Lazy Summer Walks

One of the best things about living in Oregon is the ability to find small areas of woods to take walks through. It's just my luck that Orachard Park also has a disc golf course as well. It's very comforting to know that we can easily "get away" from the normal grind. We've found so many trails and places to hike that we feel like we are back at camp all over again.

Summer Project #1: New Fish Tank

Towards the end of the year,we knew that we were going to have some problems with the size of our fish tank due to the hanky-panky that was going on with our fish. So we decided to upgrade to a 30 gallon tank this last week. Good think we did because as I was moving the fish from one tank to the other I happened to see something new...another new batch of babies. Just to give you the scale, here is one in a glass measuring cup.


The funny thing was that after we moved them all, they broke out into a conga line and started swimming their tails off.


This also allowed us to add some new fish to the tank as well as discover one of the best fish stores ever...The Wet Spot. They not only had the hugest tanks I have ever seen, but they had the best cichlids and multiple breeds that I have ever seen. We ended up adding a few Labidochromis chisumulae and some Pseudotropheys sp. "Zebra Long Pelvic Mdoka" to the tank.


All in all, the tank is awesome and all the fish are now happy that they aren't all cramped in the smaller tank. The good news is that I had a parent of one of my students give me a 50 gallon tank for my classroom. Man, i can't wait to get that one set up.

Summer is Here!?

Here is the view of Mount Hood from Alli's office window. Hopefully summer is finally here...we hope.

The End is the Beginning...Of Lists!

Praise the Lord, IT"S OVER! Today marks the first free day of the summer. It was a really good year and a lot of awesome things over the year happened.

Highlights: Working with Hibo (my first handicapped student who was spectacular!), finding a new friend in Clint Kelley (The more we learn about each other, the scarier it is how similar we are), and finishing my first year as a fourth grade teacher!

The good news is that the year has ended and the summer is here. Now I can get to all of those things I wanted to do.

List of things to do: Record an EP (Complete recordings of the final Serus Victoria songs and some new ones), finish some video games, organize the comic closet (Alli wants me to sell some :), upgrade the fish tank (12 to 30 gallons - Gotta make room for the babies!), and be a true PORTER and open the doors to the Casa de Porter (That's what we're calling it since we're practically a hotel this summer). It seems like everyone and their mother are going to stay with us over the summer.

List of people staying with us this summer: Josh and Steph, John and Jollie, Mom and Dad Porter, Mom and Dad Shepard, Mimi and maybe Chris (Please come!), and Phil and Jenny.

Alli also wants me to do some things too like cook, clean, organize, and do laundry .

Needless to say, there is a ton of things to do. But the good news is...NO WORK! Woo Hoo!

Making Babies

I know that many of our friends around us are having babies and so someone in our family thought that they would join in. No...it's not us...it's our fish. I noticed our largest cichlid doing this funny little dance a while back and thought he was having a seizure. Turns out he was doing the dance of LOVE. I personally didn't think anything would happen because we have multiple breeds of cichlids in the tank, but I stand corrected. About 3 weeks later, BAM! There were three little fry in the tank. The father, seen in the picture, is a Red Zebra cichlid and the mother is an Electric Yellow cichlid. All of the little ones turned out to have the yellow color of the mother but the stripes of the father. Aren't fish cool?

Fun in the Army

It's a wonderful thing to be in a city that appreciates the wonderful game of soccer. It's also nice to support a team that has some of the craziest fans and followers...the Timber Army! So for the Memorial Day weekend, Alli and I were able to catch a couple of games. We also got to introduce some of our friends (Craig and Nicki) to Portland's very own USL soccer team. The downer was that we lost both games. :( But the saving grace is that we got to have a great time.

New Addition to the Family

Well, it's been a long time since I added any new instruments to my collection. As time went on I began to really miss playing on a Telecaster. Don't get me wrong, I love my SG, but I have such fond memories of my old, black Tele that I knew I needed to replace it. Thus began the long search for a replacement...and a way to afford it. So after selling a few other guitars and gear that I rarely used, I finally bought a new guitar this last week. So here it is. It's a blueburst G&L ASAT Classic.

Alli's New Vice

Ever since Alli and I started dating, I have been trying to get her into video gaming. Needless to say, it wasn't her cup of tea. She didn't like playing soccer, didn't enjoy hacking and slashing her way through dungeons, and definitely didn't enjoy any game that involved me becoming too competitive. She did enjoy beating me up on some fighting games, but nothing ever really stuck...until last night. With the creation of the Wii, many people have been introduced to video games because of the motion controls. With the release of MARIOKART Wii, Nintendo has released the WiiWheel, a device that allows you to literally drive on a game using a wheel. Here is the proof that wonders never cease.

