Pottermore

My new love that I've been geeking over is none other than J.K. Rowling's new interactive website for Harry Potter crazed fans, Pottermore. It became public in April this year, and I immediately signed up...mostly out of curiosity. Now, let me just add that I'm not the die-hard fan that's read every Harry Potter book and know every character inside and out and can recite spells to you from charms class. No, I've only made it to book two, but the movies were incredible and have hooked me since first coming out in 2001. Fantasy and horror stories have been my favorite since I could first read...it was all about Grimm's Fairytales and Goosebumps. So for me, Harry Potter is the best of both worlds. But this site might change my appearance of being a "healthy" dose of a fan...

Pottermore takes you through each book in the Harry Potter series, chapter by chapter. The full chapters are not posted; rather, it's a way for J.K. Rowling to elaborate on characters or scenes that may appear in that particular chapter, giving the reader an inside scoop into her world and her thoughts behind her writing. For example, why did she choose Privet Drive as the name of choice for the street where Harry lives? What is Dumbledore's background story? Was Professor McGonagall ever married? What does it mean if you have unicorn hair in your wand? How many different names were considered for Hermione's character? These are all questions that Rowling has brilliantly answered and leave me hungry for more useless info! She has such a creative, impressive and (most-notably) a detailed imagination. What a great author. 

Perhaps my most favorite tidbit of Pottermore is that you get to collect things along your journey such as chocolate frog cards, Hogwarts books, ingredients for potions, and a Harry Potter fave--different flavors of Bertie Bott's Beans. These objects are hidden in each chapter's scene, making it fun to look for them. And what Hogwarts adventure would be complete without an actual sorting hat ceremony! Yes, you'll get to be sorted into your own Hogwarts house and will get to earn house points towards the House Cup. I'm proud to say I was sorted into Hufflepuff (though, ok, I admit I was devastated it wasn't Gryffindor...but, Hufflepuff does include Cedric Diggory (aka Edward Cullen, R-Patz) so, hello Puffs!). THIS is where the true fun is because the website suddenly has a purpose. You're not just a member, you actually have a "team" that you're on where you're all working for the same cause of beating out the other Houses. House points can be earned by collecting objects, winning wizards' duel challenges, and brewing potions. Oh...my...heck! Have I convinced you yet to get on the Pottermore train?! (Or broom.) You know you just got excited. Brewing potions? Yes! And it's not that easy, either...I think I've blown up 3 cauldrons. And, of course, every wizard needs a wand to brew potions! Well, fear not my young Muggles...Pottermore will also present you with your very own wand during your stop to Diagon Alley, compliments of to Mr. Ollivander. Magical! Oh, and I got to pick a cat instead of an owl.

So, what have we learned? That Pottermore is Potterific and you shall not judge my geekiness over it because you secretly want to join too, just like 3.6 million people already have. Obviously that means something must be spectacular about it! Oh, and disclaimer...the site currently only goes up to Chapter 4, Book 2 (The Chamber of Secrets,) and word around Hogwarts is that Chapter 5 and whatever else will be available come September. Now ask me if I've been on the edge of my seat with anticipation....

 I am a ferocious badger...word.

Some Updates

Before I write a new post about my current nerd obsession for the past of couple weeks (squeal!!), I figured it would be nice to update the blog world on our family's current happenings...

First, Jake landed a job at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray in their oncology department. Hubby pants has been slaving away for the past month emptying bed pans, checking vitals, being on patient suicide watch, and bringing me back all kinds of juicy gossip and horrifying stories that make me gag...and him, literally. Heavens, I thought the "butt-cheek spreader story" was bad, but he now has a new one that takes the cake. Hint: it involves diarrhea. Nuff' said. Luckily, we're hopeful Jake won't be stuck with this crap job forever...this was just getting his foot in the door at a hospital so come graduation time, he already has an employer lined up. Fingers crossed he one day gets his ER job he dreams about! And P.S...he is scrumptious in scrubs.

(Sneak attack pic last year in his UVU student scrubs. He wouldn't let me take a new one in his black scrubs with his awesome mohawk hair...or at least one without a pouty face.)

In July, Gage finished up his 4th season of baseball. This year was machine pitch, allowing the boys to play all their games on an actual baseball diamond for the first time instead of some grassy park with painted lines. The other new addition this year was being assigned an actual MLB team name instead of the kids making up one (like Gage voting for "Spongebob" the year he had a yellow T-shirt). This year's team was the Twins. The kids are still trying to grasp the concept of outfielding, so a ball being caught or thrown quickly to first is a rarity. This allows for many runs and many batters, which the kids love. Oh, and they don't keep score yet...even though a boy on Gage's team was boosting team confidence by over-excitingly telling everyone "they were winning and had about a hundred runs." Gage did great throughout the season and ended up with 2 home runs!

