Book Review: A Stolen Life

Since I have read several books this year, I need to catch up on posting reviews for them before I forget reading them. That seems to happen quite a bit since I read so much. Oops. Anyway, today's review will be about A Stolen Life: a Memoir by Jaycee Dugard.

Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped from her street while walking to catch the school bus in South Lake Tahoe, California in June of 1991. Most people have heard of this because they were alive when it happened or became interested when she was found in August of 2009. Her story made headlines for months, and she was interviewed on many television shows about her 18 years of captivity, living alone in a small room in the backyard of her captor's house. 

After adjusting to the real world again, Jaycee decided to share her very personal story with the world in order to get her feelings out and to let everyone know that Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, kidnapped her. Earlier in the year I read the book Room by Emma Donoghue. After finishing it, I searched for it online, and many people made direct comparisons of that book to Dugard's book of her own life. After having read both of them, I agree. I am sure that the premise of Room was built upon Jaycee Dugard's story. If that raises awareness for what happened to her, then so be it. 

A Stolen Life is definitely not the best written book I have ever read. There are grammatical mistakes throughout that would have bugged me had I not realized Jaycee missed most of her academic life. It was candid and REAL, and the things she went through were horrific. I will not rate this book on a star system simply because I feel like that would be rating her experiences, and that feels wrong. I will say this, though: until I read this book, I was sheltered and naive. I knew things like this happened, but I didn't think about them. Not really. But now I am aware, and I will always be watching for other children out there who may have been abducted from their homes. 

More Classroom Decorations: Book Quotations

Earlier this week, I was inspired to create something I'd been wanting to for a few months. At the beginning of the summer, I gathered 16 quotes about reading/books that I really like, and I knew I wanted to have them hanging in my classroom this year to inspire my kiddos.

Long story short: I tried to paint them myself on scrapbooking paper, and it turned out to be a disaster. I normally am really great with crafty things like that, but they were AWFUL, and instead of using them anyway, I decided to let Photoshop do the work for me. I typed in the quotes in a big, bold font (Century Gothic) and then put the author's name in a different, fancier font below (Pea Heather Michelle -- weird name, I know).

I decided to use four different background colors since there are 16 quotes, so I have four in each color. That way, there are not too many different colors going on around the room.

I ordered these prints from Office Max for 49 cents each, but when I got there, they gave me 25% off with my teacher ID. This project was a STEAL! I ordered document frames from Walmart.com that came in packs of six (so I now have two left over to use later), and they have real glass frames. I am happy with them, and they arrived on my doorstep in just two days with standard shipping. Overall, I did end up spending about $25 on this project, but these will last forever. I can hang these quotes up year after year, and if I get tired of them, I can print new ones for very cheap and change them out.

And now the pictures! You probably can't read the quotes in the first three pictures, but I wanted to show them all off at once. The last two have close ups of the quotations! :)

Okay, I lied. I decided to post individual pictures of each quote just because I like them so much. They really are just SO pretty. 

These were so simple to make, and the colors are so vibrant! Thanks, Office Max. :) 

Blast From the Past: Thanksgiving Break 2009

Thinking back to Dan's Prep School year brings mixed emotions for me. Writing about it always takes me on a roller coaster, happy and excited that we made it through the trying year of long distance but also sad as I recall those lonely nights away from him, sometimes even unable to communicate. Those breaks from school were the BEST, though, and Thanksgiving Break (technically Thanksgiving Leave for him) is the topic of today's post.

The break from Parents' Weekend until Thanksgiving Break that year was excruciating. We didn't think it would ever end. We went 11 long weeks apart, and even weekly phone dates were not enough. We argued frequently because we missed each other. Sound backward or what? But once Dan's plane landed in Kansas City (a few hours late, by the way) on that Tuesday night, everything fell back into perfect order, and we had a blast during the few days he was home.

We went out to eat too much, spent time with my family, had Thanksgiving dinner together, spent time in Warrensburg alone and with friends, made a pumpkin pie that I laughed out my nose, watched movies together, went to his dad's wedding, listened to an MU/KU basketball game on the radio, and spoiled each other with lots of attention. It was emotional saying goodbye, as always. However, that time we only had three weeks splitting our time from each other before the extra long winter break that followed.

I realize now that all but one of my pictures come from the same day. Oops.

I stole his hat...

Love this one! :) 

I love his smile :)

Haha, his eyes! He must have been excited to kiss me...

I remember this. He was mocking my "I'm trying not to laugh" face! Haha! 

Looking handsome as ever in his service dress...

I like that hat a lot, apparently...

Haha

Air Force muscles... not! 

Pointing at my future last name... although, I didn't know it at the time! ;)

All smiles... so happy to be together! :)

Love this one!

Partying with friends in Warrensburg... :) 

Writing this post about how exhilarating it felt to see Dan again after time away has me EXTRA excited to see him again next week! He's been in England for a couple weeks, and I'm really looking forward to cuddling while watching the Olympics together. 

Catching Up... Again

It looks as if I forgot to blog yesterday. Oops. I wrote a book review already, so since I am finished my main post for the day, I will just write about what my life has been like lately.

I have been teaching summer school at Carmel Middle School as part of my new staff training. Tomorrow is Friday, though, and for that I am glad. There's only one week left, and I'm ready for it to be over so I can focus on getting my OWN classroom prepared for the year.

Dan will be back in the USA next week, and I can't wait to see him. I've been missing him a lot, but I've also been too busy to really notice that I'm missing him. For example, we haven't even talked today. Not once. Not even a text. And I JUST realized it. Life is hectic...

Book Review: Two Kisses For Maddy

I am far behind on book reviews, so I'm going to try and play catch up. Tonight, I am going to write about Two Kisses For Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Matthew Logelin.

Two Kisses For Maddy is about a baby girl who was much anticipated by everyone around her. That seems happy, right? Wrong. When you are the father of the baby and your wife dies soon afterward, what do you do? Matt Logelin shares the story of dealing with the sudden loss of his wife, Liz, and how he handled the first year (and then some) of Maddy's life. He goes into detail about how he would not have made it through that first year had it not been for his baby daughter, who looks just like his wife. I knew before I bought the book that it would be sad. Sure, I've cried while reading before. Nothing new, right? Wrong again. I was bawling at some points, and there were times I couldn't even see the pages I was attempting to read. That hadn't happened since I read Marley and Me by John Grogan several years ago.

In addition to the book, which you can find HERE (on Amazon), the author, Matt Logelin, has a public blog that he started before Maddy was born. You can view the main blog by clicking HERE and read his very personal account by going HERE. Okay, sorry for all of the links, but my review of his book cannot do it justice. Check it out for yourself.

Overall, I give this book a 5/5. I highly recommend to it all who love to read, especially those who enjoy personal stories. Yes, the book uses some inappropriate language, but if your wife had just died, wouldn't you have a few choice words to use as well? This was an eye opener about how fragile life really is. As sad as it was, I am glad that I took the time to read it.