Oh, the places life can take you in just one month!

Crossing the Deschutes River in Bend, OR

Well, we have been in the US for just over one month now, but it feels like SO much longer than that! In the last 35 days we have:

1. Slept in 8 different beds…
2. Spent time in 7 different Northwestern cities….
3. Seen 40 friends and family members….
4. Applied for 6 more jobs…
5. Bought 1 car…
6. Driven about 800 miles…

Dusk on the beautiful Whidbey Island

We’re hoping that the “super crazy” chapter is coming to a close. We are presently in Bend, Oregon, and hope to stay here for a while. There is no major rhyme or reason to how we ended up here– we are simply taking opportunities as they arise. In this case, my parents have a vacation rental here which was available for the month. We were so glad to come here and unpack our suitcases, finally. We’ve been here just over  a week, and figure this is as good a place as any to look for jobs and a place to live indefinitely. We seem to be diving right in– we have found an adorable 1930’s house in a nice neighborhood to rent, and I have applied for a couple of jobs here. Jeff has found a number of networking opportunities in the local special needs/ early intervention community, and will start doing some volunteer work soon.

A little stability couldn’t have come at a better time! I wrapped up my winter quarter of school on the road, taking final exams in a hotel lobby, the hospital, and my in-laws’ living room. I had a week-long break before my spring quarter began, and my course load is extra-heavy this time! Our family has finally found a bit of routine, mainly centering around dropping me off at the library for three hours every day. This is as normal as our life has been in a long, long time, and my head is still spinning from the adventures of the last couple of months.

It all feels wild, and like every choice we make is simply an educated gamble. We had to buy a car when an offer to borrow one fell through at the last minute, and we didn’t have much time to agonize. We considered all of the options available that day, and just pulled out the cash and bought the best one. When we looked at the affordable little house in the area that would be most ideal to live here, we said “We’ll take it!”  We’re also willing to take just about any jobs offered to us, and I have applied for a couple already– I don’t feel picky, and think I could have fun doing lots of different things. Big decisions are being made quickly, and “sweating the small stuff” is not even an option for us!

The Deschutes again, just a short walk from our future house….

And so the adventure continues. Life is so interesting, isn’t it?