30 Books Before I'm 30: My Life in France

My Life in France by Julia Child

This book was written with the help of Childs' grandnephew, Alex Prud'homme. He writes in the forward that the book came about from a series of conversations he had with her in August 2004 about her life in France during the 1950s. Because of this, the book is written in a very conversational style, and is more a series of recollections than a cohesive "this happened and then this happened"-type autobiography. The book starts with Childs' time in France, but extends beyond and to her husbands' death.

I realized while I was reading this book that there were a couple of things working against me. #1: I hate cooking (in fact, when Josh went camping with his scouts I mostly just ate uncooked egg noodles and didn't even notice until the end of the week that I hadn't eaten much of anything else), and #2: I've never been to France (even though my family thinks I have). But I still really enjoyed this book. 

Things I Liked: Although I know I wouldn't have been friends with Julia Child if we had ever met (mostly because I think she would have felt I was boring), her joie de vivre is contagious. She was a woman who loved her life and reading this book makes it obvious.

Since this book is episodic, it makes it really easy to pick it up and put it down again. I tend to bring books around with me so I can read whenever I have time, and with this book that was really easy.


Things I Didn't Like: Julia Child makes me feel really inadequate, though it makes me feel better that she didn't really start her cooking career until her mid-30s. I wish I was more like her-- indiscriminantly friendly, outgoing, and singularly-minded (writing her first cookbook took something like 12 years of solid work, and I can't even get through vaccuuming the upstairs hallway without getting distracted halfway through). So I don't like that this book made me feel bad about myself, but that's my thing more than the fault of the narration.


This book would be great to read: in the bathtub, or anywhere that you want to read a little at a time and don't necessarily need to keep track of plot points.

I would recommend this book to: anyone with even a quasi interest in food, France, or biographies. I would also recommend this book to my mother, who said she doesn't like to read anything depressing or stressful.

This book is an incredibly easy read, though Childs' narrative voice may be annoying to some people.

If you liked this book, you might also like: the movie Julie & Julia (2009), which was based in part on this book, or the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (Washington DC), where you can find a model of Childs' test kitchen. She had a thing for pegboard, on which she would outline her pots so she would know where everything went. 

30 Books Before I'm 30: The Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

This novel is the factual account of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. In the forward, Larson notes that everything that is in quotes comes from either letters or written statements, and that everything else comes from extensive research. He focuses the story on two men: Daniel Burnham, who was the brains behind the construction and presentation of the World's Fair buildings, and Dr. H.H. Holmes, who used the fair as a way to funnel single females into his Murder Motel. Holmes is considered to be America's first serial killer, and his exploits are disturbing. 

It was really easy to get through this book once I really made the commitment, but it was initially difficult because Larson vacillates between two essentially unrelated topics. He even says explicitly that Burnham and Holmes never met. I couldn't tell whether Larson set out to tell a story about Holmes but needed to flesh it out (pardon the pun) with information about the cultural climate that led to such atrocities (not just the murders, but that Holmes got away with it for a ridiculous amount of time), or that he wanted to write about the World's Fair and needed something to spice it up. Either way, it is incredibly fascinating but disjointed and at times very frustrating when I get into a storyline and then have it switched in the next chapter.

Things I Liked: Once it got going, this book was hard to put down. I zoomed through it. Larson did an impressive amount of research and gives details that color the landscape well. I love stories about America at the turn of the century, and this book made me desperately wish to travel back in time and attend the World's Fair and walk around in the buildings that were described. 

Things I Didn't Like: In an effort to make his novel a page-turner, Larson gives little nuggets of information and then hints at the importance it will play later in the story. For instance, Holmes had an assistant that had a few kids, and Larson says, essentially, "These kids are important! I'll be coming back to them!" But toward the end of the book Larson had so many storylines going it was hard to keep them all straight. I couldn't remember all of the people he had told me were important! 

Also, there weren't enough pictures. For fiction novels I hate pictures, but when the author is writing about real people that really designed real buildings? I want to see more of it. Perhaps if the book had been about one man or the other (Burnham or Holmes) then there would have been more room for more pictures, but it's also possible that he just couldn't get the picture reprinting rights.

Best Place to Read this Book: On the beach or anywhere that you can be undisturbed for several hours (it can be engrossing).

I would recommend this book to: people with an interest in history, architecture, or serial killers and psychology.

I would also recommend: the documentary H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer by John Borowski. It's on Netflix streaming right now.

Wait For It

We went to Hawaii this past week. It may take me awhile to blog about it, but we took tons of pictures. Here's a preview of one of our many adventures:

ShepAlder Temple Adventure #35: Kona, Hawaii

For my August break, Josh planned a trip to Hawaii (Maui, the big island, and Oahu), for the wedding of some friends and for general relaxation and adventure-having. We were hoping to visit both the Kona and Laie temples, but the Laie temple is closed until November for renovation (which made Josh sad, but I told him we would be coming back to Oahu in the future so he doesn't need to be sad forever), so we just went to Kona.

The temple is so close to the highway, you could jump out of your car and land in the grounds. We didn't even need a GPS to get there because we had seen it on our way to our hotel and just guessed which exit we needed to take. I was impressed with us because we have a horrible history of getting lost either on the way, inside, or while leaving temples. 

The Kona, Hawaii temple is another small temple, like Medford and Reno, which meant that I knew the layout exactly, which was comforting. Even though the construction is almost exactly like the other small temples, there are several things that sets this temple apart, both inside and out.

First, and this may be a cultural thing, the temple is not very well-guarded. This means that there isn't really a perimeter fence, so people could probably stroll the grounds whenever they would like. I was shocked by that! But that's because I live in a city where, if the temple grounds were left vulnerable like that, someone would spray paint or try to break into the building.

The non-gates (at the top of the stairs)

There were also these cool, marble benches:

And these fan palms:

The temple was kind of at the edge of a neighborhood, at the end of a cul-de-sac with just a stake center on one side, and this oddly singular house next door:

The temple is to the right. Josh was so weirded out that there was just this random house so close to the temple, he kept taking pictures and videos of it.

The stake center next door had a satellite dish, which also entranced Josh because it was so big:

I made a conscious effort not to use the same dressing room like I had in the Reno and Medford temples (because I thought three times in a row might have been a little weird), and instead chose a room that I thought would be unpopular because it was at the back, but apparently it was the most popular changing room, and there was a long line of ladies waiting for me to change into my street clothes at the end of the night. I should have just stuck to my routine.

Other things of note about this temple:

* Instead of individual chairs in the ordinance rooms, there were benches, which threw me off. They were like pews. I think some of the older temples are like that, too (I'm thinking specifically of the Los Angeles and Manti temples), but I've never seen a newer temple (Kona was opened in 2000) like that.

* It was the first time I was the only White person in a session. I have been in a minority before (like when we went to the LA temple and it was a Spanish-language session and it was me, some blonde chick, and her husband who probably went to a Spanish-speaking mission and thought it would be cool to go through the temple in Spanish), but it was really just little old Whitey me, a gaggle of Hawaiians, and Hispanic Josh. I liked it. I was fascinated about what the experience made me think about.

Coming Up:

We've been talking about taking a Church History Tour for Spring Break and go to some of the temples in the Midwest. I always feel like I'm being self-righteous when I talk about visiting temples around the country, because it invariably makes other people feel bad about their own temple attendance, and I know that hitting the 50 temple mark is going to make it worse, but if we take this trip then it will put us in the mid-40s range. 

Reno and Medford

This past week, Josh and I took a road trip to Reno, where I had never been, and Medford to see our friends The Westons (who had suggested the road trip to Reno in the first place). We went to Reno mainly to attend the temple, since we have gotten oddly fanatical about attending new temples, but we also needed the trip to relax after an especially grueling school term.

 I had to take this picture from a weird angle because so many roads were closed off for Hot August Nights

I'm not sure we're ever going to come back to Reno, but we had a great time while we were there. We stayed in one of the nicest/biggest/most convenient hotel rooms we've ever stayed in together, in this hotel:

The Atlantis

which had this in the corner, next to the window:

and this in the bathroom:

The TV, not the mess

Josh even served my Diet Coke to me like this:

Though it was only because the DC had been in the back of the car for 3 days and was undrinkably warm, not because I demanded it (I swear!)

