harry potter and the deathly hallows, part 2. or, the end.

Early this morning, at 12:30 am, I began the very last movie of the harry potter saga. And it was everything I could have dreamed it would be.

I won't say anything because I know my mom reads this and she doesn't know how it ends. But I will say that it stayed true to the book when it counted and deviated in appropriate places. Besides little nit-picky things, it was perfect.

I had been working on house ties for our group members for about a week and half, and finished the last a few hours before we left for the movie. I picked Hufflepuff for myself because I honestly believe I would be in Hufflepuff (Just, loyal, accepting). I made Slytherin for Amanda and Craig, Ravenclaw for Victoria and Dan, and Gryffindor for Bryant, his brother and one of his friends. So after sewing eight ties I feel like an expert. I created my own pattern from tracing one of John's church ties and made it up as I went along.

John wanted to be a Death Eater, so I made him a black cloak out of really nice quilted canvas, and decorated it with silver stitching. It turned out to be awesome! He made his own mask, and drew the Dark Mark on his arm.

We had a whittling party last week where we made wands (funny story... I pulled a whole tree branch off of a tree and carried it in the house) and watched the first part of Deathly Hallows.

So last night we dressed, had our wands and Monocle Potter, and headed to Salt Lake to the theatre. We stopped at In-N-Out first for a second dinner, then went to the theatre and got our seats (which were reserved- no waiting in line forever!)

I am so sad that it's all over. Harry Potter has been a major part of my life ever since I read the first book 12 years ago. I eagerly awaited every book and movie release, speculated about what would happen with friends and online, and even sent my resume to the casting directors to try to be an extra in Goblet of Fire (I got a rejection letter because they only cast British actors. I still have my letter!) Even when the seventh book came out I knew that I had the movies to look forward to. But... it's all over.

This was me dressed up as Hermione for the Order of the Phoenix midnight premiere, and then for the Deathly Hallows book release party just a few weeks later.

I can re-read the books, I can re-watch the movies, but I can't experience them again for the first time. I just have to wait and hope that my children will enjoy this series as much as I have.

And here is an awesome parody of Beyonce's Halo

article

I just read this article, and it's one that everyone should read. So please, take the time to read it. I know I haven't had the same long journey as the author (and hopefully won't have to), but still would really like my friends and family to read it so they understand a little bit more.

Infertility Etiquette

I think it says everything perfectly.

may the fourth be with you

Happy Fourth! Last weekend were the Independence Day celebrations in Provo and John and I were able to participate!

The Saturday before the Fourth we took a walk over to the carnival/fair going on down Center Street. We looked at all of the booths and ended up stopping at one with people dressed up like Star Wars characters. John and I have known about this organization for a while. It's an club called the 501st Legion, and there are many branches of it around the world. There's a local chapter, the Alpine Garrison, and they were taking pictures at the fair with people for a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project.

On the Alpine Garrison website, it describes what they do. "The group is a regional chapter of the 501st Legion, the premier Star Wars costuming group in the World. Membership is open to all. Members of the Alpine Garrison possess their own quality costumes and regularly donate their time for charity and promotional events." P.S. the 501st Legion is a club of all the "bad guys," or the characters part of the Empire, or characters who sympathize with the Empire. (For those who want to dress up like Jedis or run around with Princess Leia hair, there's a place for them, too.)

Yes... I'm a total nerd... so we chatted with the people there for a while, and told them we both have wanted to join for a while, but didn't have costumes. We were given some information about joining the club and getting costume help, and then were invited to help out at the parade! They had a float with all of the costumed characters, including Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidius, Darth Maul, Boba Fett, Jengo Fett, Grand Moff Tarkin, lots of Storm Troopers, TIE Pilots, Biker Scouts, Snow and Sand Troopers, and a few Jawas.

So we showed up Monday morning to see what we could do, and they put me at the very front holding the banner! John was a spotter, which means he walked around the float, making sure the characters were okay, bringing them water and anything else they needed. It was a long route- starting from Provo High, down University to 100 South, making a loop back to Center, and down Center St. to 900 East. When we were all done, we took some group pictures, I got to meet a lot of the members, and then we rode the float back to the start of the parade. We were definitely the most popular float (a lot of little kids got VERY excited about seeing Star Wars characters. Some started booing at us because we were the bad guys.) It was a really fun day!