Nerdin' it up, Harry Potter style.

In honor of the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2, I thought I would share my dad's Father's Day present with you guys.

 Yes, you are looking at a Lego replica of the Burrow. I saw it at Wal-Mart and just knew I had to get it for him. I wish I could show you guys all the details on the inside. All the little cabinets open and have things in them, there's a pig in the pen, the chimney actually does work (well it flips the little Lego characters to the other side, still impressive). There's just so many neat little tricks.

I could go on and on and on about the Harry Potter series. I saw the first movie in the second grade and decided to read the first book. From that point I was hooked for life. My dad was drawn in, too. It's one of the things that's made us have such a close relationship. My mom goes to see the movies with us, but she's not a die-hard fan like we are. Because I was so young when I first started reading the books, I've literally grown up with Harry Potter. I know there are tons of people out there like me. It's really kind of bittersweet this all coming to an end my senior year of high school. The outside world is becoming glaringly real to me, I'm growing up. I'm not ready for it to end, but I am. 

I'm so grateful to have had such a wonderful childhood full of magic, Hagrid, grindylows, and so much more. Harry Potter has been, and always will be, my weakness. I'll always tear up when I hear that music start up (you know what I'm talking about). Whenever I read or simply look at books 5-7 I'll have sudden flashbacks to my dad and I at the midnight releasings. Especially the one where we got home at 1 am and left for Colorado 7 hours later. And I'll always be willing to discuss in minute details every plot twist and character at the drop of a hat.

I'll leave y'all with a couple links you should seriously check out if you're a Harry Potter nerd. Which means you might have already seem them. Nonetheless. This video literally had me bawling like a baby. God knows what I'll be like when I go see the actual movie tonight. And this is just a wrock (wizard rock) music video. There is a ton more Harry Potter stuff on my Tumblr, so if you're interested the links over in the side bar. Hope you enjoy!

Day 16

A picture of someone who inspires you.

I was scared of this day because I wasn't sure who I was going to chose. Should I chose Emma Watson, simply because of how talented, determined, smart, etc she is? Or should I chose my grandmother because of how strong and spunky she is? There were so many different ways I could have gone with this. But when I heard about Dame Maggie Smith's story I knew instantly I was going to chose her. For those who don't know, or realize, who Dame Maggie Smith is, she's the actress who portrays Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies. I was perusing my tumblr feed a couple days ago when a post caught my eye. In it I saw something about Dame Maggie Smith and breast cancer [whaaaa?]. Apparently she filmed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince mid-treatment for breast cancer. “I was hairless. I had no problem getting the wig on. I was like a boiled egg." If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. I find it hard not to look up to someone who survives on pure dedication and will power. [Here's an article from 2009 where she talks about it.]

A (Not So) Textual Love Affair

Have you ever gotten this text "hey:)"? I have, on many different occasions. Who am I kidding, more like once. I absolutely despise these kinds of texts. They're very vague. It could mean: Hey, I like you but I'm too scared to actually tell you so I'm just going to send you a smile. Or it could mean: Hey, I'm just trying to show you how special you are, opposed to every other girl I text, by not only texting you, but smiling. However, I choose to interpret it to mean: Hey, I'm not very creative and can't start a conversation; therefore, I'm going to fake it and force you to be the creative one. Admittedly, there are probably hundreds of different interpretations. But any way you do it basically comes down to one thing: laziness. I feel like if someone really does like you they should put the work in to show it. Or if they're a player, they should get some new moves, because eventually it's going to get old.

Who does this in real life?!

You may be one of those people who actually like getting this text. And that's nothing against you. Yeah right. Besides the whole laziness factor, I think my dislike of this text stems from my hatred of emoticons. I just don't like them. Especially the winky face, it makes a simple text suddenly seem so dirty. The only thing I want making me feel dirty is Leonardo DiCaprio. However, if you decide to go with typing out the emoticon [happyface, winkyface, sadface, etc.] I find that entirely acceptable. Mostly because I like irony, partly because you can get creative. [Poopface, crapface, shitface, fu---- You get the point.]

Most of the time I won't bother to grace the texter with a response. I can already tell that the conversation's going to be a riveting one:

• Him: hey:)
• Me: Hey!
• Him: Sup?
• Me: Oh not much, just planning my revenge on the Sith for taking away the beauty that was Anakin Skywalker. You?
• Him: oh cool nm playing cod
• Me: Really, because I heard that video games kill your brain cells.
• Him: lol sweet i wish some1 wuld make me a sammie ;)
• Me: angryface
• Him: lol it wuz a joke lol so wuts new

And then I don't respond because I hate it when someone a) makes that dumb "ooooh you're a girl, you should be in the kitchen making sandwiches and getting me some Natty's!" joke, b) has something else they want to talk about but expects you to just know and start talking about, and c) uses abbreviations when it would be much more simpler just to SPELL THE DAMN WORD OUT. Oh, and I have an extreme hatred for "lol." [But who doesn't nowadays?] I kid you not, I've had pretty much this exact conversation before. With multiple guys. Texting has taken the standard pick up line [Hey girl, are you from Tennessee 'cause you're the only ten I see!] to a whole new level. In fact, I think I prefer a lame pick up line to a "hey:)" text.

