“I’m Going on an Adventure” – Bilbo Baggins

Song Lyric of the Day:

What was before, we see once more / Is our kingdom, a distant light / Fiery mountain beneath the moon / The words unspoken, we’ll be there soon / For home a song that echoes on / And all who find us will know the tune

Neil Finn / “Song of the Lonely Mountain“

I’ve mentioned my friend Nan in assorted posts over the years. We’ve seen each other through thick and thin, and she is someone I feel like I was meant to meet and get to know. She’s been a wonderful friend to Rich and I over the years, and Coraline is her #1 fan (she calls her Miss Nan). So when I heard about the Hobbit Fan Fellowship contest — with the grand prize being a trip to New Zealand — I told Nan she needed to enter. Because for as long as I’ve known her (8+ years now), I’ve known of her deep and abiding love for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and all things J.R.R. Tolkien. The woman is basically a hobbit at heart, in the best way possible. It was a multiphase contest, beginning with entrants creating a postcard and then ending with the creation and submission of a short movie. Everyone who’s seen Nan’s movie has loved it. Behold:

I am so proud of her for creating such a beautiful and heartfelt short movie. And I was touched and honored when she said that if she won, she’d take me to New Zealand with her. Well, guess what? SHE WON!!!! Nan is one of the lucky winners from the United States — there are multiple international winners, too — and I am beyond thrilled that she is letting me tag along with her halfway across the world. Contest winners — and us lucky plus-ones — will get to visit filming sites for the LOTR and Hobbit movies and, best of all, get to watch the new movie, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, with none other than the series’ phenomenal director, Sir Peter Jackson.

To say this is surreal is an understatement. This will be the farthest I’ve ever traveled in my life (New Zealand is 17 hours ahead of our time zone), and it will be to visit filming locations for one of my favorite-ever movie series. Basically, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. This will also be only my second time away from Coraline, but I’m pretty sure once she knows I’ll be going somewhere with Miss Nan, she’ll be OK with it. That and when she sees the movies someday — she’ll really appreciate it then.

Did I mention how wonderful Nan is and how grateful I am to her for letting me tag along to FREAKING NEW ZEALAND? Because let me tell you, if she ever needs a kidney, part of my liver, a lung — whatever — I’ve got her covered.