So here's what we've been up to

One thing I've loved about living in Muncie is our close proximity to so many big cities and fun places to visit. We live only 1 hour away from Indianapolis; about 3 hours away from Columbus, OH; Louisville; and Cincinnati; 4 hours away from Chicago; and 5 hours away from St. Louis and Nashville. (Granted, of the cities listed, we've only actually made it to Columbus, St. Louis, and Indianapolis -- but in theory, we've had a chance to visit all of these places, multiple times.) And it's not just the big cities that are fun to romp around in -- within an hour's drive in any direction from our little apartment, there are countless interesting (and ofttimes bizarre) places to see.

Like Mr. Robinson's Fruit Jar Museum, for example. As we do with any visitors we get in Muncie, we took Blake's family, when they were here, to see this miniature 8th world wonder. And they, like most people who see it, were a little amazed to see that canning jars came in so many different sizes and colors, not to mention the fact that they've been around for a couple hundred years. With Blake's family, we also trekked up to the tiny hamlet of Matthews, Indiana, to take them across the covered bridge there, and then to even further up the road to Upland, where we stopped at Ivanhoe's, the little restaurant famous for their menu of 100 different shakes and sundaes.

But we didn't just stay strapped close to home while the family was with us. Last Tuesday we ventured the 2.5 hours north to Shipshewana, Indiana to see the nation's third largest enclave of Amish. It was really, really hot that day (the forecast for Muncie was 109 degrees on the heat index, and I don't think it was any different up north), but we had an enjoyable time browsing in little Amish shops, wandering through their famous flea market, and driving on country roads to see their thriving farms.

On Thursday, we packed ourselves in the car and drove the 6 hours to Nauvoo, Illinois, stopping first at Carthage. In the nine years since I'd been there last, I'd forgotten how enjoyable wandering in and around the sites there can be. And this time we got to see the rebuilt temple. Oh, and what a breathtaking building it is! Thanks to the fabulous babysitting services of my sister-in-law, Brittany (no seriously, she is wonderful with Garrett, even when he decides to scream uncontrollably for her), Blake, his parents, and I got to do a session at the temple. I think that may have been my favorite part of the trip -- these last few stressful weeks have taken a toll on my inner peace and it was pleasantly rejuvenating to spend a few hours in that beautiful place. We spent all day Friday visiting the restored homes and shops, going on ox cart rides, and sweating like like we were Eskimos in the Sahara desert (I think it was just as hot in Illinois as it was in Indiana!). I got to watch that new Joseph Smith movie that the Church released a few years ago (I seriously think that I was the last person on the planet to get to see it!), and I have to say that it was pretty spectacular (by which I mean that I totally cried through the entire thing). Oh, and speaking of spectacular, at the blacksmith's shop, we were able to pick up not only adult-sized prairie diamond rings, but also a teeny, tiny infant-sized one for Garrett. It's pretty cute on his teeny, tiny fingers. Also on Friday, during one of our several trips up and down the road past the temple, we noticed that the flag was at half mast, but we weren't able to learn why until we got home. Kinda sad.

We got back home yesterday evening, and the realization of a busy week of packing up our Muncie lives in preparation for our new Brooklyn lives has hit us full in the face. Tomorrow we'll dig out our boxes and starting filling them. After catching a bit of news last week, I'm really hoping that the apartment we'll be heading to is still intact and in good shape. Apparently a tornado touched down in Brooklyn, just a dozen or so blocks north of where we'll be living. Not exactly normal weather for those parts, but, whatever I guess. I'm just banking on the fact that the flooding and downed trees will be for the most part cleaned up by the time we get there.

Anyway, so that's that. If you'd like to be privy to more pictures of our most recent adventures, feel free to click here. And if you don't see or hear much from me in the next few days, just know that I'm buried amid the packing boxes and that I will surface again soon.