PORTLAND SATURDAY MARKET 3.7.15

 saturday, we went and checked out the portland saturday market for our first time this season. the weather was absolutely b e a u t i f u l, especially for this time of year and it was so nice to be walking around soaking up some vitamin d. i seriously don't know why people complain about portland winters. sure its cloudy a lot and rains more often than other places but i would take a portland winter over a utah weather any day!
our good friends payton and christine came with us and we had fun just walking around and looking at all the different vendors and trying out new food carts. i just love living in portland! there are always so many things to do, people to see, and food to try. (:

after considering many options, we decided on a greek food truck and got these delicious gyros. and of course we had to get an elephant ear. nothing better than fried dough slathered in butter, cinnamon and sugar! (:

loooove me some elephant ears!

i love the portland waterfront. there was this little sailboat out on the river and i had to capture it. i love my city. (:

FAMILY PORTRAIT

i got a call earlier in the week from critter cabana, the pet store that we purchased alfie from, and they were having a big event on saturday where they were having a professional pet photographer come in and since we were clients, they were offering us a complimentary 5x7 photo of alfie! i was cracking up on the phone but said absolutely put us down! (because why not?!?)

so we show up on saturday and they were set up in the small upstairs loft of the pet store. there were lots of people there and you could hear all sorts of barks and chirps from downstairs so alfie was a little nervous to say the least. the photographers totally loved him though! they kept saying how pretty he was and even said that he looked like a show cat! haha 

the picture taking took only a few minutes. they had a few props and had a few toys and noise makers to get his attention and make him look at the camera. he will usually look at the camera for me at home but with all of the new surroundings and noises, he was very distracted... i am so bummed i didn't get a picture of him actually getting his photo taken but we were so busy trying to get his attention that we totally missed it (which isn't that supposed to be the photographers job?... oh well...)

after they took several shots, we picked out our favorite four and then they tried to get us to buy a package but robbie wasn't gonna fly with $187+ on pet pictures... (maybe i should go into that business. it literally took less than 10 minutes total...)

after several different price options (the smallest they went was $50 for the four 5x7 photos printed... no thanks...) we just settled  on our complimentary 5x7 of all three of us and it is so hilarious! i can't until it comes in the mail. so funny. 

these are just some photos we snapped of him on my phone afterwards. this is the little room where we first laid eyes on him as a baby kitten! he was still pretty nervous and would not look at the camera still... ugh haha 

i sure do love my baby kitty!

xoxo ash

RACHEL'S HOMECOMING

i have to give a shout out to my baby sis. she has just returned home from faithfully serving an 18 month mission trip for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints in tahiti of all places! i am so incredibly proud of her for her dedication, commitment and sacrifice to be able to learn french and tahitian and to help serve the people in tahiti. my mom flew me down the day after she got home from the airport so i could spend some short but sweet time with her and to hear her talk in our church meeting on sunday about her experience. (thanks mom!). i had such a blast.

this is at the portland international airport. for some reason, people are like o b s e s s e d with the carpet design. yeah... i mean it's pretty sick but i'm pretty sure i would never tattoo the design onto my body... yes it's true. i saw it on the internet... but they are changing out all of the old carpet for a new design (which means the airport reeks of new carpet smell! gag!) and people are going crazy buying pdx carpet memorabilia. you can even buy a piece of the actual carpet after they rip it out! also, check out the hash tag #pdxcarpet on instagram. you may or may not find a picture of two from me on there... hey, don't hate on foot selfies!...

old vs. new carpet design. which one do you like better?

      

i flew into the houston airport super late but my dad mentioned that they were having a 5k fun run sponsored by the superintendent of the school district my dad works for so of course we decided to run in it! it was good to wake up early and do something active. 

the taylor girls reunited! (:

the next activity in my whirlwind weekend was going to see my parent's land after it had been cleared. my parents bought 2 acres that they are planning on retiring on in a few years and having horses (yay!) and building a house and all that jazz. when we were home during christmas break, it was basically all forest and brush so you couldn't really see how bit it was or really walk through it (hence the machete adventure...) so it was cool to see it all cleared and imagine what it will look like with a house and pasture on it. 

also note my little bro's car in the pic. he loves it. haha

of course the weekend i am home, my best friends decide to all go to new orleans... i definitely missed getting to see them because time with them is very limited living across the country and all. but i did find a nice surprise waiting for me when i got home! my best friend sara is getting married to her high school sweetheart and one of my good friends too so i could not be more thrilled! especially since i get to stand by her side and be one of her bridesmaids. such a special experience and i can't wait until they tie the knot! (:

        

a shot of my jammed finger... i have the wimpiest injuries. just jammed it at volleyball but not even playing. someone just threw me the ball to serve and somehow when i caught it, it was basically on the ground and it jammed... /: wimpy but sooo painful...

