Emma goes to Portland

The only (and I really mean THE ONLY) great thing about my sister moving to Portland a few months ago is that we get to visit her there! In this family, we love to travel and see new places so after Olivia moved, we started planning our first trip. This time it would be an all girls trip; Me, Emma, my mom, and my aunt Brenda. It would be Emma's very first plane ride and the 8th state that she'd visited. I was so excited to see Olivia and spend some time with my family and also a little nervous to ride on a plane with a busy toddler for the first time. Early on a Wednesday morning, we headed for the Las Vegas airport. 

Emma liked the bustle of the airport. She said hi
to the other waiting passengers and happily pushed
her stroller around.

Watching the airplanes come in. 

 I had been nervous about entertaining Emma during the flight (especially because I had only registered her for a "lap seat") so I had prepared every form of entertainment I could possibly think of. All the preparation was worth it because Emma did great on flight #1. We were also lucky that our flight happened to be only half full-it allowed us to have an extra seat for Emma to sit in. Her wiggly body alternated from my lap to her own seat throughout the flight.

She loved pulling the table down and then slamming it back up
which I'm sure drove the person in front of me insane. I did my
best to stop her but the girl does what she wants.

Grandma brought a new book to read. The
sucker helped too. 

After a bottle-Emma took a nap that lasted at least
half of the flight-I couldn't have asked for better! 

She had lots of fun with these squishy
window decorations

Snuggles with grandma

After a 2 hour drive to Vegas, a couple of hours of entertaining in the airport, a 2 hour flight, a train ride, a bus ride, and what felt like a million miles of walking while carrying 500 pounds of luggage all while trying to keep track of an adventurous toddler, we had never been happier to see a Jimmy Johns in our lives. Olivia works at a Jimmy Johns in Portland and we arrived just in time for the end of her shift. She ran out from behind the counter when she saw us and there were hugs all around. 

Emma was super snuggly with Olivia on the first day. She just
sucked her thumb and cuddled right into her like she never wanted
to let go.

Olivia took us to her apartment building first where we gladly ditched the bags before venturing out again. It was nice to physically see the place my baby sister has been living so that I could visualize it a little better when we talk. It's a small place but nice and cozy. They've been slowly adding furniture and other personal touches as they go. I liked the wood floors but, unfortunately they didn't agree with Emma; she face planted after a few minutes of being there and earned her first bloody nose-poor thing! 

After a tour of the apartment and nursing Emma's nose, we were ready to go for a walk on Olivia's side of the city and see a bit of Portland.

Bikes for rent, we saw these all over the place.

Mexican Hot Chocolate doughnut at Blue Star Doughnuts. (YUM!)

One of my favorite parts of the evening was the rose garden that's just a walk away from Olivia's apartment. The roses were nearing the end of their season but, there were still plenty of them out and the park was beautiful.

After a long-but successful-day of traveling and sightseeing, we started on the 4 mile public transportation journey from Olivia's apartment to our airbnb. We used the bus and train system pretty much everywhere we went. It was a bit difficult to figure out how to navigate it and even 4 miles would take us about 45 minutes to travel. Lucky for all of us, aunt Brenda assumed the role of navigator and got pretty good at getting us where we needed to go with the help of Google maps and the (mostly) helpful, friendly bus drivers and locals. It was my first time staying in an airbnb and I would definitely recommend it. The amount of space and the incredible prices are enough to make it worth looking into on your next adventure. If your planning a trip and trying to save, airbnb is definitely the way to go.  

The next morning we were greeted with an authentic, Portland rainy morning. We walked to a nearby diner, umbrella's in hand, for breakfast. 

Walking to the bus stop

Emma loved to splash in the puddles

Waiting for the bus was something we did pretty often-we got good
at entertaining ourselves. Emma learned how to say "bus" and
would watch for it to come. 