Aaaand now that you know my texting pet peeves... I guess this is why I really don't like to text all that much. I know it's a lot to ask for someone to be creative and original while texting, but seriously? It just seems a little ridiculous to be texting different people when you're having the same conversation with every single one. Got any pet peeves about texting? It only seems fair to ask you to rant since I just went on a big ole ranting rampage.


Peace out cub scout!

My Summer Thus Far

In a photo series.

My big brother's 20!

And I'm horribly sun burnt.

This is why my parents love vacations now, because my brother and I can now drive they can get crunk.

Oh, you know, just feeding some baby giraffes. Nothing too exciting.

Showing Conor some love at the Garden of the Gods.

I'm using this one purely to show you Pike's Peak in the left hand corner. At 14,000 feet it took us about 2 hours to drive up it.

My lovely parents.

Notice the cold shoulder Conor's trying to give me. RETURN MY LOVE.

Just a seventeen year old and a twenty year old with matching stuffed animals. No biggie.

Nearly to the top.

The Royal Gorge! And group shot.

A herd of wild donkeys roams Cripple Creek. Where we also toured a brothel.

Some babe at the Seven Falls...

We had to stop at Dwight D. Eisenhower's library on the way home.

Kayla, me, and Morgan going to see Cars 2. Such a good movie, sometimes you just need to see a little kid's movie and pretend you're still 8.

You all know about this of course.

I decluttered my bedroom and added another bookshelf! In the process I might have discovered a drawer full of candy from 4 years ago. Now I'm slightly worried that I might be a hoarder.

Sorry if I bored you with the excess amount of pictures. I figured it'd be less boring than a long, detailed account without pictures. Because we all know I can't tell a short story... It's okay, I said it so you didn't have to.

That mailbox had it coming!

Yep. I did it again. Near death experience, what number is this? Dos, tres, cuatro? Who really knows at this point. I'm really not that bad of a driver! I know, I know, at this point it is very questionable. But see how I say near death experience? I'm still here aren't I?! And no damage done that's undoable.

Last night I saw Cars 2 with my friend Morgan; her brother Michael and sister Allison; our friend Collins, and my friend Kayla. [The movie was sooo cute. Every time I see the Disney castle and hear that music it brings me back to my childhood.] We had all met at Morgan's house so we could just take two cars. Well we got back after the movie and my friend Kayla needed a ride home because she lost her license for two months. I offered to take her, she lives like 5 minutes away.

It was sort of raining, more like a drizzle. On the way back I wasn't really worried because it had all but stopped. Of course, I forgot about the puddles. And the wet roads. I might have taken a turn just a tad too fast. Next thing I know I'm hydroplaning and start fishtailing towards a house. Mind you this is out in the country, on a pretty much deserted county back road where there's a house every 5 minutes. While trying not to freak out I start correcting it, when I over correct and head straight into a ditch on the other side of the road.

It all happened so fast. All I know is I saw of flash of red and thought I took out a mailbox. Those mailboxes are built to withstand combines, tractors, weather, anything. I'm thinking, okay, this could be really, really bad. Do I get out and check my car? No. Because I watch TV, I've seen the movies. I am not going to get killed by a psycho, drugged up killer. Luckily, Morgan's house was like a minute away, so I drove out of the ditch [thank God for Jeeps] and to her house. Where I walked into their living room and promptly burst into tears in front of her and Collins. They consoled me until I was able to tell them what happened. And, God bless them, they started telling jokes and stories about accidents they've had to try and calm me down.

When I finally calmed down I called my dad and then we went out and inspected my car. Considering I thought I just murdered a mailbox the damage really wasn't bad at all. I busted the casing of my right front headlight and the front bumper sagged a little. My Jeep being old those pieces will be easy to replace, the expense not too bad. My dad got there, checked it out, and we went home.

We went back to the scene of the crime this afternoon because it's "the right thing to do." [My dad's big on that.] He was going to offer to buy the people a new mailbox. But when we got there we discovered that I actually didn't hit the mailbox. I came within inches of the stupid thing, but didn't even touch it. I guess it didn't go flying, I did. We knocked on the people's door anyways, but they weren't home. The only thing that ended up injured was my headlight. Oh, and my pride. Sigh. I'm just wondering how many more lucky shots I'm going to get.

I get to act like a 9 year old and get paid for it!

Reasons why I love my baby sitting job:

• 9 year old boys are the easiest in the world. It really doesn't take much to keep them happy.
• It gives me an excuse a reason to watch cartoons and TV shows such as: The Fairly Oddparents, The Suite Life on Deck, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
• I have no other choice than to eat bad foods such as pizza because how can I expect a 9 year old to eat an entire pizza by himself?
• Moneymoneymoney! That's a good enough reason right there.
• I'm expected to do such activities as: go to the zoo, go to the pool, play board games, play video games, watch TV, etc. And get paid for it. Heck, I do those things anyways!
• Free pool membership! Need I say more?
• But, most importantly, Daphne turns the AC on at their house far more often than my own mother does.

Reason why I don't love my baby sitting job:

• Year and half old pit bull puppy decides to go into middle boy's bedroom and rip mattress pad to shreds. But it's not my fault he left the bedroom door open.