A Trip to Indiana

Alyna and I took a quick trip to visit Lisa, Cameron and Ben during USU's spring break. It was great to see some of the sights in Bloomington, meet some of their ward members and friends and see Cameron's new home, away from home.

We had a lot of fun just watching all the new things that Benjamin is doing.

He loves all electronic things and works really hard to get to them.

He loves the blanket that his great-grandmother made for him.

He's really getting to be a great eater -

as long as the meal doesn't include green beans.

University of Indiana has a really nice campus

with lots of trees and nice walking paths.

The old buildings were interesting with all the white stone.

We took a couple of little day trips. The first was to the cute little town of Nashville Indiana.

"The quaint village of Nashville is a great place for a romantic getaway, with hundreds of unique craft, specialty & antique shops, and great music & theatre venues. Visitors enjoy watching artists in galleries and craft studios throughout Brown County Indiana. Brown County is known as the "artist colony of the midwest".

It was a little early in the season so the city was relatively quiet and the artists weren't out working but it was a really fun little town. We thought this store was hilarious - especially the Music and Mayhem: knives, swords and guitars.

The next day, all of us headed south to check out French Lick. We didn't really know what to expect at all. We drove through a lot of nice country side and wondered what in the world we would find. We were certainly surprised when we came across-

This photo of French Lick is courtesy of TripAdvisor

There is a beautiful big old hotel. It feels like taking a step back in time. It has a beautiful wrap around porch with lots of rocking chairs that look out over beautiful gardens and a river.

The town also has a large casino and a huge indoor water park.

When we got back to Bloomington, we stopped by Mother Bear's Pizza. It is a great little pizza place right on or near the campus. I loved Ben's bib - it says: I make dining out miserable. He was actually pretty good but I'm sure that he will grow into it.

Books I've Read Lately

I received a Kindle for Christmas and I have almost read more books in the past two months than I did all of last year. (I must admit that I have also come to accept the fact that I always have to have reading glasses when I sit down with anything that has print on it and even sometimes to eat. I think that I just didn't enjoy reading as much in the last year or so because it was so difficult to read for an extended period of time.) It is so convenient to just have the Kindle in my purse and pull it out any time I have to wait or just sitting at home. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about not actually turning a page but I am a big fan now. The Kindle is a nice size and weight and very easy to read. I'm looking forward to taking it on a trip with me next week.

So here are the books I've read so far and what I thought of them:

A Scattered Life by Karen McQuestion- is the story of three women whose lives revolve around their children, but in very different ways. I enjoyed this book.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - is a true story of the life of the author as she grew up in a dysfunctional family. I loved this book and recommend it to all my friends. There is some profanity in it, so be warned.

Man's Search of Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl - the first half of the book is about his experience of living in Auschwitz and other concentration camps and trying to find a reason to stay alive. The last half is a psychology course on logotherapy, Frankl's idea that man's deepest desire is to find meaning and purpose in life. It is a good read although I will admit that I had to skim through some of the "Logotherapy In a Nuntshell" section.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley - a story of a young girl, with a passion for chemistry, watches a man die and then works to solve the mystery that will acquit her father of the murder. Many of my friends really liked this story - I did not. It was written well and was interesting but just not very believable.

Driven, an Autobiography of Larry Miller with Doug Robinson - The story about the iconic man of Utah and the Utah Jazz. I LOVE this book. While I was visiting my dad at the rehab center, they came to take him to physical therapy so I picked up Nedra's book and started reading it. I was hooked from the beginning. I recommend it to everyone.

Promise Me by Richard Paul Evens - about a mother and some tough choices she has to make. This was an easy read but I did not like it at all. I agree with one Amazon customer who wrote, "The story was just weird and creepy for me. The first half had me hook line and sinker, but the second half just left a really bad taste in my mouth."

The next books on my list are Half Broken Horses by Jeannette Walls, These is My Words by Nancy Turner and Midwives: a Novel by Chris Bohjalian.