Harry Potter Taught Me to Read

3 Facts of My Life.

1. I love reading.
2. I love Harry Potter.
3. I used to hate reading and refused to read Harry Potter for a very long time. 

This is at Universal Studios Florida

 I was surfing the net the other day and came across this article about Harry Potter books.  There were a few points which made me fall in love with in the article.

1. "Initially, I was determined not to read them, convinced that something so popular couldn't possibly be good."
2. "...there was something about growing up with the series that will forever define my generation. We are a group of people who believe in the impossible, in the power of love’s ability to protect and create, in silly things like jelly beans that taste like dirt and earwax, in bravery wrought through friendship and the need for a few basic spells to ease our way through daily life."
3. "Every controversy Potter created made it stronger, particularly because no one could refute one incredible truth; it was getting children to read."

Can I just say: I've had a theory for the past few years, which was: knowing a person has read Harry Potter, tells you a lot about that person. I'm always terrible at explaining it, and have offended a few people when explaining it. I think point two sums it up perfectly.

At the end of the article, she starts talking about how intense the Harry Potter fandom world became, creating midnight *book* releases, theme parks, movies, etc. It got me really excited. I think the last point rang most true to me. I went searching to see if there was any proof to back up that statement. I came across this article in my Googling. Really, I don't think there is a study or anything to back up whether or not Harry Potter "created a generation of readers", but I can say....it taught me how to read. Well....to clarify...it taught me to love to read.

Let me tell you my story of how Harry Potter taught me to enjoy reading again. When I was little, I liked to read. I read Madeline books, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Amelia Bedelia, The Boxcar Children, etc. In the 4th grade, I attempted to read the all the books on the Texas Bluebonnet Award List. I do not recall if I accomplished this goal or not, but I did enjoy reading. Then I went into middle school. This began my period of not reading. I attribute this literary dark period of my life to required school reading. I think I forgot that reading could be fun. Middle School had us reading really boring books, like The Old Man and The Sea. I remember having to read this diary of a girl living in the conflict of Yugoslavia, which had been compared to The Diary of Anne Frank in regards to the idea that it's a young girl's diary during a time of war in the area. Goodness, for a 12 year old, who wants to read that kind of stuff? I stopped reading. Or maybe I stopped reading in 5th grade, when popularity was a concept that became important to me. (side note: it's sad that 10 and 11 year olds care about being "popular", is it not?)

My siblings loved to read. Everyone in my family reads. I did not. Maybe that also contributed to it. Everyone did it, and I wanted to be different. Who knows? Harry Potter was first introduced into my life in 1999. I remember walking past the Scholastic book fair in the library of Middle School with girls in my class, and someone mentioned that the 3rd Harry Potter book was out, and they wanted to buy it. Ok. Whatever. Later that year, Saryah got the first 2 Harry Potter books for her birthday. This is how Harry Potter first entered our house. No one had read it in the family yet, as far as I know. Who was the girl inadvertently change my life forever? I have no idea. In 2000, I remember a girl at church, Brette, talking about it. I didn't understand how someone could like a book so much. I thought it was weird. To be honest, I was a little judgmental. Now sometime between Book 4's release date, July 8th 2000, and the release date for Quidditch Through The Ages March 1st 2001, I read the first Harry Potter book. 

Saryah had been the first in the family to read Harry Potter. My parents read Harry Potter. Everyone in my family read Harry Potter. Everyone tried to get me to read Harry Potter. I refused. #stubborn This had been an on-going process. To be honest, I probably should have wrote in my journal the day I read the first Harry Potter book, because it was life changing. I didn't. I was a tween and didn't do stuff like that. #regret

Hogwarts at Universal Studios in Florida

Needless to say, I read it and loved it. I caught up on all the HP books. Reading became fun. It wasn't a teacher in school telling me what to read, when to read, and how to read. It was a story that you could get lost in. I went to midnight book releases and midnight movie releases. I will never forget the nights having drinks and snacks next to my bed in preparation to lock myself in my room and read Harry Potter after leaving the Barnes & Noble midnight release. I will forever remember the exhaustion that came from going to a midnight movie showing after standing in line for hours to get a good seat, and still having to wake up early to go to work or school the next day. 

The moral of the story is I hated reading...but because of Harry Potter, I'm obsessed. Like this buzzfeed, especially #1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 15, 17, 19. Okay, So I wanted to just choose a few, but all of them are 100% true. So I only chose a few. This was an accomplishment in and of itself. Congratulations me!

