Templini, Templito (tiny temple, tiny temple)

This past week, Josh and I took an anniversary trip down to Reno to visit the temple and then to Medford to visit our friends Chris and Haylie Weston. I'll elucidate the trip in a different post, but this is just about temples 33 and 34 on the Grand ShepAlder Temple Tour: Reno and Medford.

Temple 33: Reno, NV

I need to first explain that we spent the weekend beforehand in Eugene with my family because of the Ringo Starr concert and because Josh had to work (and attend a Weird Al concert with my family, but that's a different story). I guess it was also nice to visit my family, since I completely ignored my mom and my little sister's birthdays (also in July) in order to finish the term (and not get kicked out of school). Anyway, my point is that we unloaded all of our stuff from the car because we were in Eugene for three days, and then had to re-load before we drove to Reno. You can probably guess where I'm going with this. About 3/4ths of the way through our drive, Josh realized that he had left his temple clothes at my parents' house. It wouldn't be an issue, except the Reno temple is so tiny they don't rent clothing.

We had previously been to 32 temples across the country and this is the first time this has ever happened. So Josh kind of freaked out. He realized it too late to have the clothes Fed-Exed by the next afternoon, but my parents Fed-Exed them anyway. At least we got them before leaving for Medford, which is also a tiny temple.

Here's something you may not know, but if you do not have temple clothes or have forgotten them, they have spares! Not very many, mind you, and Josh said they were very ill-fitting, but it wasn't the end of the world.

Josh told me not to say anything bad about this temple, but it wasn't my favorite. We got there early to take pictures but it was so ridiculously hot outside, I demanded we go inside.

Here I am standing in the shade, like the smart person I am.

But the view of Reno from the temple is amazing:

Temple 34: Medford, OR

We were extremely fortunate to go to the Medford temple with our friend Haylie. "Where are the pictures of Haylie?" I can hear you demanding. Well, we actually had to come back later because by the time we left the temple after our session, it was too dark to take pictures. So, I am sorry to tell you that Haylie will not be making an appearance in this post.

It's sort of interesting that we ended up going to these temples in the same week (Josh and I have tried to go to the Medford temple several times previous to this, but it was always either closed or the session was later than when we were driving by, etc.), because the Reno and Medford temples are pretty much the same temple (only the Medford temple has a shocking lack of mirrors). I think if someone later bonked me on the head and dropped me in either the Medford or Reno (or, to be honest, the Spokane or Fresno temples also), I would have no idea which one I was in.

But there was one major difference: the Medford temple was packed! It was so crowded, they had to bring in extra chairs and they were stuffing people in nearly every available space. It was lovely.

Medford also has this little fountain, which was cute (it's right behind me and looks a bit like a pedestal):

Of course, all temples are to-die-for beautiful. I feel like such a snob saying that I felt like these temples were really plain and non-descript, but that's what I'm saying. I've been way too spoiled by past temples I've seen, such as the Manhattan, Manti, or San Antonio temples, which are my top 3 favorite so far (minus the Portland temple, which is just down the highway from us and by far my number one favorite [but I'm also biased since I was married there, so I don't usually mention it since we technically haven't had to travel anywhere extensively in order to visit it]).

This has been a very wordy post, so I apologize. You can look forward to more about our entire trip coming soon!

Here's the list of temples we've visited together in chronological order since Emily was endowed in May 2007, a few months before our July 2007 wedding (Josh also visited the Ogden Utah Temple shortly before entering the MTC in August 1999 and the Mexico City Temple in February 2007 while on a work-related trip to the Mexican capital; sadly, Emily was not with him on either occasion).

1. Portland, Ore.
2. Las Vegas, Nev.
3. Oakland, Calif.
4. Fresno, Calif.
5. Columbia River Washington (Richland, Wash.)
6. Seattle, Wash.
7. Houston, Texas
8. San Antonio, Texas
9. Newport Beach, Calif.
10. Redlands, Calif.
11. San Diego, Calif.
12. Los Angeles, Calif.
13. Boise, Idaho
14. Twin Falls, Idaho (open house)
15. Logan, Utah
16. Bountiful, Utah
17. Salt Lake Temple
18. Jordan River, Utah
19. Mt. Timpanogas, Utah
20. Provo, Utah
21. Manti, Utah
22. St. George, Utah
23. Sacramento, Calif.
24. Spokane, Wash.

25. Washington, D.C.

26. Rexburg, Idaho

27. Idaho Falls, Idaho

28. Dallas, Texas

29. Draper, Utah

30. Oquirrh Mountain, Utah

31. Boston, Mass.

32. Manhattan, New York City, N.Y.

33. Reno, Nev.

34. Medford, Ore.