Settling In

     So, I have been in Oregon for about a week and a half. It has been a little bit of an adjustment, but I guess we're just getting started on our life outside of Utah... The first thing I noticed was the humidity. Since we are closer to sea level (214 ft. vs. 4390 ft. in SL) the air is thicker and it kind of sticks to you. I don't know how else to describe it. It only took me a couple of days to adjust to it, though.
     I am also highly confused on the road system here. I'm not the best at navigating... in fact, I pretty much suck at it. I highly depended on the mountains to tell me which way was east and which way was west.  It took me 10 years of driving in the Salt Lake Valley to really know my around. So needless to say, I'm pretty much lost all the time. Thank goodness for GPS, but even then, I don't know where I'm at. :) For example, we'll drive down the Tualatin Valley Highway (aka TV Highway) and all of a sudden, it'll switch names. Same road, different name. I think it has to do with going into a different city or something. I don't know.  I have found my way to Target, and that's about it.
     I'm also getting used to the fact that there are wine aisles in every store. It doesn't upset me or anything.... but when I was strolling around in Target, there's a whole aisle dedicated to wine! And then the next aisle over, it's a beer aisle right across from the baby aisle. It made me giggle. Oh, and there's the lottery here too.
     Other than those few things, Oregon is beautiful! I feel like I'm in a tropical forest sometimes. The trees and greenery are so beautiful. Even the highways look beautiful. I love seeing pine trees everywhere! And they are absolutely gigantic! Every yard will have 5 or 6 towering pine trees that completely enclose the house. We drove past a park the other day, and it just looked like a forest. It kind of creeped me out because I was thinking "I wonder if there are any dead bodies in the shrubbery." I've probably been watching too many Dateline's.
     Everyone here is such relaxed drivers. Seriously. The speed limit on the highways is 55 and people go like 45. Eh, what's the big hurry? :) I'm so used to being aggressive that I need to just chillax and go with the flow.... uh oh, am I starting to have a hippie mentality?
     So, here are some pro's and con's of being here:

Pros:

•      We live in a cute town called Aloha, pronounced uh.low.uh.
•      Our apartment is almost 1100 sq. feet.
•      It has a dishwasher and full sized oven! Cleaning up dinner has never been so easy, and I just want to bake all the time! Why? Because I can bake 2 pans at the same time, and then just stick them in the dishwasher when I'm done!
•      We have 2 bathrooms.
•      Our ceilings are like 10 feet high. It echoes in our apartment. It's awesome.
•      All of our kids toys fit in their room. No more toys in the front room!
•      We have enough room to fit our piano and desk in the living room. Plus, we we have enough room to have our dresser and elliptical machine in our bedroom.
•      We have our own washer and dryer! 
•      There is no sales tax in Oregon. If you see that something is $1.00, it's $1.00! No more figuring out what sales tax is.  
•      We have a patio. The girls love it. In fact, they play for hours on our patio. And our apartment is so big, they have room to run and play. We haven't watched TV (besides an occasional movie here and there) because they are so busy playing. And that means, I have been able to get things done.
•      Nate has an actual job. Don't get me wrong.... his "job" the past 5 years was going to school. And he did really well at it, but now he has a real job! He is home around 4 p.m. and there's no more homework, study groups, or tests. He is able to come home and spend the day with us. What's nice about his job is there is no overtime, weekends,  or holidays. I don't know how we lucked out with this job, but it's a pretty sweet gig.
•      I don't have to work anymore! This is the first time in 12 years I haven't worked, and for the past 4 years, I have worked every Saturday. Nate and I haven't been able to do a whole lot on the weekends because of my work schedule, so we have a ton of camping trips, beach visits, and other things lined up for the summer.
•      I get to go to a farmer's market. I've never been to one because of my work schedule. I'm so excited to see what they're like!
• We see squirrels everywhere! We took a walk the other day and we saw at least 3. It's so fun!

Cons:

• I see lots of different kinds of spiders. And they aren't your typical house spiders. They are creepy and I'm pretty sure they're poisonous. Thank heavens they are outside!
• There aren't a lot of side walks here. There are sidewalks near the busy roads, but on the little side roads, there aren't any. This makes it tricky to take a walk with two little kids.
• ok. 
• As I was driving from the airport to our apartment, I freaked out a little. This is the first time since we found out we were moving here that I've had any type of anxiety. I thought to myself "What in the hell were we thinking?  We don't know anybody here! We have no friends or family near us, and we're in this strange place! Eek!" 

       I would be lying to myself if I didn't admit that I was terrified because this was a permanent move. The job Nate took was a long term job, as in, we will retire here. He has a tremendous opportunity to grow in his job and it's taking us on a path that we had never considered before. But that anxiety moment only lasted about 5 minutes. Why? Because I know this is where we are supposed to be. I don't know why the Lord sent us here or what He has in store for us, but we're here for a reason. And maybe it'll take us 10, 15, or 20 years to find out what that reason is.
     We have been so grateful for all those friends and family who have helped us get to this point. Especially those who took time to come and see us. My good friends from high school threw me a little going away party, and I saw some of my friends that I haven't seen in 5 or 6 years. It was so fun to stroll down memory lane and to laugh and giggle about some of the crazy stuff we did.
     Our ward was so good to us. People knew that I was trying to pack our house while juggling working and being a single parent, and they offered to help in any way they could.
     We definitely wouldn't be here if it wasn't for our immediate families. They helped us move and clean our apartment, but most of all they gave us their time. We owe so much to them, it would take eternity to pay them back.
    But here we are.... in beautiful Aloha, OR. Settling in and moving forward.

P.S. I will post pics of our apartment.... but we still don't have a dining room table and are still hanging some things on the walls, but for those of you that care... pics will be here soon, I promise.