Finally Burning the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle Wedding Candle

Okay, heh, hmmmmm, what should I really say about this??!!

Well, not much.  To say the least Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been in the news a lot lately.  If you don't know why, I'm an little envious.  In all honestly I've always been a little fascinated with the British monarchy.  Mainly because my Mom and Princess Diana were born the same year and married the same year, I'm the same age as Prince William, and my brother Michael is the same age as Harry, so growing up I've always been aware and curious of all this royal stuff.

In September of 2018 I visited Buckingham Palace with my Mom, and the gift shop was giving away free commemorative candles celebrating the marriage of Harry and Meghan if enough was spent.  I bought a couple things and got the candle.

So this whole Prince Harry and Meghan Markle thing has been all over the place, everywhere, memes, news stories, and whatnot, and I've got opinions, and honestly not the least bit surprised, and I'll leave it at that, because there's quite the divide in opinions, and we're all entitled to our opinions.  But then I realized something!  I still have their commemorative candle.  I shouldn't let it go to waste.  The smell is honestly quite nice: White lilies, orange blossom, neroli, tuberose, violets, and lily of the valley.  It's supposed to be good for 40 hours.  We'll see. 

And now I need to get back to life.  Have a great weekend.

Walking Around Kensington Palace Gardens

 On the evening of September 23rd my Mom and I walked around Kensington Palace Gardens.  The palace itself was closed, but the gardens were open for a stroll.  The gardens are beautiful and worth a visit.

 Queen Victoria, as this is where she grew up.

Photos by Robin and Sarah Stufflebeam

Being Greeted By My Patronus in England

 Last September my Mom and I went with a tour to the U.K. and Ireland.

In London we stayed at the Hilton Double Tree at Hyde Park, located a very easy walk to Kensington Palace and Gardens. 

We were both exhausted from the long flight, and then busing into the city, but instead of relaxing before the group dinner we went on a walk.

So, to back track, last year I found out on Pottermore that my patronus is a gray squirrel.

I had so many mixed feelings about the whole squirrel thing.  Took the test several times, but the last time I took it I got a red squirrel.  So yeah, squirrel, totally going to own it and be proud of my cute little critter of a protector.

And while strolling through Hyde Park there were So. Many. Squirrels.

Here you have to go into the mountains to see them.

 So I decided it was a sign of good luck and that I was going to have a magical trip.

And while visiting Glamis Castle in Scotland, my last day in the U.K., I found this cute little squirrel pin as a memento.  I'm still having a good laugh over the squirrel being my patronus.

More Potter?

(Image Info)

Maybe not, but in an interview by the London AP, J.K. Rowling is not closed to the idea of writing a story in the Harry Potter Universe.  She doesn't want to write more about Harry, stating she's finished his journey.  Personally I think it's a great idea, being a Harry Potter fan, and I love expanding creative universes (it's worked well for Marvel and D.C. after all.)  

"But ... if I did have a great idea for something else, I probably would do it. I am very averse to the prequel-sequel idea. A sidestep could maybe ... well, we'll see." J.K. Rowling said.  Talking about prequels, I would love a collection of short-stories centering around the Myriad Misadventures of the Mischievous Marauders; I'm sure there's a wealth of material that can be gleamed from Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail.  Personal wish.

 

This interview came per-release of Rowling's new book The Casual Vacancy which was released yesterday.  Have I read it?  No.  Will I?  Not anytime soon; I love my fiction steeped in fantasy, thank you very much.  And from the videos I've watched and reviews I've read about this new book, it's overwhelmingly adult in theme, language, material, etc, and for personal reasons I choose not to read such material.  Then there's the fact that the Kindle download is $17.99, which is disgustingly ridiculous.

The amazon reviewers, as of today, has given the book a 3 out of 5 stars, albeit true HP fans who haven't read The Casual Vacancy could have lowered the score out of spite.  Regardless, though I understand Rowling wanting to write what she wishes to write, I hope she returns to the magic we've all grown to love.        

