Everthing that happens to me in life, I compare automatically to Harry Potter.

I have a confession.  And to tell you all the truth, it really isn't all that surprising to anyone who knows me.  I have become re-obssessed with the Harry Potter series.  And when I say re-obsessed...I mean RE-OBSSESSED....Along with this ridiculous obssession comes a ridiculous tendency to fit situations that happen into situations into Harry Potter.  Some may call this crazy...I call it normal. It is horrible...or wonderful...however you may choose to look at it.  Here is a list of things that happen throughout a typical day that I often think...if I were a witch...this would be SOOOO much easier to deal with. 

1. Being late for work:
   *A normal person would think...I should have woken up earlier

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moofyboof/3989517828/

 * I think: If I could apparate...I would never be late again.


2. Forgetting my lunch at home.
  *A normal person would think: I could just go to Kwik Trip and pick up some food

  
   * I think: If I had a house elf, I could just summon him and he would bring me food.


3. When a kid tries to bite me at work
  * A normal person would think: MOVE AWAY DEMON CHILD!


* I think:  STUPEFY!!


4. I have really dry skin, right?
Normal people would say: my skin is dry, I should put some lotion on it. 


*I told a kid at school: "It looks like I have scale rot."  To which he replied..."what is scale rot?"  I said..."<sigh> never mind"....and he goes..."Is that from Harry Potter?" and I say, "......yes"
 On Harry Potter wiki, it says this:

"The symptoms of scale rot were scales taking on a dull, flakey appearance and falling off in large amounts.^[1] If left untreated in salamanders it could become severe enough that the tail would detach from the body.^[2]

For dragons, the treatment was to rub the affected area with a solution of salt water, tar and white spirit.^[1] The treatment for salamanders was to repeatedly rub the affected area with chilli powder.^[2]

The effects of scale rot on dragons and its treatment was covered in Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit.^[1] "

As I am neither a dragon nor a salamandar...this information is useless to me. 

5. Whenever I see an abandoned building or rundown house

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29445095@N05/4791947876/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Normal people would think: eh...could fall the through, I'm not going in there...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjbaer/32219856/

I think: Is this the muggle entrance to the Ministry of Magic, or St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries?

6. Litter on the ground.

Normal person would think: I should clean that up and recycle it, or throw it away.

I think...it might be someone's portkey to another location...better not move it.

anyone else have any other instances? feel free to add below

here's what pinterest has to offer my addiction:

(I want this...BAD)



I think to myself...would it really be all that weird if I were to keep up all my decorations from my Harry Potter party? the answer, of course...is no! I still have up the "Three Broomsticks" in the entrance to my house.
 
 I still have the Harry potter trunk upstairs..still filled with harry potter robes and books and potions. (Although, it is no longer open.)

I have finally cleaned up all of the Halloween decorations...but to tell you the truth...I am one dorky nerd.  Here are some more pictures from the night.

Bellatrix and Ron have a "special" sort of friendship...


The Great Hall



<sigh> someone's excited to go to Hogwarts...


I told you all in an earlier post why my dogs would not survive the apocalypes (Post-apocalyptic survival guide )...Here is further proof.



Dobby and Fluffy




A better look at the great hall feast!



Umbridge and Bellatrix are the most hard core people I know


Hermione getting "drunk" off of butterbeer.


Harry, Hermione and Ron...just goin' to Hogwarts...


The best part of this picture is that was not really a posed picture...I really was looking at him that way...



Hermione and Ron are now friends with Bellatrix


All I have to say is...Laural is AMAZING...she is an up-and-coming custom costume designer...jsyk...


The whole group...


Ps...thanks to Laural for letting me steal these off of facebook.  Also...thanks to Laural for most of the hand crafted decorations. It was a great party.  The problem is...the birthday angle was just a good excuse for us all to dress up as Harry Potter characters.  I guess we celebrated Brandon and my birthdays as well...as a side note.

and to end this lovely long late night post...

and...nobody cry...But I just lost it on this one...

HALLOWEEN

I know...I know...it's been a VERY long time since I have posted on this thing.  It's not thatI haven't thought about it. I have...I have....A. not really had the time and B. not really known what to say, so I'll start with this. It has been great being home.  I LOVE being around my family and I love being around my friends.  I can honestly say that I have the best friends in the whole entire world.  My darling friend Laural has blessed my new life with many surprise treats and late night chats! :) Brandon, as always, has been my little ray of sunshine during this transition into my new life, and he has introduced me to my new friend here in Rochester, Miss Blythe Polito. I got a job at the Minnesota Autism Center with pretty much no effort involved...which was a huge blessing.  Halloween, my favorite holiday, is coming up. aaaaaaaand...THIS is what I will be blogging about....I love Halloween....I know...I should be blogging more about the fact that I have made this huge transition in my life...that things continue to be crazy...that I'm STILL not doing exactly what I want to be doing...but I will not. Why, you may ask? Because no one really cares about the sticky details of my life.  I have this blog, at least for right now, to entertain myself with ridiculous lists and even more ridiculous topics. So here we go...List of why Halloween is my favorite holiday.
1. Fall is already my favorite season...

