Sunday Morning Potter Love

I have a special treat for you guys today, in the form of my sweetest ever friend Kristin of Vignettes. She and I are almost the same person in the most important ways, such as in our love for J.Crew and Harry Potter. ;) I've learned so much from her, and I always love to hear her insights on things. She's been writing a series on lessons or themes in our mutual favorite novels, and today she's sharing the theme of love. Even if you're not a Harry Potter fan, it's a good read. And who knows... maybe this will further convince you that this is a great bandwagon to be on. :)  Take it away, Kristin!

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Hello Story of my Life Readers! I'm honored to be hanging out at Jenni's place on this fine Sunday. You all know how fabulous she is, so I won't go on and on about that mushy stuff... Suffice it to say: this girl is truly my female soul mate. Love her to pieces. ~ Today I'm loafing about on her virtual couch, sipping coffee, and discussing perhaps our favorite mutual obsession: Harry Potter. Join us?

 

Love is such an underlying current in the Harry Potter series. You see it woven through every chapter: from the fidelious charm that Harry's mother's love produces as she is killed- protecting him until he is of age, to the fatherly love that Dumbledore shows toward Harry as he guides, teaches, and protects him through his school years, and ultimately the inextinguishable love that shines forth from the unlikely heart of Severus Snape.

When we first meet Harry, at age 11, he hasn't yet tasted love. He is barely provided for, and even that- out of duty. But he is soon surrounded by people who will come to pour healing balm over his lonely heart, who will take him under their wing, encourage him, push him to grow, celebrate his triumphs, protect him, hold him up when he can't stand any longer... Some will even give their lives for him.

Love helps us to become the very best version of ourselves. It believes in our potential. Always extends grace. Love is the one thing that Voldemort would never possess - that Harry did. It was his love that allowed Harry to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the end. What a powerful message:

Loving other people is far more motivation to live an intentional life than any of our own selfish ambitions.

I love how the Order of the Phoenix movie ends: with Harry's friends walking together as he declares that even though they face a battle, they have found something that Voldemort will never know (alluding to love and friendship): "Something worth fighting for."  

Oh for the love of a friend...who can be made the sacred trustee of my heart... Some find it. Some don't. This year, I was blessed with that ever-sacred gift. What I didn't realize though, was how much richer my life would become with the addition of the deep, loyal love of a best friend. It has changed me. Brought me confidence, boldness, contentment, and freedom.

Harry found that in Ron and Hermione. - Sirius and Dumbledore both recognized their invaluable presence in Harry's life, and often reminded him to consciously keep his friends close to his side. They were an impenetrable force...if they were together.

 And then there is the story of unrequited love found in Severus Snape. Nothing is as tragic as love that is not returned. And so I shan't write about it. Lest I burst into tears. But that storyline brilliantly shows the powerful nature of love...that it can direct the entire course of our lives.~ What beautiful imagery and truth.

Do you have a favorite theme in the HP books?

If you'd like to read more about the lessons I've found between the covers of Harry Potter, you can check out posts HERE and HERE.

Fun chatting with you guys today! Thanks Jenni, for having me over to visit!

***Jenni here again... thought I'd throw in a picture of Kristin while we were at HP World in FL last month... sipping pumpkin juice, of course. :)  Thanks again for the guest appearance, girl!!
***Kristin back: Ummm...thanks Jen. I look like a...horse?? ;-)

Friday Folks

Hi! I’m going to cut right to the chase today. Go check these awesome ladies out. :)

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Jessica Who? is a blog by, you guessed it, a gorgeous girl named Jessica! Jessica, her husband, and their fur baby live in Hawaii, though she’s a born and raised Texan. Points for that already! :P Her about page will probably make you like her instantly (worked on me), and she did her own version of the “if you really knew me” post I did last week, and I really enjoyed hers, too.  Go on over and spend a little time. You’ll be glad you did…

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Meet Ashley, the Arizona blogger behind Oh Wells Instead of What Ifs. This is an awesome blog based around the theme of living life to the fullest—minimizing all those “what ifs!” I loved this post Ashley wrote about blogging (I relate!). Ashley does a lot of excellent writing over there, and I think you’ll enjoy it. Drop in and say hello!

 Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Last but not least we have lovely Casey of We Took the Road Less Traveled. Casey and her military (air force!) husband live in Germany, so this fab blog is full of amazing travel posts galore! Besides that, though, Casey is an absolute sweetheart, and you can learn all about her and her story here. This is one you’ll definitely want to follow along with! :)

  Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Happy Friday!!

