Yes, We're Moving! (Countdown: 3 Days & a Wake Up)

Some of my new readers hadn't heard about the move yet, so this is the official informational post.

HusBean and I and our six animals are moving to Portland, Oregon. We've lived in Augusta, Georgia for almost 5 years, and were in Key West, Florida for 2 years before that.

I moved to Key West from Vancouver, Washington (it's considered part of the Portland metro area) to be with HusBean (then just boyfriend) after only having seen each other in person a total of 16 days. We had dated long distance for 5 months and got engaged shortly after moving to Florida.

HusBean is a former United States Marine, and has a GI Bill that he needs to start using in the next three years or it will expire. 

The plan is that he will go to school and get a Business degree, I will be working as an Escrow Assistant at a title company (I was an Escrow Officer previous to my move to the East coast).

We're planning to take Homeward Bound Hot Sauce big time, and Portland is a great place to do it. In addition  to that, we both grew up there and have long-time friends and many family members there or nearby.

We've really enjoyed our time in Florida and Georgia, and made some wonderful friends and connections that we will greatly miss. We fully intend to fly in on our fancy black hot sauce jet (pepper on the tail) to visit.

It's time to go home!

Housewifery: Month 1 (& Trip Home Part 2)

Previously on Housewifery...

Flying cross-country with a large growth in your abdomen is not the most comfortable way to travel... I've had problems sitting for long periods of time for many years, mostly due to the fact that my legs are pretty long and most modes of transportation (other than First Class of course) are not set up for anyone taller than about 5'2".

When flying from Augusta (we have a small airport here) I either end up going by way of Augusta, GA to Charlotte, NC to Phoenix, AZ to Portland or Augusta, GA to Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX to Portland.

I actually prefer going through DFW for two reasons, one is that the longest leg of the trip ("long leg" ha ha ha) is only about 3.5 hours as opposed to 4.5, and DFW has a Red Mango. When I flew home in October 2010 I tasted Red Mango frozen yogurt and consequently had to have frozen yogurt a few times a week once I got back to GA. There's a few places here in town that are good - not quite Red Mango good, but good enough!

Anyway... In planning this very last-minute trip to Portland, I decided to keep it a secret from my best friend back home, Monica. She had just had a baby and we had talked a couple of days previously when I told her I wouldn't probably be able to visit for at least a month.

I attempted this deception with the help of a couple of friends and thought I was terribly clever. Of course, I have a terribly BIG MOUTH and couldn't just say nothing, so I said silly things on facebook that made everyone curious and posted silly pictures (friends suggested captions like "Where Bees Get Their Haircuts" and "...you're in an elevator - mind the gap!") that would only make sense if you knew where I was.

Of course, Monica is no dummy and figured the whole thing out before I ever got on the plane in Augusta. I had arranged a dinner at the couple's house where I was supposed to surprise Monica. I could tell immediately when she saw me that she knew, because her "surprised" face was total crap.

She was still happy to see me, and it was awesome to get to hold Baby Kennedy.

Dinner was of Middle Eastern inspiration and we enjoyed freshly made falafel, tabbouleh, tzatziki, salad and some quite good store-purchased hummus, baba ganoush and pita. Several other friends joined the festivities and it was great to get caught up with them.

During this evening we remarked on Kennedy's hair (she was born with quite a bit) as it likes to stick straight up unless it's pretty heavily coated with something... giving rise to the nickname "Baby Hedgehog".

I worked with Mom on Wednesday and Thursday during most of the day, and Friday morning.

Housewifery: Month 1 (& Trip Home Part 1)

My first month as a housewife went like a tornado! Fast and furious and chaotic!

I had one week at home that went perfectly as planned: menu plan, house cleaning, etc. I spent some good time outside and enjoyed a book and coffee every morning, planted some flowers in the back yard, got the front door looking cute...

Then on Sunday of my second week it all went to heck!

My mom works for the Portland Public Schools District in their Nutrition Services department. Mom has always been a computer whiz, and her current role involves troubleshooting a software upgrade that the entire school district uses to order the food for the cafeterias.

This may sound like a simple thing, but it is a HUGE task with many parts and several things literally were lost in translation from the old system to the new system, causing her HOURS of tracking down problems and fixing them, in addition to notifying the software company of various bugs so they could be fixed on THEIR end.

I had called Mom on Sunday (3/27) to catch up, and after filling her in with my first week at home, she said she had planned to call me anyway. She was overwhelmed at work and desperately in need of help. Would I be willing to fly out and spend a few days helping her if she paid for my plane ticket? FREE TRIP HOME? Are you kidding? Of COURSE!

I asked when she was thinking and she said "Tuesday". I asked "THIS Tuesday? As in two days from now?" and she assured me it was that immediate. I conferred briefly with HusBean and then told her I'd see if I could find a ticket. As we were out and about headed to lunch I went online with my phone to Priceline and managed to find a round-trip ticket from Augusta to Portland for that Tuesday for about $600 with taxes and fees. That's a pretty good price for a 2-day lead time.