My name is Natasha, and I am a reader. 

Christmas in The Netherlands

"Who would win in the Hunger Games?" I forgot to add this to the other post, but this came up in a conversation I had last night, which made me laugh. Over dinner one night, Becca, Lukas, and I were discussing who would win out of all of us in the Hunger Games. Lukas said that me and him would win together, because we would never kill each other. Now as for everyone else....I won't go into details, but I decided Dena would be my biggest competition because she's outdoorsy, and would team up with Charlene and Jarno, because they are the careers. They have to go first. Sorry Dena. It was a pretty funny discussion, and I honestly can't remember all of it, but I do remember those parts because they made me laugh the hardest.

Ummmm. I had to put the picture up, because it looks like Marijn and Becca are secretly in love. Really, we were just waiting for the train to get to Marijn's family's house. The morning we got to Marijn's was the only morning that Becca and I really slept in. It felt so good. We went to the store to get stuff to bake when we were at his family's house and ingredients to make some spaghetti with homemade sauce. #spoiled

YAY Charles Dickens!!! Turns out Deventer has a Charles Dickens festival and have murals on the walls of scenes from Charles Dickens books. It's pretty cool. I just love this quote.

We took a walk around town on Christmas day in our fancy dresses. I was planning on wearing flats to be more fashionable with my dress, but then realized, it's cold outside. #badidea Nevertheless, Deventer is an adorable town. 

 Jarno and Marijn are from the same town, so we went to see him on Boxing Day. We met his dad and it turns out he's awesome, and I have a crush on Jarno's dad. He was telling us how he roadtripped across America in his younger days. He bought a vehicle and just did it for a few months. No big deal, right? Super legit. He travels everywhere too. He's is wise and told me "if you have the money, you have to travel". I must say, I think of money in things I can do traveling, like "I could spend money on this, or it could buy me a plane ticket to *blank*".  He was really cool.

 We were at the Paleis Het Loo. It was awesome. The only constructive criticism I would have for the palace is for them to have English tour headsets for the rooms that speak to you in Dutch. Are you kidding me? My Dutch is almost non-existent. Twin pose! 👯 Becca and I did twin pose around Europe. Next trip...we will have more twin pose pictures until I can make an epic twin-pose collage ;)

 Bread, Cheese, and Maple Syrup?!?!?! I know, right? We were in Haarlem for the morning to see what's there to see. We found this adorable little cafe for lunch and were very curious by the menu with has two of our favorite European foods: bread and aged cheese. (seriously, the Dutch have great cheese). We were confused by what it meant by "syrup". Nope. It was what we thought, but it tasted better than expected. It was soooooooo good! They are genius.

Classic windmill picture.

This was at the Amsterdam Festival of Lights. I was super mean and wouldn't let Jarno eat until we walked around and saw ALL the exhibits on the trail. I'm terrible. At least I let him eat before we went on the trail 😏

We went to Maastricht! This, in and of itself is quite the accomplishment, as Marijn didn't want to go because it was "too far". #2hourtrainride we arrived and it is a lovely town. They were still having their Christmas market going on and the first thing we had to do was the very big Ferris Wheel! It was really high up, and I had to close my eyes at a couple of points. Crazy.

This is after going through the underground tunnels of Maastricht. We decided we needed a group photo, so we asked a random person. He was walking his dog and said if we hold the dog, he would take a picture for us. Deal. Later, we were at a bar and it was uncomfortably crowded. The best part was when Jelmer asked me if bars in Texas were like this one. I said, "I don't know. I don't go to bars in Texas." He looked at me and repeated the question. lol. I had to explain to him, in Texas, my friends know that I don't drink, so we normally do other activities than going to bars. I think something was lost in translation. He didn't seem to understand, and Becca was sitting there chuckling about the whole conversation.

We went back to Munich for the night before Becca flew home. We decided to go to Restaurant 181 in the spinning Olympic Tower. I had wanted to do this when I lived in Munich, but never found the time. It was epic. Becca and I should have probably been more dressed up, but we used the tourist excuse and enjoyed it anyway. The food was glorious!!! The bread and butter, I probably could have eaten that all day. First course was crazy good. The soup was so fluffy and amazing. The main course, sublime. Dessert was classy. I love food. It was worth every penny to eat there. I felt very posh.

