi-finalist each Friday and post that entry here on my Web site. After all the semi-finalists have been posted, you can help me choose the over all winner by placing your vote.
The person who nominates the “best” friend of the bunch will be joining that person on a 7-day Eastern or Western (winner’s choice) Caribbean Cruise in an ocean-view cabin (on either Carnival or Royal Caribbean)! In addition, each semi-finalist and his or her nominator will receive an autographed copy of TRUST ME, the first book in the Last Stand series.
Check back to read the semi-finalist’s entries, which will be posted every Friday beginning June 13th.
Rules: Must be 21 to enter. U.S. residents only. Winner must take the cruise within 24 months of winning. Grand prize winner will be announced August 30th.
FINALISTS
July 18
At 14 years old, I found out that I would never be able to have a child. I was crushed. When I told my twin sister and best friend, Misty, the devastating news, she reassured me. “Don’t worry, sis, I’ll carry a baby for you”. 14 years later she made good on her promise, and I could never thank her enough.
In 2005, our cousin lost a baby at birth. This got Misty to thinking. She thought about how sad that was, which also made her think about how I must feel, with never having the hope of having a child to love. She spoke to her husband that evening, and the next day she told me she was ready – it was time for her to carry a child for me.
After various attempts at pregnancy, on July 16, 2006, I found out that I was going to be a mother. Misty and her husband, Pat, called me over to tell me the news. When Pat put his hand on my belly and said, “you don’t look or feel pregnant”, and pulled out the pregnancy test, I was in total shock and awe.
On February 21, 2007, my twin sister and best friend gave birth to my daughter, Claire Grace. I could never thank Misty enough for this selfless act of love. Misty deserves a cruise, and so much more – she truly is my best friend and I want to give her the world for what she has given me.
July 12 (Two this week as well!)
I met my best friend at a theater in the round where we ended up ushering on the same
aisle for about fifteen years. After thirty five years, we are still as close. Girtha is a black lady and I am white. She never had a white friend before and I never a black one.
My family took to her and treated her like another mother. She never had any children, so the son I got pregnant with afer I met her became like hers. She is always someone I can confide in and have many times.
You can trust her with your life and she would do anything you ask. Trust was an issue with her. When she first came to our house she would practically hold on to her purse.
It seems at her other friend's houses, she had to watch it all the time and sometimes things got stolen. It didn\'t take long for her to realize that her and her purse were safe at our home. She had to fight for everything all her life and deserves a great trip. She has never even been on an airplane.
She's my best friend and always will be.
Away from the four years of pagers, crime and wakeup calls, my husband needs a rest.
He is the best.
My best friend is an American hero.
He chases criminals and makes the traffic flow.
Creating a charity for police widows, he is so good.
Building a playground for the poor, he is like Robin Hood.
Even when he was seriously ill last year, he made all the kids games to see them score.
Working extra jobs, he deserves time to stress no more.
He is up for days at a time with crime.
As the police spokesperson, he is on call 24 hours a day and never rests for a long time.
As a dad, he always shows love. That is the key.
He always says he loves us. Because in his job, with his life, there are no guarantees.
I first met my husband in the middle of the night.
Telling me that my first husband had died, I thought things would never be right.
As his training officer, he wished he had been the one to die.
After a year of police ceremonies, it was still so hard to say goodbye.
I grew to love his giving personality and smile.
Helping others, he always goes the extra mile.
He named our son Craig, after the man that brought us together through love and grief.
Blake is my Prince Charming, giving me a second chance at life and love.
I have been twice blessed from up above.
Saturday, July 5 (Two this week!)
My best friend works very hard to support his family and to make sure that his wife can be a stay-at-home mom, which is very tough these days with the economy. He squeezes in as much overtime as he can and works a different shift each week so his family can have the necessities. His children hardly see him, but he say it's worth it to have his wife stay home with the children. My best friend is my husband. He really deserves this treat after working so hard.