“the Blogger Bubble Necklace”

I just made that up. I don’t think it’s really called that.  But do you know that crazy/huge/awesome bubble necklace you are seeing all over everywhere lately, like this one from J.Crew? Well, there’s one out there for a WAY BETTER deal, and I just wanted to tell you about it. You know, so we can all look like clones walking around in our crazy/huge/awesome bubble necklaces. :)

So, said necklace is on sale over at GroopDealz.com, and they have TWELVE different colors, all only $19.99! Yee-haw. I’ll be sporting color #3 here pretty soon. It’s true.

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Oh, and while you’re at it, check out these gorg ruffle tops. This site is kind of like Groupon, but cuter. Hehe. At EIGHT dollars, these pretty shirts are a steal. I might just buy every color! (I’ve been known to do that….)

Check them out here.

A bridge, A Baby, and A Bassinet

Oh, and the baby’s parents, too, of course. :)

I had the pleasure of photographing this adorable little family a couple weeks ago, and I think we got some really special photos. I loved our location—a beautiful park with a bridge overlooking Lady Bird Lake, and Valerie and Eric (mom and dad) brought along a bassinet that has been in Eric’s family for a couple of generations now! Eric himself actually used it when he was a baby, and now it’s been passed on to his own little guy. How special is that?!

Enjoy these sweet photos…

And PS – thanks for all your wonderful comments yesterday on our master bedroom/gallery wall project!! You people are nice. :)

Can’t decide which of these next two I like better… color?

…or black and white?

Master Bedroom Reveal… Finally.

I have been talking about this dang gallery wall for… what? Four months now? Six? I’m not even sure any more. Matthew and I have been working on our master bedroom since we moved in two and a half years ago, and by working on it I mean I was stalling and “brainstorming” and collecting frames and then collecting things to go in the frames and then finding reasons why I should put off putting the things in the frames because, honestly, this project was a smidgen overwhelming at times. BUT, I could not be more happy with our completed room. We wanted to go for an awesome, Hogwarts-esque feel to the gallery wall (Harry Potter nerds, unite!) and I am reminded of my favorite novels every time I enter the room. Cool.

Matthew seriously amazed me with his work on this space. He hung all the items on the wall (with my superivision, of course—except for the ram head—he waited ‘til I was out and then “surprised” me with it when I got home), and he single handedly wainscoted the walls and bead-boarded the ceiling. Blood, sweat, and tears were poured over this bedroom, I assure you. (Blood and sweat were Matthew’s, tears were mine.)  Hope you enjoy it! I’ve included more specifics and tips at the end of this post—hope they answer any questions you might have. :)

Tips on building your own gallery wall:

+ Accept that it will likely be a process. If you want to stay within a reasonable budget, it will take a while to find all of the items for your wall. I collected frames and pictures from antique stores, garage sales, and sales at stores like Wal-Mart, the Pottery Barn outlet, and Aaron Brothers. A good chunk of the frames we wound up with were from a “buy one, get one for a penny” sale at Aaron Brothers.  Other frames and pictures were things Matthew and I already had when we got married.

+ Keep all your pictures inside the frames in a similar color scheme. I tried to avoid really bold colored pictures, and went with mostly white or cream colored or black and whites to keep things cohesive and not too overwhelming.

+ I found some cool prints (like the Expecto Patronum one) in Etsy shops, but buying lots of prints can get pricey. I printed some of my own photos and also framed antique book pages and pages I tore out of a couple old botanical print books and even a book of piano music I found at an antique store. This saved LOADS of money. I also found that Wal-mart was one of the cheapest places to finds mats for the frames.

+ Hang bunches of dried flowers or wheat in large, empty frames. You can find these types of frames at antique stores or yard sales for great prices sometimes, and things like wheat can be picked and bundled together for free. Matthew and I picked our wheat in a field last week!

+ When it comes time to put together all your frames, start in the middle and work your way out. You can set up a general grid of the pictures on the floor before you start, and then take a picture of them so you don’t forget how they were arranged when you start to put everything up. And remember, you don’t have to have all the frames and pictures together before you start hanging them! We started with what we had on hand, and at that point it was only a handful of pictures right above our bed. The collection grew and grew over time, until finally it was complete.

Room Specs:
+ Paint color: Brown Buzz by Valspar (from Lowe’s). Ironic, because it’s not at all brown!
+ Antlers from the family ranch
+ Duvet and throw blanket from Pottery Barn
+ I bought my “Love” twiggy letters from a shop here in town a couple years ago, but I did a quick search online and also found them here and similar here. I’m sure you could find more with a little bit of digging.

Thanks for stopping by our home! :)