Fiction Is My Friend: Part III

Harry Potter was a majorly influential chunk of my childhood

We must have been about 9 and 10 (and 10) on a visit to Charly's parents in Eugene. Read: 6 hour drive to hang out in the chilly mold spore infested basement with The Jetsons and a dollhouse with no dolls.  Ok it wasn't really that bad but the cold basement will always be a vivid memory.  Grandma and Grandpa Van gave us each a book in a series that was getting popular fast. Since there were 3 books and 3 kids, we each got the one that matched our birth order, meaning I was thrown right into the action of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.

I was in the middle of a world I had never imagined. It helped me conquer ridiculous fears. I was afraid of everything as a little girl and I felt brave if I was able to read about giant serpents who turned people to stone and werewolves with no self control. (How cool is that comic??)
I have heard some people say that they don't like how "dark" the story gets as it progresses.  When watching the first half of the 7th movie I realized that I'd honestly forgotten that Harry even lived in the cupboard under the stairs. Although the plot thickens, becomes complicated, and in the end seems nothing like the simple book that it all began with, isn't that like life? As we read along with Harry and Co. growing up his challenges must get deeper and complex. And just how boring would 7 years of same old school get?
Perhaps it is because I grew up with Harry and had to wait for each book release that the story became age appropriate with me. My 10 year old sister read the whole series within a month and I think although she may have enjoyed them and the thrill of such an accomplishment she missed so much material that will make more sense in 10 years.

We didn't just read the books though, we lived them.  Kristin and I made spell books and school uniforms (although they were nothing as cute as that apron), wrote editions of The Daily Prophet, and even made our own concoctions of butterbeer.
Summer of 2007 I was working at Border's when The Deathly Hallows was released and the party was a lovely moment of my summer. We all dressed up as Hogwarts students and other characters. I fancied myself a Luna Lovegood dopleganger, radish earrings and all! Wouldn't you know it that the pictures from that night also died in the computer crash of 2010? Hopefully I can dig up all of these nerdalicious goodies that have disappeared.

I truly believe that a tiny idea sparked in JK Rowling's head has changed a generation. And it won't stop with us. Her writing is exquisite and captivating, a true piece of literature that will be classic and relevant years to come.  As this little poster says, Harry Potter is a gateway drug to hard literature. It teaches those who find no enjoyment in reading that it can be an adventure and a lifelong journey that will become a necessary addiction.

Now for a little joy that I found on the interwebs:

If a man proposed to me like this I would undoubtedly say yes. 

Seriously. Beyond awesome.  

(click through for 18 more!)

The Ideal Double Date

Yes, the past two evenings have been filled with a Pushing Dasies marathon which has been far too long in the making.  Kristin and I have a weakness for the nerdy too talkitive type and we realized tonight (via cross country and time zone texting) that we would make the ultimate foursome if finally combined with our TV sweethearts. We meaning; Ned the Piemaker and Kristin, Me and Chuck Bartowski of Chuck.  Wahoo! Here's our pretend date. Indulge me and play along?

Well here's Kristin's idea, it begins with dinner at Craigo's (the world's best pizza place, located in Rexburg,Idaho. Yes, there are potato flakes in the crust) and would continue for like, ever because it would end in Eureka (California) at Bon Boniere ice cream (the world's best frozen dairy).  Yes, my best friend is a fantastic schemer.  If you plan the world's longest dates to the best places then you get to spend all of that time with your favorite people! I'd like this arranged please.

Now my idea was an evening at the Buy More in the home theater room playing board games and watching both Tron movies (with cuddling being not optional) followed by something yummy at the Pie Hole. A delicious situation that I would love to find myself in.

But alas, I will not be going on this date any time soon. Nor will Kristin. But I do have a lovely kitty sitting on my back as I write this and I think that will do just fine for now.

Also, I'm not really sure why I chose the ridiculous picture of myself. But it seemed most fitting. And Kristin's new glasses are so cute!

