Life in Oregon

Things here in Oregon are going really well. For the first time in a long time, Eric and I both feel like we are where we are supposed to be and doing the work we are supposed to be doing. That is a good feeling.

In a sense, we are in a completely new place, but we also feel like we have come home. We are about an hour from where we lived a couple of years ago, so we know some folks around here and lots of places are familiar, but the particular communities we are part of are new! I have really been enjoying this combination exploring the new and reconnecting with the well-loved.

Mat and Leah are two friends we are particularly happy to be spending time with again. We visited them when they first purchased their home in Forest Grove (which is just down the road from Cornelius, where we live). The house was nice before, but they have done some amazing work inside and out. I wish I before and after pictures of their yard--their flowers are so beautiful!

On Wednesday, we met them at the FG Farmers Market, where we bought some tamales and fresh produce for a salad.

After dinner on the back patio, we walked a few blocks to McMenamins Grand Lodge. This place, one of several McMenamins establishments in the Portland area, is amazing. The property, formerly owned by the Masons, contains buildings that were once a retirement home, orphanage, and mortuary. Now it is a hotel with two restaurants, a brew-and-view-style movie theater, and a disc golf course! The grounds are gorgeous and the buildings a bit mysterious.

Mat, Leah, Goose and I enjoyed throwing the frisbee around on the huge lawn until it got too dark to see and the frisbee got stuck one too many times in a tree. We then split a delicious milkshake and brownie a la mode. Mmmm... We will definitely be back to that place and are looking forward to checking out other McMenamins joints in the area!

Yesterday, Goose and I took public transportation into Portland for a meeting and decided to make a day of it. Our first stop was Powell's, a new and used bookstore that takes up a whole city block! We are excited about our one purchase--a used book about using what you already have to re/decorate your home.

We bopped in and out of lots of random stores and spent more time in one place called Storables--which gave us plenty of ideas about how to organize our stuff.

For dinner, we went to the Blossoming Lotus, a yoga place with a vegan cafe. The food was amazing! Here is Eric waiting to get a table--there was only room for about 20 people to sit inside.



Across the street from this place was a little cafe specializing in three of my favorite things: coffee, chocolate and wine. We had the most perfect little dark chocolate things for dessert.

Here is Goose waiting for the Max to take us home. There are so many trees in Portland!


Taking public transit into the city seems the best option. It's cheap and reliable and fairly quick. It took us about an hour to get home--perhaps a little longer going into the city with more traffic. And we don't have to worry about trying to figure out all those one-way streets!