The first reason why I love Halloween would have to be because it is part of my favorite season. I love the smell, I love the colors, I love the temperature...I love EVERYTHING about autumn!

2. Halloween is 6 days before my birthday.

Ashleigh and I OFTEN had combined birthday parties that were Halloween themed, due to the fact that her birthday is November 1st and mine is November 6th and we aren't even a year apart.  I LOVE combined birthday parties that are Halloween themed.  (side note: anyone reading this blog is invited to mine and Brandon Button's combined birthday party on October 29th (his birthday). The theme is to come as your favorite book character.)

3. My family took Halloween very seriously...We often had no rhyme or reason to why were were dressed certain ways...but we were ALWAYS dressed up. This is my favorite family photo....Ever.

The indian/blue bunny/cowboy/cubs fan farmer theme just gets me EVERY time.
4. Carving pumpkins

This little beauty comes from 2009 Halloween with the Easter's.  Can you guess whose is who? Marty's is team Edward...Jill is the perfect middle one and mine and Melanie's gourd is on the right....I will carve anything I can put a face on and a candle inside.

5. Trick-or-treating

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatz125/5134393346/sizes/z/in/photostream/
I don't know why I was never freaked out about knocking on stranger's doors and begging for candy as a kid, and I don't know why I get such joy from doing the same as I've become an adult, but I LOVE trick-or-treaters and for the first time in my adult life, I live in a home and have roommates who want to hand out candy! I love when people dress their children up in ridiculous costumes and parade them around for the whole neighborhood to see.
6. Costumes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayw/25068037/sizes/z/in/photostream/
I love this picture...because...come on...what the hell is the kid on the left?  a tree?? I babysat for a friend of my mom's this week and I asked her kids what they wanted to be for Halloween.  As her oldest daughter, an mirror of how I was as an oldest, most responsible child, rattled on about her idea of become a Greek God if she couldn't find anything better at Target; her youngest son sat pondering on the couch. I looked at him and said, well bud, how about you?  Thinking he was going to say, a cowboy, or a fireman, I was entertained to no end when, "a di." came out of his mouth. I said, "Di? Like as in a dice?" and he said, in his little Linus voice, "yeah, you know, like a six sided dice...." I said, "Yeah, I know what a dice is, I'm just wondering why you would want to be a dice." As he looked at me like he couldn't believe why I wouldn't already know the answer to that question, he said very seriously, "Well, I can't really think of anything more simple than being a dice." !!!!!!! I laughed hysterically.  That is precisely the reason why I love children at Halloween!! They come up with the most ridiculously amazing ideas.  My sister Haley chose to be a pink version of Michael from Peter Pan. We called her, Pink Michael.  This sad thing is, Haley was "pink Michael" for more than just one year! Very funny.

Slutty princess costume, $12.99, Slutty pumpkin costume? Priceless (thanks Marty Easter)

6. Scary Movies

I don't think I have to talk too much about this. I love scary movies...more than I should.  The problem is, I haven't had a friend to watch these scary movies with until I moved to Utah and found my friend Jeremy.  The problem is...he is on the other side of the country and my friends here do not watch scary movies.  This is ok.  I will survive. I also don't have AMC anymore...or Syfy...or Chiller.  So, I will have to watch them by either renting them, or online...and it probably won't happen, so I'll just stick with Hocus Pocus. ( Best scary movie of last year? Insidious...)


Well, That's all that I can really think of right now! Just let it be known, that I LOVE Halloween.  A lot. Next post: Halloween costume ideas....

Minnesota

Alright...Alright...It is official. (And actually has been for quite a while now.) I am moving back to Minnesota.