Josh treated me to a 90-minute massage in the spa, and I would absolutely recommend that to anyone who happens to stay at The Atlantis, because the spa was beautiful and had a lot of different amenities, like the Brine Inhalation Light Therapy Lounge (which I didn't use, though I did sit in the steam room). The hotel has package deals so that, if you book a spa appointment at the same time as a room, you get a good deal at the spa. Totally worth it. I've been to many spas in my time, and I'm pretty certain this one was the best I've seen.

After the temple, we went to dinner. Josh and his mom are big fans of the show "Dinners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on The Food Network. Before we travel anywhere, Josh checks to see whether there are good restaurants that have been on that show in the area. This time we went to the Gold-N-Silver Inn, where I had the lemonade porkchops (which were so tender they practically just fell apart) and Josh had the tri-tip sandwich.

I also got this:

It was supposedly vanilla, but tasted like maple syrup

Josh discovered that there is a drive-in in nearby Sparks, NV, and insisted we go there on one of the two nights we were there. He has fond memories of attending the now-defunct drive-in in his hometown of Hermiston, and I've never before been to a drive-in, so it was an adventure. We saw "Dinner for Schmucks."

Our view of the screen

I absolutely recommend the drive-in. It was only $4 per person for a double feature (we had already seen the second movie, so we left during intermission), and you can take in whatever snacks you would like. Plus, I could recline my seat.

On our drive back to Beaverton, we stopped off in Medford to see Chris and Haylie, who moved there in May. We forgot to take pictures, but we ate here and it was delicioso! As we were leaving, Josh said, "I really should have taken a picture of that pizza!" (because for some reason he likes to document the food we eat). Then we went to the temple, where the session was apparently full of people from Haylie and Chris's ward. We had a great time, and we were the first ones to visit in Medford, and we are completely gloaty and prideful about it! :)

I think this trip was definitely in my top 5 of trips Josh and I have taken together because: 1) I didn't feel like I was stepping into a wet bear skin coat when I went outside (I'm looking at you Washington, DC in August), 2) My feet didn't feel like they were broken and yet I still had to walk around on them (Disneyworld), and 3) We didn't stay so long that I started getting antsy and then got into a fight with a man who cut in line at the airport and then Josh told me to shut up because he thought we might get stabbed (Jamaica). So, it was a success!

Also, we discovered probably the awesomest podcasts for car trips ever. We learned that Jefferson re-wrote the Bible (for his own use), how Legos are made, whether it's better to buy organic or local, and many other fascinating things.

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.

Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band

My brother-in-law Kaly bought tickets for us to see Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band, and since Kaly is awesome, he got us seats in the second row. Yeah, seriously. It was at the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, which is actually a nice venue (even though I grew up in Eugene, I had never been to a show there, and now I wish I had). In addition to my b-i-l Kaly and my sister Laura, my parents also came with us (it was supposed to be a birthday present, I think, though no one told my dad about it, so when he asked, "What is everyone doing tonight?" at dinner he got a big surprise to find out that we had made plans for him).

Ringo Starr is hilarious. When he started the show he read out loud the signs that people were holding up. Someone had a "Beatles" sign, and he said, "The Beatles, like I've forgotten about that."

We also saw:

Edgar Winter who sang "Free Ride" (not to be confused with "Slow Ride") and "Frankenstein

My parents were super excited about him. They practically fell over when they jumped to their feet and cheered when he started singing. It's possibly the most excited I have ever seen them. It looked like this:

And then we also saw:

Rick Derringer from The McCoys, who sang "Hang On Sloopy." Fun fact: "Hang On Sloopy" is the official song of Ohio.

Wally Palmar from The Romantics, who sang "Talking in your Sleep" and "What I Like About You" (I felt like I was at prom in 1980, but in a good way). 

Gary Wright, who sang "Dream Weaver." He took himself very seriously.

and, last but not least, Richard Page from Mr. Mister, who sang "Kyrie" (which my sister Laura hates) and "Broken Wings"

I totally recommend going to their Wikipedia pages and checking out what they looked like in their hey-day. Interesting. 

This was the best concert I've been to in a long time. Here we are with my sister and brother-in-law:

I am giving my fake smile/grimace, so don't judge too harshly

And here we are ShepAldering it up from the second row:

The night ended with "With a Little Help From My Friends" (naturally), which segued into "Give Peace a Chance."