I decided that since I don't have a work schedule to be concerned about I would stay a bit longer and scheduled my return ticket for April 12th (our 3-year anniversary).

I immediately started notifying friends and family in the Portland area of my imminent arrival and asked if anyone needed sauce... Within 24 hours I had presold $200 worth of sauce and had to cut off the orders because I didn't have any more room in my TWO suitcases AND we were out of bottles!

I carefully distributed my clothes and sauce (88lbs worth) between the two suitcases and my two carryons, and boarded the small plane in Augusta on Tuesday afternoon. I flew first to Charlotte, NC and caught a connection to Phoenix, AZ. From Phoenix I flew directly to Portland, arriving about 20 minutes early at 10:40p.

Mom and Lou picked me up - this was fortunate because it was pretty tough moving ALL of my luggage by myself. I gave Mom the light stuff and I dragged the two (wheeled!) suitcases.

With me and all of my belongings safely crammed in the car, we headed home to Clackamas.

No Georgia.

As soon as we thought we were sure about something, it changed.

Originally we were told that if we took the position in Georgia, we'd make at least what we are making now and have a lower cost of living - giving us the ability to save up a significant amount of money.

The official offer came in today at quite a bit less than what we are making in Key West to account for the lower cost of living in Georgia. Basically we wouldn't get anywhere financially and would have about the same amount of money.

In my opinion that's just not worth it. We've decided that the only reason to move from Key West is either to get ahead financially (and by a lot, not just a little) or to move HOME.

So, we're going to take the offer from the new company in Key West and work on the Washington/Oregon opportunities, and take them as soon as they are something that is worth our packing up and moving.

If you are in the Portland/Vancouver or Columbia Gorge area and think you know of a good job for me, let me know!

My trip...

This is going to be mostly pictures, at least at first... with a bit of narration in between.

Friday I left Key West around 4:30pm. This was the plane I took to Fort Myers.

I got to sit next to the pilot.


The views were amazing.

After a quick connection in Houston, I arrived into Portland around 11pm and after being picked up, was immediately dropped off to join Chelsea's bachelorette party.

They had already completed three events and were now salsa dancing and doing karaoke.

I closed out the night with Billy Joel's Piano Man and Monica and I went back to her house and everyone crashed.

Saturday morning I was supposed to be at the dressmaker's house at 9am, and once Monica and I made a quick trip to Starbucks and wandered around the long way, we arrived. The dress fit fine, and she measured the hem.

Then we proceeded with the days' events - church, lunch, a wedding in Salem. Through the course of the day I managed to down about four times my usual caffeine quota and had no nap. This lead to my anxiety attack Sunday morning around 1:30am that lasted until around 6am... I finally got to sleep around 7:30am and slept until 10am, when I got up and had to go and fetch my bridesmaid dress.

The wedding on Sunday was at Bridal Veil Lakes, a beautiful location a bit outside of Portland up the Columbia Gorge. The wedding theme was 70's...and the guests were also requested to dress in theme.
It was quite a large turnout and the whole afternoon was a riot. I disintegrated into a walking heap of sleep around 6:30pm (the wedding started at 3pm) and Mom and Lou took me back home where I crawled into my bed on the couch and didn't get up until 10am on Monday.

Monday was Monica's birthday, so we started off the day with breakfast with another friend and one of Monica's sisters-in-law at Biscuits Cafe in Clackamas. We enjoyed fabulous omelettes that come with pancakes AND hashbrowns.
After a day of shopping, 30 of us gathered at Claim Jumper in Clackamas to celebrate her birthday, then I went back to Mom's, packed, tried to nap, and was dropped off at the airport at about 11:15pm. I checked in and my flight left just after midnight.

This trip was way too quick. I barely had time to breathe.

Contacts: Don't Leave Home Without 'Em

On Wednesday my cousin/wedding coordinator and I drove to Walla Walla from Portland for the Thanksgiving holiday. She lives there, and I was visiting.

I have driven up the Columbia Gorge countless times in my life - I used to travel with my grandparents bi-monthly to visit my great-grandparents. I have lived in College Place and beyond and driven to Portland bi-weekly for choir practices and performances at my church. I-84 is so familiar to me that I cannot help but recall the many trip memories from my childhood every time I pass through.

My grandparents were teachers before their retirement and our journeys were always filled with lessons for me, usually math and/or constellations while I laid in the back window of their Volkswagen Rabbit.

Since this four-hour drive is old hat to me, I did not find it necessary to wear my contacts as I had no need to read the highway signs. Once we reached our destination in College Place, I dropped my cousin off and continued on my list of people to see all in the same evening. Having spent a good amount of time in College Place as a child, college student and later housewife, I can easily transverse the small town by landmarks alone.

My other two cousins and their families live in Walla Walla, which is a sister town to College Place and only really separated on a map. It was dark by the time I headed through downtown en route to the first of their houses and I was going on directions written on a napkin that I could not see because the borrowed Subaru had no dome light.

