Exploring Beaverton and Making Friends!

Hey everyone! I know I just posted yesterday but I didn't want to make one giant long post about my health and exploring, so I split it up and decided to post the health update first. I know both posts are really long and I'm sorry about that. I'm going to try my best to update more often so the posts aren't as long but I don't want to over-saturate the blog.

Health Re-Update:
I went back to the clinic for a follow-up yesterday (Wednesday). During the week, Tina (my doctor) did a lot of research for me and we decided on the following:

• I'll be on a two to three month regimen of Doxycycline to temper the cysts and prevent new ones.
• I'll be going on Yaz birth control to suppress the androgens* in my body, which is the hormone that causes the flare-ups. I've had good results with Yaz before so hopefully it won't mess with my hormones too much, because I've been off of oral birth control for 4-5 months to try to let my body sort itself out (I was having a lot of hormone issues).
• My right armpit got much, much better since Sunday and I have almost full range of motion. However, my left armpit has gotten a lot worse. We've sent in a culture to see if that infection is more serious and requires different antibiotics. We'll reassess in a few days' time when the results come back.
• If my cysts clear up sooner than later, I'll probably be able to stop taking the antibiotics and just stay on the birth control to keep the HS in check. I'm still trying to find a pharmacy that won't drown me with prescription costs, but I have a little bit of time before I need either of the scripts filled.

*I previously said progesterone but I've discovered that I was incorrect.

Now, here's another long blog about exploring Beaverton :)

So the more we explore, the more I fall in love with Beaverton and Oregon in general. I'm so excited and grateful about this opportunity and I'm finding that Oregon seems to be the perfect mix of Michigan and California, which means that it has things that both Patrick and I really like. For example, the food here is diverse. If you want Thai food, we only need to walk about a block. But if I want Zoup-- my favorite soup restaurant chain that I ate almost every single day while I was still in college in Michigan-- you can find that, too (there were none in California and it broke my heart). There are a lot more high end options if you look for them, especially in Portland itself, but it's really nice to find stuff that we are both excited to try when we go out to eat. The weather is also making us both very happy, and we're close enough to the ocean (about two hours, give or take) that it doesn't make Patrick all itchy and land-locked.

We're also in a really great area. There is a Target about three miles away but on the way there you see about 60% trees and 40% houses or developments, instead of seeing almost 100% man-made things like you do in California. Anywhere you go, it's a beautiful drive and we have been driving with the windows down every single time. Fresh air... It's sad that we didn't have it for thirteen months while we lived in Tracy.

Sunday:

• Went to urgent care
• Took a long nap, woke up feeling a LOT better
• Went to a local mall to explore
• Went to dinner at Patrick's friend Dennis and his girlfriend Gina's place. Many thanks to the two of them for having us over and extra thanks to Dennis for cooking a fantastic home made meal!

Monday:

• Woke up and Patrick had left to go explore some more
• Patrick came back, we went to a few stores including the "baby" Powell's books. If you read my post from July that included a bit about Powell's of Portland, you'll know that Powell's is a gigantic book store in Portland itself. It turns out that there's a smaller, though also very well-stocked, Powell's in Beaverton as well
• Also went to a gigantic craft store in that same shopping center (I'd describe it as "Joann's, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby combined") and also a huge store JUST FOR ORGANIZATION AND STORAGE, which is called Storables
• Finally got to go to the thrift store (albeit briefly) and I got a couple of flannel shirts
• Went Patrick's friend Sam and his wife Lisa's for dinner. Thank you SO MUCH Sam and Lisa for inviting us into your home and many thanks to Lisa for cooking us a delicious dinner! We had a fantastic time!

Tuesday: 

• We had a big adventure and went to Ikea to buy the things we budgeted for: two bar stools, a dining room table with two chairs (which doubles as a desk for me to craft/write/sew/etc), a light fixture for the breakfast bar, and a few other very small items
• We spent the rest of the day putting together all of the items

Wednesday:

• I went out on my own for the first time! I have pretty bad anxiety about driving in general so this is a really big deal for me. I went to the Dollar Tree to get a couple of things (hand soap, a table cloth, and a few Halloween decorations). Patrick taught until about 3pm.
• In the evening, Patrick and I went back to the clinic (different clinic, same provider) for a follow up (which I've written about above) and we went to a really delicious southern restaurant for dinner called Miss Delta. 

Thursday:

• Patrick taught until about 3pm.
• While Patrick was working, I ventured out to Target by myself. It was a successful trip.
• We went to the Dutch Store after work and got some delicious Dutch cheese and a few Dutch snacks. 
• My HS is doing much better today and I almost didn't need to take any ibuprofen. 

So that's it up until just now! Tomorrow the moving company will be delivering our stuff and we'll probably be unpacking and organizing all weekend. I'll continue to update every so often, hopefully more often so that these blogs aren't so darn long from now on. Sorry!