Put a bird on it!

We did it!  We made the epic move from home to new home!  From planning to doing!  From Salem to Portland!  

I am, in short, in love.

This place, specifically our apartment, is everything we hoped it would be and more.  I would like to give you a tour, so the next blog post (I'm working on it now!)  will be an "open house" of sorts, because I really want you to see why I am so busy living and have been neglecting my bloglife.

First of all, this is changing my life:

 This is what my kids call the "Street Bus".  The rest of PDX calls it the street car.  It is free, reliable, and surprisingly fun to ride on with kids.  My three year old is still alarmed at the lack of seat belts.  (She is a kid after my own heart.)  We take this beauty every day.  It's the reason my beloved minivan has stayed in her parking spot all week.

Reason number "B" I am smiling like a lunatic is this:

 That, my friends, is what is called a "Beer Tasting" and it is my new favorite date night pastime.  I have a hard time with commitment so 8 4oz beers to sip is just my cup of tea.  Er, beer.  Whatever.

Next item of bliss:

 

This table has been the source of MUCH happiness.  We sold almost everything we own on Creeplist and bought this table with the winnings.  It fits in the corner and gives us so much more room in our apartment!  I have named the table "sister" because I love it like a sister.  Amen.

Speaking of sister... the two sisters you see here were made for Portland.  Clearly.  They have really embraced the autonomy of big city living and are now dressing even weirder.  Amazing.  And the number one thing my offspring love about living here? 

This is the playground at our building.  This photo was taken from our balcony.  So we are 30 seconds away from this sweet park-like area.  The kids go to the balcony about thirty times a day to see if they have "friends" playing.  We spend 40% of every day here.  It's has reduced the amount of TV the kids watch to almost 0.  And that is my favorite part about living here.

I have spent so much of the last phase of our life planning, waiting, hoping...  And now we are living, enjoying, and doing...  I enjoyed the last two years so much it's not even funny.  I lived the heck out of that time in my life and I have no regrets- but man, to be in a new phase of life, a new beginning, a fresh start... It is intoxicating!  And I mean that in a very sober way.  I promise I have not been beer tasting today.  Yet.

Get ready for a tour of my house soon.  I promise to pick the underwear up off the floor.  Or at least scoot it out of the picture.  Your welcome.

Be New!

jq