The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I have no clever way to begin this so, I WENT TO HARRY POTTER WORLD AND IT WAS AWESOME AND MY HEART AND MIND EXPLODED A THOUSAND TIMES IN DELIGHT AND AWE AND TRUE LOVE.

Alright.

A few months ago, my friend Josie approached me with the idea to road trip out to Georgia, pick up her husband from training camp and go spend the weekend at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The whole thing was a surprise for her husband's birthday, so we took a solemn oath of secrecy and began preparation.

In the last month, I've spent most of my free time re-immersing myself in the Harry Potter books and movies, spiraling into a fervor of muggle mania.

Silently casting spells in everyday conversation, analyzing wandlore and story arc's, and, in general, driving everyone else crazy with my HP obsession.

It was in this craze that I entered the most magical place on earth.

Instead of a play-by-play of our weekend, here are my 10 Favorite Moments and general tips for having the best time of your life at Harry Potter World. 

1. The Rides. Holy Phoenix the rides.

The most important ones to get to are The Forbidden Journey in Hogwarts Castle and Escape from Gringotts. Do NOT skip the lines. I don't care if you have an express pass or are a single rider, the waiting in line is half the fun. In Hogwarts, you can explore different passageways and rooms, and interact with holograms of Dumbledore, Harry, Ron and Hermione. My favorite part was the hall of portraits where the school founders argue about Quidditch and student behavior (be sure to look at what they are holding!). 

Gringotts has the same dramatic flare, with animatronic goblins and an entrance hall that will take your breath away.

2. Ollivander's Wand Shop is a short presentation where Ollivander picks someone from the audience to receive a wand. I must of been giving off some serious magical vibes because he chose me! He'd hand me different wands and ask me to try spells. The first few times ended in some kind of misfortune, but the last wand he handed me...

I'm sure he tells everyone that they are "destined for great things", but he REALLY meant it when he said it to me, ya know? 

3. Buy the freaking wand. YES it's obnoxiously expensive, but it will double the amount of fun you'll have! If you get the interactive wand, you also recieve a map of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade that marks all the areas where you can do magic. If you go to the markers and say the correct spell, MAGIC HAPPENS! Unlock doors, make things fly, turn on lights, make it rain... you may look like an idiot:

But it is totally worth the thrill. 

4. Drink all the Butter Beer you can. It is pure buterscotchy goodness with a mashmellowy froth top that will blow your mind.

They offer it both regular and frozen, I recommend the regular. The food at the Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron is surprisingly good, so sit in a corner booth and feast!

5. Go into the stores and look up! The bottoms are full of merchandise, but the ceilings of the stores are beautiful. You'll recognize a bunch of stuff from the movies, and some fun additions if you pay close attention.

 6. Do your research before you go and look for the details. Here were some of my favorites:
Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom in Hogsmeade.
The Goblin who will reply to your questions in the Muggle Money Exchange.
Kreacher peaking out the window at Number 12 Grimald Place.
Dialing MAGIC at the telephone booth to hear a message from the Ministry.
The dragon breathing fire every 15 minutes.
The creepy wizards who stalked you in Knockturn alley.
The Vanishing Cabinet in Borgin & Burkes that has a surprise if you listen closely.
Sending post cards by owl post outside Dervish and Banges.

7. In order to ride the Hogwarts Express, you need to buy park to park passes. It's a little more expensive but they make it worth the price! You run through walls to get to Platform 9 3/4, escape dementors in the corridors, and if you watch closely, you'll see a glimpse of Voldemort in front of Malfoy manor! The experience is different depending on which way you are traveling so make sure to ride it twice!

8. Sit Down. People Watch. Take as many pictures as your short battery life will allow.

Do all the weird geeky stuff you feel like doing.

Buy ALL THE THINGS!

Breck after looking at all my purchases:

9. If you can, splurge a little. Long story short, Breck bailed last minute (not even I can explain how I married a non Harry Potter fan) so I offered my Mom Breck's ticket. My Aunt Cathy lives in Florida, so she came out the second day to play with us. My Aunt spoiled us and got a room at an onsite resort, early access to the parks, express passes, and into some exquisite restaurants. All the perks were so fun, and the express passes truly make a difference. We rode twice the rides on the second day than we did on the first!

10. And hey, since you already bought the tickets, try out The Revenge of the Mummy, Jurassic Park, and The Incredible Hulk! And then quickly return to Harry Potter World and soak up as much of its glory as you can.

Annoyances from the trip:

1.  The couple in line behind me who were asking why Harry didn't  just shoot Voldemort with a gun.

2. The lady who looked at Gringotts and said, "So... is this like... the school?"

3. The sorority girls with "Best house since Gryffindor" shirts.

(OKAY IS WAS SUPER CLEVER. GAH)

Going home was difficult. 

I'm currently sitting in Gryffindor boxers, sipping pumpkin juice out of my Hogwarts mug, nibbling on a chocolate frog and watching the last movie. But...

Sigh. You can't deny he's got style. 

P.S. I'm also counting this as #11 on my 25 before 25 list!

Mad Mad Catchup

Summer's over??? Well... it was pretty great! This is how it went, as told by crappy iPhone pictures:

I brought my friends home to San Antonio to meet the family. 

Lindsay Bull came to Dallas for some thrills.

We were locked in a room with a zombie for an hour... and survived. 

I helped throw a garden party for Baby Abigail Park (who made her arrival earlier this week!). The party was pretty amazing, if you want to check it out for cool ideas click here.

I spent a lot of time working! I had some cool of freelance gigs like this chalk board lettering I did for a Cidery in Bishop Arts.

The team had a segway tour, which was surprisingly delightful.

We also enjoyed a day at the Perot Museum. May I suggest the virtual experience of flying like a bird? Worth the wait.

