..the end of an era..

today is a very bittersweet day for me. why, you ask? harry potter is coming to an end. :(

i have been a true and dedicated fan since 1999, when i read the first three books in about 5 days for an eighth grade english assignment. we weren't assigned to read it, we were given a choice of what to read and for some reason i had never read any of the three harry potter books that were out at the time, so i decided to give it a go.

i have a very addictive personality, and nowhere is that more evident than when reading a great book. if i find a book i like, i am nose deep in it until i finish it...and in the case of harry potter, the longest it has taken me to finish any of the books is approximately 24 hours. :) when the 7th book came out, we went to wal mart at midnight to buy it, i stayed up all night reading it and lance teased me that i was cheating on him with harry potter. i read from midnight til about 7 pm the next day, only stopping for short naps and meals. talk about obsessed!

i remember going to the first movie...it was november of 2000, i believe, and i went with my best friend, lizzy kilbourn, and the guy who i had a big fat crush on, jesse palmer, and his sister rita. pretty sure we went after a mutal activity. this was the only movie i didn't go see at midnight, because i wasn't a commited harry potter movie fan at that point...only the books.

as the years progressed, i became more obsessed...i have probably read each one of them at least 7 times. my friends and i hit up the midnight book releasing for harry potter and the order of the phoenix at the barnes and noble at the gateway sometime in june of 2003. i bought a wand. when harry potter and the half-blood prince was released in july of 2005, i made sure to come home from lake powell three days early so that i would be able to purchase my book at midnight, along with all the other "hard core" fans. and as stated earlier, lance and i made a little trip to walmart at midnight in july of 2007 to purchase my copy of harry potter and the deathly hallows.

with the exception of the first, i have seen every movie at midnight. i went with hillary mammen, and her dad, bill, to the second movie. bill had to drive us since we weren't sixteen yet. :) hillary, lizzy, and melanie dearden accompanied me to the third movie...it was the week we graduated from high school which made that whole week that much better. i attended the fourth movie (november 2005) up at the theater in logan with a bunch of friends from college. the fifth (july 2007) at the gateway with lance. the sixth (july 2009) at a theater in ogden with lance. part 1 of the seventh (november 2010) alone (because lance was too much of a baby to come with, even though i was the sleep-deprived 5 months pregnant one) at a theater in bountiful. and tonight i am attending part 2 of the seventh with lance (barring he doesn't get a case of 'big fat baby' and stay home again), and our friends chelsey and peter phippen. also with the exception of the first, i have fallen asleep during every single once (since i go at midnight) and end up going the next day. :) it is a fun tradition, and i am sad that tonight is the last night i will ever fall asleep at a midnight premiere of harry potter. :(

this love affair of mine has been a long-standing one...12 years and counting. and although all the books are out and tonight the last movie comes out, i know i will continue to love harry potter for the rest of my life. j.k. rowling is a creative genius, and i thank her all the time for this wonderful world she has created for me, and undoubtedly so many others. to harry potter, hermione granger, ron weasley and the rest of my friends from this beloved book, i bid you farewell...until i decide to re-read all your adventures again. :)