Sunday, December 14, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I'm a travelin' girl....
We found a place to settle for the next couple of years. PTL! We will be moving into our new digs this weekend. Eric keeps saying that our new house is Eliott and my birthday present but I think that packing and moving on ones' birthday isn't a present! 
Our place overlooks the Columbia River and is on a 'sort-of' cul-de-sac. There is a huge field of blackberry bushes in our backyard and I can't wait till spring to munch away at them! God has graciously provided some brand new friends to help us move! Eric's supervisor and a couple we just met at church this past Sunday. Now we are just praying that it doesn't rain during our moving time.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
How it all Began...
This past May, Eric was approached by another business in Palm Springs to work for them. We prayfully considered the opportunity but after considering all the pros and cons of it Eric decided that staying at the French Valley business where he was at was the best thing. The way that the guys in Palm Springs heard about Eric was through a client at the airport he currently worked at.
Within a couple of weeks, we had another offer, again not something that we solicited, but rather word-of-mouth, this time from a prior boss who had moved to the Oregon area. This offer was from a business in Sandy, Oregon. Neither of us knew too much about Oregon but as we clicked onto the web to investigate it we loved the look of the area. We looked, again, at the pros and cons of a job change, considering more throughly with this new job offer our situation and needs. We set up a flight to Portland (nearest major hub) to have Eric visit the area and the business. The cost of air travel was so high that the lowest fare we could get was for July 3 for almost $400! So we weren't able to act on it immediately but we continued to fine tune what we felt like we needed to make the move worth it. By the time June 30th rolled around Eric called the business with a proposal of what he wanted. The owner stated that unfortunately the job he was hiring him for didn't require an IA license and didn't really warrant the salary Eric asked for.
I believe that oftentimes God uses multiple events to 'line us up' for what He wants us to do. To get our attention; turn our thoughts and focus onto another path. Within hours after that conversation Eric was looking at yet another email from yet another business who was interested in hiring him. This place was only 20 minutes from Sandy, Oregon, so we were familiar with the area already. By now, Eric knew exactly what we needed to make the move worth it for us. We hadn't even had time to cancel the airplane ticket! So, he called the business on July 1st and told them that he had a flight already lined up for the 3rd and would that work to come check out the business? They enthusiastically agreed, and stated they'd pay for the flight, car rental and hotel stay!
The man who owns the business is a Christian and the lead personnel in the business are also. As he sat over lunch with them the day he flew in the conversation flowed from business to churches to sharing one another's stories of faith. As Eric visited the town and surrounding area he noticed the friendliness of the people and the gorgeous countryside. In talking with the financial dept. it became clear that the business valued and rewarded hardworking individuals. It also offered Eric an opportunity to expand his experience in Turbine engines while bringing to the business the wealth of his experience with pistons. They were interested in hiring people who wanted to advance and that's exactly what Eric has been wanting to do for the last several years. It appeared we had found a perfect fit!
Eric flew back into town, and again, after prayer and thoughtful consideration we made the decision that this is the direction God was leading us in. The hardest part of that decision was saying goodbye to ALL the friends and family we love so dearly in San Diego.
In the following months over the summer, we began to have a sense of God's desire for us spiritually in Oregon - the Land of Weird People. (They have a bumper sticker up here that says, "Keep Portland Weird!") Seriously, though, I think the weirdo's aren't as prevalent as just ordinary, nice people. At least that's what we've experienced so far. If you think of us, please pray for us as we seek a church of people to fellowship with and serve the Lord together.
We miss you all and would love to hear from you too!
Within a couple of weeks, we had another offer, again not something that we solicited, but rather word-of-mouth, this time from a prior boss who had moved to the Oregon area. This offer was from a business in Sandy, Oregon. Neither of us knew too much about Oregon but as we clicked onto the web to investigate it we loved the look of the area. We looked, again, at the pros and cons of a job change, considering more throughly with this new job offer our situation and needs. We set up a flight to Portland (nearest major hub) to have Eric visit the area and the business. The cost of air travel was so high that the lowest fare we could get was for July 3 for almost $400! So we weren't able to act on it immediately but we continued to fine tune what we felt like we needed to make the move worth it. By the time June 30th rolled around Eric called the business with a proposal of what he wanted. The owner stated that unfortunately the job he was hiring him for didn't require an IA license and didn't really warrant the salary Eric asked for.
I believe that oftentimes God uses multiple events to 'line us up' for what He wants us to do. To get our attention; turn our thoughts and focus onto another path. Within hours after that conversation Eric was looking at yet another email from yet another business who was interested in hiring him. This place was only 20 minutes from Sandy, Oregon, so we were familiar with the area already. By now, Eric knew exactly what we needed to make the move worth it for us. We hadn't even had time to cancel the airplane ticket! So, he called the business on July 1st and told them that he had a flight already lined up for the 3rd and would that work to come check out the business? They enthusiastically agreed, and stated they'd pay for the flight, car rental and hotel stay!