We spent way too much time dressing our mascot, Manny the Mannequin. (You will not regret following that link.)

And other general tom foolery:

We threw an amazing party! Slowmo booth, live band, free drinks... it was pretty awesome! The team made this awesome art installation for the event:

But what's really been filling my days this past month is my new hand lettering venture! 

Last month, all of my co workers came up with the idea of a Social Media Death match:

Essentially, make a social media account and get as many followers as you can without telling your friends about it. 

The ideas we came up with where pretty nuts. We had an obnoxiously kind panda, a crazy One Direction fan, an account dedicated to pictures of ridiculously cute animals, a gluten free cooking account and a Sock Monkey. 

I decided to dedicate the time to hand lettering. 

The goal was to draw something everyday and then offer it as a giveaway in exchange for people spreading the word about my account. It went pretty well! I even got featured by Goodtype which may or may not of make me cry. 

In the end, the One Direction fan girls surpassed me. They are the spawn of satan and I will hate them forever. The End. 

Sarah

So here's something not a lot of people get to say:

Last weekend I met my older sister for the first time.

First of all, a huge apology to pretty much everyone I’ve ever met. When I told you I was the youngest of 4 siblings and the only girl, I was lying. If it makes you feel any better… I didn’t know either.

Confused? Me too! Let’s take a few steps back.

Last October, my mom sent out a mass text to my siblings and me, urgently asking us to Skype with her and my dad. This was uncharacteristic, and I immediately began to expect the worst. When we connected later that day, she told Breck, “I need you to be supportive of Brielle through all of this.”

Pause. WHO SAYS THAT!? Tears immediately sprang to my eyes because obviously she was about to tell me she was terminally ill.  So when the next words out of her mouth were, “When I was 18, gave a baby up for adoption.” I started bawling uncontrollably because:

1. Wait, WHAT!???!?

2. I was pretty dang relieved my mom didn’t have cancer.

Obviously, I had a million questions! But here is the gist of the story :

My mom had given birth to a baby girl. She decided to give her up for adoption and was able to choose the couple would be her parents. Years later, she joined the church, met and married my dad, and had 4 more kids, but she never forgot the first baby. When Brant, my oldest brother, was five, my mom told him about this other baby. His dramatic reaction stopped her from telling anyone else. She locked the secret up and never said another word.

But Brant remembered.

This past summer, he finally confronted my mom about it and she was able to confide in him and let go of this private story she had held kept from us for all these years. Excited, Brant immediately wanted to locate where the mystery girl was, but my mom was hesitant. All these years, she felt an extreme sense of guilt, worrying over if she had chosen the right thing for this little girl. She imagined finding a resentful woman who's life as an adopted child had been miserable & lonely. Even the thought of that overwhelmed my sensitive mother with self-condemnation. 

Brant, unwilling to give up, volunteered to be a buffer and go out and find her first. After about an hour of searching, he was able to find a girl who matched the details on an adoption website. Her name is Sarah. 

After a little bit of Facebook stalking, he found her! A beautiful, smart, confident woman,  an Air force wife with 4 children… and RED hair!  My mom carefully and excitedly crafted a message and sent it to her on Facebook. And… no reply.

A week later?

No reply.

A month after that?

Nothing.

And then…

Oh my gosh, I am just seeing this now...thought on a whim to peek in my other folder, which is why I didn't see it earlier. You do indeed have the right person. Wow. Sorry, I'm typing as I'm processing this so I'm still in shock a bit.

SUCCESS!!!!!

It's been quite the experience to see this story unravel. Seeing my mom forge this connection has been very emotional and almost a sacred experience to me. For my part, there is no book called, "Guide to Introducing Yourself to Your Long Lost Sibling." I looked. But thankfully, Sarah is the COOLEST. She's made the whole process a breeze on us and we've all been able to build on this series of events that has made us family.

My mom and her were able to reunite last December, and I was the first of the kids to have the privilege. We met for the first time in Oklahoma City and spent the day bonding over steak, stories, and Justin Timberlake. She has my mom's hands, and their eye's are the exact same shade of blue. She is very special to me. 

And that's where we are. In Sarah's words, "Things are going the best they could possibly go."

As today is the first time anyone in my family has made this news public, I'm sure many of you are in shock trying to imagine Cindy Ellsworth as a girl from "16 and Pregnant."  And to me, that's the beauty of it.

Today, she is a perfectly, proper woman. She runs youth camps, makes care packages for girls in Africa, works in a quilt shop, has been in the leadership of our Church for decades, runs a flawless household, and makes a mean cinnamon roll. But once upon a time she was alone and scared with a bulging belly. She decided to move into a home for pregnant teens so she wouldn't have to abort the child inside of her. If nothing else, this is the story of how having courage to make just one selfless decision, has the power to change the trajectory of our future. 

Two, Five, & Sixteen

Three more checks for my 25 before 25!

Over Memorial Day weekend we got a group of friends together for a camping trip at Turner Falls! Hikes, campfires, games, swimming, s'mores... a.k.a. the perfect weekend. (Minus being woken up by our neighbors Mariachi music and one very drunk lady.)

Other than stuffing my face with as many marshmallows as possible, my big goal for the weekend was to experiment with talking video. I'm sure I seriously annoyed some of the guys, but everyone was a good sport about letting me get close and personal. So here it is! My first ever home video (I know, it's on YouTube not Vimeo... sue me):

Thanks to the Ayaches and Gametts for adventuring with us!

Bonus points if you can find Josie and Matt:

Last thing! I gave my blog a little refresh! It's a hand drawn header, but that's about all I know about blog design. If you have a talent for blogger layout, please let me know. I'd love to do more drawings for custom buttons but I don't know where to start.