Family fun in the rain

We had a fun opportunity a couple of weeks ago to have a free photo shoot with our wedding photographer, Scott Jarvie, in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

I understand most couples brought their kids, but since we don't have one yet, we decided to bring Scout. It was hard to get her to stay still, and it was a little rainy and cold, but I'm pleased to present our first ever family photos... well, official ones anyway.

The Simple Things...

I am reveling in having my very own washer and dryer right in my apartment. I can't even describe how satisfying it is to be able to do laundry barefoot :)

Portland: week 1

So here are some of the things that I've discovered about Portland this week...

People here are very eco-conscious. For example, the recycle bins are the size of normal trash bins, and the trash bins only go up to my hip. There are solar powered lights, and today I saw a solar powered trash can at the zoo.

Portland is known as "The City That Works". Regardless of whether that motto is outmoded, it does not apply to Nathan and me, for neither of us has happened to spend one minute of one day at work. In Nathan's case it is bureaucracy (he starts tomorrow, fingers crossed!). In my case, I have only been searching for 2 days, and so haven't really had an opportunity to cast a very big job net.

Here in Portland, everyone has a dog, so Scout is not all that special.

We found an apartment on day one of our search, so thats exciting. We move in tomorrow afternoon, or Friday. Its a lovely 2 bed/ 2 bath apartment in Beaverton. I most excited to have a dishwasher, garbage disposal, and laundry machines, which are luxuries we've lived without for a while now.

Here, people don't seem to think there is anything wrong with passing on the right.

Also, its been lovely here with three straight days of sunshine, although apparently it supposed to rain from Friday until next summer... not so sure how I feel about that yet.

Mostly I feel like we moved from limbo in Provo to limbo in Portland, but we'll see.

All in all, we are still very excited to be here, though of course we are missing all of our Provo friends.

A Job!

Nathan here, just to make sure that no one gets confused.

It is done. Kaiser Permanente has finally offered me the job that I have been waiting to hear back about since mid-May. After all of that time waiting I find that my reaction was closer to "finally" than to the level of excitement that I expected. However, we are very pleased that it has finally happened, and are in full swing preparations to move our little family to Portland a week from today. I don't know if it is a faux pas to talk about salary and things, but for any of you that are curious I will be starting at $45k plus a pretty nice benefits package.

It is going to be an interesting experience to live outside of Utah for the first time in my life. Well, the first time except for the 2+ years I spent in Peru, but that doesn't really count. It will be something of a new experience to not be able to safely assume that everyone I meet is either a member of the Church or is at least familiar with it. At the moment I think I like the rain, but that may be because we only get 20 rainy days a year, not 300 like we will be experiencing in Portland. It will also be the first time I have had to make new friends since junior high. Starting next week I will be having all sorts of exciting opportunities to grow. Yay.

Also, just a little note to thank Mike and Jen for being so helpful. They are going to let us stay with them while we find an apartment, Kelly is going to get to babysit our niece (which may seem like a favor we are doing for them, but I assure you that it is the other way around), and Mike has been my liaison with KP during this entire process. Very helpful.

Well, the next time I post anything, I will be an Oregon resident. Woot!

Waiting

So I think this pretty much captures how I've come to feel about being a server...

I mean, I try really hard to a good job, but sometimes it feels like the more you go out of your way to help someone (someone with really "specific" tastes), the more likely it is for you to be blamed, harassed, or just under appreciated (or under-tipped). Its not easy to hand toast your bread so it is just so while I have 7 other tables who need my help.

On the flip side, it is wonderful that there are people who are patient and kind, and seem to understand how busy you are. People who understand that if you are getting a discount, you give a tip based on the un-discounted total not the discounted one, and people who understand that compliments, as kind as they are, do not count as tips and do not pay my rent. 

I am however, looking forward to the day when I can say goodbye to being a server, even though I mostly like it. Besides, if I wasn't a server I wouldn't have met Nathan :).