i think there are few sights that are better or more mouth watering than this. i basically begged my family to go to spring creek bbq for dinner (i was obviously thinking about rachel and the fact that she hadn't eaten it in over 18 months... hehe (:

seeeee. she's so happy to be feasting on delicious bbq.

her homecoming talk on sunday happened to also be my sister, briana's 23rd birthday. so we did a welcome home/happy birthday cake. she was such a good sport sharing her birthday with all of rachel's homecoming events. it was lucky for me though because i got to be with her on her birthday. love you briana! (:

our shopping/lunch/pedicure trip. <3

h e a v e n

                   

matching bright toes (:

lunch at newks, a local soup/salad/sandwich restaurant that is one of our faves. my family, aunt and uncle jason and jordan and my grandparents were all there. so fun!

a huge thanks to my mom for flying me down so i could be with my family for such a special time. i definitely missed my baby sis but am so proud of her for her commitment and service. she is such a great example to me and i love her so much!

i often think that i am so lucky to have such a fun/loud/crazy/loving family. it's the one thing missing here in portland. y'all are the bomb! <3

xoxo ash

ALFIE TURNS ONE

i can't even believe that our little fur baby is one! (15 in cat years apparently). to celebrate, i decided to throw him a birthday party! yes, this is real. and it was all cat themed too, of course.

we played cat jeopardy and it was just hysterical. i came up with different "cat"egories like "famous animated felines", "famous big cats", "cats but not cats", etc. we did boys vs. girls and the boys totally dominated. it was kinda sad... but i think everyone still had a great time playing. 

for snacks, we had a selection of different fishes (alfie's fave). cheddar goldfish, pretzel goldfish and nordic fish (not to be confused with swedish fish. these are from winco people).

i didn't want people to feel like they actually needed to spend money on a cat to come to the party so i put on the invitation no gifts please but people still brought some anyways. so sweet and thoughtful of them. alfie loves his friends!

i went all out on decorations...

we had sooo much cake. omgosh. if you know me, i am a terrible judge on food quantity so i always make a TON. i ended up bringing the extra cake and cupcakes to work so people could enjoy/celebrate his birthday too. 

even the plates were cats!

singing happy birthday to the birthday boy! he was already eyeing his birthday cake... hahah

chowin down!

after everyone left, he was totally wiped out. i don't blame him. he had a lot of friends come and help celebrate him turning one and we are so grateful that they spent their night with us. we are so blessed!

i was exhausted too. planning a party is a ton of work. a lot more than i thought it would. i don't even want to think about what it will be like to throw a party for my own human child..... hahah yikes!

we love our little fur baby and are so glad that he is a part of our family. thanks again to everyone who helped make his day special!

xoxo ash

PORTER FAMILY REUNION IN MAPLETON, UTAH

the porter family had a big reunion in mapleton, utah this year. the hardest part about leaving is leaving behind our little baby! poor alfie. he clearly loves me too.            

starting our trip off right. with a selfie!

they rented a h u g e monster house in mapleton that everyone stayed in. it was crazy. we used every last inch of that spot. seriously. we shared a room with robbie's cousin ryan and his wife courtenay, and my inlaws stayed in this massive food storage closet on the ground... they were such troopers! 

the first day, ryan and courtenay took us real rock climbing in the provo canyon. it was a lot of fun but way harder than i thought it would be. haha

all decked out in my rock climbing gear

look at my hottie husband!

both of us starting our climb.

i thought it wasn't that high up when i was watching people climb but when i got up i swear it was super high! haha

thanks for taking us rock climbing ryan and courtenay!

ohhhh david....

love my rob <3

behind our house we found these horses! and i l o v e horses! so robbie went back with me to pet them.

it looked like their water trough had been dried for quite some time, so i went and found a hose and turned it on and they were guzzling it down. poor babies. 

sweet kylie and her boppa!

we went to seven peaks one day. it was super fun especially since it was my first time! i know, so crazy since i lived in utah for 4 1/2 years.

we also got to go the spanish fork rodeo! it wasn't the houston rodeo by any means (#texasforever), but it was a great time to be there with everyone.

love this man of mine. and taking selfies with him... hehe

we had the chance to do a session with robbie's parents in the provo temple.

ok this little guy was my total buddy this week. isn't he the cutest kid on the planet?! 

this was robbie's buddy. (: with family genes this good i can only hope our kids will be as cute.

it was a tough battle and is still controversial but rob and i came out on top in our corn hole competition. it was a blast just playing and competing with everyone. now we have to find a place for this trophy... of course they had to get the biggest one possible.

before leaving town, of course we had to eat at zupas. i think it's my favorite restaurant of all time. seriously so good. i'm drooling writing this... mmmmmm (:

this is the face of a happy ash!

back on the road again with my better half. he is such a fun partner in crime and i am so lucky that he is mine. <3

xoxo ash