And the winner is...

Chris Langton! After the judges scores were tallied, the night ended with the representative of Norway taking the gold. Following the leader in second place was Derek Weber, the representative of Germany. Thanks to all the boys for coming out and making the first Wiilympics a blast.

Who doesn't love Bruce?

We love Bruce.

What do you think?

The Stanley Cup...
The Wii Cup...

In honor of the Beijing Olympics this summer, Ben is holding the Wiilympics tonight with some guy friends. We thought that every good sporting event has some sort of a medal or cup, so we made our own gold medal or 'cup' if you will.

Oregon Tulip Fest 2008

Our favorite shot of the day!


Well, we braved the crowds and saw the flowers. Luckily we did this a couple of weekends ago instead of last weekend...when it was SNOWING! (It's April for crying out loud.) Although there were quite a few people out there at the Woodburn Tulip Festival, we did happen to see some beautiful flowers and enjoy the beauty. Here are some pics so that you can enjoy them too.

Ben and his Stash!

Many of the guys at work decided that the month of March should be beard month. But after the month ended, I personally declared the month of April as Stash month. So Alli and I went to the Stash Tea Factory Outlet store and bought some tea. And on top of that I thought I would follow my father's example and wear a mustache since he had one for years when we were growing up. So here's to you dad! Alli hates it and I like it for all the cheesy reasons. Enjoy! So cheers to all of you men who proudly display your upper lip hair on a regular basis. Whether it be a Magnum PI stache or a thin Frenchman stache, stand tall and proud.....because this month is yours!

Happy Easter!

Life @ 20/10

Honestly, turning 30 was never a big deal for me...but boy has everyone let me know that I'm getting older. My own father called me an 'old man,' my students think it really old, and all the gifts and cards I received made me feel ancient (Thanks for the pill box and Prunelax). You could have even used my cake to start a house fire since Alli put all 30 candles on it. Chris even asked me if I was starting to collect my social security. Hardy-har-har. So from now on, we'll refer to the age of 30 as the 20/10. Here's to making it to 20/20.

Spring Break Part 1

Last week my (Alli) mom, dad, sister, and her boyfriend (Chris) drove all the way up to Hillsboro to visit us. Unfortunately, Ben had to work that week so I played tour guide and took them all over the place to give them a taste of Portland and Oregon. What a week! We walked around downtown Portland, saw Pioneer Courthouse square, spent lots of time in Powell's Books, ate at Henry's 12th Street Tavern, ate giant cinnamon rolls at Camp 18, strolled through Cannon Beach, explored all of Beaverton and Hillsboro, went shopping at Bridgeport Village in Tigard, got some tea at the Stash Tea factory store, celebrated Ben's birthday (again), and just hung out together. It was a great week. We spent lots great time together all smooshed in our 2 bed/1 bath apartment.

Hanging out with mom, Uncle John, Aunt Alexis, and Joanna for Ben's birthday.

Crazy kids.

Playing Blokus with mom, Ben, and Chris.

Mom and Dad boxing on the Wii.

I got a job!

Many of you know that my (Alli) first job that I had when we moved up here was not really the right place for me. So for the past few months I have been sitting at home with Autumn looking for a new job. This last Thursday I interviewed and was offered a position at OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University). I am the new Administrative Coordinator for the Dermatology department. I am very excited about this new position and working for OHSU. I have heard great things about working there and am looking forward to riding the MAX every day to the waterfront where the new building is located.

Oh, and the Dermatology department is on the top floor of the Center for Health and Healing, so they have a Mt. Hood webcam - you have to check it out!

Men's Retreat

The boys in our small group and I went to Wildhorse Canyon for our church's Iron Man Retreat. It was really good to meet a few new guys and get to strengthen the relationships with the guys that I already knew. The interesting thing that I didn't know was that Wildhorse Canyon used to be owned by this guy called the Rajneesh. Now it's the largest Young Life owned establishment in the nation. There was tons of stuff to do there as well, including hiking to the top of a hill to see the canyon and it's surrounding area. All in all, it was a great weekend!

Dear Dad...

I just wanted to let you know that I have taken over your guitar case. I thought it was time I had a new place to rest my weary paws. As you will see I have left some of my fur so you don't forget this now belongs to me. Love, Autumn


Little does she know, this is her new cat carrier. Ha ha.

Keepin' it weird

Flash mob freezes in place outside Powell's books, then melts away