One Month Update!

Hey everyone! I feel like I definitely over-blogged when we first moved here; I'm glad I documented that time and I was able to update you all on everything we were doing here (and how I was doing health-wise) but I decided to take a break and just let things settle before I updated again, which is what I'm doing now!

So far everything about living here had been amazing! The positive shift in our moods has been very obvious. We are much less stressed about a huge list of things and it definitely shows in the way we go about our daily lives and even the way we treat each other. 

So far in the past month we have moved to a different state, been to urgent care and dealt with some awful medical problems, gotten a new car, organized our new apartment in a way that we both feel comfortable, explored Beaverton, had dinner with friends, enjoyed fresh air and RAIN, and just enjoyed each other's company for the first time in many months. With the stress of moving and trying to get everything together finally gone, it feels like we can sit and relax.

In fact, we have both been sleeping much better. We both find that we have less of a need to nap during the day (for three reasons: we sleep better at night, we are more active during the day because it is less hot outside than it was in Tracy and we can actually leave the house, and it is no longer so hot that we have to have the air conditioning constantly on so the heat and the lull of the air conditioner doesn't put us to sleep. In fact, our apartment doesn't even have air conditioning).

We have both signed up for library cards and I am thrilled to have in my possession three books in a series of murder mysteries that are primarily solved by a pair of magical cats. (Side note: When is the last time you've been to the library? Did you know that many locations now have self check out? Amazing!)

I've also picked up crafts and crocheting again. I've made a couple of different crafts for Fall that I'm super excited to share and I've decorated our home a little bit for the season. It's so thrilling to actually have pride in your home!

I've finished a small afghan which, while it is nice and will keep someone warm, it's not at all how I hoped it would turn out because a couple of different factors including a strange yarn that was not at all the same thickness as the others (even though it is the same weight and brand) and also a pattern miscalculation. So it looks like my cats are getting a new blanket and I'll be starting over!

I survived my first week alone without Patrick while he went away to Minnesota for a short trip (Tuesday through Friday-- definitely not that bad).

We found a really great thrift store with a fitting room (which is almost unheard of!) and a really good selection. (Nooo, I didn't buy three flannels this month, you must be thinking of someone else...)

We drove for two hours (and then another two hours to return home) to get to a Cider Mill* in Washington that was more fun than any I have ever been to in Michigan (sorry guys!).

*I'll be writing a separate blog post about the Cider Mill because I have some photos that I'd like to share and I wanted to keep this post short and to the point.

And a bonus: our package-stealing, loud-thumping-music-playing neighbors moved out this week! Ahhhh, the silence.

Everything so far has been beyond my wildest dreams. I never knew I could love living in a place so much. It sounds crazy and very cliche, but it's true. I never felt this connection with California and while I adored and miss and love Michigan, there's a different vibe there that I didn't enjoy so much. Like I've said before, Oregon seems to have the best of both worlds! I'm so thrilled to call this place our home! Every single day I look around and tell Patrick how glad I am that we live here. It feels like home.

As a final side note, I thought I would include another short health update which is basically me telling you all that my underarm cysts have not changed (they're still painless when I move but a little bit tender to the touch and I can feel the nodules still) and now I have one on my face (kind of where I would have a sideburn if I was a male-- very close to my ear). However, it is no longer extremely painful and I think most of the swelling at this point is actually the lymph node that the cyst developed right on top of. I have hope that this will go away very soon, especially after I get on the second medication I was prescribed starting tomorrow (Monday). 

I want to thank you all for your continued interest and support in my life and for reading this blog. I'm glad there are a handful of you that enjoy it! Thanks for following along in our Oregon adventures!