Six Months....

We live in a town of 20,000.  Home Depot and Lowes each mark one side of town.  There is a three mile distance.  No matter where we need to go, it takes under five minutes.  The speed limit is 35 throughout our town.  Forty five on the parkway.  All fast food, except for McDonalds is located on the parkway.  Downtown is three blocks.  Camouflage and diesel trucks are the norm.  High schoolers practice tractor driving after school.

Kids are outside and unsupervised.  They are riding in back of trucks.  Hitchhikers, especially along the PCT are common and typically picked up.  People are nice and friendly and take the time to say hello and ask about your day.  No one is in a hurry.  If you are crossing the street, cars stop for you. Strangers wave as they drive by.  Everyone hunts.  We have enjoyed so much company just in the six months we have been here.

Summer was hot, but freezing cold in the mornings.  It was not unusual to start the day in the mid 30's and end up to 90.  People are everywhere.  Kids on their bikes and scooters, dogs being walked. Everyone walks by and says hello.  They make contact, they chat.  The days are long, the sun finally goes down after 9:30, work all day then, spend hours outside playing.  There are summer concerts, kayaking on the lake, stand up paddle boarding on the river.  Every road seems to lead to a new trail. This summer I hiked to lakes in the middle of the forest, glaciers on the top of a snowy ridge in July, waterfalls and lava caves.  I met thru hikers on the PCT.   Breweries are full of people, craft beers are only $4.

As you just begin to notice the days getting a little shorter, you realize the leaves are red and yellow. Fall arrives and it is magnificent.  It is brisk.  Every time you turn, you see a change in colors more beautiful than the last.  Leaves are yellow and red and green and brown and orange.  The wind picks up and they are on the street.  Watching the neighbor kids rake them up only to jump in them.  Its a sense of the closing of the season and the excitement of what will be next.

Then all of a sudden, we have snow.  And a lot of it!  Waking up in the morning to fresh snow fall is one of the most peaceful, calming experiences.  When we told people where we were moving to Oregon, the first response was always "you know it snows there right".  Yep, it does.  And it is amazing and I love it.  It is calming and peaceful and brings on a different view of nature.  We have learned how to shovel, realized that yes we do need that salt that we see every time we walk into Home Depot or Walmart.  We own ice scrapers and winter boats and more jackets than we ever thought we needed.  We have learned how to snow shoe, we have season passes to ski.  Skylar has joined the ski team.  We see snow and get excited.  Thirty degrees out seems warm, we know what negative five really feels like.  We have studded tires and a new 4 wheel drive truck.  If you take the dog out to the snow, they need ointment for their feet.  Ice boots are a thing and there is nothing like the excitement of a kid that hears snow day!

Spring will be here sooner than later and we will get to see what Oregon has to offer for entry into Summer, marking our first year here.

Our pictures show only one small part of our life here.  There is no denying it is amazing and beautiful and breathtaking. It is everything that we had wanted and dreamt of.  It is everything that we worked for two years to have.   I don't sit in traffic for two hours a day.  Brian has a garage and a 1967 Ford and builds amazing furniture and anything else I might dream of.

Kids have adjusted better than I could have hoped.  Skylar has friends, has been to a sleepover, football game and works out with the softball team.  She is on the ski team, aides first period, is taking cooking and we hardly see her.  Aidan rides the bus to and from school (for free), comes home drops his stuff and is at the park with friends.  He just got a gun and I am sure that will bring so much more excitement to our lives.

Those pictures don't show the heartache of being away from your parents and kids on Christmas.  The yearning to grab a drink with your best friend.  The need for those you love to be close.  They don't show how freaking expensive moving trucks and snow tires and forest parking passes are.  Or how much money we have left at Home Depot.  They don't show the tears from trying to adjust.  The guilt of seeing your daughter turn sixteen with no friends around.

But even with that, there is absolutely no place I would rather be.  This move, following our dreams and creating the life that we so desired has been worth every tear and penny.