I'm Thankful For The Alphabet

Here is my all in good fun but totally serious list of things I am thankful for in alphabetical form.  The rule of the game is to go in order and list the first thing that comes to mind that you are grateful for. There were other things I thought of but I play by the rules and this is what emerged:

A-Airplanes
B-Bishop and Sister Wilcox
C-Cheddar Cheese
D-Deseret Industries
E-Erika Kern
F-Friends and Family
G-God
H-Houses
I-Ice scrapers
J-Joseph Smith
K-Kristin
L-Love
M-Moccasins
N-Neville Longbottom
O-Olives, black
P-Photos
Q-Quadriceps
R-Rain storms
S-Silly Youtube videos
T-Tattoos of the fake variety
U-Underwear!
V-Vaccines
W-Watermelons
X-Xerox machines
Y-Yummy Thanksgiving dinners!
Z-Zachary Levi

Now I don't want anyone thinking that I'm being all flippant and making fun of the Holiday or not really showing gratitude. I honestly believe that it is important to think of the obscure little things that really are blessings in our lives. I was getting out of the shower earlier and looking at how my hair color is fading again and I thought, "What a great gift that God gave us color." Because honestly it isn't a necessity, but how much better is a world full of color compared to one in shades of gray? There are so many small things in my life to be grateful for. I find it easy to appreciate the big important ones like my fantastic family and awesome friends, but I don't say how much I love tupperware that often. And I really like leftovers a lot. So I should lay it out and be straightforward. I love tupperware. 

Bishop and Sister Wilcox are on here because I'm going to have dinner at their house tonight. I'm in charge of my absolute favorite part, the sweet potatoes so I better finish getting ready and go put those suckers in the oven!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Missionary Monday

My brother James is currently serving in the Florida Orlando Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and on Mondays he gets to e-mail us updates!  This picture is from a recent baptism of a girl named Brittany (she rocks because she has PINK hair!).  The sister missionaries in the photo taught her and she requested that my brother be the one to baptize her.  He told us a little bit about her and how strong her testimony is of the gospel. She's had to change a lot about her life to be in the great place that she is now.  Stories of members in his area and the people that he is teaching are my absolute favorite about his letters.

And Elder Van Buskirk here hasn't seen The Hangover yet, but I'm going to make sure he doesn't call that a man purse. It's a satchel.  Although he's pretty flamboyant about wearing it, so maybe it is a man purse.

In other news I'm eating apple pie for breakfast. SO good! Kristin came over last night and we baked up a little storm and laughed our faces off at SNL. The perfect ending to a slow weekend.

A Few Days Behind

I had a thought pop into my head the other day, "Those who say they don't have time to read spend too much time on the internet."  And so I took a break. Not to read, although I did pick up a few books at the library today, but to get some work done. I've got a super top secret project that I've been working on and it will be unveiled soon! I've just needed some time behind the sewing machine and its really turned out great. 

Here are the photos that I missed out on since I took my mini-hiatus:

12. a photo of you

This is me and my mini-man Rex last Thanksgiving. We were holding hands and he was my holiday date ;) I sure LOVE that kid. Oh, and this was a vegetarian Thanksgiving!  I actually had some chicken for myself, but I didn't really eat that much of it. I felt like I was cheating.

13. a photo of your best friend

I love both of these girls, but Kristin is the one on the left and she has been my best friend since like, well, forever. Our moms got together this week for a little party and I thought how weird that must be that their twinner daughters aren't around and all of the kids are growing right up! Miss Julie is the one on the right and she's pretty great too :)

 14. a photo of one of your favorite family members

This is me and my Uncle Paul right after we saw Wicked in San Francisco.  I was visiting him for a few days and we had no plans. As we drove past the Orpheum theater I just shouted "Stop! Pull over and lets see what time it's playing!" So we got ourselves very last minute nosebleed seats to the musical!  Uncle Paul and I are the under-appreciated  single roaming starving artist types of the family so we connect really well and always have a good time when we come back home for visits.