Book Review: Between Shades of Gray

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Do you know what I really love about teaching 6th grade?  I can have intelligent conversations with my students.  They can share their excitement about books they're reading, and we can exchange books.  I seriously just love teaching these older kids.

During our Open House night the first week of September, I was talking with a student and her parents.  This girl is great for a lots of reasons: 1) We share a first name. ;) 2) I taught her in first grade.  3) She genuinely missed me for the last 6 years, and she was SO excited to have me again.  4) She LOVES to read.  Somehow in our conversation, I mentioned that my favorite genre is historical fiction.  Her dad encouraged her to tell me about this book that she read over the summer.  I said the book sounded great, and she to my surprise, she brought it to me the next day.

That is the story of how I came to read Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. 

Here's the summary from goodreads.com:

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

I really loved this book.  Again, I do love historical fiction, so I had no problem getting into this story.  This was something that I honestly don't think I knew about history, and it was horrifying and incredibly interesting to read about this time under the rule of Stalin. 

If you are interested in the World War II time period, or if you just enjoy historical fiction like I do, I highly recommend this book.

P.S. I did return the favor.  During our conversation, the student's father asked her if she was familiar with Anne Frank.  She said she wasn't.  So I did the right thing as a teacher and lent her my copy of The Diary of Anne Frank.  She returned it shortly thereafter, having truly enjoyed it.  :)

Winning is awesome!

Do you remember a few months ago when I shared the products I received in my first VoxBox from Influenster?  In case you don't, the "VoxBox" link will take you to the last post of the series where you can click on all of the products I got to try.

Not only is it super awesome to get a VoxBox, but Brand Challenges open up for you for the products you received.  If you complete the tasks, you get entered to win more products from the brands themselves.  I actually won TWO! 

The first one I received was from Schwarzkopf Professional OSiS+.

The product I received from them in my VoxBox was called "Rough Rubber".  I liked that product, and so I was excited to receive this amazing package of products...even though I don't use much (if any) styling product on my hair. 

So what did I get?  From Left to Right- Dust It Matifying Powder, Fiber Gum, Shine Serum, the product guide, hair brush, cute travel carrying case, Mousse, and Hair Spray.

I haven't used the matifying powder, mousse, or fiber gum.  But the other products, I do like.  I particularly like the shine serum to tame stray hairs and to calm frizz. 

I will have another post with my other prize pack coming soon!

Have you ever won a Brand Challenge from Influenster??

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 35

I'm so excited for another round of "would you rather" questions this week, but before I get to my thoughts, please remember a few things:

1. Follow Kim, Tarole, and me.
2. Post about Harry Potter and link up below.
3. Share the love via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and whatever other social media you love!
4. Visit the other blogs to check out their answers.

So here we go! 

Would you rather.....

....be a werewolf like Remus Lupin or a ghost like Nearly Headless Nick? While there's something to be said for flying through walls, I'd have to go with the werewolf.  Of course there are some pretty serious drawbacks, but at least when you're not being disfigured by the moon, you can enjoy things....like food.

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...have Hagrid or Dobby as a friend?  Oh wow.  This is a really difficult one for me.  I LOVE Dobby.  I think I would have to pick Hagrid, though.  Dobby tends to cause more trouble when he's trying to help.  Hagrid would probably be better at getting me OUT of trouble than creating more for me. 

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...spend an afternoon at the Burrow with the Weasleys or in Diagon Alley?  I do love the Weasleys, but assuming that they'd probably be with me, I'm going to go with Diagon Alley.  Sure, it would be cool to stay at the Burrow for a visit, but oh, the things there are to see and do in Diagon Alley!  :)



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...play Quidditch or Wizard's Chess?  I have to go with Quidditch here.  I'm sure chess would be much more exciting in the Wizarding World, but Quidditch is definitely the most exciting of the two.  I doubt I'd be any good, but it would be fun!

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...have a pet Hippogriff or a Phoenix?  Hippogriffs are rather large and would probably be a bit inconvenient as a pet.  So even though Buckbeak is cool, a Phoenix is WAY more awesome in my opinion!

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What are your thoughts??   Be sure to link up below!

 

Last October, I did my very first blog swap!  It was hosted by my friend Kristin and another blogger, Allie.  I loved picking out gifts to send, and getting my package in the mail, too.  That's also when I got to meet Casey because we were paired up! 

So anyway, about a month ago, I e-mailed Kristin and asked if she'd be interested in hosting a fall blog swap with me, and so was born the 2nd Annual Great Pumpkin Swap! :)

 

I can't even express how excited I am!  :)  So here's what you need to know!

 

What:  A fun swap of all things Fall with a blog partner.  You sign up, we give you a partner, you do some shopping, and ship out the package.  

And then,  you'll get a fun package in return! 

Cost should be $15-20 without the shipping.

 

When: Sign-ups will run from today to Monday, October 7th.  We'll send you your partner's email address by Friday, October 11th, so you can swap contact info (We'll have all the info on a spreadsheet, so if you have questions just let me know!)  Packages need to be mailed out by Friday, October 18th.  We'll link up our reveals on Friday, October 25th!

Swaps are SO much fun!  I hope you will join us!  Sign up below:

If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out online:
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The 2nd Annual Great Pumpkin Swap!

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Skirtember: Last Week!