The man who owns the business is a Christian and the lead personnel in the business are also. As he sat over lunch with them the day he flew in the conversation flowed from business to churches to sharing one another's stories of faith. As Eric visited the town and surrounding area he noticed the friendliness of the people and the gorgeous countryside. In talking with the financial dept. it became clear that the business valued and rewarded hardworking individuals. It also offered Eric an opportunity to expand his experience in Turbine engines while bringing to the business the wealth of his experience with pistons. They were interested in hiring people who wanted to advance and that's exactly what Eric has been wanting to do for the last several years. It appeared we had found a perfect fit!
Eric flew back into town, and again, after prayer and thoughtful consideration we made the decision that this is the direction God was leading us in. The hardest part of that decision was saying goodbye to ALL the friends and family we love so dearly in San Diego.
In the following months over the summer, we began to have a sense of God's desire for us spiritually in Oregon - the Land of Weird People. (They have a bumper sticker up here that says, "Keep Portland Weird!") Seriously, though, I think the weirdo's aren't as prevalent as just ordinary, nice people. At least that's what we've experienced so far. If you think of us, please pray for us as we seek a church of people to fellowship with and serve the Lord together.
We miss you all and would love to hear from you too!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Daily Life
Having postponed school until we reached Oregon and settled in, we finally began school last week. Lily has officially started kindergarten, and I'm excited! This is my last one! Whoo-hoo! Maybe I'm getting excited too soon... I do have the teen years to travel thru, and it IS 13 years down the road before she's off to college, but having had three girls go from this stage to almost all of those same girls graduated from college, I do know how quickly it goes.
It looks like we've found some renters for our house in San Diego. PTL! We continue to search for just the right spot for us to settle up here. And also searching for just the right church that God would have us join. We decided to put the kids into a local AWANA program so they could start building friendships and they would have a constant in their lives as we try out new churches each week.
Our neighbor came over to invite us to go shopping with them at the local Columbia River Outlet store which his wife works at (she can get us bigger discounts) so we have warmer gear for the colder weather when it hits. Now that's friendly!
The weather so far has been lovely. We have had little visitors in our backyard; squirrels and a very friendly raccoon who came and scratched on the glass door. He was adorable, but we resisted the idiotic urge to trust that docile appearance and watched him from behind the glass (just like at the zoo!)
Eric has been coming home and telling me how the guys at work, who are locals, keep having to turn on the heater and are already complaining about it being cold?! Must be the thin-skinned tribe of Oregonians.
Oct. 11 - We headed out to Sandy River and a park that's close by (within 2 miles of our home.) Here's some pics for you to enjoy.
Can't wait to have you all come up and visit us in this gorgeous part of the country!
We also drove out to Corbett (5 min. drive) and saw this great view of Mt. Hood. I wish I had Abigail's great camera.... mine just doesn't do this view justice but hopefully you get the idea.
It looks like we've found some renters for our house in San Diego. PTL! We continue to search for just the right spot for us to settle up here. And also searching for just the right church that God would have us join. We decided to put the kids into a local AWANA program so they could start building friendships and they would have a constant in their lives as we try out new churches each week.
Our neighbor came over to invite us to go shopping with them at the local Columbia River Outlet store which his wife works at (she can get us bigger discounts) so we have warmer gear for the colder weather when it hits. Now that's friendly!
The weather so far has been lovely. We have had little visitors in our backyard; squirrels and a very friendly raccoon who came and scratched on the glass door. He was adorable, but we resisted the idiotic urge to trust that docile appearance and watched him from behind the glass (just like at the zoo!)
Eric has been coming home and telling me how the guys at work, who are locals, keep having to turn on the heater and are already complaining about it being cold?! Must be the thin-skinned tribe of Oregonians.
Oct. 11 - We headed out to Sandy River and a park that's close by (within 2 miles of our home.) Here's some pics for you to enjoy.
Can't wait to have you all come up and visit us in this gorgeous part of the country!
We also drove out to Corbett (5 min. drive) and saw this great view of Mt. Hood. I wish I had Abigail's great camera.... mine just doesn't do this view justice but hopefully you get the idea.
skiing anyone? :-D
Monday, September 29, 2008
This is amazing!
Hiking isn't my most favorite thing to do. I like walking, but hiking, seems a bit more like a chore to me at times, but hiking the gorge is a whole other story. I t i s s o b e a u t i f u l!