This is the view from the front of Petra's family home. Wow. Enough said.

#1. Petra bought me this tiara, because she decided it was a Princess Day at the Castle!!! She's the best.
#2. To get this view, we had to climb around several "Do Not Enter" signs to go up to the bridge. I'm sure it's normally a great walk during the Spring and Summer, but trail was iced over. It would have been better to have ice skates. We had to walk on the side of the path to avoid slipping and falling. That almost happened many times. But it was awesome.
#3. I almost had an anxiety attack on the bridge. I hate bridges. It was super high up, and I kept having a vision of me breaking one of the boards as I stepped on it and falling to my death.
#4. Since this was on New Year's Eve, the place was pretty uncrowded, so there weren't too many people on the bridge or at the castle.

Ok. I know. Two pictures of the same place?  I really love the Neuschwanstein Castle.

This is a little game that they play on New Year's Eve for kids, where you melt down this metal toy and then drop the metal in water. When you pull it out, the shape indicates something, which is a prediction for the coming New Year. It was awesome. 

I would just like to say, I realize now, I didn't take any pictures of Marijn's family, otherwise they would be on this blog like nobody's business. They were amazing to let Becca and I join their Christmas festivities. They are the NICEST people and super cool. They do a very classy Christmas, which made me doubt I've ever had a moment of class in  my life. Thank you to Marijn's family!!! Thank you to Lukas' parents for letting us roadtrip across Germany with their car. Last, but not least, thank you to Petra and her family, who let me crash at their place in Allgäu. Petra's dad was super nice, even though he didn't speak English, and I don't really speak German. I like to think we are friends. It was an honor and privilege to be the first American to stay at their house. #blessed #grateful #thankyou

And now, I know what you are all thinking, "Natasha, you ate so much food in Europe! How much weight did you gain?!?!?!?" Fact: I lost weight! #win Turns out walking for miles and miles everyday is a good idea as long as you are eating tons of yummy calories to give you energy. #apfelmuscrepes

Christmas Markets in Germany

OH MY GOODESS. Can I tell you: I love Christmas!!!! Seriously. This trip has been a long time coming. The problem is, I left for 2 weeks and came back with pages in my journal full of fantastic memories and over 1,400 pictures. I just finished going through all the pictures last night (19 days after I returned) and managed to get the photo to about 1,200. I'm quite pleased. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to write this blog. I've decided to separate it into 2 posts: one for Germany and one for the Netherlands.  I also am trying something I saw my friend, Mego, do when she hasn't blogged in while and had a lot to tell. She just posted pictures and told little anecdotes because there was just too much to say.  This is what I will be doing.

Top picture was the first picture Becca and I took together when we got to Germany. We dropped off our luggage and when walking to get some food and see the Christmas Markets. We got bratwursts and shortly after this picture, one of my bratz fell off :( It was quite sad. Nevertheless, the Munich Christmas markets are BEAUTIFUL at night.

To the left, Becca is having her first Glühwein (roughly translates to "glow-wine"). The non-alcoholic Christmas drink is Kinderpunsh. That's right, Children Punch. lol. That's what I was drinking the whole time, which was always fun to order. I just love this picture of Becca, because I think she looks gorgeous being all Christmas-y and jolly. We were in the English Garden's Christmas Market. It was smaller, but cute. I was really close to buying some socks from there.

We had to head back to the hostel and meet up with Lukas. I didn't recognize him at first when he walked into the common room, because of his haircut. It was a pretty epic double take from, "why is this guy looking at me" to "LUKAAAAAAASSSSS!!!!!"

We went out to meet up with Siv and Petra for dinner. It was so nice to see them. It was nice, and really funny when we'd all be talking and somehow Siv, Petra, and Lukas would switch to German, while Becca and I would be like "errrrrrr....."

Absolutely gorgeous. We did the Third Reich Tour this day, which was amazing, as always. I felt really smart because I knew a lot of the answers to questions (as I did with the free walking tour). And by really smart, I mean: I've taken both tours before and have a good memory for historical facts. Here we are after a nice day, hanging out in the Christmas Markets, sipping our Christmas drinks in our Christmas mugs in Marienplatz. The best  part was when we just paused to stop and be grateful for being in such a beautiful place together. #attitudeofgratitude

This is Nuremberg (Nürnberg). We spend the day here, meeting with Becca's friends. It was really nice. This Christmas market is ranked as one of the best Christmas markets in all of Germany. Becca's friends were super funny. I loved Adri, because of her Latina spirit, which made me laugh the whole day. Funny story of the day was when Lukas and I were eating crepes, and he got some nutella on his chin. He tried to get it off and failed. I just went and wiped it off with my finger. Adri got excited and said "oh my goodness. you guys are too cute; you're just like a couple!" My reaction: a shrug and went back to eating my crepe.