The bright side of the bus ride taking so long every morning to get wherever we were visiting was that Emma always took a morning nap during the ride and an afternoon nap on our ride home. The bus seemed to lull her to sleep. On that first morning, we headed to the famous Powell's Book Store. Emma took a long nap on the bus and wasn't quite finished when we arrived so the two of us parked it on a bench and I watched all of the people outside of a rainy window while she slept.

When Emma woke up, we looked around the giant bookstore. Most of our time was spent in the children's section where Emma was in heaven looking at stuffed animals and books and sitting at tiny tables with chairs just her size. My mom and Brenda probably could have stayed there for days but, Emma and I had to take a little walk outside in between, as much as Emma loves books, you can only keep a toddler entertained in a book store for so long.

Olivia joined us after work and we headed across the street to local hot spot, Sizzle Pie Pizza where the pizza is sold by the slice and the slices are literally bigger than your face. It was delicious and after fueling up, we were ready to explore the Lan Su Chinese Garden. The foliage was beautiful in the sprinkling rain. I loved all of the different Chinese inspired structures and inlets filled with art and activities. 

Mom trying out some Chinese calligraphy 

Another fun day in Portland ended with a hot shower, some warm pajamas and reading our new book from Powell's book store before bed. 

Day 3 was Washington Square Park. A huge, romantic park filled with lush greenery and flowers at every turn.

Ready to roll

There is a section of the park called the International Rose Test Garden filled with every type of rose you never knew existed. It was colorful and frangrant and so dreamy.

Emma loved to smell them

As you can see, she got really in to it :)

One of the beautiful things about Portland was how the moss and
greenery grew on EVERYTHING (sidewalks, walls, and rooftops.

The next section of the park we visited was the Japanese Garden. Another breathtaking walk through a colorful garden this time with lovely, Japanese elements throughout.

Emma's favorite part was watching the giant Koi fish swim
around from the bridge.

On our walk back to the bus, we stumbled upon the Oregon Holocaust Memorial. I was so glad we did as it was such a sacred space. There was a very quiet, reverent feeling as we walked through. The first thing we noticed was a statue of a forgotten looking doll lying on a bench. We looked past the bench and noticed statues of several items that looked as if they'd just been discarded along the path among the fallen leaves.

At the end of the path was a polished, black wall with quotes from victims and a story. Also, on the side of the wall was engraved the words

"Beneath this rock are interred soil and ash from the six

killing-center camps of the Holocaust:

Chelmno

Treblinka

Sobibor 

Belzec

Majdanek

Auschwitz-Birkenau"

It was enough to bring tears to my eyes. 

The rest of our walk to the bus was through a beautiful, Oregon forest.

The next morning we headed to the Portland Saturday Market which turned out to be a little less impressive than we'd anticipated. This was mostly due to the fact that there had been a major storm warning put out. In fact, it was being nicknamed "the storm of the century"! It was supposed to be something like a hurricane and we were actually a bit nervous about it. Most weather stations reported that it would begin in the afternoon so, we decided we'd spend our morning out and head back home in plenty of time to avoid any crazy weather. We shopped around the Saturday Market for a while and then noticed the famous, Voodoo Doughnuts just down the street. We jumped in line excited to try them.

The doughnuts were good (I still preferred Blue Star doughnuts) but, the cool part was really the eclectic decor and crazy flavors. The doughnuts were topped with just about anything you could think of from tang to breakfast cereals and there were all kinds of wild combos with funky names (including some that would be inappropriate to mention.) After Voodoo, we headed to Mcmenimums for some grub. (I know, dessert before lunch-that's how we roll!) Mcmenimums is a restaurant/brewery. There are several of them in the area and all are in some sort of old building that has been remade into a restaurant. The one we ate at had been a boarding school in the early 1900s.

The next day's highlights were walking through shops in The Pearl District and a delicious visit to Salt and Straw ice cream. I had the most delicious salted caramel and freckled woodblock chocolate. (Heavenly!) Of course, Emma needed her own scoop (so that I could sample it.) She got Snickerdoodle. We were joined by both Olivia and her boyfriend, Nick on this day which was fun. Lucky for us, the storm that was promised never actually showed up. We were able to enjoy the day with very little rain at all. 

