J. K. Rowling Comments on Ron and Hermione's Relationship

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Unless you are living under a rock, you have heard that in a recent interview, J. K. Rowling admits that she regrets Ron and Hermione's relationship. She stated that she wanted the books to end up in the way she originally planned and that it was more for her own personal reasons to have the pair end up with each other. Obviously, there have been millions of fans crying their eyes out and smashing the nearest breakables upon hearing the confession. Despite that, I can't say that I was one of them.

Do I think Ron and Hermione are compatible? Yes. I think they are the epitome of "opposites attract." Hermione has always been the one to keep him in line (except for that dreadful time in book 6) and Ron is the one who keeps things light and not too serious. On the other hand, Jo admits in this interview that Ron and Hermione would eventually need relationship counseling. Though it almost sounds like their relationship falls apart, it also shows that they are fighters and they're not afraid of putting their whole hearts into making it work. Also, they're still together in the epilogue. Boom.

Do I cry every time I see or read about their first kiss? Of course I do, who doesn't? Although, I'm also known to cry over episodes of Modern Family. But JUST because I'm an easy crier, doesn't mean I don't cherish their love for one another. When you think about it, they really do have a classic, pure, and timeless love story

Yes, Ron and Hermione are cute, but even when I was young, I was not that impressed with Ron. I always hoped that Hermione would end up with Harry. I was sure Jo would grant my wish at the end of Goblet of Fire when she kissed him on the cheek. All I could think of was, "this is it!!" and of course, it wasn't.

Anyway, what do you all think? Are you heartbroken? Did you have a feeling of "Duh Jo, what took you so long?!" Are you indifferent? Who would you choose for Ron and Hermione? I'm not sure who'd be a perfect match for Ron, but Hermione, girl you know what I think!

Credit

Smart, nerdy, and a quiet warrior: Neville Longbottom. Both of them started out as dorks and they both ended up outstandingly beautiful. Neville and Hermione also have two of the biggest hearts in all the series. How could you go wrong? Also, they would have some gorgeous babies.

ADDED

"I have a hard time seeing people get so furiously angry over this situation. 

For example, haven't you ever made a mistake that you regretted? It seemed all well and good at the time, but when you're older and wiser, you realize you should have made another choice. We may have all read the books, time and time again, yet Harry's head is the only one we've ever been inside. We don't know what goes on inside Ron's and Hermione's; and even though we have seen Harry's thoughts, we most definitely haven't seen all of them. 

Jo is the only one who has.

She is Harry. She is Ron. She is Hermione. Maybe in the time she's had to reflect, she understands that Hermione and Ron would no longer make each other happy they way they wanted or the way they thought. I wish people would treat it more like Ron and Hermione announcing a break up instead of Jo trying to rewrite the books (because that's not what she is doing at all). Once again, she is giving a voice to the characters we all love and have grown up with to say how they're feeling these days. Yes it's sad, but it's not Jo's fault.

I refuse to believe this is a cry for attention or publicity stunt. If there is anyone who would never NEED one, it's her. Really the only thing that bothers me is that people are getting so angry about it." 

Tell me what you think!! Potter on ;)

xoChristie

Reasons to Love Otters

Happy New Year! I am quite saddened that I haven't written a blog since 2013! This is awful news. I was thinking about what to blog and I've decided on my favorite animal: otters!

Otter friend I drew with my Samsung Galaxy Note III

They are just the cutest little creatures I've ever seen. I fell in love with them when Good Morning America had some baby otters on their show a couple of years ago. I'm also happy to report that otters are becoming more and more loved every day. Even just a few months ago if I Googled "otters," I would be faced with the same 25 pictures over and over again. Now, go ahead, Google them and let your eyes feast on the abundance of precious, furry, water babies!

Here are some personal reasons why I love otters, and why you should too ;)


*They are super playful! They spend a lot of time sliding on mud or ice.

*As I said before, they're a-flippin-dorable.

*They eat seafood, and as a true Cape Codder, I love me some clams!

*Otters are excellent swimmers, obviously, and swimming is so wonderful for the body and soul.

*JK Rowling's favorite animal is an otter. Let the record show that I did not know this until AFTER I fell in love with them, so I'm not being a copy cat. And yet, having the same favorite animal as my hero is pretty magical.

*Yet another Potter reference: Hermione's Patronus is an otter, what what!

*Last one: Ron's last name is Weasley...weasel...otters are weasels...there you go.

*Their brown fur looks perfect against the blue-green hue of the ocean

*Otters have the best memes. End of story.

*Webbed paws. Need I say more?

*They hold hands while sleeping in the water so they don't float away from each other. Yes this is true! And while looking this up to make sure this wasn't just another Pinterest rumor, I found this fantastic website with so much information on Sea Otters and this one on River Otters, YAY!

*One of the best things about Otters though, is that they are making a huge comeback! The National Wildlife Federation stated that their habitats have been restored and that scientists are returning them to the places they used to live.

*Also, my cat reminds me of them.

Scooter!

I hope you liked my happy little rant of the happy little mammals that make me jump for joy. How do you feel about otters? What is your favorite animal and why? Let me know in the comments!!

Have a happy and stress-free week!

xoChristie

Harry Potter Club

Hello friends! Today was the last day of my Harry Potter Club at school. There were 6 weeks of Potter fun; I loved it so much, that I really want to share with you all the activities we did.

Before this session of After School Activities, I came up with a list of things I wanted to do. I was also lucky enough to get a bit of funding from the program to buy some supplies I needed. I knew I wanted to make wands, make HP tee shirts, play some Potter Pictionary, Jeopardy, Charades, and watch a movie. Read this post to see how I did it!

