We are the Wilkes

Monday, May 16, 2016

Friday we had dinner at a new place called Current. It’s seafood, and was delicious. Other happenings during the week included Logan getting a calling (keep reading for details…spoiler alert, he escaped the primary), and me going to a c-c-c-crazy acupuncturist in Park City for an appointment that took 3 and a half hours, leaving after a fairly intense philosophical Chinese indoctrination with a bottle of “anxiety gone” pills tucked in my purse. Not kidding. My favorite line of his: “You know what manure made out of?” Me: “Poop.” Him: “YES!! Ha. Ha. Haaaaah!! Poop make things grow. Crappy people in life – they make you grow. You say, thank you, crappy people! Thank you for make me grow!” I definitely have another appointment set up with him.

This weekend was an anomaly for us - we woke up in our own bed Saturday morning! We slept in for awhile, then did laundry and dishes, a bathroom scrub down, and Logan put away all of the new kitchenware we acquired this week when we finished our registries. We LOVE our kitchen, it’s Martha-Stewart amazing. We were grateful for the abundance of matching dishes when we hosted a dinner on Sunday for four of our dear friends. (Logan is either a. rolling his eyes at me or b. smiling smugly because every single time he goes to buy something, I say “I don’t think we really need that, we’ll never use it…” and then, invariably…we actually do need that lemon squeezer or two types of cookie dough scoopers or three varieties of popcorn makers.) After a day of cleaning house and grocery shopping, Logan cooked me an AMAZING dinner of steak, crack potatoes, and vegetables. It was divine (both the company and the food). He then took me for our first couple’s massage. Let’s have some couple’s massage real talk for a sec, k? A couple’s massage is a normal massage, except for your partner is in the room with you. You are too far away to hold hands, and you don’t really want to talk because the whole point is to get all zen and relaxed, amiright? So it’s not like it’s a huge mystery/weird sexually charged experience. It’s not. It’s chill, it’s lovely, and it means you both get pampered at the same time. Logan was super tight and kept breathing heavy and making wincing sounds. It was a cute reminder that he was there with me, and I thought it was pretty hilarious. We came home afterwards and ate a cazookie (Logan’s baking prowess is spot on) while we watched an episode of Quantico on our couch. We hardly ever watch t.v. down there, so it was kind of a cute experience and reminded us of our dating days.

Sunday was equally, if not more, lovely than Saturday. We woke up to the sound of wind and rain blowing through the trees in a delightful scene that made me feel like we were living in one of those “rainforest nature sounds for relaxation” videos on youtube. I was in heaven. We read scriptures together and then read from Clayton Christensen’s “The Power of Everyday Missionaries.” It brought an incredibly sweet spirit into our home, and we basked in it the rest of the day. We meal prepped during the morning, and then headed to 1pm church, where Logan was sustained and set apart for his new calling. He is assistant executive ward clerk. The brother who set him apart was from El Salvador, and, prior to giving the blessing, mentioned this was his first time doing so in English. Logan responded in Spanish, telling him he would understand if he did it in Spanish. So Loags was set apart in Spanish, and it was a delightfully sweet experience for both of us. I was so incredibly proud of him, and my heart was full of gratitude for his goodness. After church, we had dinner with Bre, Cali, Hannah, and Heidi. It was so fun to have them in our home, and we loved catching up with them. We all ate enough to basically destroy our bowels, but it was so good that it was worth it. Logan and I watched another episode of Quantico to round out the night, followed by weekly planning. It was a wonderful weekend.

This weekend was fantastic. We’ve been having a lot of those lately J We left for California on Friday night, arriving a bit later than expected at LAX. Cam and Kristin picked us up and took us to our AirBnb, where we stayed with Craig and Anna (dibs on the queen bed suckas…) Saturday morning we ate breakfast with the family (no Star Donuts, unfortunately), and sat down in the family room for Family Council. It went smoothly, and we figured out vacations, schedules, etc. for the next few years. We did a quick trip to Sport Chalet and In-n-Out for lunch (to the chagrin of Logan and Steven, and the delight of Cam and Craig). We snapped family pictures that night, with Logan jumping around making faces and sounds to try to get Ainsley to smile. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can get that girl to smile when she’s not in the mood to smile. She would kill at poker.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

I'm typing on Logan's new laptop - it's a bitty little thing and my giant man hands look extra clumsy against the mini keyboard. We're in Portland with his family, who flew in to celebrate with us on Friday at our PDX reception. It was beautiful, set in a forest wonderland. The food was delicious (as far as I was told...I was on my dairy fast, so I didn't eat what was on the menu). Brisket, salad, rolls, cheesecake, and beans were served. My little pinky collided with a dairy-coated fork of Logan's, and I'm not sure if that ruined the dairy thing, but after gorging myself with ice cream, cheesecake, and clam chowder yesterday with no sign of a migraine...I think it's safe to say it's ok.

