2 years?!?!

Earlier this week (or maybe over the weekend) marked my having lived in Portland for two years!  It's a little tricky determining an exact date for when I moved here, but it is easy to say at Labor Day so that's what I'm going with.  

Why am I going with Labor Day?


Well, Labor Day weekend 2007 was when my parents brought up my few worldly possessions (I've accumulated a lot in 2 years) and moved them into my grandparents' home.  The day after Labor Day was the first day I worked as a temp at the paper company up here.  (Yes, much like Ryan on The Office......I was a temp at a paper company.)

Approximately two months after moving in with my grandparents I started temping at the company where I now work and a month after that I was offered the position as an employee.  Right as I transitioned I moved into my first place of my own.  It was a little 495 sq. ft. studio apartment on the west side of town.  For the first time in my life I was completely self-sufficient.  I paid all my own bills and the only mess I had to clean up was my own mess.  Work was really crazy at that point and I was often working 50 hour weeks.  I found a church home at that point as well and started making friends in the Portland area.  


Six months later, in the middle of the summer of 2008, I found a roommate and so I moved out of my little Studio.  Due to timing and leases and other things, I was a nomad for the month of July doing a little house-sitting and crashing at a friends' place for a while as well.


At the beginning of August 2008, I moved into my current apartment in NW Portland.  I have loved living in the city and being so close to downtown and the hustle and bustle, all the while not feeling like I'm in the middle of hustle and bustle.  Walking to work has been convenient, and a true blessing during the Arctic Blast of December 2008.  


Over the last year I have developed many more friendships, and loved getting to know the city and its people better.  I've explored by running through the city, hiking its trails and walking through its neighborhoods.  It is hard to believe I have been here two years already, although sometimes it seems like I have lived here for a long time.


I know that I'm a real Portlander because I no longer pause when asked where I'm from.  My friends gave me a hard time this weekend for my Oregon pride (oh the irony as I was in Texas!), but I can't help but tell people when they ask that I love the Pacific Northwest.  


While I have no idea where life will take me in the future.  I do know I will always have a special place in my heart for Portland.  And it's not really because it is green and beautiful, or filled with culture, or that it has four seasons (although all those reasons certainly contribute!).  Rather Portland will continue to be special to me in the years to come because of the time I've spent growing and developing here as a post-grad young adult.  

 

Come visit anytime!

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I will post about my weekend trip to Texas as soon as possible.  It was a great, long weekend filled with good friends, timezone changes, marriage and a 2am Wendy's run.  Expect lots of pictures!