A New, Fun Hobby

My sister gave me a super fun model kit for my birthday. I've seen these little buildings all over social media, and I've wanted to do one forever! So I've actually done two now and I had a ton of fun building them. I don't usually like puzzle-type things because you spend all the time to do them and then what? I'm not the type to glue them and hang them up, and I hate seeing my hard work go back into a box. So these were perfect for me.

Check them out!

I am honestly SO OBSESSED with these! They're so adorable and they look amazing on my bookshelves! I may need to do another one...

Book Review: Into the Fire

It's been a hot minute since I've done a book review. If we're being honest, it's been a hot minute since I really felt "into" reading. I've been in a slump where I'd rather watch true crime than read. I've been reading, but not nearly like I used to. It's a hobby/habit that I want to spend more time with again...like a longtime best friend where we haven't seen each other for a long time, but we pick up right where we left off. 

Here's a synopsis from Goodreads: "As a former smokejumper, arson investigator Bri Tucker knows her way around fires. But after a mysterious blaze takes the life of a former colleague, Bri inherits a curious puzzle from him that raises questions about several fiery deaths. Someone, however, doesn't want her picking up where he left off in search of answers.

When she teams up with ATF Special Agent Marc Davis to solve the puzzle, the danger escalates. But will they manage to track down the person behind the mysterious deaths before their budding romance--and maybe even their lives--go up in flames?"

What a ride! I love a great romantic suspense story and this delivered. Bri reminded me of me a little-slow to trust, very independent, tenacious. Marc was a dream guy! Strong and intelligent, respectful and caring. This guy’s a green flag if there ever was one!

I thought I had the villain figured out pretty early on, then I was convinced I didn’t. In the end, I totally did. They were absolutely perfect. I second guessed myself the entire book, until the reveal. At that point, I felt like I knew it, but also like I didn't! They were very well-written.

Plot-wise, things were well paced. Sometimes, a thriller feels a little like whiplash where it's a constant go go go go go. This wasn't that. It's a story that held my interest the entire time without leaving me feeling breathless. (I mean, I did, but that's because Marc was divine.)

Fast paced, full of thrills, and a fantastically awesome story! I can’t wait to jump into the next book.

Covid...again.

So I got really sick over Labor Day weekend, while I was having a girls' weekend with my mom and sisters. I felt awful the entire time, but still did it. I didn't want to miss out!

Probably a mistake (that I don't regret), because I ended up missing all but one day of school last week. I felt horrible!! I went back to work this week, and I started feeling better. Well, this morning I woke up all congested, with a sore throat, and a fever. GOOD GRIEF. My fever spiked, so I ended up going to urgent care.

Turns out, I have covid. AGAIN. I've lost track of how many times I've had this stupid virus. I'm so sick of it! (no pun intended)

Ugh. My brother and his family are in town this weekend, bringing my niece to college (!), and I can't even go see them. 

SO. NOT. FAIR.

Labor Day

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend. My mom, my two sisters, and I have been talking about doing a girls' weekend for years. This year we decided to make it a reality. We met up in Pleasant Grove, which is halfway for all of us (except for Shelley, as she was hosting). We stayed up late, shared so much, had adventures, and played games.

Mom and I left right after school on Friday. We stopped to eat in Pocatello and ended up getting to Shelley's around 9:00. We missed all the bad traffic and made good time. I had a weird thing happen while I was driving though. We were just about to Salt Lake, and suddenly my eyes went all blurry. It was like I wasn't wearing my contacts! So scary, but thankfully it passed fairly quickly. 

On Saturday morning, we went to a session at the Mount Timpanogos temple. I have severe anxiety, and going to the temple is a huge trigger for me. Since my hysterectomy, I can't always tell when I need to go to the bathroom. Being in a place where I can't really get up and leave, and where I'm wearing all white isn't ideal for that. It's been so hard to go. I can't do it on my own. But I decided that I was going to try. It really helped to have my mom and sisters with me. It was still hard, and I fought off a panic attack partway through, but I did it. I made it. It was a nice experience.

Then we went to lunch at an old favorite (Kneaders) and headed to Midway for Swiss Days. We've leaned pretty heavily into our Swiss heritage and wanted to go experience Swiss Days. Midway is so charming! It's very easy to see why our ancestors decided to settle there when they immigrated to the US. It looks almost identical to our ancestral hometown of Balgach, canton of St. Gallen. Even the mountains surrounding it are reminiscent of the Alps. There are several homes there that my great great grandfather built. Last summer, my dad and I got to tour the biggest one as part of a family reunion. It was really special. We did learn that the style of these homes isn't Swiss - it's English!

Swiss Days wasn't all that Swiss. It was a little disappointing that there wasn't more Switzerland involved, but we had a nice time anyway. We did find a really sweet little shop with Christmas decorations from Germany. We all ended up with several purchases. I'm excited to get my tree out so that I can display my new things! We were hoping to have a knockwurst sandwich, which is very Swiss, but they sold out before we got to the line. I ended up having a Navajo taco (although they called it a Swiss taco - not a thing) and the others had a barbecue dinner. We were all pretty disappointed, to be honest. Oh well.

We visited a really charming bookshop that I'd like to go back to the next time I'm in Utah. It reminded me of my favorite bookshop, The King's English, in Salt Lake. Shelley hasn't ever been there, so that's in the plans as well. I love fun bookshops! This one wasn't in an old house, so it didn't have all the little secret rooms and passages as TKE, but it was still fun. I saw a couple books that I'm interested in reading.

When we got back to Shelley's, we watched Pride & Prejudice (Keira Knightley version, which we all love) and stayed up way too late again. We went to church the next morning, although I only stayed for sacrament meeting. I was sick the whole time. Still am. I only made it in to work one day this week! I hate being sick. 

Anyway, we fixed dinner together and went down to Springville to see if we could find an ancestor's grave. We couldn't. There was no record of it in the cemetery. We drove up Hobble Creek Canyon. It's starting to change colors, and it's gorgeous! Then we went back and played a super fun game. You sing a line of a song, which is recorded in an app. Then you play it backwards and the next person tries to sing the backwards part. Then you play it again and you see if you got close to the original. We had some recognizable words, but everything else was pretty jumbled. It was so fun! We laughed so hard.

Monday morning, we went and got pedicures together and then headed home. It was so much fun and I'm glad we did it. We'd like to make this an annual tradition. We all needed it and loved spending the time together.

First Week of School

Well, the first week of school is over. 

THANK GOODNESS.

I am whatever is beyond exhausted. My class is interesting. This week has been rough, but I'm hoping it's just the excitement of a new school year, new teacher, new classmates. I HOPE. Otherwise, it's going to be a long year. 

I've got some things started that will hopefully help my students get back into the school groove. Blurting, yelling across the room, and constant talking are problems we're facing. I've started a blurt bean jar and blurtsheets (worksheets, but better). No one wants a blurtsheet, so they're trying harder. That makes me hopeful!

I'm glad for the weekend to decompress and get some things done at home. Usually we're a four-day week, but the first four weeks of school are five days. That ends up being 40 hours with students. FORTY HOURS WITH STUDENTS. I can't even begin to tell you how draining that is. I'll be glad to get those done with.

Next weekend, my mom, my sisters, and I are going to have a girls' weekend. We're meeting up in Utah Valley, where one sister lives. It's halfway for all of us. We're planning to go to the temple, go to Swiss Days in Midway (we're Swiss and visited Switzerland two years ago, so this is going to be amazing!), pedicures, games, and fun. I'm looking forward to it so much! We all need it.

Anyway, that's what's up. I hope that next time I have good news to report about my class's progress!