The venu was a circular wood barn, decorated with fairy lights, sheets of butcher paper painted with sayings, candles, votives, flowers, and garlands of greenery. It had a warm glow, and we loved it. Our guests filed in to meet us in a steady stream for over an hour. It was such a treat to get to meet and talk with people who love Logan and the Wilkes so much. They spoke so highly of them - even his first grade teacher came. The longevity with which they maintain relationships blows my mind. Grandma Best was there, as was Rich's family (Spencer flew all the way in from school!). My parents, grandpa, Aunt LaRene, and Pat were there as well. I loved seeing them. Cam and Kristin had tried to drive in, but got stuck in hours of traffic without making much progress.

Saturday we woke up to a breakfast of Blue Star donuts, which were spectacularly delicious. I ate mine in the car during our ride to Manzanita. The drive was beautiful, and we had a really fun conversation with Leigh Anne and Jessica. When we got there, it was straight to work in true Wilkes family fashion ;) The boys moved the old red couch out to the garage and into the truck, then brought the new gray couch in. Cali hung a few photos, and Jim worked literally the entire day. We enjoyed the usual Manzanita activities - eating marionberry pie, clam chowder, and pizza, going to the t shirt shop Logan loves, the grocery store, and for a walk on the beach, watching the sunset, and playing games. It was a perfect day, and we were so happy we went down.

As for the rest of the week, it was fairly normal - went to the derm (cancer free and nothing cut out of me...yayyy), saw Cali's play for the second time (seriously so good. I wish we could have gone a third time), and I CHANGED MY NAME OFFICIALLY TO ASHLEY MASTERS WILKES. That's kind of a big deal.

We're headed to California next weekend to be with my family for Andrew's farewell. It will be our first time meeting Ella, and I am beyond excited to kiss those girls' chubby cheeks. We're staying in an AirBnb with Craig and Anna, and we made sure to dibs the only queen sized bed in the house.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

This weekend was phenomenal. Or phenooominal, as Logan would say. Friday after work we left around 6, headed for the airport. We got there without issue and took our fancy little TSA precheck selves through the security line lickity split. It was an easy hour and a half flight, followed by a short shuttle ride to our hotel - the Coast Gateway. We survived our night in a queen bed, and bemoaned the fact that it wasn't as comfy as our home mattress. But that's truly an unfair comparison...only a night in a cotton candy factory, or perhaps a pillowcase stuffed with unicorn hair could come close in softness. The next morning, we woke up and headed to breakfast with Cam and Kristin at a hole in the wall place in sketchyville - the kind of place where you get nervous if you don't have a seat where you can watch your car out the window. The food was delicious, and we left full and happy to get to spend time with them. We picked up a car at the rental car place (um, can we talk about the new Hertz kiosks and how they pair you up Skype style with an agent and put a weird green screen type thing behind them so it looks like they're casually helping you from a country road in Maine). We then picked up Merritt and all headed to Target and Nordstrom Rack. After that, we kicked it at Cam's place for a bit before heading to the temple. It was a gorgeous day, and the grounds were absolutely stunning. We met up with Mom, Dad, Craig, Anna, and Andrew, and got to spend a few minutes catching up with them. Then into the temple, where Morgan and Garin were sealed by Elder Cook, who gave them the now famous ten tips for marriage. It was beautiful, and we loved being there with them. Pictures followed the ceremony, and the rain held off all afternoon. They had a wonderful luncheon after the ceremony, with toasts from family and friends (also...Welches makes sparkling cider, and it's delicious. Who even knew??) My favorite was when Nate sang the song he wrote. It was seriously precious. After the luncheon, we went to dinner at Tides Tavern, again with Cam and Kristin. We ate delicious fish and chips, and clam chowder (of course). We then headed to LaRene's, where we spent a few hours shooting the breeze with the cousins. It was a half hour drive back to the rental car return, and then a uber back to the hotel. This morning (Sunday), we woke up extra early to catch a 7:15am flight back to Utah. Church was great, and Logan cooked a delicious pork dinner with green beans for us. Dessert was popcorn (duh), but Logan got fancy and added sugar and vanilla to the Whirlypop. That is our favorite of our three machines. And no, we don't find that excessive.

At the Seattle temple. This is my first clutch ever. That's kind of a big deal for us.