"That's the Stressful One." -Anna

The wizard war has officially hit the fan. Spells and people flying everywhere. Poor Harry realizing he will never lead a normal life as he looks around at his fellow students enjoying the last few years of their childhood.
Aspects I Love About Book Five:
-Harry seeing his arrogant father and outspoken mother in Snape's memory. Isn't it just great that Harry's father grew up into the great man that he was....and that Lily fell in love with him. Lily Evans....L.E. I love it.
-Harry's temper. Rowling did a great job conveying both the height and the depth of Harry's failing efforts to deal with anything and everything that had and was going on at the present time. Now that he knows about the prophecy, it'll be his decision whether or not he wants to grow up, just like his dad.
-Hermione's ability to put Harry in his place. She successfully rebukes Harry when he is upset and taking it out on them, never letting him get away with the satisfaction of thinking he made them feel as awful as he does. She also is able to completely remedy the situation (when the situation included him feeling left out in the Order of the Phoenix even though he had fought Voldemort three times now) by making him the leader of the Defense Against the Dark Arts group. You go, Hermione.
-Ron believing in himself. After his struggling quidditch career, he finally told himself during the last match that he could do it....and he did. Gryffindor won. Now he has a chance to grow up as he has overcome the greatest obstacle in his path at the moment, and thus become a better best friend to Harry.
-Rowling's development of Ginny. We have begun to see the sassiness that is Ginny Weasley, and I quite like it. It's easy to see how Harry is going to start to like her with that attitude. Stubborn, brave, and sassy....plus red hair and a way with boys. She's going to be a hot commodity in book six. And I know this reader is excited to see Harry, looking exactly like his father, interested in a girl that resembles his mother. : )
-The scene for the battle against the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix took place in the Ministry of Magic. So symbolic.
-Rowling using aspects of this magical world that we've taken for granted, such as the portraits. Did we know they could travel to other portraits of themselves? Nope, but the portraits hanging in the Headmaster's Office proved quite useful. I'm excited to see what Rowling uses in book six and seven. Does the two way mirror come back into play that Sirius gave to Harry? Do we ever find out what exactly some of those things were in the Department of Mysteries? She's so good.

There are so many other things, such as the emphasis on the strength of the mind, the back story about Snape (will Harry ever remedy that? can he?), and the very real stress I felt during the O.W.L. examinations that I could talk about it. But it all ends in the fact that I aspire to be like J.K. Rowling when I tell stories.

Speaking of that, besides being sure that this summer is supposed to be for rest and for spending a lot of time in prayer for next year, I might make it a goal to really dive head first into this idea that I think would make a really good book: The Dark Ferret Society. I've never been this serious about actually finishing something.
I've realized that not only do my five strengths revolve around people, but they revolve around story telling as well.
Restorative-Present and problem and show how it's fixed. Translation: Create a plot line and resolve it.
Intellection-Think about a lot of stuff. Translation: Spend time thinking about the world I'm creating-a Midwesterner viewing a South Western world. : ) The topic of conversation for the last few years with my friends.
Input-Gather information. That's what writing is all about.
Empathy-Look at something from another's point of view. Translation: Put myself in the place of the characters and write from their standpoints.
Connectedness-See that everything has a connection to something else. Translation: The beginning of stories are the most important; they show you what information to use to interpret the rest of the book and usually what to expect at the ending. It all connects.

I'll let you know how it goes.
I guess I've never given it a shot because I've been afraid of failure. What if you suck at something that you've dreamt about doing since you were four?
It's high time to write and learn to be at a place where I can constructively praise and criticize my own writing. And to be brave enough to let other people actually read it. From start to finish read it.
To see if fiction writing is an avenue I can glorify God in : ). Translation: If I can reign these rampant thoughts shooting through my mind and my crazy imagination to a point where I can actually communicate something.
Pray for me. Seriously. What if I've been trying to be something I'm not all this time when thinking about future careers. What if it's just about being who I am? Seems simple.

I'm thinking about you all when serving God and being ourselves comes into play. I've been thinking it's one in the same.