WDW: Not just for kids!

We did a few really cool things during our trip to Walt Disney World in mid-June (aside from eating the best food ever, of course). 

Over in Disney Hollywood Studios:

We got ourselves frozen in carbonite, like Donald:

But what really happened is that we sat in a little chair while someone took 3D pictures of our faces.  It looked something like this:

Then we made a variety of expressions, which looked something like this:

Then we got to choose the expression we liked the  most so that it can be made into an action figure-- something like this:

but with our own heads. They are made into 8" action figures and we should be getting them in a few weeks. I'm not sure where we'll put them, but I'm sure they will be displayed prominently.

We also went to this really cool Walt Disney museum, which was kind of off the beaten path but well worth visiting. It includes:

Walt Disney's office

Mr. Lincoln without his clothes on

It also included much more memorabilia-- more than I can include in this post. So if you are randomly in Disney Hollywood Studios, make sure to visit this museum.

In the Animal Kingdom, we made sure to get the obligatory "in front of the Tree of Life" picture;

And then a picture in front of Expedition Everest:

We also went on the safari and saw zillions of giraffes (among other animals):

At Epcot, we wore matching sweatshirts:

And rode on Spaceship Earth (the golf ball):

which they have revamped, so it now includes a portion where you answer a few questions and you get a video of what your life may be like in the future:

It made me laugh so hard, I was crying.

Finally, we went to the Magic Kingdom a few times:

It was really, really, really crowded and the only fun we had there together was during Magic Hours when the park was open until 2am for those staying at the Disney resorts. 

We made sure to visit the Haunted Mansion, which recently re-did their graveyard to make it more interactive. This includes an organ you can play, musical instruments on the wall that you touch and they play a tune, and this sarcophagus:

which sprayed water at passersby.

And took a picture here, which makes us look pretty wilted:

I'm glad that we chose to do some nontraditional, non-ride things because there were just way too many people and the lines were usually 45+ minutes long.

We didn't get to spend much time with my family, which was unfortunate, but none of them really wanted to spend time in the parks when we were there and  I had to go home earlier than others because of work. But, of course, wherever the ShepAlders are, there the fun is also!

I'm getting prepared to write my many posts about our road trip east, but I have to overcome the denial that I'm going to be living in North Dakota for the next year first.

ShepAlder Temple #48: Billings, Montana

As part of our ridiculous road trip halfway across the country, we stopped in Billings, Montana to do a session at the temple.

The main thing of note is that this is a one-story temple with a tall spire, which makes it a very unique. There is no mistaking the Billings temple for anything else. Also, it is right next to the hills, which makes it very picturesque.

It is also practically impossible to get lost. There are glass doors that remind you to stop and go a different way. It was very well-designed. The inside was pretty plain, of course, with a lot of white walls and gold trim. No purple couches, sadly.

One thing of note is that the Celestial Room is asymmetrically designed, with bay stained-glass windows. There is also apparently a skylight in the main foyer that offers a view of the angel Moroni, but I forgot to look for it.

We are still trying to figure out where temples #49 and 50 are going to be. Josh wants to go to the St. Paul, Minnesota temple sometime soon, but after spending over 2,000 miles in the car to get here, I don't think I'll be willing to spend over 10 hours in the car round trip anytime soon.

So what do you think? Where should temples #49 and 50 be?

Things I didn't know about Grand Forks #14

Josh just discovered tonight that North Dakota is one of the only states that enforces the blue law, which means that stores are not allowed to be open on Sundays. This includes WalMart, which is usually open 24 hours but Josh happened to be there around midnight when they announced that they were closing.

Previously, this law was strict: no stores could be open from midnight to midnight. But following a blizzard when no one could buy supplies, the law was changed in 1991 so that stores are only closed until noon on Sundays.

This affects me not at all since I don't shop on Sundays anyway, but it's pretty interesting.

Eating Our Way Through Disney World

We recently went to Walt Disney World with my family. We went there five years and 3 months ago, also with my family, and had fun. This time I was less focused on the rides and wanted to experience WDW differently. Every time I have ever gone to Disneyland or Disney World, I have been jealous of people who don't have to wait a million years on a waiting list for a good restaurant. Furthermore, I wanted to eat at some unique places. 