I wandered the neighborhoods near Whitman College before realizing that I had not gone far enough on Isaacs Street. I finally found Bellevue Street and made the correct left turn. I then began looking for an alley/driveway after the second house on the second block. There it was! I pulled in to my left and tried to figure out where to park. It took me two phone calls to figure out that I was supposed to be on the RIGHT side of the street, not the left. I came out of the alley, crossed Bellevue and parked behind my cousins house for a lovely 45 minute visit.

As dinner time neared it was my cue to move on to the next location. I had been instructed to take a right on Isaacs and then a left on Division, but was not told how far down to find Division. As I could not read the street signs until I was quite literally upon them, I soon found myself winding around Whitman College again, heading the wrong direction. I made another phone call and was set on the correct path. I had been told that if I got to the three-way stop I had gone too far, so of course I had to flip a U-turn when I hit it and finally made it to my dinner host's abode.

After dinner and much stress (Scott decided on Wednesday night to fly out to Portland on Thursday) to book an airline ticket, it was time to cross town again to the cousin's house I was staying at. I departed heading in the general direction of College Place, intending to zig-zag across Walla Walla and come back in on Rose.

As I took a right through a main intersection, the car fishtailed. Granted, it was well below freezing, but I thought for SURE the ground was dry. I gained control easily and took my next left onto what I thought was Rose. I began to hear the tell-tale thump-thump-thump of a flat tire. I pulled over and braved the cold to investigate. Sure enough, the rear left tire had blown out completely, I could stick my hand IN the tire at the edge.

I made yet another phone call for rescue and had to get out of the car and trot over to a street sign to read where I was. Apparently NOT on Rose and NOT in a "good" part of town. I locked myself in the Subaru and awaited my knight-in-shining-Camry (aka my cousin's husband).

The moral of the story is two-fold.

1. Wear your contacts when driving, you silly woman.
2. Double check the contents of your purse before you leave town with the keys to the abandoned car.
   

"I Left My Heart... In Van-couv-er-o..."

I miss my house. I miss Andy. I miss my job at Clark County Title.

I miss my mom and Lou, Monica and John Paul and all the kids.

I miss rainstorms and Starbucks on every other corner.

I miss making more money.

I miss Bridge City, Kevin Brussett and EVERYONE there.

I miss Tim and Jim and the opportunity to record music.

I miss throwing dinner parties.

I miss Karaoke with Bob and Chelsea and Jared and Ivan and Rachel.

I miss "the silent game" in the pool.

I miss the rest of my books.

I miss Mt. Hood, the Columbia River and the Oregon Coast.

Chinchilla Loving Rock Star

My new job is going very well. I am working full time at a local pet store in Key West and really enjoying the animals and my coworkers. I'm learning a lot about all our animals every day and tempted constantly to take home a Chinchilla or the female yellow lab currently in the store.

We dealt quickly with the national recall of some canned/pouched foods and all our animals are safe.

This past week I spent 8 days in Portland, Oregon. I was flown out courtesy of Kevin Brusett to sing backup for Megan's CD release concert.

I arrived on Tuesday afternoon in Portland and was fortunate to spend the afternoon being pampered at The Colour Authority before celebrating Lou's birthday with dinner and a cake from Jaciva's. Two of Lou's sisters and some other of his extended family joined us and we had a very enjoyable dinner.

Wednesday I finished the first song for my album. Jared and I spent time at The Pulpit with Jim Walker getting the electric guitar tracks done. The finished product turned out GREAT.

Rehearsals for the concert were Wednesday night and Friday night, so I interspersed them with visiting with lots of friends and my mom. We got some wedding stuff accomplished, I tried on the dress I love on Monday and Mom bought it for me! She also took Monica, Connor and I to lunch afterward at Claim Jumper, which is a fantastic restaurant, and we then proceeded to Piece Of Cake in Milwaukie to taste wedding cake flavors.

Megan's concert went very well, she was backed by Tim Ellis on 2nd guitar, TJ Arko on drums, Mike Lee on bass, and myself as backup vocalist. The audience packed the venue and screamed enthusiasm between each song. Megan's writing style is very honest and has an easy flow to it, without being at all trite or predictable. I really enjoyed learning and performing her music.

The current extra-curricular activity is preparing the household for Scott's parents visit on Saturday. Buster enjoyed a trip to Bernadette the Groomer today and smells very good. He wasn't too sure about the cleaning out of the ears, but didn't mind having his toenails trimmed at all. The cats won't be subjected to the same treatment, but we ARE trying to keep them from anointing the couch with more fur than necessary.

Since You Asked...

What we DO know:
We are planning to get married in the Portland metro area, either this fall or the following spring. It will likely be an indoor wedding as Portland weather is not reliable enough to schedule outdoors.

Kevin Brusett will do the officiating, Monica Elie is the Matron of Honor. Scott is working on getting his attendant list finalized.

I'm compiling a guest list and it's looking bigger every moment! We're hoping to get a rough number of guests so we know how big of a venue we will need, so we can figure out a rough budget and then how long it will take to save up for it.

I've picked out a frontronner in the dress department and we've narrowed down styles for Scott. I'd like the colors to be white, deep dark red, and a deep dark orange.

What we DON'T know:
Date & Venue

I'll update as we know more...