As for a home update, we have a walking trail by our house that we've been utilizing lately...with bicycles. I've been reunited with my old maroon bike, that I probably last rode when I was in middle school, while Jake has been using a shiny green bike that was meant for mom years ago but was never used. The tags were still on it! We snatched the bikes from the parental's home, and I couldn't wait to go on rides. Well, I was extremely naive to think I was the bike champion I was back in the days and also didn't take into consideration that the size of my rump has obviously changed considerably from that of almost 13 years ago. I was wobbly and all over the place, and I was certain that I ended up with bruises on my rear end from it practically eating the tiny 4-inch wide seat. Oh, and let's add on that my calves were dying...when we made it past the neighbor's house. Haha. Needless to say, it's been a bit of a rocky start and has been more of a serious work out than a leisurely ride like I had imagined. Let's hope I eventually make it back up to par where I can jump off sweet curbs and carry a 7-Eleven Slurpee in one hand. The glory days!

(Sorry, no pic of my rump on a bike for this one. Thank me later.)

For a fun outing a couple weeks ago, we invited my mom to go with us to Deer Valley to watch the Utah Symphony perform Disney songs. How awesome! Park City is one of my favorite spots, and we haven't been able to go there much this summer. That made this outing a bit more fun. We first stopped at El Chubasco (a local PC, must-see Mexi restaurant that is quite the rave...oh, and Gage lost his loose tooth there because I accidentally knocked it out, so he was not happy and cried) for dinner before heading off to the amphitheater. Once there, we spread out our blankets and got to enjoy classics from Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Jungle Book, Lion King, Beauty & The Beast, Mary Poppins, and a sweet suite (ha!) from Pirates of the Caribbean. I don't know why Orlando Bloom couldn't make a guest appearance. Sigh. Besides that I was freezing by the end of the performance, it was very enjoyable, and the best part was seeing little girls dressed up as Disney princesses and Tinkerbell and lovey couples wearing Disneyland hoodies and mouse ears. Sure makes me want to go to Disneyland, pronto. M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-EEEE! (Donald Duck)

Here's a heads up on some upcoming adventures: 311 concert next week (I think it'll be my 12th), Gage starting 3rd grade (are you kidding me?!), Jake starting his 2nd year of nursing school (kill me now with bills), a fam trip planned for Lake Powell over Labor Day (praise the Lord for a break), and me going crazy over Halloween stuff and craft projects to do...the wreath I'm working on is fab!

Team USA

 

It's almost here! The London Olympics are almost here! I've wanted to do a special post on the Olympics for a few weeks now but have waited until the games got a bit closer. And now, it will be here in less than 22 hours.

I have always had such a special place in my heart for the Olympics, and the fact that Salt Lake City was honored to have the games here in 2002 was such a memorable experience. Seriously, how awesome is that! The WORLD gathered here. I will always remember seeing the huge banners of athletes draped down the sides of buildings in downtown SLC and also being able to an Olympic torch runner pass right by my high school as our whole school was excused to go watch and cheer them on in the cold. (I'm getting emotional right now as I type!) And who could forget our incredible torch that now resides on my beloved U of U campus. Love it all!

Even though our city got to experience the winter Olympics, my heart's soft spot leans a wee bit more towards the summer games. Swimming! Synchronized diving! Sand volleyball! And of course my favorite, gymnastics! And that fact that the games are in London this year will make it that more fun to watch. I have such a craving to visit Europe, and London is definitely a destination on my bucket list. What a beautiful city. Sigh...one day.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to opening ceremonies tomorrow and the fact that the world will be united during those several days, all watching for the same cause of cheering on their country. I will get emotional...and I LOVE hearing our nation anthem. Cheerio!

GO TEAM USA!!!

Yellowstone Park!

The Jones fam has returned from our Yellowstone adventure! It was such a fun getaway. The weather was was great and ended up being mostly overcast, which I preferred since it made it much more bearable to hike around trails and sight-see in a cool breeze rather than blistering hot sun. Be prepared for lots of pics in this post folks, thanks to my new iPhone!

Our first day started off with the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone near our hotel. Even though the animals obviously weren't in the wild, I was still giddy to see bears up close (the two brother bears were having a water fight in their pool...adorable!) and wolves (they are HUGE!). They also had a few birds of prey that have been rescued and now live in captivity.

After the Discovery Center, we headed into the park where some animals greeted us along the way. We were amazed by all the different kinds of wildlife we were able to see.

We headed through the park to Mammoth Hot Springs. I admit, I was a little disappointed because the springs are not as watery as they should be. Because of their dryness, it seriously looked like we were on the moon instead of hot pot territory. It was a dry, gray and copper mud pile instead of white mounds with rivers flowing over them. Eh. I took a few pics of the section that looked the most watery to me. Still a neat site to see.

Day two started out geyser sight-seeing. What a cool day! It started out with smaller hot pots here and there off the sides of the roads and then...the BIG pots! I've never been to the two biggest pots in the park before, so seeing these for the first time was just awesome. Seriously, the size of them is spectacular.

Excelsior Geyser - Second largest in the park. Maybe football field size??

Grand Prismatic Spring - Largest in the United States, third largest in the world. Top pic is aerial view from online; bottom is from ground level that I took. See the size of this thing?!