Interesting bush that we saw everyday on our walk to the bus.

Emma thoroughly enjoyed every bite that I didn't steal

Beautiful fall leaves down this street made us decide
it was time for a couple of group pictures.

Watching for the bus...again

The next day was Washington Square mall. A nice, large mall with all kinds of fun stores. We started our shopping trip off with a visit to the Cheesecake Factory. When at the Cheesecake Factory, it is a crime to not order a slice of cheesecake. I got the hazelnut.

Apparently we hadn't done enough shopping because the next day was spent in another area of town with cute shops we'd discovered on our bus ride home the previous night. We found all kinds of fun souvineers and ended the day at a delicious pizza place near our airbnb. 

Our final day brought one of my favorite activities of the trip-The Oregon Zoo. Because of how green and forested Oregon is, it felt like we were walking through a jungle and every once in a while you'd look to your left and see an eagle or a bear. Emma had a blast finding all of the animals and making their noises or saying their names and I loved watching her experience it. 

By the time we got to the elephants (which Emma was fascinated with)
She was very sick of all the pictures as you can tell by the over-dramatic
scream face she is making in the above picture. 

Emma loved these Lion figures. She kept petting them
and saying "Nice lion!"

Our last meal was at this neat Grilled cheese food truck. Not being a grilled cheese fan myself, I had low expectations. It turned out to be the best grilled cheese I've ever had by far. Emma and I split a brie and pepperjack grilled cheese with roasted red peppers and a brie and nutella grilled cheese on cinnamon bread with banana slices! So delicious and a perfect way to say goodbye to Portland.

Portland is an interesting place filled with all kinds of interesting characters and delicious food and treats. There is so much green that sometimes it almost feels like a city popped up out of nowhere in the middle of a rain forest. The sky is grey and cloudy and the streets are wet and lined with trees. The best thing about Portland though is that my sister is there. It was hard to say goodbye for several more months as we stepped on the bus,airport-bound. Emma and I miss her so much but, we will be back to visit again. (Next time we're bringing daddy along with us.)

Emma did great on the flight home (though she was a bit more active than she'd been on the flight to Portland). In fact, Emma was a champ the whole time. She had fun and learned and changed so much just in the week that we were there. I would say that our trip to Emma's 8th state was a huge success and I'm so glad I was able to make those memories with her and spend time with my aunt, mom, and sister.

The Monday After Conference Weekend

I always look forward to conference weekend. I love hearing the prophet speak and listening to the apostles and others who are called to speak. My testimony is always strengthened by their words and through them I always find hope and direction.The entire weekend leaves me feeling uplifted, recharged and rejuvenated. This past weekend was no different. I heard so many wonderful words about hope, joy, healing, forgiveness, love, service, and grace. So many of the talks touched my heart and soul. One that I particularly enjoyed was given by Russel M. Nelson. (I always enjoy hearing him speak.) I loved his encouraging words about how focusing on the joy in our lives will actually help us to feel more joyful. (If you didn't get a chance, you really should listen to his talk. Link HERE. ) I loved this quote:

I loved his reminder that we are here to have joy! (2 Nephi 2:25) It's an important part of our purpose on this earth! He also stated that "saints can be happy under ANY circumstance!" I thought about that a lot. I thought about how in the past few months I had, at times, let worries "consume me". I have a tendency to dwell on terrible things that are happening in the world-I think far too often about all of the sin and pain and evil in the world. In fact, it had become such a problem for me in the past few months that I eventually "unfollowed" all of my news stations on social media. It's also easy to slip into a pattern where I focus too much on my own hardships, small as they may seem to some. Elder Nelson's talk gave me a new way to look at things, he counseled us to focus on joy even through our hardships and promised that we would feel more joyful if we did. 

