book review: the book thief

This was a book that I read back in 2009 when it came out and it was one of the first books I've read in my life that I distinctly remember not liking. When the movie came out a few years ago I absolutely loved it! So I thought that maybe I was just too young to understand it and that's why I didn't like the book. Also, a key piece to understanding it is that it's told from the perspective of death. The author personifies death which makes the book super unique!

Our first book club meeting was a total success! We did some short introductions and then just hopped right into the discussion. We each took a question and answered it ourselves and then opened it up to others.

This book has a lot of themes.

Most importantly for me was the idea of how important words are. They can be used for good or evil. They can help us to progress and change. They are the way we communicate and have relationships with others. We become educated from words and gain knowledge.

There are thousands of books written about World War II, but this one has such an interesting take on it. I love that it follows the story of children who maybe didn't understand everything that was going on but we're forced to grow up too fast and learned to cherish their relationships with friends and family because they didn't know when would be the las time they would see them. They learned how to help others in need and they learned about what is truly important in life.

This book also has a theme of love. Fatherly love, romantic love, and love for a stranger. Liesel has a special connection with her adopted father and their love shines through their actions as they share what is important to them like his accordion and her learning to read. Romantic love is shown through Liesel and Rudy which starts out as playful childhood love through playing soccer in the streets and walking to school together but which blossoms as they grow older. It is also fascinating to watch Liesel’s relationship grow with the new hiding in their basement. He grows from a stranger to someone who she loves to spend time with regardless of the risk.

This book also emphasizes the character of people and how their interactions are often a reflection of the things they are going through. It talks about kindness and about helping others through service in times of need.

Cover to Cover

I started a book club! It is something I've wanted to do for awhile but just never had the time to. Now a lot of my friends are out of school and I had an open summer to plan so it seemed like the right time!

There are 10 girls in it and here is our book list!

September: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

October: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

November: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

December: The Paperbag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne

January: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

February: Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

March: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

April: I Am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai

May: Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

I'm going to try to do a book review each month so keep posted for those!!

labor day

We had an awesome labor day! Of course we were already a couple weeks in to school so it was nice to have a short break!

In the morning we took a hike to Stewart Falls. This is my favorite hike walk in Utah County! It never disappoints.

And it wouldn't be complete without actually getting in the falls.

Then we took the frontrunner up to Ogden to meet the boys and hang out with our friend Kelsey. It was so fun and Bryan was feeling all nostalgic remembering all his train rides on his mission. We went to her family's fish farm and caught our very own trout!

I caught the biggest fish and did it on the first try! But there was no way I was gutting the fish. Yuck!! And then one of the kids that worked there filleted them for us. Such a cool process!

 Then we went up to her house, played racquetball, made ourselves fish for, dinner, and finished by watching a movie in their home theater. It was a blast!

classroom theme

This year since I have 7 of the same kids I didn't want to do the same theme. I researched a lot and decided on an industrial chic theme. I kept it pretty simple but there's a lot of things I really like!

27 little 3rd graders!! It will be an adventure for sure!

 such good reminders!

This is our classroom motto!! I think it's so important to have a positive attitude and it totally affects what and how we accomplish things. 

This is a more recent picture but I decided to keep the library the same travel theme like I did last year. It's amazing the places a book can take you! And please notice our fun paper chain getting ready for the wedding!!

I'm so grateful for cute friends who come help me set up! This back bulletin board is going to be used to display work!

It's definitely a party in here with the lanterns and the hanging lights. Thank a billion times to Bryan for successfully putting up the lights. Keza and I struggled a bit. 

These are little tags I made for the open house. We are all set to go and ready for this school year to begin!

provo adventures

I came back to Provo in the middle of July and shortly after my brothers decided to follow me down here! We have had a blast hanging out and spending time together.

I have also been busy babysitting! One day there was a noise in the house. Gavin was like, I know what it is! He brought me over to the "fidget spinner box". See the little CO picture? IT LOOKS LIKE A FIDGET SPINNER!!! I was cracking up. I love how little kid's brains work.

My diploma came and I'm officially a college graduate! YAY!

Jacob and I had the opportunity to volunteer at the new MTC Open House. It was a blast! I was in charge of counting people as they walked in and Jacob was in charge of directing people towards the end. It was so fun to be on that campus again! 

We were dying to go mini golfing! This is our favorite place that we've been going to ever since we were little on vacation trips to Utah. There are two sides to the course and it's unlimited games for $5. Most definitely worth it!

We had so much fun the first time we decided to bring dates the next time we went! 

Bryan and Kels are our favorites :)

The next friday we went to the football stadium to watch Moana. They do this every year and it's such a fun event. Big screen, awesome sound system, laying in the grass with good friends just can't be beat! Pay attention to that cute boy on the left. He becomes important later.

Our cute little Berks got baptized. Isn't she just precious? We're super proud of her and so glad we could be there to see it!

Part of the fun of having the boys here is introducing them to all the fun Utah things. 

One of those is KONG KONES at Macey's. 

We also made a trip to Topgolf. I had been once in Arizona in the middle of August where it was beyond dying hot and they had misters on the fans. This was a much more pleasant experience with a nice summer morning in Utah. It was fun for all!

We went on more double days including using a coupon I had at this escape room. We absolutely loves these! They can be kind of spendy but are totally worth it! For this one we had to solve the clue game and get out of the room. We got the code to get out of the room about halfway through and were just trying to solve the game when a lock got stuck with like 5 seconds left. We barely didn't get it opened to figure out which weapon was used. Ugh! We were so frustrated but it was totally worth it

I spent some more days babysitting. I love these kids! On this day we went to the aquarium which I had never been to before! The penguins and the otters were my favorite!

All spare moments were spent decorating my classroom. After a crazy turn of events I decided to stay at Orchard Hills instead of moving to Salt Lake so I was waaaaay behind on getting my classroom ready. I'm so grateful for friends who are willing to help! 

Any temple trip is good, but a trip with great friends in your ward family is just the best! It had been a couple weeks since I had been and it was just what I needed. It was a perfect evening! 

Such a good lookin' group!

Summer is all about baseball. And when the hometown team is in town, you can't pass that up! 

Those Blackner kids sure know how to have team spirit ;)

 Poor Bryan was deathly ill but he still came with us and I'm so glad he did! At this point, I was still in denial that he was actually spending time with me so I was cautious, but also loved it!

The first BYU football game was the next day. It was SO DANG HOT. I don't think I've ever been to a game where I was dying like that. During halftime it looked like everyone left, but they were all hanging out in the concourse because it was slightly cooler under there. The cougars pulled out with a win though so we were excited about that. That was just about the only successful game so at least we were there to witness it. Being in LES is always a pleasure!

We really know how to party! The next day me and the boys went to go visit Grandma T in Manti. We went to church with her and then ate dinner and visited. As we were leaving (literally right past the temple) we got a flat tire! So here is Jacob helpin us out. We actually didn't have one of the parts we needed but these nice people helped us out and we made it back just fine!

The next week KENZIE came to visit us!! We haven't seen her in ages. And this was the first time all 4 of us have been together in a year and half.

We had a family BBQ at Matt and Mikelle's which we haven't had in a while. It was so fun! And um hello!! Look at Bryan. He's hot and Kenz is the greatest photographer :)

So glad she's back in America! Now we just gotta get her back to Utah... love you sissy.

 It was a jam packed month! But that's how I love to do it! Stayin busy and havin fun! 

I really am so grateful for family. They make everything better!