Ok. I'm realizing my time in Dresden and the pictures of Dresden on this blog post are not proportional to the time that was spent there in regards to the other locations, but omgee, Dresden is absolutely breathtaking and it was my first time here. This is Schlossplatz. Beautiful.

See? Beautiful! This is the Fraukirche. We went to an organ concert that night here. I felt super classy.

This is the opera house. During the day, it was warm enough to open my coat! This was a miracle beyond belief. Warmth. 

I love this picture. Looking a maps. Adorable.

The is the oldest Christmas market in Germany. It's been going on for over 500 years. To be honest, I think it might have been my fav.

We made it back to Colgne (Köln), with plenty of time before our train. We took a walk in the Christmas markets here, got drinks, and had the most amazing salmon of my life. Seriously. #ilovefood 

We went on a ferris wheel. No joke. It was awesome. I sometimes forget a have a slight fear of heights. I remembered when we were switching seats in the little cabin so we could all take pictures together. lol. We had so much fun together. I'm so happy and grateful Lukas was able to come travel with Becca and me. It was a wonderful first week of vacation. 

Becca and I were talking to Myrke, who you will meet in the next post, about American travelling and European travelling. In America, everything is far apart, so we are used to driving 3 hours to get somewhere and not thinking anything of it. Our immediate travel perimeter is very large. This is why in a week, going to Munich, Nurmberg, Dresden, and Cologne is completely feasible. On the other hand, with Europeans, they walk almost everywhere. They don't spend their lives in cars driving places like we do. So when you ask them to take a train 2 hours away for a day trip, they think that's quite an effort. Their immediate travel perimeter is smaller. I think I explained it well. Please note: This is not about everyone, but I did think it made a good generalization. 

Why do we fall? #batmanquote

As you know, one of my new years resolutions is to give dating another chance. Anyone who knows me, knows I hate dating; it really isn't for me. (Please note: This was not always the case. I used to rock at dating; it use to be a source of great entertainment and fun for me) But the past few years, it's more tedious and painful. I'm terrible at it. Lukas says I'm too pragmatic.

That's right; I had to look it up. Why does the German know S.A.T. words better than I? Because he's German. Therefore, I'm going to save you from feelings of embarrassment in the American school system and give you the definition.

I went out for snow cones with this guy the day before I left to Germany. We will call him, Mr. Ambivalent. (That's right. The gloves are off, and the S.A.T. book is out.) I had mixed feelings the entire time. There were many a times where I was completely speechless because, I can tell you he is like no one  I have ever dated previously. You can interpret this last comment as you will.

There are two red flags for Mr. Ambivalent that make me weary. Ok. One is real, and one is just something I cannot believe.

• Too much flattery. Ok. I like compliments as much as the next girl, but when you throw them out constantly and so freely, they loose their meaning and sincerity (if it ever existed in the first place).  It makes me highly suspicious. Maybe it's also because I grew up in a Latino/British culture where, in both, you tease those you love.  Either way, too many compliments makes me uncomfortable and not trust you.
• Has never read or watched Harry Potter. This is just crazy. I made a Snape joke, and he was literally like "who's that?" it was so weird. It was like an alien from another plant was in the room and I was trying to explain breathing to him. Out of body experience. 

• Now, I will say, in retelling this story, I have discovered that my faux-bro, Stevie has never read or watched Harry Potter. Say WHAT? He was at my house all the time, and somehow this family obsession never rubbed off on him. Don't worry Stevie, I will make sure you're children grow up with the joy of Potter-dom. 
• I also had to message this other guy, who I mega crushed on a few years ago, about it, because we would always argue (and it still comes up)  about Harry Potter and his need to read it. Yes. You still need to read it, even though we aren't planning on dating anymore. 