It's been in the works for about 2 months.  This decision was brought on by a tip from my mother.  She and my dad are now the residential directors to the Better Chance in Rochester.  This means that they are moving into the big house and renting out our old home.  My mom called me and said..."I'm not sure why I feel like I need to tell you this, but I woke up last night with this thought in my head.  What if you moved home and rented out the house, while planning on going to graduate school?" I'm not sure why, but it clicked.  Just like when I moved to Salt Lake from Denver.  I don't know why I'm moving home, but for the first time in my adult life, I think I am doing something for myself rather than for the purpose of convenience.  Not that moving to Denver and Salt Lake weren't for myself in the long run....Because I know that I have learned some amazing things in those two places, but I have become a different person almost.  I am more confident and I feel good about myself (for the most part).  I am happy.  My sister Haley has become one of my best friends.  For the first time, I've dated some while I've been out here.  What is in Minnesota?  I'm not exactly sure how I feel on the subject, but I can put it into a alternating list of pro's and cons... :)
Pro #1:
Great musicians are produced in Minnesota.
Bob Dylan
 ,
Prince,
 Atmosphere
,

not to mention A Prairie Home Companion (on which I grew up)
(good ole Garrison Keillor
 There are MANY more musicians, like A Night in the Box (RIP:(, and Roma Di Luna, who have impacted me as a musician...
Con #1:
The winters

This picture is deceiving...and anyone from MN can tell you why.  It LOOKS like a nice winter day with the sun all out and shining...but let me tell you.  It is probably 25 degrees BELOW zero.  Winter days are WORSE when the sun is out.  Although seemingly beautiful and sunny, they are colder and more frigid.  A sunny day= a day your nose hairs freeze instantaneously upon taking your first breath out the door. Have you ever been in a place where it was so cold that your car wouldn't start and your driver's door wouldn't latch? I have...on many different occasions.

Pro #2:
Minnesota springs

As completely horrible as the winters are in Minnesota, the springs make up for it ten fold.  After hibernating in your basement getting fat all winter and only going outside when absolutely necessary, we emerge once the temperature gauge says 25 degrees...in shorts.  At this point, it's starting to feel warm.  We remember what the warm sun feels like on our cheeks.  With our hair slightly damp, we can run outside to get the mail without the fear of having it freeze and break off before we reach the doorstep again. As the temperatures continue to rise, so do our spirits that soon...SOON, we will not have to start our cars a half hour before work, that our snow pants, galoshes, mittens, scarves, face masks, neck warmers, hats and winter coats are no longer necessary in order to go to church, that school will no longer be cancelled due to extreme temperatures (as it is never due to excessive snow anymore.) that all that disgusting brown, slushy snow will finally melt. Spring, in Minnesota, is a most beautiful thing.

Con #2:
Lack of men to date...

Honestly...and no offense to anyone who has married people they grew up with, but I don't think I could do it.  I love the boys at home, but I feel like it is somewhat incestual to marry a boy from home.  I'm not planning on getting married ANY time soon, but I just don't see it happening in Minnesota....I don't know.


Pro #3:
My family is in MN
I love my family more than anything in this world. I love being around my family more than ALMOST anything in this world. It will be good to be around Stephen and Jonathan and Taylor (when she is home). I left home when Stephen was 7 years old.  He has no memory of living around me, except for the few times when I was home between semesters.  But I think it will be great to have the support and love from my family.

Con#3:
My family is in MN
I have the tendency to turn back into a 16 year old brat when I am around my family for longer than a week.  I don't know what it is. I love them, and I love being around them, but the bratty, I-know-more-than-you,insecure-about-EVERYTHING-Brittany comes out to play. It has nothing to do with my family and EVERYTHING to do with me...just to be clear.


Pro # 4
Brandon Button and Laural Brentner


( I know...I know, this picture is forever old Laural, we must take new ones when I move home!) :)))
These two individuals were my saving sanity when I moved home after graduating from college.  There will never be anyone in this world who can fill the place Laural and Brandon share in my heart. I cannot wait to be reunited with them!

Con #4
Running into people from High School...

Let's just face it...I wasn't the most outgoing person in High school. I had a lot of close friends, but when it came to the others, I knew who they were, but I highly doubt they would remember me.  I would never want to go back to high school, not in a million years.  The people I feel I am closest too are the ones I keep in contact with.  I know there are some that I would LOVE to be back in contact with, like (Rachel Knutson and Stephanie Irish/Aho.) But I also know that there are some I would be fine never seeing again.  There is always that awkward..."Oh...hey!" moment, where you can't remember their name, or really exactly HOW you know them, but you know you do.  You stammer a bit and then it comes to you, but you know that they know you didn't actually remember them at first.  You aren't really sure if you should exchange information to "get coffee" later.  So you awkwardly say, "Oh yeah...it was GREAT to see you.  Have a nice....life?" with the hopes that you never run into them again.  Oh well. Rochester isn't that big of a city, so I'm sure that it is bound to happen.

Pro#5:
Downtown Rochester is one of my favorite places in the world.



Con #5:
I repeat...winters...


welp...I feel the need to express my excitement for moving.  Even though this post is somewhat ridiculous...I really am very grateful to be moving home.  Many people I love and admire live at home.  I know that I am making the correct decision in moving home, even though right now...it is scary and I don't know why I'm doing it, I know that in the long run, it will be great!