Sunday Samplings: Oregon

I thought for Sunday I would reflect on living in Oregon for three years. Right after I got married to Archie we headed on up to Gresham (a suburb of Portland) to live; Archie got a job offer and up we went.A beautiful sunset from our balcony

We moved up two weeks after our wedding in the worst snow and ice storm Oregon had had in years! I drove the moving van while Archie drove our crappy little Subaru (stick shift and I don't do stick shifts). I only slid off once in Boise! But after that it got so bad we dumped the moving van and I rode with Archie and prayed the whole way that we wouldn't die! Thank goodness there was a semi-truck in front of us so we could follow in its tracks!

Oregon Coast and Pirate Rock!

We made it safe and lived with Archie's surrogate Aunt Jean for two months while we saved up enough money to get an apartment. We finally found an apartment ten minutes away by foot from Archie's work! We saved a lot of gas!

I was scared to death to move away from Utah even though I had lived in the Canary Islands for 18 months! I know, so silly.

Eventually Spring came and we were able to enjoy what Portland had to offer! Beautiful, just Beautiful there! Everything is so green and lots of trails to go hiking and biking. Also there is no sales tax in Oregon! That was so nice and I miss it so much! And it was against the law to pump one's own gas so there were attendants to do that for you at every gas station. It sucked during the summer when they were busy, but great during the winter when it was cold and you could just sit in your car and wait!

Cutting our Christmas Tree!

I was also able to attend Portland State University and receive my Bachelor's degree in Applied Linguistics and Spanish. It was an amazing experience and one that will be with me forever. I had the opportunity to be a camp counselor for two weeks for children and adults with disabilities. It was one of the hardest two weeks, but the reward was amazing. I also had the opportunity to go to Guatemala for three weeks to help out some indigenous schools in the area of Panajachel. We brought them computers and school supplies and painted their schools. We also stayed with host families. Guatemala is beautiful and are is its people.

In Guatemala

I wandered the streets of downtown Portland since PSU is right in the heart of it. Downtown is amazing. They have the best public transportation I've ever seen. I never had to drive to PSU, I always too the train and the trolley and my own two feet. There are just so many things to see and do and almost always within walking distance from downtown. Their farmer's markets were wonderful as well; so many vendors selling many other things than just produce!Portland Zoo!

They also have the best food! We enjoyed Vi Thai, Mongolian Grill, and many Indian restaurants. We make sure to visit all these restaurants whenever we visit! And they have WinCo...the best grocery store ever!

I can't fail to mention Powell's Books. It's the biggest book store in the United States for sure. It takes up more than two city blocks and sells and buys used books as well. Oh, how I miss it!The Pod statue in front of Powell's Books

Let's see...we also got to cut our own Christmas trees up in the mountains! They were pretty scary and skimpy, but it only cost five bucks and it was good family times!

Wolfy also joined our family from the local pet shop around the corner!

We also made some great friends while living there...Catie, Trisha and Jeremy, the Browns...

And we were only two hours from the Coast, Tillamook cheese farm, Newport, and just a few hours from Seattle!Loving Darth Maul in Newport!

It was a great three years and we both miss it terribly, but a new job opportunity arrived in Utah and it was just too good to pass up. Plus if we had stayed Archie may lost his job where he was at...so it's been very good for us to be here now!

God bless Oregon for all the wonderful experiences I enjoyed and the beautiful people I met!