Idaho Falls Public Library- Children's Books, Movies, and Reading Programs

One of my favorite things to do in the winter is to cuddle up and read a good book. It makes an outing to the Idaho Falls Public Library a favorite thing to do with my husband.

The first time I went into the Idaho Falls library I was surprised at it's size. It seems huge and has a great selection. As you walk in the doors from the parking lot you come right into the Children's section which is perfect. You may wonder why the Children's section is perfect for a date, but it's good for a few reasons.

One of the things my husband and I did when we first started dating is go to the Children's section of the nearby library and choose books to read together. I love to find books I haven't read since I was a kid, especially if my husband isn't familiar with them and share them. Shel Silverstein is a great choice to read out loud.

Another thing that the Children's section is good for is to find a chapter book for you guys to read together. I   know some couples that seriously read books together, big classics like Crime and Punishment. My husband and I occasionally read books together but can't finish them if they aren't pretty short and real cliff hangers. We have found our best bet is to pick a book from the Children's section. On our side bar we have a few of our favorites, but the one I think we had the most fun reading has been The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It was a quick mystery that we wanted to solve. Even though we had both read it when we were younger we had forgotten the ending and couldn't help but be drawn in.

Up the stairs from the Children's section, on the main floor, they have a great selection of movies. We have often spent a lot of time picking out movies or even tv shows that we want to watch.

The top floor has the adult, young adult, and non-fiction section. We have read a few books from upstairs, including Sherlock Holmes. Winter and Summer they have adult reading programs, this winter the program is Tresspassing Time- if you read a book from (either written in or about) certain time periods you get rewards. The main reward is an invitation to a dinner and party the library is putting on, I am excited for a night without cooking.

The library also plays host to classes and discussion groups. Coming up is a discussion group on the Civil War, for more information you can check out the library blog. To get a library card and you live in Idaho Falls you just need a piece of mail with your name and current address on it as well as a form of ID. Also, little fact you may not know- you can check out e-books through the ifpl.org website.

Preston, ID

We did this a while ago, I didn't mean to be so slow posting it but here it is anyway.

At the beginning of April and October, the LDS church holds a general conference. It's two hours in the morning and afternoon, with two hours in between. We like to listen to it on the radio while we drive somewhere, this year we didn't really plan, we just got in the car and drove. We ended up in Preston, ID- which is where the movie Napoleon Dynamite takes place and was filmed.

The first thing we did when we got to town was hit up the DI, where Napoleon got his awesome suit. We couldn't quite find one that good.

Along main street we also saw the Cuttin Curral, and the studio he goes to for Karate.

There were some stores with Napoleon merchandise, we didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look.

We ate lunch at the New York Deli, it was really good sandwiches, right on main street as well.

We also went by the schools and the playground from the movie, and we were going to see Napoleon's house but ran out of time. Here is a map of the places you can see from the movie if you want to go explore as well. 

Can you find Idaho Falls?

I know it's been a long time since I posted. I actually have a few posts to come soon. In the meantime, can you spot Idaho Falls in this video. There were a couple places I recognized.

Texas Roadhouse

I have a few other date ideas that can be done anywhere but first- my husband's birthday dinner. I was surprised when he picked Texas Roadhouse because although I love steak, it's not really his thing (I think it was in part a favor to me). Texas Roadhouse in Idaho Falls is usually busy on the weekends but they have call ahead seating which helps but even if it's a spur of the moment thing like it was for us the wait wasn't too long. Once you get seated they have super good rolls (the picture really doesn't capture them) and peanuts to snack on.

We really enjoyed our meal, each meal comes with two sides so we could easily share them with our daughter. My husband doesn't like steak but he says Texas Roadhouse has some of the best chicken. He really liked it and I enjoyed the steak, it was even amazing as leftovers the next day.

BYU-Idaho free concert- Salt Lake, Pocatello, Rexburg

The BYU-Idaho choirs and orchestra will be performing free concerts in Salt Lake, Pocatello, and Rexburg. The concert is Bring Forth my Zion. The concerts is free but does require tickets, information for each city below.

POCATELLO - Thursday, March 8, 7:30 p.m., ISU Stephens Performing Arts Center: Admission is free, but tickets are necessary. They can be obtained in person at the ticket office or by calling the Stephens Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at (208) 282-3595.

REXBURG - Friday, March 9, 7:30 p.m., BYU-Idaho Center: Admission is free, but tickets are necessary. They can be obtained from the BYU-Idaho Ticket Office at (208) 496-3170 or (800) 717-4257 (open school days from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) or online at www.byui.edu/tickets. A BYU-Idaho pre-show dinner at 6 p.m. is available for $15 to those interested (deadline to order dinner is March 5).

SALT LAKE CITY - Saturday, March 10, 7:30 p.m., Salt Lake Tabernacle: Admission is free, but tickets are necessary. They can be obtained at the Temple Square Events Ticket Office at www.lds.org/events, (801) 570-0080 or toll free at 1-866-537-8457.

Jazz Big Band Dance

I mentioned this last year the date is Saturday the 18th and all the other details are the same as last year. I hope if you get to go you have a great time!

Book Store Date

I said at the beginning of this blog that sometimes I would post date ideas that could be done anywhere- I haven't done great at that but I am going to try and post more now.

I have only done this once and really enjoyed it. I got the idea from Love, Actually and she has posted an actual card you can print out with some of the challenges on it. We did it at Barnes and Noble at the Grand Teton Mall but you can do it at any bookstore. The way it works is you and your date split up in a bookstore with three challenges of books to find and then you meet up and share. We did three sets of three while we were there, I wouldn't recommend trying to do more than three challenges in a set because then you have more books to carry and more time apart. Here are a list of challenge ideas.

- Find a map or a picture of some place you would like to travel to.
- Find a book that you think your date would enjoy reading.
- Find a book you read during high school.

- Find a recipe that you would like to try.
- Find a book that has "Happily Ever After" in it.
- Find a joke to tell your date.

- Find a date idea for a future date together.
- Find a self help book that applies to you.
- Find a book that has a character with the same name as your date.

- Find a poem that describes how you feel about your date.
- Find a children's book you liked growing up.
- Find a game or project you think would be fun to do together.

You can mix up the challenges however you want. We did it with our baby in the stroller so it worked out that we didn't even need a babysitter. It's a great date to do and then grab a treat after.