the book thief

 "It's just a small story, really, about, among other things:
- A girl
- Some words
- An accordionist
- Some fanatical Germans
- A Jewish fist fighter
- And quite a lot of thievery"

 Earlier this month I read  The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.

 It's one of those books that's hard to talk about. I don't know how I would put into words what about it made it so great. I'll simply say that this book broke my heart a hundred times over and it's one of the best books I have ever read. 

 I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from the book, and some photographs that reminded me of the story (some are from the movie that's coming soon).

“If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter.”

"The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both.”





“Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness.”  




"The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you."

“People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spot blues. Murky darkness. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.” 

"I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”








 Have you read this book? If so, what did you think of it? If you haven't read it...then I'd definitely recommend you do so.


love, Hannah

les diablerets

 

 

Switzerland

// part two//

 

   The next day it was time to leave Zurich and head for Les Diablerets, where the conference was held.

   After a long day of train rides (which I enjoyed a lot), we finally made it.

 a few facts about Les Diablerets:

- it's a small village

- it's surrounded by mountains

- it's in french-speaking part of Switzerland

-it's filled with the coolest wooden houses ever

- it's one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I've ever been to

 

   My mom and I got to stay in Les Diablerets for a whole week. My days were full of conference sessions, schoolwork in the hotel room, exploring the village, hikes in the woods, and a lot of photo-taking.

 At the end of the week, it was hard to say goodbye to this place. As the train pulled away from the station, I knew one thing.

 

 I'm going to come back someday.

love, 

Hannah

zurich

Switzerland

// part one //

  After a day of traveling, my mom and I made it to Switzerland. Specifically, to a town called Bülach not far outside Zurich city. It was a cute, small-ish town, and we stayed with a friend of ours. The next day we took a train into Zurich. I loved the train ride - it was so fun to get to see a bit of the beautiful countryside.

 |top: train station in Bülach. bottom: the zurich train station.|

 Once we reached Zurich, we picked up a map from the Tourist Service and began on a walking route that would take us through Old Town to see a bunch of the famous landmarks. 

 

///

a few facts about Zurich: 

- it's the largest city in Switzerland. 

- it's in the German-speaking section. 

- there are amazing cathedrals everywhere you look.

 - the Limmat River runs through the city from the beautiful Lake Zurich.

 - there are cute little sidewalk cafés everywhere

 The weather was sunny and warm - just perfect for walking around the city. One of best parts for me was  looking into the shop windows and little bakeries and seeing all the different things they sold.

 After a while we came to the place that I had been really excited to get to see - the Grossmünster Cathedral. This was the cathedral where the famous Reformer, Huldrych Zwingli, preached.

 The inside was awesome, but unfortunately there was a big "No Photography" sign at the door. Bleh.

 Inside, we climbed up the 187 steps to the top of one of the towers. Climbing those winding steps may not have been that fun, but the view from up there was worth it.

 Before long it was time to hop on the train back to Bülach.

 Zurich is a such beautiful city and I'm so glad to have gotten to visit it.


 Love, 
 Hannah

home again

I'm home!

My mom and I had a great time in Switzerland. It's such a beautiful country...I didn't want to leave!

I'm really excited to post some of my photos and write about my time there. For now, here's a collage I made as a sneak peek of what's coming:

 The ironic thing about traveling is that  for me one of the best parts is the feeling of coming home again. This was me yesterday when I got home:

 See ya soon with a bunch of rambles and way too many photographs.

 Love,
 Hannah

going adventuring

|via pinterest|

 Tomorrow, I will be on my way to Switzerland.

 There's a missions conference held there that my parents sometimes attend, and this time I'll be able to go with my mom. I've been looking forward to this trip for so long!

 I'll be back in a week...with lots of photos and stories to share with you!


 Love, 
 Hannah

the summer list

Summer is over. Exciting, yes, but also a little sad. Summer was so nice for a bunch of reasons. Of course, I've made a list of those. 

warm weather.

visiting bunratty castle and the cliffs of moher.

picnics.

my sister coming home from America.

swimming in the lake.

the missions team from America coming to work with our church.

kayaking.

reading in the sunshine.

going to the beach.

having a Lord of the Rings marathon.

taking walks in the forest.

So - bye, summer. You were pretty awesome.

Love, Hannah

 

irish brown bread // recipe

 Homemade brown bread is a favorite in our house. It's delicious, healthy, and it's pretty easy to make. I thought I'd share with you how we make it. The recipe makes the best brown bread I've ever had.

There are quite a few different kinds of grains in this recipe, but all of them you should be able to find in any grocery store - although in other countries they may be called different things. Also, if you're in a country that doesn't use weighing scales for baking, here's a handy website for you that converts these measurements into cups.

:: Makes Two Loaves ::

What You Need:

20 oz wholemeal (or extra course) flour

12 oz plain flour

2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda 

2 Tbsp pinhead (aka 'steelcut') oats

2 Tbsp wheat germ

2 Tbsp bran

6 oz butter

1 litre buttermilk

  First preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Then, in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. First the wholemeal flour...

...then the plain flour...

...the salt...

...and the soda.

Next stir in the pinhead oats, the wheat germ, and the wheat bran.

Now for the messy part. With your hands, rub in the butter. This should be easy if the butter has softened a bit, but if you forget to set it out of the fridge (which I always do) a good tip is to use a cheese grater and grate the butter into the dry ingredients.

Next, pour in the buttermilk.

And you're done! Pour the mixture into two buttered loaf tins. We like to sprinkle a little pinhead oats on top, too. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

This bread is seriously good. Let me know if you try it out - I'd love to hear what you think!

- Hannah