With the help of this blog, I made several excellent choices.

Restaurant Marrakesh

Located in Morocco at EPCOT, Restaurant Marrakesh was our first food stop because I thought Josh would find it interesting not just for the bellydancer:

In EPCOT, all of the countries are staffed by actual natives (so you don't get some white college kid trying to do a half-assed British accent), and I liked this restaurant because the people who worked there were clearly interested in the music and watching the bellydancer. It was pretty empty (I think because you have to navigate down this winding road which reminded me of an Indiana Jones movie), but I'd like to think that my thought to make a reservation was what got us a bellydancer-adjacent table:

The waiter put his hat on Josh's head, but on our table you can see one of the many Duck hats Josh wore during our trip

Bistro de Paris

Also in Epcot, but located in France, Bistro de Paris is the much more upscale version of the restaurant located downstairs, Chefs de France. In fact, I cannot believe that anyone would take a child here, but while we were waiting for a table there were several kids lolling around, rolling on the floor, and generally getting in the way (the waiting area for Bistro de Paris is tiny). Anywhere that has a dress code (which Bistro de Paris does, by the way), is way too fancy for children under 14. 

the view of the promenade from our table

The reason I chose this restaurant is because it is supposedly the best place in which to watch the fireworks at Epcot, but only if you get a window table. In order to get a fireworks-view table during the fireworks was a bit of an ordeal (or would have been had it been more than just Josh and myself). First, I made a reservation for an hour before the fireworks start. Then we came hours before our reservation to declare our desire for a fireworks view. They said they couldn't guarantee it, but that they would keep it in mind (which really means nothing, but calmed my nerves). We then showed up 15 minutes early and again declared our desire for a fireworks view. Here is the key: we told the hostess that we were willing to wait. And we did wait. For 30 minutes. But it was worth it!

Maybe they have that metal bar so that people don't get too excited about eating here and then hurl themselves out the windows rather than walking down the stairs because they are so overcome with euphoria. Believable, oui?

While we were waiting for so long, another woman came up who had a reservation at 8:15 (first mistake) for four (second mistake) and demanded (third mistake) a fireworks view table. She told her angry story about how she came earlier during the day in order to declare her table desire (much like we had), but had been turned away (same), and was so annoyed that here she was and she was being told she would have to wait despite all her preparation. The hostess asked whether she would be willing to wait (like we were), and the woman left to angrily confer with her group (fourth mistake-- just say yes and then change your mind later!)

We were then seated and had this awesome waiter from somewhere in France that I can't remember, and we had extremely good food (mashed potatoes with truffle oil that were more like pureed, steak with crusted mushrooms. nom nom nom). The angry woman from before was seated maybe 10 or 15 minutes later with her group and they got a partial fireworks view (which means on the side of the restaurant with the windows but a few tables away) and I would like to think that our politeness was what eventually led to the best experience I have ever had at Epcot.

For dessert-- raspberry mousse with chocolate inside. It was the best dessert I have ever had in my entire life, and I am a lady who likes her desserts!

Narcossee's 

I wanted to have a nice night with my parents, so I looked for the best place in which to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks and that is Narcossee's at the Grand Floridian Resort. Again, we arrived early for our reservation and requested a window seat, which we got practically right away. We started with a cheese plate, my mom and I had steaks, and I ended with a strawberry shortcake that was extremely yummy.

 

Here was our view:

They played the music that plays during the fireworks inside the restaurant and turn the lights down. I loved it.

Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater

The final special restaurant we went to was one with a drive-in theater theme. Everyone eats in cars set up with tables and clips of sci-fi movies play on a big screen.

The screen:

The place is pretty dark, but you can kind of see the other cars and then the kitchen set up in the back like a snack bar. 

 

And, of course, I had frozen lemonade every chance I could:

This was the best eating trip ever. Josh said he lost weight during the trip from all the sweating and walking, but I definitely gained weight from all the eating. (BTW it was worth it)

ShepAlder Trek Phase 2: Cleaning

We are finally in Grand Forks and dealing with all of the unexpected idiosyncrasies of a small, midwest town, coupled with my tendency toward panic attacks lately. But a big part of our move here was to clean the entire house so that my friend Nancy could move in and not think we were total slobs.

