Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: Kuhl's Campground

When I was younger, we had a camper for about six months. Unfortunately, it got torn to pieces by a tornado and we were out of a camper for good. But, while we had it, I remember going to this campground a couple of times and one time sticks out particularly in my mind. It was one summer when I was probably about 10 or 11 and I remember having my cousin there with me. (The one mentioned in a previous post). We had our bikes there with us and we rode them around the campground, which was pretty small, but for us it was huge. We also rolled down this really steep hill and got super dizzy, which is always a fond memory of mine. We also met an older couple who had two dogs that we loved to go over and play with numerous times throughout our stay at the campground. Even though I only went there a couple of times as a child, I still drive by it and get hit with a huge wave of nostalgia and memories of my childhood. 

Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: My Grade School

The grade school that I went to, St. Thomas School, holds many memories for me. I attended 2nd-8th grade at this school and seeing it now is almost bittersweet. It is a private Catholic school, and one of my biggest memories was going to church every Friday. Sometimes I liked this, most of the time I didn’t because not a lot of young people enjoyed going to church. I also remember how small my class was, only 14 people, and how the girls and boys would always sit at separate tables from each other. The lunches (most of them) were always really good because the food was homeade by the cooks. One of my less fonder memories was having to follow a strict dress code, which included not being able to wear shoes without backs, such as flip flops. This was very annoying, but I dealt with it with a grain of salt. The best memory I have is during reading time and getting to go the library and pick out a book. This was always the best part of everyday. During the younger grades, I spent a lot of time on the playground, which was refurbished when I was in 3rd or 4th grade and the new one was much more exciting. I’ll never forget the time I spent at that school.

Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: The Cow Pasture

The cow pasture is back behind my grandparent’s house and you have to walk down a long trail to get to it. Often, we would ride the many bikes that were available in the shed down to the pasture and into the woods, subsequently getting mosquito bites and scratches in the process because the grass was so tall. The pasture used to house cows a long time ago, but were presumably sold after my grandparents retired from farming. My memories, like I stated above, include riding bikes back there and just doing general exploring through the pasture and back into the woods. This always resulted in some form of terror as we usually found deer skulls which were super creepy and other ominous things. It was a wide open field that was always so much fun to play in.

Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: The Swing Sets

The swing sets are also at my grandparent’s house, in their backyard, and they also hold many memories for me. The first swing set, like the playhouse, is very old and very rusty. The frame of it is blue, but it has many spots where it has rusted and the paint has chipped off. To me, this makes it more special and genuine, as it holds a lot of wear and tear from the use that my cousins and I got out of it. This swing set had the swings for the babies and toddlers and I have many memories of pushing them and playing. The other swing set had a metal frame, but the swings were wooden and these were for the older kids, like me. I remember swinging on it with my cousins super high and trying to jump off.

Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: The Playhouse

The playhouse that I used to play in as a child is also at my grandparents house, as a lot of these things will be because it is the place that most reminds me of my childhood. It was built a long time ago for my Aunt Teresa when she was a child, so I’d say it was probably built in the early 1970’s. When I was a child, the playhouse was about 30 years old, but I still absolutely loved playing in it with my cousins. It was dirty and old, but still held incredibly special memories for me. My cousins and I would play house and school in it with our dolls and fake silverware and plates, but would always be so scared that wasps or spiders would get us because it had cobwebs and wasps nests in it from being outside. Nevertheless, it was a very important part of my childhood.

Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: My Grandparents' House

When I think of the majority of my childhood, I think of my grandparent’s house. I spent the majority of my time there and always remember a sense of excitement when I knew I’d be going there, whether it was just for a visit or a holiday get together. A tradition for my family every year during the holidays, whether it be Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, we would all get together to celebrate it. This is on my dad’s side of the family, which is huge, so it was a lot of people in a tight space, but it was always something I loved. It contributed to the extremely happy childhood that I experienced and I still and enjoy and visit frequently as an adult.

Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: My Old House

My old house is definitely a place that reminds me of my childhood. I lived there from 2004-2017 and I had many fun experiences and memories in that house. The first picture reminds me of when I'd come outside and sit on the deck and watch my parents work in the yard. We also had a pool that I'd swim in and I remember one year we had a swimming party for my dad's side of the family. Although I'm older in the second picture, this wooded area that we had behind our house was a place that I often frequented. I'd play back in this area with my friends or even by myself among the trees. I'd also play with our dog in this area and we often enjoyed a fire pit back here as well, with hot dogs and s'mores. It's only been since last year that I moved out, but I'll never forget the impact that living here had on my childhood.

Places That Remind Me of My Childhood: My Cousin's House

An ongoing feature at this time that will be going on in my blog is Exploring Ideas Through Places. This is the first of eight posts that will feature places that remind me of my childhood. Stay tuned if you want to see more!

My cousin Ashtyn’s house probably holds many of the best memories that I have from my childhood. She was and still is one of my best friends and I was always super excited when I knew I’d be going to her house. When we were younger, we would play house in her basement or go swimming in her pool. I remember always wanting to climb the hay bales in their shed and one time actually doing it and hurting myself. We would also take walks on the cow trails behind her house and go exploring. During the summer, we would take walks on the road and go swimming in the creek at her neighbor’s house and try to keep from her mom finding out. Birthday parties were also a fun event that I looked forward to spending at my cousin’s house, as shown in this picture. Going to my cousin's house holds memories that I'll never forget.

The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye is a novel written by the wonderful and critically-acclaimed author Toni Morrison. It was her first novel written in 1970 and continues to have an impact almost fifty years later. Morrison's main constructs in this novel and other novels includes commentary on racial and social boundaries within the African-American community and the effects that it has on individuals within this community. This novel in particular focuses on three African-American girls: Claudia, Pecola, and Frieda. Claudia and Freida are sisters who live within a poor to middle class family with somewhat caring, present parents. Pecola's situation is much worse. She lives within a very poor, abusive family and believes that all of her problems would go away if she just had the perfect blue eyes.

