24/50: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Wow. Just Wow. I did not see that coming! I wasn't sure if I was going to like this one more than the Prisoner of Azkaban, but I'm going to say it's a close tie. Book 3 was incredible and started turning darker. The Goblet of Fire went all the way. From the last 200 pages I could not put it down. The twists that came were completely unexpected and I am still reeling over bits of it.

I am completely hooked after reading this one. I can't wait to continue! If the rest of the books head in the same dark direction as this one, I'm in for a wicked ride.

I try and keep spoilers out of my reviews so this will be very vague. I feel like one of the last people on this side of the pond to not have read Harry Potter before, but yes, we do exist.

The Triwizard Tournament was exciting. Having this theme carry through the entire book and then everything else on top of it was so much to take in. It seemed like the main plot to begin with but morphed into so much more.

We learn new things about Hagrid that make me love him even more. He's such a gentle soul and a caring man. I love how much he cares about Harry, Ron and Hermione.

I liked the new characters they introduced. There's always a new character or two in each book that seems to be a new "main character" and serves their purpose well. On the flipside, there is always another character added that irks me almost as much as Malfoy did in the first book. Great writing by Rowling for making me despise a character so much I actually cheer when they get what's coming to them.

Snape.. I still don't trust him but I don't want him to be evil in anyway. I love Alan Rickman and would hate to see him as a bad guy. Sigh...

Ron and Hermione. Get on with it and kiss already!! I will be so incredibly disappointed if I get to the end of this series and SOMETHING doesn't happen between them. I love the young love they have yet to notice about each other.

Siruis Black. Oh Sirius. I heart you and all your awesomeness.

Voldemort. Wow. Dude. You are one bad a$$ guy. I can't even. There are no words.

A note about the writing. Rowling. You are AMAZING! Every little detail is so well thought out. Everything has it's reason for being in there. You pull in things from past books, get the reader ready for the future books. I think I've said this before but I am so happy to be able to read these as an adult and fully appreciate them.
SBC 2011: Read a book with over 15,000 ratings on Goodreads - 15 points
Book Journey 2011: London (since Hogwarts isn't on any map I've ever seen)

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Harry Potter Challenge: June 23

I am so glad that I decided to make this challenge for myself. I curse myself for not reading these books before.

For all my friends: You may now say "I told you so" and smack me upside the head.

I finished Wise Man's Fear finally (Great book! Review here). I'm glad I took my time and finished it thoroughly. A masterpiece like that needs to be read with dedication.

I have finished the Goblet of Fire. Wowza!!! I'm totally hooked now. If the Prisoner of Azkaban didn't sell me, this one beat me like a rented mule. You win Harry. You win. I haven't written my full review yet, but I did post a small one on Goodreads. Once I'm back from vacation I'll write a proper review.

I have started my collection of owning the hardcover HP books. So far I have 2, 3 and 4 in my possession. The rest I'm borrowing until I get a sale or another gift card. These books are well worth owning, and definitely in hard cover. This series is classic and I hope that one day I can give them to my nieces/nephews and someday my own kids to read.

Goals:

Finish Wise Man's Fear
Buy Movies 3 - 7Part 1
Read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Read Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
Read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Re-watch Movie 1
Re-watch Movie 2
Watch Movie 3
Watch Movie 4
Watch Movie 5
Watch Movie 6
Watch Movie 7 part 1
Watch Movie 7 Part 2 - in theatre

Just Married! (1)

We did it! We got married! I am now Mrs. B!

The wedding was beautiful. It was "perfect" (no wedding ever goes perfect, lets be honest). That is the happiest I have ever been. I don't think I lost my smile all day. I was sure I would cry during the ceremony and I almost did, but not during the vows or the rings exchange. I almost cried during the Eucharist. I almost cry every Sunday actually so with my emotions running high there was no doubt I would tear up. I almost cried because there is one part in the prayers that reminds me of my aunt and I missed her dearly not being there for health reasons. Her son and daughter-in-law did come to the ceremony though. I wish I would have seen them to thank them for coming.

Let's do a run down of the weekend.

Friday
Rehearsal went smoothly Friday night. We started with a BBQ at my in-laws rented house. From there we went to the church and flew through an hour. My mom was awesome. She didn't want to walk me down the aisle with my dad, so she entered the church first. The priest asked who would be accompanying her. She immediately said "my grand-daughters" So cute! I quickly whipped up some smal bouquets for them after we got back to the hotel. She had 3/4 with her. The other one had a meltdown right before the ceremony so she hung back with her daddy in the pews.

Saturday
The Before
I managed to get about 5 hours sleep the night before the wedding. Pretty good considered my maid of honour and I were sharing a room and haven't seen each other in a long time. We giggled and talked for a good hour before decided we needed to sleep.
Woke up at 6:30am and waited for breakfast to arrive. We ate and headed to Starbucks and then to the Salon for hair and makeup for 8am.
The photographer came at 11:30am to take some detail shots of my things and me getting dressed. I cried when my mom hugged me and told me how beautiful I looked.
My bridesmaids and mom headed to the church and my dad drove me in his car.

I posted this picture on twitter right before getting out of the car.

The Ceremony
We had a full Catholic mass wedding. It was beautiful. I have never felt that much love and support in one room before. I didn't cry and had a smile on my face the entire time.

The Photos
We made it through of photos without getting rained on too hard. It sprinkled, it was windy and a little chilly near the end. We used my dad's antique car for a lot of them. We started with family photos, moved on to wedding party photos and then sent everyone on their way. Frenchie and I hung back and did photos just the two of us for another hour and a half. We had the best time just being together and enjoying wedding day bliss.
I don't have professional pictures just yet.

There is a sneak peak on our photographers blog you can check out for now.

The Reception
We drove to the reception in my dad's car and got rained on the entire way! Lots of honking and waving from people around us because of the awesome sign on the back.
We got to the reception to find out there was a leak in the roof and a few tables had to be moved around. Other than that everything was beautifully decorated. I made all the decorations except for the backdrop we rented.
Dinner was amazing. We got comments on it all night. The cake was a hit (4 tiers of Rice Krispies) The speeches went smoothly even though Frenchie and I forgot our notes.
We danced and talked with guests until around midnight and then our sedan came to pick us up. I was happy to get to leave at that point and go to the hotel to enjoy some time with Frenchie.

Sunday
We got back to the hall and helped our parents clean up what was left. I guess the party shut down around 2 which is earlier than we had expected. Then we went to the house my in-laws rented and hung out all day with people dropping by to say goodbye. It was nice and relaxing. I had my awesome "Just Married" shirt from Victoria's Secret on.

Monday
We spent returning items, opening gifts and just being together. Frenchie got called into work for a meeting for 8am which was unfortunate, but it got us both up and getting things done.

Honeymoon FRIDAY! I can't wait to leave for a week to Antigua!!! I'll definitely have a bunch of pictures to post from that.


(The remainder of the photos are taken by various family members. Do not copy.)

Wedding Wednesday: June 15, 2011

3 DAYS!!!!

I am getting married THIS SATURDAY!

I am so incredibly excited! My maid of honour arrives today! I only get to see her every 4 or 5 months so the fact that she's here Wednesday to Sunday is awesome! It will be busy no doubt, but at least we get to see each other.

Everything that we needed to do is done. There are a few things tomorrow and Friday that have to get organized, but they are simple.

I even had a nightmare this week. I figured I was over those. Nothing says nervous like dreaming you got married on the wrong day. Check the full story here.
I can't believe after 1.5 years of engagement we are finally here. It felt like it would take forever but the last 2 weeks have been agonizingly slow! Let's get married already!!!

We aren't leaving for our honeymoon until the week after the wedding so expect there will be a post next week!

What was accomplished:

• Bought reader/videographer thank you gifts
• Buy Booze
• Make Centerpieces
• Frenchie picked up his suit
• I did a spray tan

Schedule for the next 3 days
Wednesday:

• Wax
• Maid of Honour arrives
• Maybe pick up backdrop and chair covers (if time permits)

Thursday:

• Mani/Pedi
• Lunch with MoH
• Put water and crystals in the centerpieces
• Pack up Beta's things
• Take wedding liquor to in-laws house for transport on Saturday

Friday:

• Frenchie, my dad and his brother golfing
• Boys pick up suits
• Drop Beta off at the pet sitters
• Pick up Table Number stands from rental place
• Pack up decorations for wedding planner
• Rehearsal BBQ dinner
• Rehearsal

Saturday:
A blur of excitement and fun!!

23/50: Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great follow up to The Name of the Wind. Rothfuss is an amazing author and this book was worth the wait. I love Kvothe and all his adventures. He grew up so much in this book and became less of the boy and more the man that legend speaks of.

I couldn't give it 5 stars like I did Name of the Wind. Here's why. It was slower. It took me 49 days to read, while NoTW took me 29. I'm sure this has a lot to do with my life being crazy right now, but I didn't have that same pull to sit down and ignore life to finish it. I felt there were a lot of parts in this book that were overly descriptive. At some points I began to skim just to get the story moving.

With that said.... Read this book! Kvothe is an amazing young man. He deals with so many things from a fairy that kills men, to a culture that has it's own language and rules. A king, a woman that refuses his help and an enemy that will no doubt be showing his face again in the next book.

There are so many things that Kvothe learns to deal with and squeek his way through I'm amazed he's still alive! A lot of reviews I've read on this book talk about how the reader doesn't like Kvothe. They give reasons of how he's so full of himself, he's cocky, he thinks he's better than he is. True on all accounts, however that is what makes him great. Without those characteristics, we wouldn't have this enchanting story. We wouldn't have Kvothe the Bloodless and we wouldn't have Kote the quiet inn keeper.

I'm hoping we won't have to wait another year and a half for the 3rd installment to come out. I will wait in anticipation. As long as it takes. Rothfuss is one of the best writers I've read anything by in a long while and his books are worth the wait.

SBC 2011: Continue a series - 10 points

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