I didn't take many pictures because I don't even want to bother with the before-and-after thing. But I did take this very cute picture of my mom, who drove all the way up from Eugene for the sole purpose of helping me clean.

I gave her the worst job, which was to clean the carpet in the cat room (though she claimed to enjoy it and definitely has experience getting pet stains out of carpets) while I cleaned Josh's shower (and nearly passed out from the bleach fumes). I know that when I get back to my house in a year (depressed sigh) things will be dusty and dirty again, but at least I didn't leave it as a complete disaster. Plus, I am really lucky to have a mom who loves me enough to drive 4 hours (round trip) to come clean my carpet.

ShepAlder Trek Phase 1: Packing

We had to pack. It sucked. Our living room looked like this (and worse) for a month:

We had to wedge this couch down our windy stairs. It's my couch from college and lived in the cat room for the past 4 years (so you can imagine the endless amounts of cat hairs). Josh had to take a door off the hinges and I fell down a bunch of times. The cats are really angry that we stole their couch.

Josh didn't start packing until the night before we were to load our things. In fact, he took a nice, long Sunday nap:

On Monday we loaded up a U-haul in order to transport our things to a relo-cube. Apparently they would have dropped the cube off at our house and then picked it up again... for $800. So we did it ourselves. 

The thing is, when we got to the shipping yard and saw the cube, I was absolutely certain there was no way we could fit all of our (my) things. We had to put the couch on its end and by the time we got the couch and the bed in there, it didn't seem like there would be enough room!

Josh claims that it is his superior Tetris skills that made the packing possible, but my consolidation skills were also at play. 

This might be our last post for a bit, just until we get settled in Grand Forks (yikes!), but we have a whole action-packing, fun-filled drive planned that includes: temple #48, Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, staying overnight in the city of Deadwood, and Devil's Tower. Plus 5 days in the car with a very cranky cat!

Temple #47: Orlando, FL

It is almost official that the ShepAlders are a pair of temple-going crazies (the 50th one makes it official, so stay tuned) because we have now been to temple #47. This past week, Josh and I went to a family reunion/business meeting get-together with my family at Walt Disney World (pictures forthcoming, I promise). We took a red-eye flight (I semi-literally walked into the house from work and then out to the car with my suitcase) to get to Florida on Friday morning so that we could enjoy the temple before my family started arriving.

Like a lot of temples, the Orlando temple just kind of appears out of nowhere while you're driving on the highway. I think you go up a little hill or maybe turn the corner and there it is:

It was very sunny and muggy, so in all the pictures of us we look a bit wilted:

This temple is much bigger than I had anticipated. The dressing room reminded me of the temples in Utah where the matron has to tell you specifically which locker to use because otherwise there would be massive chaos. But it wasn't busy. In fact, there were four couples exactly in our session, which is apparently the perfect number.

I really liked the chapel, which was kind of small but had a cloud mural on the ceiling. That was a surprise because this temple was dedicated in 1992 and temples of that era tend to be more utilitarian than overtly decorative. It wasn't until the early- to mid-2000s that environmental murals became commonplace. This wasn't an environmental mural, but my point is that it was beautiful and unexpected.

from the back

There were several other surprises about this temple. Firstly, the Celestial room has purple couches that are modern and as soon as I saw them I thought, "Oh, this is a first!" I loved them. I love that whoever was in charge of choosing furniture made that choice. Seriously, I would have hugged these couches if I could have fit my arms around them.

The second surprise was that the temple is a haven for geckos. All of Orlando is, really, but they kept scuttling around and freaking me out. I hate when I can see something from the corner of my eye moving and I'm not quite sure what it is.

This particular one was living in a light fixture:

The final surprise was that, while Josh was off taking more pictures and I was sitting in the air-conditioned car minding my own business, someone hit our car! Everything turned out fine, but it was a super awkward situation, especially since I suspect this person may not have left a note had I not been sitting in the car when she hit it and had I not then gotten out of the car and stared at her. So now the Orlando temple will always be known as the one at which someone hit our rental car.

And also the one with all the geckos: