A Day in the Life

On my agenda for today:
1. Drink lots of coffee (check)
2. Continue reading The Return of the King (check)
3. Enjoy a visit with my friend Kara (check)
4. Watch World Cup final (partial check)
5. Go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with Cindi
6. Go eat Ethiopian food at Meskerem on South Grand

On Andy's agenda for today:
1. Drink lots of coffee (check)
2. Listen to music (check)
3. Love wife by dropping off items at Goodwill, so she doesn't have to (check)
4. Watch World Cup final (partial check)
5. Drink lots of water (partial check) in preparation for #6
6. Go see U2. Sweat a lot. Drink beer.

This is how we roll.

Breaking the Statue of Secrecy

Why yes, that is a chocolate frog behind my foot. Thank you for asking.

On March 24, my happy feet took me to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, where I managed to spend around eight hours in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter park. I guess I should say “we”, because I did this together with Windy, my BFF from college.

Windy introduced me to the literary masterpiece that is the Harry Potter series when we were sophomores in college. She picked it up while recovering from surgery and promptly passed it on to me. Ten years later, I was given tickets to the theme park for my 30th birthday. Andy and I planned the trip to Florida, and it turned out that Seth and Windy were able to take some time away from their jobs as campus ministers to join us. As luck would have it, our trip fell during the week of Windy’s 30th birthday as well. It seemed only fitting that we should experience the park together.

Suffice it to say that the we let our Harry Potter Nerd Factor grow to a level that would have been socially unacceptable in any other environment. I’m not going to describe the whole thing because this isn’t a travel blog, and the Nerd Factor isn’t for the faint of heart. The nutshell version is that the park was wonderful. The attention to detail was extraordinary, the rides were thrilling, and the technology made everything extremely realistic. Even the food was superb. Over the course of the day we had shepherd’s pie, cornish pasties, fish and chips, and of course Butterbeer and pumpkin juice.

But honestly, the time with Windy was the thing that made the day absolutely perfect, and not just because she enjoys Harry Potter. Windy and I get each other in a way that means we don’t have to do a lot of explaining. We share a love for literature, funny stories, people, and ministry. I understand her passion for campus ministry. She understands my passion for Australia. We both have a similar love/hate relationship with fundraising. We don’t have to tone down our biting sarcasm around one another (not that we ever tone it down for others). She didn’t mind my need to take pictures of every single thing. I didn’t mind her need to stay out of the sun. I can talk to Windy about literally anything, which is unusual for me. I’m normally a slow starter where deep conversation is concerned.

Harry Potter. Good friends. Butterbeer mustaches. Life doesn’t get much better than that.