Timeline

Week 1: Begin making the wands (tutorial here!)
            Pictionary
Week 2: Paint the finished wands
            Charades
Week 3: Harry Potter tee shirt making with freezer paper stencil (tutorial here)
            Charades and Pictionary
Week 4: Tee-Shirt touch up/finish up
            Jeopardy
            Vote for movie
Week 5: First half of movie
Week 6: Second half of movie
            Special snack!

Pictionary and Charades

The Pictionary and Charades were SO easy to do. Ahead of time, I wrote out Harry Potter words on pieces of paper and put them in a little bin for the kids to pick from. Even if the same cards were chosen in both games, different things happened and it was very entertaining.

One of the cards said Fred and George Weasley and one of my kids asked me to help. She wanted to play the scene where the twins put their names in the Goblet of Fire, turn into old men, and start fighting. Of course, there was no real violence involved in our portrayal, and it was absolutely hysterical! The other kids guessed right away. I lucked out with some real HP experts for my first session!

Jeopardy

The Jeopardy Game lasted about 15 minutes, I was shocked! Next time I would do much harder questions but most of the kids were in 4th grade, so I didn't want to make them too difficult. I underestimated them for sure! HERE is the link for the game. Bear with me, this is the first time I've shared a PowerPoint, and I'm not sure how it will work. There SHOULD be links set up so you just have to click the box with the amount of points to go to that specific question for that category. PLEASE let me know if it is not working right, I want to fix it so you can use it. I believe if you just download it, all the slides should work the way I intended.

BE WARNED! One of the questions has the wrong answer because I forgot to edit it. (When I was making the game, it was easier to make one slide with the proper edits and animations, copy and paste the whole slide a bunch of times, and then just change the words in the questions and answers, but I missed one!)

Freezer Paper Stencils

Here are some of the awesome freezer paper stencil tee shirts!! *Note: Not everything was done as a stencil, as the kids were free to add to the shirt after they stenciled

An awesome Death Eater and Dark Mark shirt by one of my Slytherin kids

A blue Phoenix

Black Dementor

This girl is an amazing artist. The bottom right is the sweetest and most adorable cartoon dragon, but I didn't get a picture of the finished product

Harry Potter and a Lightening Bolt

The Harry Potter logo

The Movie

Most of my kids were in the 11-12 range, so I wanted to keep it as kid-friendly as possible. We all know that there is much more killing and violence as we progress through the series so I let them pick between the first three films. The majority voted for the Prisoner of Azkaban! It was all well and good until this line happened: Marge: "If there's something wrong with the *****, then there's something wrong with the pup!" WHOOPS! Forgot about that little tidbit. It was okay. I just reminded them that this is British language and the context wasn't intended as a swear (I explained this in Kid Words, of course). They were quite mature about it!

The Last Day

The last day was low-key. We watched the second half of PoA and we split this beauty:

I kept it simple; just a Stop and Shop brownie square that I decorated with pre-made Betty Crocker icing. The kids loved it, and of course they all fought over who got the Lightening Bolt!

All in All

I really loved this club. I would do it all three sessions a year if they let me! I had so much fun with the kids, and seeing a younger generation appreciate Harry like I always have gives me solid confidence that it will be around for years and years to come.

As always, thanks for reading!

xoChristie

My Tattoo

I'm 24 years old and I finally got my first tattoo! I knew I'd wanted one for a long time; I also knew my first tattoo would be influenced by Harry Potter.

Go ahead, you may think it's silly, but Harry Potter has been more than just a series of books to me. I will be forever grateful to JK Rowling for writing the books that carried me through my childhood and adolescence.

Harry Potter gave me my love for reading, something crucial to being a teacher. I used to dread reading anything unless it was a Nickelodeon Magazine, until my mom bought me that first Potter book. Since then, I've loved to read in my spare time which is something I'm proud of in this day and age of video games and electronics.

It's been even more than that, though. Adolescence is a crazy, confusing, scary, and sometimes terrible time in a person's life, especially for a person who doesn't have any older siblings to confide in. I can remember no matter what was going on, I could pick up one of the books and escape. I learned lessons from so many of the characters' experiences, examples, and choices that I'd like to share with you.

James Potter: Mistakes from your past do not define who you are.
Lily Potter: There is good in everyone, no matter how dark someone may seem.
Rubeus Hagrid: Love all creatures of the earth (Ron and I are still working on appreciating spiders...we're trying, Hagrid!)
Molly Weasley: You don't have to be a child's biological mother to give them the motherly love they need.
Dobby: Be loyal.
Ginny Weasley: The best things in life are worth waiting for.
Fred and George Weasley: There is always a reason to smile.
Sirius Black: It's okay, and sometimes even wonderful, to be different from your family.
Voldemort: Through his mistakes, I've seen that there is no life without love.
Severus Snape: Heroes don't always look like Superman.
Albus Dumbledore: "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." 
Neville Longbottom: Stand up for what you believe in, even if it means standing up to your friends.
Luna Lovegood: She is my favorite character. Embrace yourself and all of your quirks. Never change for anyone.
Hermione Granger: Treat everyone with kindness, compassion, and respect.
Ron Weasley: No matter what, your true friends will always be there for you.
Harry Potter: More often than not, doing what is right is not what is easy.

 These characters have made me who I am today.

 Now to explain the chess pieces. I didn't want a tattoo that everyone else has...we all know the ones I'm talking about. I don't mean to be offensive because I love them all! However, like Luna, I take pride in my differences so I wanted an original idea. I began to think of how I could represent the Golden Trio when I remembered the chapter "Through the Trapdoor" in The Sorcerer's Stone.

 There you have it. Harry the Bishop, Ron the knight, and Hermione the castle.

 If you took the time to read this, I deeply appreciate it, and I'm happy to have shared this with you.

xoChristie