Anyways....I'll skip a lot the details, because i'm boring myself. Bottom line is, I couldn't tell if Mr. Ambivalent liked me or not after, because he didn't make any attempt to talk to me of his own free will. I hadn't heard from him in about 2 weeks and was feeling pretty angsty about it. Erica told me to, more-or-less, leave it alone. Yeah....about that....I took a step back and was like, "I hate not knowing. I'm just going to take matters in my own hands and find out myself". I texted him. *Jump to the end of our text conversation.* Under work-bestie, Charles' advice, I asked Mr. Ambivalent out. I felt like I was going to throw up when I typed out the words "do you want to meet up Friday night...." It is the worst feeling ever. I don't know how guys do it. Nevertheless, I asked a guy out for the first time, ever.

Becca reminded me recently, "dating requires a leap of faith in another person - never easy, but sometimes completely worth it". I completely agree. Faith requires trust. To find someone to trust and be yourself around, is always worth it. No regrets. I just have a problem making that leap.

He responded back that he was going to be out of town. That's it. Everyone who has ever dated knows, if you don't want to date someone you say "sorry, i'm busy" and leave it at that. If you actually are busy, but still want to date someone, you say "i'm sorry. I'm busy, but I'm free ____" and provide an alternative.

Rejected. But you know what? I lived. I was so scared (not a Gryffindor) of rejection , and while I was waiting for a response, I heard a voice in my head saying "fear is the opposite of faith". Why was I scared? I have no idea. I have faith that God's hand is always in my life. Even in my dating life. Even in the mistakes that have happened in my dating life. He guides my path and puts trials, or as I like to call them "learning opportunities", in my life. This was a moment where I took a chance; I did something I have never done before. I overcame a fear, and I like to think I'm a little better, stronger, and more faithful because of it. It was stressful and probably gave me one more old person wrinkle, but I was able to increase my belief in the teaching, "Your future is as bright as your faith."

Happy New Years everyone. I hope we all become a little stronger this year through all the learning opportunities we will have. After all, "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up" #batman

Willkommen bis 2014

New Years Resolutions (aka. To Do List for 2014)

I was looking back and was pretty pleased with myself for having accomplished many of my goals in 2013. I think this is the best way for me to put up my resolutions because it's good for me to look at it throughout the year and see how I'm doing. This is the first year that I've done that. It seems to have worked out pretty well.

1. Become PADI Scuba Certified - looking at this place
2. Enter Raffle for SNL Tickets
3. Go to Boston
4. Urban Survival Class
5. Run a nine-minute mile. (if my knee doesn't kill me first)...or find a new physical activity
6. Work out my arms more, so opening heavy doors is not a difficulty. 
7. Become so comfortable with my body that I could work out in a sports bra and yoga pants if I wanted.
8. Start dating again. Maybe put some effort into it.
9. Make a lemon meringue pie successfully. 
10. Learn about architecture and how to pick locks

After making this list, I realized, I haven't made any goals about really bettering myself. I was a little disappointed in myself, because earlier last year, goals about becoming a better person would have been some of the first things I thought about. Sadly, as 2013 progressed, it became more of a "Me" year; I mean this in the "I just want to have fun" sense. It was a fun year where I was able to do a lot of things I've always wanted to do. 2013 was the year to "Just Do It", and I loved it. I wanted 2014 to be a little like that too, but I have a feeling it will not. 

I've been a little more anti-social and introverted than usual over the past few months, and I have enjoyed every moment of it. Sadly, this wild ride of fun was put to a stop. I've been called to be Activities Co-Chair at church. Really, this is a good calling; it just goes against my recent track record of avoiding any socialization. It was like God said to me, "Natasha, I gave you your time to be anti-social, but now it's time to stop." Of course, He is right. I think 2014 is going to be a Back to Basics kind of year. Do the simple things in life, because 2013 was a wild and crazy ride for me. 

1. Be more social. 
2. Work on the Christlike attribute of humility. Seriously...it's hard being this amazing ;)
3. Be more prayerful
4. Go to the temple at least once a month
5. Read and/or listen to the scriptures everyday
6. Be more loving and forgiving, especially towards those I have purposefully avoided in 2013 due to the constant negativity they bring into my life

I have this feeling that 2014 is going to hold some big decisions for me. I really can't explain it, but I'm super excited for 2014. 

Decision 1: buying my very own car. 

Look out world, here comes Adult Natasha. I leave you now with my fav song at this time. Happy New Year world!