moving

Last week I gave notice to my work.  I'm quitting.  By mid-August we will be in Portland, Oregon.  It'll be two years behind our original schedule.

We were supposed to move the fall after George was born.  I was going to graduate, pass my board exam, and then have George all with in a six week stretch back in 2010.  I'd have six months to stay at home with him full-time while I got my license and looked for a job in Oregon.  That plan disintegrated pretty quickly in March of that same year.  After he died I was emotionally incapable of leaving the home that we had built here.

I'm ready now, for the most part, I think.  But the nostalgia for a city that I haven't even left yet has already started to kick in.  I've lived here, in different parts of the city, for the better part nearly thirteen years.  For all its faults, Los Angeles is a pretty fucking rad place to live while you're young.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous about the move.  My parents, my sister and her daughters are all less than a couple hours drive from my house so I see them fairly frequently.  My sister and I are very close and I love my nieces like they were my own.  The thought of leaving them makes me sick to my stomach.

We've made really amazing friends here too.  Some are the kind of friends you know that only come along once or twice in a lifetime.

Oh, and the weather.  The lovely, lovely, sunny weather.  As a Californian, born and raised, the adjustment to the cold and rainy weather in Portland is going to be a huge adjustment for me.

But there is so much to look forward to as well.  Leif's entire family lives within a forty minute drive of Downtown Portland.

It looks like two of our best friends -another set that only comes along once or twice in a lifetime- are coming home to Portland from The Netherlands the same time we are moving there.  Which, I admit, I cried a little out of excitement at the thought of being able to live near them again and being able to watch our kids grow up together (no pressure Natalie but you better be coming home...lol).

We will finally be able to buy our own home.  Maybe, just maybe, my dream of owning a big chunk of property with a renovated barn and lots of room for guests will come true while we live there.
And, of course, Portland is just about the most awesome city I've ever been to (Barcelona a close second).    So there is that too.

You'll have to excuse me if over the next three months I get a little weepy around here while we prepare to move.  I can't help it.  I'm gonna miss Los Angeles.

P.S.  Also, if you know of any tricks to make a move to another state easier I'd love to hear them.

.in other news.

Today Marc and Natalie are celebrating their first wedding anniversary.

I had more fun at their wedding than I have ever had at any other wedding.  Maybe even our own. 

Wishing you two a very Happy Anniversary and many more to come.

.i love not camping.

My husband likes to camp.  He grew up in the Pacific Northwest and as a consequence he enjoys spending the night in a sleeping bag in the middle of the forest.  That and he wears plaid and flannel, like a lot.   Seriously, check out how much of this he actually has...

That isn't even including the one he is wearing today or the ones in the dirty laundry.  I encourage his love of plaid and flannel because I think he looks good in it, so there you go.  I am an enabler.

Unlike my husband, I do not like to camp.  I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate camping but I generally find the idea of using the backside of a tree as a bathroom facility unpleasant, which is pretty much the situation one finds oneself in when backpacking and camping.

The last time I went camping was back in the fall of 2006 when we were visiting Leif's brother and some friends who live in Portland.  I have to admit that was a fun trip. It was an anomaly of camping.  However, it would have been more fun had we encountered Sasquatch because I am told he lives around those parts. 

Despite my disdain for camping there are times when I get the urge to get out of the city and for longer than just our normal day hikes.  I've been having this urge for the last couple of weeks.  I am tired of hearing stupid helicopters all the time and the people working on the house renovations two doors down.  I am sick of the traffic and of the smog.

I want out.

But backpacking in Southern California is so much less appealing to me than doing so in Oregon.  But I am open to suggestions and if we actually make it out camping, I know my husband would be forever grateful.

.even elephants are cooler in portland.

How cute is this short stop motion animation film from Portland based marketing agency The Curiosity Group?  I would love for Leif to be able to work at such a (seemingly) cool place when we move to Portland.


The Curious Dream– From Flat to Flight from Cre8tivegirl on Vimeo.

You can also download the elephant for yourself here.