Lord of the Rings 30 Day Challenge - Days 29-30

So once again I'm behind, but I did have time this afternoon to finish up!  Monday and Tuesday were crazy busy days and Wednesday I was too tired and emotionally worked up to do much after seeing Battle of the Five Armies, which, by the way, was amazing and super, super sad, in my opinion.  So here now are the last two days of the Lord of the Rings 30 Day Challenge.  Thanks to everyone who stuck around to read my opinions and thoughts about my favorite movies.

Day 29 - Your LOTR Collection
So I figured the easiest way to do this would just be to take some quick pictures rather than trying to list everything off.  So here goes!

4 versions of the movies: VHS, DVD, Extended DVD, and Extended Bluray + Fellowship on VHS in Spanish. lol

2 versions of the books, my old paperback copies I've had since I was a kid and my illustrated hard back copies.

The Complete Recordings Soundtracks.  I have the originals as well, but they kinda disappeared on me.

The collage cover I made for my card collection.

My rather extensive LOTR trading card collection.

LOTR Pez things. lol

Aragorn's Ring of Barahir and Arwen's Evenstar necklace.

Some of my LOTR related books:  Complete Movie Guide, Weapons and Warfare, Sketchbook, etc.

And more of my LOTR related books:  Tokien's World, Atlas of Middle-Earth, There and Back Again, etc.

Day 30 - How You Got Into LOTR
I got into LOTR back when I was still a kid.  I read the books back when I was pretty young and though I overall enjoyed them, I did struggle with understanding some parts and even sticking with it at times.  I think I was a bit young at the time to fully grasp everything about them, because I love them now.  So I enjoyed the books, though I wouldn't exactly have considered myself a fan at that point.  When Fellowship came out, I really wanted to see it, but my parents, who were very protective and worried there were parts the might scare me and weren't sure about the PG-13 rating, said no.  After feeling embarrassed when a friend of mine had to change the movie we were going to watch for her birthday party because my parents still said no, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  Not one of my greatest moments as a child, but I convinced my grandmother to rent the movie for me and I watched it at my grandparents house.  And I fell in love.  My parents concerns of me being afraid were completely unfounded.  The story captured me like no other movie ever had.  And so began a journey and love for Middle-Earth that has lasted till now and I'm fairly certain will last for the rest of my life.  I also fell completely in love with a rather handsome elf along with almost every other girl in the world. lol  The Two Towers and Return of the King, both of which I saw in theaters, solidified my love and regard for the movies.  And I have been a crazy fangirl ever since.  But the movies were what really got me into LOTR and why I started to read all the books that I could get my hands on about Middle-Earth.  The books helped serve as a stepping stone to introduce me to Tolkien's amazing world and they are now my favorite books of all time, but it was the movies that helped bring it to life for my younger self when my mind and imagination weren't quite able to grasp all the little nuances and details that make Tolkien's writing so far above most other authors.  The LOTR books and movies have been a huge part of my life for well over half my life.  They have served as inspiration, encouragement, advice, and as a constant source of excitement.  I never grow tired of returning to Middle-Earth and all the adventures there and I never will.