Sarah

My Favorite London 2012 Olympic Moments

The funny thing about my family is that we're not super sporty people; it's probably because we're geeks who spend most of our time with the arts and sciences.  But when the Olympics are on, the TV is on, and we get excited over everything.

I think apart of it is because the Olympics isn't your typical sporty fair.  There is something for everyone: from soccer to basketball, table tennis to gymnastics, track and field to trampolining, etc.  And the team you are cheering for is your home country, so there's good ol' fashion national pride.

Favorite Scandal Moment

After the Men's team final, the British erupted in a loud applause when the scores went up and their home team got Silver.  Prince William and Harry were in the audience sharing in the excitement.  China got Gold, Britain Silver, and Ukraine Bronze.  Then someone from Japan's team went to the judges to file a complaint.  Kohei Uchimura wasn't given credit for his handstand dismount off the pommel horse, which lowered the score.  As part of regulations, they had to offer money, a few Benjamin Franklins, and their plea was heard.  The score was changed.  China Gold, Japan Silver, and Britain Bronze.  That one change, about .7 points increase, bumped Japan to Silver and tossed Ukraine off the podium. The home team had to go from an elated second to third.    

Favorite USA Victory

The U.S. girls team winning the Team Gold.  I remember watching the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta on TV.  That for me was the Summer between Middle School and High School, and I'll never forget watching Kerri Strug needing to land a second vault, standing, on a hurt foot to grantee the team a Gold.  Since then we haven't had a girls team strong enough to bring home the team gold, until now.  These girls were amazing. Mackayla's vault was perfect and deserved a perfect score.  Overall Amazing.     

Favorite Sport

Rhythmic Gymnastics.  My previous post was all about Synchronize Swimming, which is amazing, but I thoroughly enjoyed the Rhythmic Gymnastics team compition.  What these girls can do is really astounding.  

Favorite Royal Moment

    

During the Cross Country Equestrian course competition, all the royals were there enjoying family time.  There was a point where Kate was talking to Will, pointing to the camera.  He looked at the camera and waved, and Kate started giggling.  It was cute.

Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter, won a Silver medal with her Equestrian team. 

Favorite New Sport

Mountain Bike: Women's Cross Country.  I had no idea Mountain Biking was in the Olympics!  I stumbled upon it by accident, but it was really fun to watch. 

United States Women Ruled!

The U.S. finished off the medal count in first place with 104 medals: 46 Gold, 29 Silver, and 29 Bronze.  For the first time there were more U.S. women in the Olympics then men, and the ladies brought home more medals then the men.  Also, for the first time there was a women competing from every country in the London games.  Amazing. 

Another amazing feat is that 38 World Records were broken at the London Olympics.

It's been fun,
Sarah

The Awesomeness that is Synchronized Swimming

I honestly think it's sad that Synchronized Swimming gets the bad rap that it does.  Even in the middle of the 2012 Summer London Olympics I made this sport a joke on my Facebook wall: "You know you're a geek when you yell at the screen during an Olympic Archery event . . . I guess I would be more of a geek if I did that during Synchronized Swimming."  Joking aside, I think this is such a fantastic sport with an unbelievable amount of difficulty.

Back when my family was in California we had a pool, and I used to try some of the synchronized swimming moves to no avail.  It's amazing how they can swim upside down with their legs out of the water.  No matter how hard I tried I could never come close.

During the London 2012 Olympics Russia took gold, China Silver, and Spain bronze, though Spain was my favorite.

Okay, those pics look odd, but they were actually some of my favorite moments from their routine.  Below is a video of their qualifying for the Olympics.  The costumes are different, and there are some slight differences in the choreography.  

Some of my favorite shots were the duel cam, which showed what was happening in and out of the water.  I wish it was possible to watch all the routines like this.

My Dad noticed something interesting about the Japanese pose before they started.  He asked Steven what kanji (Japanese written character) they were representing, and Steven believes it was Kokoro, Heart.

Happy end of Summer swimming!
Sarah