The last week of Skirtember has arrived.  I want to thank Kristin and Chantal for hosting Skirtember for us!  I have had so much fun challenging myself to wear skirts and dresses this month.  To see what I've been wearing, you can review Week 1, Week 2, Week 3.

Technically, today is the last day of September, and I will be wearing a skirt today, too.  I'll share my very last Skirtember outfit either later this week or next Monday.  I haven't decided yet.

Here's what I wore this week:

Day 23- September 23rd

I didn't wear a skirt this day.  Scott and I were on our way home from the Pittsburgh Steelers/Chicago Bears game on Sunday night.

Day 24- September 24th

Shirt: Maurice's // Skirt & Leggings: Old Navy (the skirt is super old) // "Wrap Me Up in London" Scarf: Penelope Ann // Boots: Target.com

Day 25- September 25th

Entire outfit brought to you by Old Navy.com

Wednesday was school picture day.  Even as a teacher, I still tend to dread this day.  lol  I ordered this entire outfit from Old Navy.  I love their "Outfits We Love" section of the website.  I totally copied this and one other outfit from head-to-toe.  Totally makes life easier. :)

Day 26- September 26th

Camisole: Maurice's // Jacket & Shoes: Old Navy // Dress: Body Central (old) // Leggings: Khol's

Day 27- September 27th

Dress down day.  Jeans, jeans, jeans.  :)

Day 28- September 28th

We had a wedding on Saturday.  I don't have a picture because I literally wore my school picture day outfit again.  Glad I did laundry.  :)

Day 29- September 29th

Ok friends, after the wedding, I was out with friends to celebrate a birthday.  I'm lucky to even have gotten out of bed.  SO there was no skirt.

Overall, I think I've done really well! 

Stats:

• only 9 days without wearing a skirt or dress (mostly Fridays & Saturdays)
• repeated 2 outfits exactly
• wore 1 dress twice but in different ways
• A total of 18 different outfits

How did your Skirtember go?  Did you have as much fun as I did?? Link up with Kristin & Chantal to let us know! :)

Stay tuned tomorrow for a fun event announcement!!

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 34

Here we are!  Week 34 of "My Harry Potter Fix"!  This week, Kim, Tarole, and I are discussing The Order of the Phoenix. 

Please remember to follow your hosts, post about Harry Potter, share the HP love via social media, and visit others to view their posts!

So here we go.

It is no secret that this is my least favorite book and movie in the series.  With that being said, I do want to clarify that it doesn't mean that I dislike this book or movie.  Let me try to focus on the positives first, shall I?

Likes:
-Dumbledore's Army forms (the DA).  I love that these students take it upon themselves to learn how to defend themselves.  Though it was against the rules, they still find a way to do what was right and necessary!

-Patronuses are so cool.  I know we first get exposed to them in the Prisoner of Azkaban, but it's mostly about Harry's.  We get to see so many of the DA's patronuses take form!

-I love that Harry gets to spend time with Sirius in this book.  He gets to learn a little more about his parents and Sirius.  Getting to stay at Sirius' house for awhile is important...especially because it becomes a place for Harry, Ron, & Hermione to hide in The Deathly Hallows.

 

-Though they shouldn't have been there, and it resulted in Sirius' death, the part where Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna go to the Ministry of Magic is incredibly exciting.  I particularly love what this shows about Harry and his friends.

 

 

-I really appreciate Fred & George in this book.  I love when they decide to create a diversion so that Harry can talk to Sirius through Umbridge's fire place.

Dislikes:
-Delores Umbridge.  I have said it many, many times in these Harry Potter posts.  She is the most vile awful character.  Honestly, she's worse than Voldemort to me!  The way she speaks, the rules she makes, the evil things she does to Harry.  UGH!!  I could go on and on.  If I ever got to speak to J.K. Rowling, I would ask her why she allowed Umbridge to survive being carried off into the Forbidden Forest by the Centaurs.  In my opinion, she should've been killed or driven mad and thrown into St. Mungo's.

-I've said this before, too.  Harry is so angry in this book.  I understand why he's mad all the time, but it just makes me angry, as well.  He yells at Ron and Hermione all the time, and he can't keep his temper in check so he gets in trouble constantly.  There's just so much teenage angst there, I can't take it.

 
-Sirius dies in this book.  As I stated in last week's "would you rather" post, I would have chosen that Sirius didn't die rather than Dumbledore.  Harry deserved more time with him.

What are your thoughts on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix??  Link up below!

Next week: More "Would You Rather" questions!

Sloppy Joes

The last time Scott and I went grocery shopping, we bought a bag of green bell peppers at Sam's Club.  We got to a point where we needed to use them up, and I thought of Sloppy Joes.  When I was a kid, I truly thought that Manwich was the only way to make Sloppy Joes.  We don't often have that on hand, so I needed to figure out a yummy sauce that would do the trick.

The original recipe comes from allrecipes.com .  I needed to make a few tweaks, so here's my take below:

Sloppy Joes
Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. yellow mustard
• 1 c. ketchup
• 1 T brown sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Brown beef, onion, and bell pepper in a skillet.  Drain.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes.  Serve on your choice of bread or bun.  I add cheese to my Sloppy Joe sandwiches.  I also had some yummy potato salad on hand, and I had that as a side.