Well, let me tell you about my day today. I woke up feeling so much joy! I was so excited to start applying some of the things I had learned or been prompted with at conference. I woke up early to get started on a work project and was excited to get a list of things accomplished. I had several things that needed to be done so, I knew it would be a busy day but I was on such a high from conference weekend and I just knew it was going to be a good day. Here's how it went:

9:30- Get a very grumpy and tired Emma out of bed, dressed, fed, and in the car. Load several large, heavy boxes  into the car, look around the house for my keys, head to the post office. 

9:45- Go into the post office (feeling joyful) and I'm greeted by an ornery employee. I cheerfully ask for a dolly to bring in my 6 large boxes filled with envelopes to be mailed out for work. I start the process of bringing in the boxes (1 at a time) with Emma as my "helper". Emma attempts to wander into the road several times when she sees a dog, then begins to do it more just because she thinks it's funny that I have to drop the box and chase after her every time she does. 

10:15- Head back to the counter and tell the ornery employee that I'd like to ship all of the envelopes in the boxes. He proceeds to tell me that I'm going to need to put six stamps on each of the 250 envelopes by myself. He tells me "you can do it over in that corner". I start to feel a little less joyful as I picture what Emma will do for the 1-2 hours that it will take me to complete this task. 

10:30- the man is finally finished counting out stamps (he had to recount 4 or 5 times) and ringing me up, I try to pay him-there's a problem with the card. Emma is screaming at this point-I tried to give her a food pouch to keep her quiet and she squeezed it all over the front of my shirt. I proceed to try to get a hold of some people at work to figure out what the problem with the card is-everyone is on lunch break. 

11:00- I finally decide to go back to work to get a check instead. I begin the process of hauling the 6 boxes back out to the car. 

11:30- I head back to work and grab a check, Emma is intrigued by the rocks on the ground and doesn't want to get back in the car-complete meltdown. We finally get home (I decided I couldn't stand to go back to the post office right away). I start to try to get Emma to sleep which takes nearly an hour. 

1:30- Emma falls asleep so I get started on decorating a cake for a cake smash photo shoot I've been asked to do. I don't have much time because I'm trying to get it delivered by 3 so that I can stop by the post office on the way to my eye appointment at 4. 

3:30- I wake Emma up from her nap, hurriedly get her and the cake out to the car and head to go drop off the cake. 

3:55- I call the eye doctor on the way to the post office and tell them I'm going to be late.

4:00- I walk back into the post office, wait in line for a half hour, get to the front (the ornery employee had lost faith that I was going to return so he'd put my stamp order back and had to recount-I think he was just about as happy to see me as I was to see him.)

4:50- Walk of shame into the eye doctor. They manage to squeeze me in. Emma keeps running out of the exam room during the appointment which means I have to keep running out in the middle of the exam to grab her. The appointment ends up costing so much that I decide not to even buy the new glasses that I set the appointment for. 

5:30- I drive home on the verge of tears when all of the sudden, President Nelson's words come to my mind. I start to think I've failed at the whole "focus on the joy" thing today. 

Later this evening, Emma insisted on a bath. Literally, she stood by the tub and impatiently cried "tub tub tub!" over and over again while pointing to it and dancing up and down on her toes. I put her in the bath and tiredly watched her play in the bubbles while I grumpily think about how I hardly got anything accomplished today (I didn't even get the stamps on the envelopes that were supposed to be shipped out). She was grinning from ear to ear, pouring water over her head, and playing with the random Easter eggs that I'd tossed in. She grabbed a bucket and stuck it on her head. "at! at! at!" she cried (that's how she says "hat") She was flashing the goofiest faces at me and soon I was laughing hysterically at her silliness. I quickly forgot about the crummy day that had seemed so miserable and started to feel joy. I thought some more about President Nelson's words and started to count my blessings. (I have a lot of them--too many to count)

 

 

 

I realized today that the great thing about conference is that it comes around twice every single year. We are reminded of wonderful truths and given direction and because we aren't perfect and we mess up (sometimes even the day after conference.) we have six months to work on ourselves and do the best we can before we are reminded again! 

Also--if any of you have had a day like mine, you should really listen to this song. It helped me today. (sort of goes a long with this whole message, don't you think?)