As my favorite warning sign clearly shows, stepping on a geyser blows your hat off and makes your mother mad. So don't do it.

Next up was our stop to Old Faithful (which we got to see go off 3 times because we dinked around so long at the Old Faithful Inn and gift shops!). It was pretty cool. I wasn't quite sure what to expect and had pictured a huge blast of water into the air like the Bellagio fountains, so I think I was a little bummed when that wasn't the case. Instead, Old Faithful gradually built up to its grandeur, and the anticipation for it to go off was making me antsy. But, very neat experience the the infamous geyser. 

Another great experience we had was going up on the roof of Old Faithful Inn for a tour. Apparently, they only allow these to family members and special guests but somehow my dad must have pulled some special strings and/or complained and was able to get us an exclusive tour with just us...mom chickened out because she's afraid of heights. The 360 degree view of the park was awesome! We could see so far and spot puffs of white smoke all over from hot pots around the park.

Cloudy skies...storm's blowing in!

Our last full day at the park consisted of seeing Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone Lake. The falls were gorgeous! We went to a few different lookout points, each with a different view of the massive waterfall. Fave pics to follow because let's face it, it's pretty hard to have a bad pic when a waterfall is involved. And how gorgeous is that canyon? And a rainbow with the tree and water? Are you kidding me! Oooh, I love nature.

And that was pretty much the Jones & Lieber Yellowstone adventure 2012. The park was so beautiful. There was always something to see. We saw many different animals, some quite rare, and got to see the majority of the park. Yellowstone is a treasure! And yes, I bought many smashed pennies as my souvenir. And to wrap up my post, here's a couple more pics...

Comments about Jenny looking like the plump stuffed buffalo are not permitted.

Ferdinando the buffalo...or so we dubbed him. Like the story!

* THE END * 

I would like to thank my new love Instagram for making these photos possible, which allow me to post them easily to my blog instead of downloading them from my camera (because that takes yeeeears) and also for making me appear as a professional photographer.

T-Minus 1.5 Days

Early Thursday morning, the fam, parentals and I shall be making our way to gorgeous Yellowstone National Park! I had been several times when I was younger, but probably all before age 12...which, of course, means I don't remember much except for maybe seeing a buffalo out the window and my parents threatening my brother that if he touched the hot pot water then his finger will turn purple and fall off. (And did he touch it? He most certainly did!...and then held his finger for dear life the rest of the day, terrified. Haha.) So yes, I do have a few treasured memories here and there, but I'm pretty darn excited to see everything now with my "adult" eyes and really being able to understand more about the unique geography, formations and all that geothermal shenanigans.

Bring on the wildlife so I can squeal with joy! Bring on that rotten egg smell from the awesome geysers! Bring on smashed penny machines so I can get a souvenir! Bring on being in the car with my parents for 8 hours!...wait, no, I take that one back.

A few faves I found online...these are seriously incredible!

iHave iPhone

The day has finally arrived where I have become a proud owner of an up-to-date piece of technology! I have never had the latest and greatest cellphone in all my years of cellphone ownership. (Which began my SOPHOMORE YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL!! None of this crap about being a 13-yr-old with a cellphone. Phh!...though I totally was allowed to take my parent's pager with me sometimes in my late elementary years. Hahaha! My hell, do I sound old?!)

Before ranting and raving about my new iPhone 4, let's take a looksy at my old phones that shall forever be remembered and have a special lump in my throat...I mean, heart. 

 

This is the closest picture I could find of what resembled my "brick," as I referred to it as. I don't recall the brand of phone it was but I assure you it was actually more horrible than this. Did my have cool silver buttons? Nay. It was an all black coffin of a phone complete with the stump of an antennae (with a pull out antennae inside for extra awesomeness) and flip out thingy to speak into. This bad boy kept me company many times in multimedia class where I'd play "Snake" on it's green glowing screen. Mind you, the snake did not have features back then...it was a rod. And I loved it.

Sometime shortly after enduring the "brick" for a year or so, I got to upgrade to a silver LG phone that remained in my care throughout my senior year up until 2009!!!! Did I ever get on that Nokia bandwagon everyone else did or the Cricket phase? Nay again. I wasn't that cool. It was only at the grace of my parentals that I even got the silver LG phone. (Family plan, you know...all matching phones. Presh.) What brought me to the maroon phone fabulousness that I've had up until last Thursday, was a watery ride of Splash Mountain in Disneyland 2009. My silver phone that I thought was protected in an outside pocket of my purse, was not...it took on a bucket a water and drown. RIP. However, my maroon companion quickly became my favorite and a very nice phone to have over the years. But finally, it just came time to ween myself off of the parentals' fam plan and share with the hubby.

So hello AT&T, and hello beautiful sleek white iPhone 4!!! I shall love you forever and you shall be mine. BFFFs fo' life.

My lovely background looks like this! Adore!!!

Hubster

 

Happy Father's Day to this guy.  

Can't keep my paws off him!

....especially in his new grilling apron, compliments of wifey.

xoxo