Portlandia

We explored downtown Portland today and had a great time.  We started at Pioneer Square which was having an Italian Festival complete with band playing songs like "Amore"-when the moon hits your eye like a big-a pizza pie, that's amore- we went to the Old Town Farmer's Market, walked along the Willamette River, saw China Town, and went to Powell's City of Books.  I love Powell's.  Today's highlights included a 1st Edition Adventures of Tom Sawyer and 1st Edition Stuart Little (that is the one I am holding in the picture).  There was also a book from 1512 with a $4,800 price tag.  I love walking through all the rooms and levels and seeing all the different books everywhere.  It is awesome.  We explored Jeld-Wen Field a little bit and enjoyed the sites and sounds of all the people, there is definately a reason that Portland's Motto is: "Keep Portland Weird", there were plenty of different things and people to watch.

Artie

This is a picture of Artie. He is my space heater and I love him a lot. Artie helps keep me warm in a rather cool basement, particularly during the winter time. Lately my favorite thing has been to take Artie into my bed room, turn him on full blast, curl up in a down comforter and read a book. I like Artie a lot.

"T" Benson

I have been reading the biography of Ezra Taft Benson this week and I am loving it. I am not usually a biography type of person, but this book is fascinating. There are so many neat stories, and just to see how life was when he as growing up is so neat and humbling. I love learning about his family, and Flora and her family, their memories of growing up and the things they liked to do. President Benson was my first prophet and while I can't remember any specific talks he gave, I do remember seeing him on the TV at my old house in Harrisville and sitting down to listen/watch him instead of playing with my toys. Super good book, I highly recommend it.

Two Roads

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

I Want......

While shopping at Costco today and perused through the books=BIG MISTAKE. I want pretty much every single book in the picture on the right hand side. Some of the titles included are: the entire set of Beverly Cleary, the entire set by Roald Dahl, all of Shel Silverstein, a ton of Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter, pretty much all of my favorite reading material from learning to read to now; why oh why did I have to go by the children's books?!?!? I want them ALL.

The First Paragraph

When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.

Quarter of a Century

Today is my birthday. Some of the fun things that occurred included: finishing all of my presentations for the semester, got home from school and got into my pajamas to read a book by the window with one of my favorite blankets, my parents brought me delicious cookie dough instead of cake, JD gave me flowers, letter, Tangled, and the entire day homework and computer free (he also arranged for me to have work off), we went to Bombay House for chicken pakoras, drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon into the clouds and snow, ate dinner at Ganesh, went bowling, and watched Tangled. Fantastic way to celebrate turning 25!

And so it ends.....

End of Spring Break......well it was a good week. A lot of working on my part, but we had some fun date nights and got a lot of neglected things taken care of. Some highlights include:

• Ganesh (best Indian food in Utah)



• Ogden Temple



• Real Salt Lake Game



• Glow in the Dark mini-golf



• All of our taxes taken care of



• Grandpa's birthday party



• March Madness



• Reading a book for fun