There is no 'chore' about it; the waterfalls, the green, lush undergrowth, the giant trees that make you get a crick in your neck just to lean back and try to view the tops. I give you some pictures from our hike yesterday afternoon. Enjoy!
The Latourell Falls
Upper Latourell Falls
Eliot enjoying the base of the Latourell Falls.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Road Trip Mis-Adventures!
Bright and early Sunday morning we pull our two vehicles away from our familiar neighborhood toward our long journey to Oregon. We made plans to stop at my brother's house, Jene, in Healdsburg (just North of San Fran) for the night. Everything was going along smoothly until Lily tried to open the door of the U-haul truck while on the freeway. Of course, it's just enough to be ajar where she can't shut it. We pull off to get that taken care of; Eric pulls over to the curb in a neighborhood area, shuts the door, jumps back in, and drives around a corner... into a dead end! Forty-five minutes later, after disconnecting the pop-up tent trailer, turning it around manually, and reconnecting it, we're on the road again.
We're zipping along, traffic is good and Jene has told us the best way to go is over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge which is best for such a long vehicle (U-haul with trailer behind.) We pull up to the toll booth (Jene forgot to ask us if we had money for the toll!) and the combined amount for both vehicles is $10.00! Well, that would have been okay but for the fact that we didn't have that much by 7 pm that night. I'd gotten plenty of money for the trip and then remembered that I needed to leave cash for the housekeepers who were coming to the house the next day - so I left most of my cash that I'd carefully planned to have for the trip at home for them. Eric almost got a ticket for failure to pay the toll but one of the other toll booth attendants noticed his dilemma and piped in that someone had just left $4.00 extra for anyone who might need it and he could use it. Moral of this story: Carry enough cash for surprises, or, don't use the San Rafael bridge!
We arrive safely on our first night of travel in Healdsburg at Jene and Anne's. Our next leg is to Grant's Pass, Oregon. We are traveling with our cat, who fortunately, seems to have acclimated really well to travel and by now is crawling around the whole car investigating. Her favorite place became my lap or Lily's. We stop at Confusion Hill to investigate on the way and also, one of the only Redwood trees around that you can still drive thru.
The rest of the trip is uneventful (Thank you!) and we arrive in Troutdale around 4 pm on Tuesday. One of Eric's co-workers at his new job comes by after work and helps unload the heavy stuff into the house. What a blessing!
We're zipping along, traffic is good and Jene has told us the best way to go is over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge which is best for such a long vehicle (U-haul with trailer behind.) We pull up to the toll booth (Jene forgot to ask us if we had money for the toll!) and the combined amount for both vehicles is $10.00! Well, that would have been okay but for the fact that we didn't have that much by 7 pm that night. I'd gotten plenty of money for the trip and then remembered that I needed to leave cash for the housekeepers who were coming to the house the next day - so I left most of my cash that I'd carefully planned to have for the trip at home for them. Eric almost got a ticket for failure to pay the toll but one of the other toll booth attendants noticed his dilemma and piped in that someone had just left $4.00 extra for anyone who might need it and he could use it. Moral of this story: Carry enough cash for surprises, or, don't use the San Rafael bridge!
We arrive safely on our first night of travel in Healdsburg at Jene and Anne's. Our next leg is to Grant's Pass, Oregon. We are traveling with our cat, who fortunately, seems to have acclimated really well to travel and by now is crawling around the whole car investigating. Her favorite place became my lap or Lily's. We stop at Confusion Hill to investigate on the way and also, one of the only Redwood trees around that you can still drive thru.
The rest of the trip is uneventful (Thank you!) and we arrive in Troutdale around 4 pm on Tuesday. One of Eric's co-workers at his new job comes by after work and helps unload the heavy stuff into the house. What a blessing!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
"How Nice": Reflections on Oregon
Well, we've arrived and just this Sunday I finally saw it rain! That's almost a week without rain. So, for those unfamiliar with Oregon I post these random impressions of things that are "Oh, how nice!" moments that we're having.
How nice... when the gas station attendant rushed around to my window, took my card, and pumped my gas for me.
How nice... when he told me it was only $3.23 per gallon!
How nice... when he thanked me for being patient with him since he was new (and he said ma'am too!)
How nice... to have random people we've met who've found out we've moved from California say, "Welcome to Oregon!"
How nice... to drive a mere ten minutes down the road and be able to stand under the mist of a gorgeous waterfall after a short walk among lush, green undergrowth and towering pine trees.
How nice... to have Eric be able to come home for lunch each day since his works so close to home.
How nice... to have found a good Mexican restaurant so far from the border!
How nice... to be able to still connect with friends and family so far away now via the internet and cell phones.
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