Harry Pottermania

I meant to post this a few days ago, but I've been catching up on sleep. So tired. . . . 

On Friday at 12:01 am, I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2!

I was super excited to see it. After all, Harry Potter has defined most of my childhood (see post below).

For one last hurrah, I decided to dress up to the midnight showing--I never had before, and I figured was better to do it late than never at all!

And who better to dress up as than the incredible, brilliant, brave Hermione Granger?

I've been told I look more like Ginny Weasley. But oh well. I'm Hermione.

Hermione is my favorite Harry Potter character. I think that's because I see so much of myself in her--always reading; wildly waving my hand in class; "when in doubt, go to the library"; itching for adventure; often awkward and insecure in social situations; kind and helpful; a bit of a bossy (yet well-meaning) know-it-all; having a fear of failure; and blessed with good, strong family members and friends who love me despite all my shortcomings.  Yes, I think it's easy to sympathize with Hermione. Besides that, Hermione is just such a strong character. She's clever and brave and good--I can't help but love her. Is it any wonder that I (along with millions of other girls) envy Emma Watson for getting to play Hermione?

Having a bit too much fun playing dress-up. 

"I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." (Sorry it's blurry.)

"Honestly, am I the only one who has ever read Hogwarts, A History?"

Reading the Malfoy Manor chapter.

I'm kissing Ron. 

Crookshanks!

Practicing non-verbal spells. 

Three turns should do it. 

Yeah, I had a lot of fun taking pictures. Probably too much fun. But when it's the last Harry Potter, you've got to live it up! :) 

My Sarah and Katy sisters and my best friend, Sharisa, also dressed up. 

Aren't we cute? (from left to right: Bellatrix, Hermione, Trelawney, Hermione.) 

Bellatrix and Hermione dueling. 

Katy's Trelawney face is great in this pic. 

If that wasn't enough, guess what we also did for the movie? My Erika sister re-named all the rooms in the  house and Potter-fied them. I.e., the dining room became the Great Hall, the kitchen became the Potions classroom, and my room became Ravenclaw Tower. Actually, it was really cute. My sisters are really creative.

But this IS really nerdy: I made Cauldron Cakes and (non-alcoholic) Butterbeer! 

Butterbeer! Cheers!

Cauldron Cake on the Wizards' Chess

Cauldron Cakes! They were really, really yummy.

After those fun and games, we finally went to see the movie. And then we watched the movie and it was so good. I loved it! 

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!! (Scroll down to the picture of the trio if you don't want to read any spoilers.)

Not all of it, though. There were way too many changes to the Battle of Hogwarts for me to be completely satisfied. Too many unnecessary scenes with the snake. And like how Dumbledore's past wasn't explained at all? Lame. Also, where was the Percy Reunion? Percy was there, but there was no repentance on his part for being a snot, and there was no forgiveness from his family. Double lame. And WHY was no one watching Harry and Voldemort's final duel? Triple lame. Also, I was cracking up during the "Nineteen Years Later" part. It was just a little ridiculous. If you want to read a really funny analysis on the flaws of the last 20 minutes of Harry Potter 7.2, read my cousin Kyra's post here. 

SPOILERS DONE. 

But overall, I really, really liked the movie. Loved it, even. I think it's the best movie of the bunch. And I'm excited for it to come out on video so I can watch the ENTIRE Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows without an 8-month break.

Huzzah for the Boy Who Lived! :) 

Party in the UK

(Disclaimer: I started this post Friday afternoon. It's now early Monday morning. I'm not very good at this whole "keeping a blog up-to-date" thing. But I'm trying.)

I'm always up for a party.

Especially when there's root beer.

Last night, the BYU students were invited to an American-style BBQ by the LDS Cambridge YSA (Young Single Adults). It was at Darwin College on Darwin's Island (which I think is the only island on the River Cam . . . correct me if I'm wrong). As I crossed the Mathematical Bridge, I could smell the charcoal. It made me so happy; my insides were skipping with joy. I LOVE barbeques. My dad always grills during the summer, and I was definitely missing burgers and hot dogs, so the barbeque was just what I needed.

Just when I thought I couldn't get any happier, I saw the A&W ROOT BEER. Europeans hate root beer (they think it tastes like cough syrup), but I am a typical American, and I love it. (Especially Brick Oven's root beer, but that's another story.) A number of us headed straight for the root beer. It was so good; I didn't realize how much I missed it until I took a sip. Yum. It's really hard to find root beer in England, so we were all pleasantly surprised. There were also Doritos at the party--another American novelty. We found out later that Brady, the Cambridge YSA Rep, drove out to the military base to get all of these goodies for us. We were all soooo grateful for that.

Mmm . . . Root Beer . . .

The barbeque was so much fun. The food was great (hurray for hamburgers!), it was fun to talk with people and get to know them better, and Dr. Kerry brought his wife and children, and it was really fun to play with his kids. I fished for octopus(es?) (i?) with Dr. Kerry's son, and we blew a monster off the bridge. So much fun.

Friends

I also got to go punting along the Cam for my first time! I went with Jen & Derek Bruton, Camille, Jared, Natalie, and Christina, so our boat was pretty much awesome. I will admit though (and there were multiple witnesses, so it would be stupid for me to lie), that I was kinda scared when I got on the boat. I was afraid that we'd tip over. Which I wouldn't have been scared if my valuables (i.e., camera, phone) weren't with me. But they were. So I swear I was scared for my valuables' lives, and not my own. (Okay, okay, maybe my own, too.)

Punting!

I didn't have anything to be afraid of. Derek and Jared (who took turns navigating) did a really fine job of getting us through a very crowded Cam. We had a few mishaps: we bumped against other boats, and we lost the punting pole a few times, but we didn't tip over. Yay. :) It was super fun, though. The Cam is beautiful, and it was so neat to sail past King's College and right by Bodley's Court. So I got to see where I live from the river! We also had fun singing songs. The girls started singing "Kiss the Girl" when we went under a willow tree, and Jared seranaded us in Italian. Awesome.


Kiss the Girl!


Punting down the River Cam
Anywho, there's the story that I should have told days ago. Two morals to the story:
1) BYU students have the most fun.
2) I really need to write blog posts the night they happen.
Post on my unexpected weekend trips to come soon!

Formal Hall

Yesterday was special because we had our first Formal Hall at King's College. We got all fancied-up and had drinks--on the lawn! You're not allowed to walk on the grass at King's (and most of the University of Cambridge) unless you are a Fellow or you've been invited to walk on the grass with a Fellow. Except for Formal Halls. It was quite satisfying walking on the grass. They took a picture of all 285 of us (that's the number I heard) in front of the King's College Chapel. And they had orange juice to drink for the BYU students. :)

Here are some fun pictures of Formal Hall:

Lining up for the picture

Most of the BYU group

The dinner was really nice and really delicious. There was onion and thyme soup, chicken, and an amazing chocolate mousse cake for dessert. It was just a really long meal (we entered the Great Hall around 7:45 and didn't get out until 10:00), and really loud. It was hard to hear the people around me, which was a shame. But it was a really neat dinner; I enjoyed it. I also really enjoyed talking with my friends afterwards (when I could hear them). :)

Our Table

The Great Hall

Delicious dessert (yes, I took a picture).

So much to do here! Classes, exploring, making new friends . . . it's all very exciting for me. But I need to figure out a schedule soon. Fun times are coming up, though. We're going on a trip to Scotland on Friday!