Back in the 'Couve

Our stint at the beach came to an end in mid-January. After a long month of packing, looking for work, moving, and ridding our lives of landlord/neighbor stress, we made it back to our home town safe and sound. Andy secured work at his previous place of employment and I found part-time work with a local non-profit (as well as started volunteering at my old gig). From what I've been told, my hours will quickly move to full time in the next few weeks which will be good for the ol' pocket book.

In other jobby job news, Andy has interviewed for an apprenticeship with Bonneville Power and it'll most likely be another week or two before he is potentially offered a position (or told to try again next year). If so, the position could place us in Vancouver, Longview, Olympia, Wenatchee, the Tri-Cities, Eugene, Salem, or Kalispell, Montana. I haven't been, nor have I wanted to think about potentially moving again, so we're taking life one day at a time, which is the best anyone can do. We're pretty much keeping our fingers and toes crossed that if offered a position, it keeps us here in town!

I am lacking in recent photos and I really wish I had something awesome to post. This shot from the August 2010 Lady Gaga concert will have to do.

I don't think Andy was tired; I think the flash caught him off guard!

This is a "problem" I've had in the last year: not taking my camera with me, as I have one on my phone. When I do track down my camera, I end up having to charge the battery, thus taking pictures of other things/people with my phone and never any of myself or the two of us. Here's to more photos!

I'm bad at blogging

Really, it's not that difficult. I spent the better part of the last decade blogging on Livejournal, but I've fallen way out of touch with writing online. I read and follow and tweet and post snippets of my life on a semi-regular basis, but when it comes to writing about my own business, I flake out. This blog doesn't really have a a theme at the moment, but I'm okay with that. I pay it a visit once a month, jot a few things down, and continue living (ultimately hoping for inspiration for that next great blog post next to which you'll place that gold star on your Google reader feed). 

Image from http://www.nataliedee.com/

Here's a topic: the places you've lived in the last 10 years! Just for kicks, I'm going back to 1999 when my great moving adventures began. 

1. September 1999 -  NE 58th St, Vancouver to NE 50th St, U-District, Seattle (sorority livin' for 9 months)

2. June 2000 - NE 50th St to NE 58th St, Vancouver (Mom's house for 15 months)

3. September 2001 - Ne 58th St to NE 105th Ave, Northgate, Seattle (with Theresa for 6 months)

4. March 2002 - Northgate to 8th Ave NE, U-District, Seattle (with a crazy 40 year old woman, Sara, and Hanako for 15 months. The crazy lady moved out in July 2002.)

5. June 2003 - U-District to a Bellevue storage unit (while I was in Romania for 2 months)

6. September 2003 - Bellevue storage unit to Franklin Ave E in Eastlake, Seattle (with Ashley for 12 months)

7. September 2004 - Seattle to NE 26th Place, Vancouver (my Mom's house for 13 months)

8. October 2005 - NE 26th Place to Ellsworth Ave, Vancouver (with Arnie, Matt and Jessie for 21 months)

9. July 2007 - Ellsworth Ave to Hazel Dell Ave, Vancouver (by myself (!!) for 14 months)

10. October 2008 - Hazel Dell Ave to 112th Ave, Vancouver (to move in with my boyfriend, Andy, for 4 months)

11. February 2009 - 112th Ave to Blairmont Drive, Vancouver (with my fiancee, Andy, for 17 months)

12. July 2010 - Blairmont Drive to NE Spring Ave, Depoe Bay, Oregon (with my husband (!!!) for ???)

Have I really moved 12 times in the past 11 years? We're already discussing moving back to the Portland area in the foreseeable future, but we won't be setting a specific time line as to not warrant any disappointment on our part if we can't find decent paying jobs right away. Living with family is an option if we need, but of course, we'd like to keep our big kid pants on and move into our own place.

Moving is always a stress and I can definitely say I've become great at packing and ridding myself of items I no longer need. For instance, we were able to rid ourselves of two couches, a coffee table, two end tables, lamps, multiple bookshelves, a bed, recliner, two desks, and other various household items before we left the 'Couve. However, about 50% of our stuff is still packed up in our garage. Are we using any of those items? Not at the moment. Do we need any of those items? Yes and no; I'd really have to take inventory to see what we have, but I SWEAR we're not hoarders (although I know a lot of what's still packed is books, childhood belongings, a video game/console collection, holiday decorations, garage items, etc.). On a sidenote, if you are not in the mood to clean, watch an episode of  Hoarders and you'll be good to go. We moved from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom duplex, so it's expected that we don't have room for everything. We downsized quite a bit before we moved to the coast, but it would be nice to downsize even more (if we can) before we make another move. Now that I've mentioned it, I think I'll go clean out my closet.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Andy's been offered and has accepted a brewery position with Rogue in Newport, Oregon.The overall concensus has been quite positive, encouraging, and OMG TAKE THE JOB NOW-esque. If you didn't already know, Andy's been quite interested in home brewing over the last 6-8 months and has sucessfully brewed 5 or 6 batches of beer with his dad. Applying for jobs here and there, he's been ready to leave his production job for quite some time. About three months ago, he started looking into brewey jobs and schools, trying to get his foot in the door. After a long wait, someone at Rogue finally took notice of his resume and found him suitable to fill the vacany that is a few steps up the ladder from entry level brewery production. As he (hopefully) moves up the ladder to become a brewer, his chances are greater as the company tends to hire from within. Andy's big wish lies somewhere down the road, opening his own brewery with his dad.

My feelings in all of this? I've been feeling quite anxious for the last week. To gain more control I've been making to-do lists, searching for new jobs, housing, and imagining our new lives as beach bums. I am afraid that I won't find a job or we won't find a place to live. I'm also overwhelmed with the requests for last minute get togethers from family, friends, and co-workers, as well as the daunting job of packing all our belongings. I'm also sad to be leaving a job I love, my nephew (whom I love watching grow), and the hustle and bustle of the city. I know a lot of these feelings will pass with time and I'll have Andy to lean on for support. On the flip side, I am happy and excited to support Andy's new career and starting fresh sounds pretty nice right about now. You can't wait for things to happen, so why not mix it up when you can?