Morrison uses her beautiful prose to describe the many hardships that Pecola has to face and endure, most of the time seen through the eyes of Claudia and Freida. It's essentially a coming of age story for the two girls, as they realize just how difficult life can be for one person. The novel is quite short, but really packs an emotional punch. I highly recommend this novel if you're looking for an emotional, harrowing story that will ultimately teach a lesson about humanity.

If you've read this novel or plan to, let me know your experience reading it. I would normally say happy reading at the end of my posts, but this book is a very dark one. Instead I'll say, I hope this book touches you as much as it did me.

Fun Fall Book Craft Idea!

Here's a fun and easy book craft to get you in the mood for the upcoming fall season and add some bookish fun to your autumnal decor! This is an easy craft that most anyone could do and it doesn't take too long to complete. If crafting is your thing or if it isn't, this is the perfect craft to take on.

If you tried this craft, comment below!
Happy Crafting! :)

Author Spotlight: Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is one of the world's most prolific authors. Her novels have reached across time, race, and social injustice since her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. I chose to feature her because I just discovered her amazing literary talent this year after reading The Bluest Eye. I haven't currently read any of her other novels, but I definitely have plans to.

Toni Morrison was originally born Chloe Anthony Wofford in Lorain, Ohio in 1931. Her parents moved there to escape the rampage of racism that was infiltrating the South at that time. Morrison spent most of her time reading novels and learning about her African American heritage. She then went on to attend the prestigious colleges of Howard and Cornell Universities for her B.A. and M.A. degrees.

As stated above, her literary career took off in 1970 and continued to grow from there. Some of her novels include, The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise. Her novels focus on racial heritage and culture within the African American community She writes with a poignancy that not many can achieve and her descriptions are heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time. Morrison is an author for the ages.

Go check out one of her novels. You won't be disappointed!
Happy Reading! :)


Source: http://www.umich.edu/~eng217/student_projects/nobel%20prize%20winners/morrison.htm

Fun DIY Literary Crafts

Here's a fun video for crafty people who love literature! I myself am not an extremely crafty person, but I believe these DIY Reading crafts would be easy enough for even me to partake in. From decorating a candle to making an interesting book lovers phone cover for your phone these crafts can be for everyone!




Comment on your favorite craft and maybe try it out!
Happy Crafting! :)

The Perfect Books for Fall

Here's a link to the perfect books to get you in the mood for this wonderful fall season!

Comment on some of your favorite books in this list and give me a list of your own!

Happy Reading! :)

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/2015/10/13/fall-books-to-get-you-in-the-mood-for-autumn

The Husband's Secret.

Okay, so this book was a hot mess. It was pretty much all over the place. It was set in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and centered around three completely different women. I'm not sure why the title is The Husband's Secret because although the husband in question is mentioned a fair amount of times, the story mainly revolves around these three women so the title may be a little misleading. For me, it was a page turner but wasn't as riveting as I thought it would be. I finished it in about a day and would only consider it a book that I kind of liked. I can't really explain what kept me reading, but I couldn't stop. Maybe it's because I wanted to figure out the end of each woman's story and let me tell you two of them were completely bizarre! I would recommend this to anyone in for a light, easy read but not anyone that's looking for an intense psychological thriller because it definitely wasn't. That's not to say I won't try reading more of Liane Moriarty's books....this one was good enough to peak my interest in some of her other books! Feel free to comment any opinions of this book or any other of her books!

Happy Reading! :)

My first review....Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult.

I just finished reading Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. Her books tackle the most profound issues in today's society and she writes in a way that makes it easy to relate to the situations described in her books. You really feel for the characters and get to know who they are, good or bad. Plain Truth is not about your run of the mill, everyday issues. Picoult tackles the Amish community in this book and gives us a look into the Amish customs and way of living which is the part I enjoyed most about it. The main plot of the story is a dead infant that is found in the barn on the Fischer's homestead. Katie, the oldest daughter is accused of the infant's murder. No one can believe that Katie is capable of this, because the Amish are a God-fearing, Christian group and violence is not part of their ways. Katie is a vulnerable and naive girl in my opinion, and becomes wrapped up in more than she can handle. She becomes involved with a Non-Amish man and becomes pregnant and tries to conceal it for fear of excommunication. Ellie Hathaway, a big time lawyer from Philadelphia becomes her lawyer/counsel and has to be with her at all times as part of a bail deal. The relationship between Ellie and Katie grows as time progresses and they both learn from each other. I really enjoyed how their relationship formed and grew throughout the novel. Overall I enjoyed the book, but wasn't a huge fan of the ending! You'll have to read the book if you want to find out what happened!

Happy Reading! :)

Books are my life!

First off, I guess I should start by introducing myself! I'm Brianne, a twenty two year old trying to figure out my life and what I want to do with it! School has been a whirlwind, but in the meantime to keep myself grounded, I read! I've loved to read for as long as I can remember. I was read to consistently as a child and even got to read to my first grade class back in the day. To this day, that's my proudest moment even though I was just a little first grader! :) Books have always been present in my life and my love for them has grown. I have my own personal issues and reading just helps me to escape them for just a little while, especially if it's a really good read! I'm literally drowning in books I have so many, but I continue to buy more. My list just builds and builds. I also love to review books and would love to get some for free in exchange for an honest review. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it! For posts, I plan on posting book reviews, craft ideas, and author spotlights. I'm excited to start on this journey!

Happy Reading! :)