My best friend Lillian is the kind of person who always tends to the needs of others. She would give the shirt off her back. Being married with one daughter, working a day job, active in her church--it all adds up with various duties and roles landing on her shoulders. Since she is the one making sure everything is in order on a daily basis, it would be an honor to have her be tended to and be pampered. That way, she could remind herself to slow down and enjoy life rather than run, run, run. We have known each other for close to 20 years. We know all of each other's secrets and gone through happy and sad times. She has always been there for me.
Friday, June 27
My husband is my best friend and has been for 35 years and a few months. I had breast cancer 5 years ago and I never went to a Dr visit, a chemo treatment or any of my 43 radiation treatments by myself. He was there for it all. My radiation was being done at a hospital about 1 hour from our home and he drove me 5 day a week until my treatments were completed. When my hair started coming out he trimmed my hair with clippers and then shaved my head. When he was trimming my head he gave me a mohawk. We took pictures and I still laugh about it. We both cried when we first found out about me having cancer. After that we prayed about it and we just got on with what needed to be done. We learned everything we could about the type of breast cancer I had. With treatments the surgeon told me I had a 50/50 chance of the cancer returning in 5 years. Well, this is the 5th year and no cancer yet. My husband has always taken care of me and treated me wonderfully but in 2003 we were absolutely inseparable.
I thank God for my husband and best friend everyday.
Friday, June 20
Again this week, two finalists were chosen. Thank you to everyone who entered.. Here are the finalists for this week:
I wan\'t to enter my mother because she is a single parent with 5 children. She goes to work everyday and would come home cook dinner do our homework with us and tuck us all in bed and I hear her out cleaning the house until midnight. To wake up the next day and start a new day all over again... I think she deserves it because she is very hard working and I we (all 5 kids) would love to do something special for her. She recently got hurt on the job and she goes to work everyday on crouches and her leg is in a knee brace. She tore her ACL and she has a menicus tear.. I really don't know what that is, but it sounds pretty painful. Please consider our mother. Thank you! God Bless You!!!
Ok, I'm a guy but I don't see anything in your rules about having to be a female to win the prize. My best friend is my mom and I think she deserves to win this trip because she has taken time out of her life to take care of me since 2001 when I had brain surgery and I feel like it would be a good vacation for her to take a good relaxing cruise. She works 5 sometimes 6 days a week at a job that she doesn\'t like just to take care of us and with me not being able to work I would love to be able to do something for her for a change.
Friday, June 13
Thank you to all who entered. Here are the finalists chosen for this week:
My friend just happens to be my sister. She is also my best friend. I feel that she deserves to win because she is the kind of person that is always putting everyone first, never taking the time to do for herself. Her daughter had a child at 16 and her main concern was that her daughter enjoy her last years in high school like a normal child. She has always taken care of her grandson so that her daughter never missed anything special in school. She is the Director of Nursing at the local St. Johns County jail here in St. Augustine, FL. She is the boss and has several nurses that work under her, but she is the one who always works holidays so that the other nurses can spend time with their families. She never complains, she just does what has to be done. She is such a nice person that even the inmates at the jail treat her with utmost consideration and respect. When I got divorced and had a hard time getting my life back together, she was always there to help with my children and anything else that I needed. She is always the first one to volunteer to help someone in need. She has not had a vacation in many years and always covers for others to take theirs. I would love to see her go on a vacation and only have to worry about herself for a change. She really deserves this.
My BFF, who happens to be my older sister Lisa, is such a giving, deserving person. She has 1 1/2 yr old little girl that she adopted at birth. In addition to raising her daughter, she donates several days a week to shopping for,cooking for, & serving the homeless. Lisa also spends her Tuesday evenings at the Salvation Army offering love and support to children whose parents are having a tough time providing for them. In July she is traveling to Honduras for a week to see what she can do to help the people there as well.
This past year has been a nightmare for her in that she has been visiting NUMEROUS doctors trying to get a diagnosis for an itchy dermatitis that has affected her entire body. She found out today that this is an allergic reaction some of her favorite foods....
She desperately needs some time to relax and invest in her own well-being!!! I hope that you will be able to do that for her. Thank you.
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