16 days til the New Year, 6 months til we move!!

I can’t believe how time has flown since we started this New Jersey adventure. It feels like we moved here yesterday – Katie and John helping carry a million boxes up 2 flights of stairs... our first visit to the Big Apple. But somehow a year (and almost ½) has flown by. We are now accustomed to the local culture of seeming to hold ones breath until forced to exhale and, more generally, we find it normal to be in a rapid hurry about all of our business. I even find myself slipping into the local accent saying “Joisy” instead of “Jersey”. I never even look at people who pass by on the street anymore (let alone say a random “hello”).

So yes, we’ve lived here long enough to feel like it’s “home” (in the tract housing sense of the word) and have experienced it’s joys as well as it discontents. Getting to know “the city” has been an unparalleled adventure for both of us. And living in real seasons has brought a vibrancy to my soul that I didn’t know it lacked.

But even though this particular life-adventure has brought intense pleasure with it, I am happy to announce that Matt and I will be west-coasters again in 6 months. We miss the non-hurried, random-hello kind of people that live on the left side of this country!

We’ve decided to move to Portland following a great herd of people who are doing just this – the buying-a-house-starting-a-family herd of people. Actually, our reason for moving there has more to do with the location of the city and who already lives there. Our VERY dear friends John and Katie and many other friends live there as well as most of Matt’s family. To top it off, my parents, brothers, and hometown are only 7-hours south of Portland. Since Matt and I want to live in community with the people we love, Portland seems like the best place to call “home”. But even more, we have grown fond of urban dwelling and also need to find teaching work soon. This city seems promising.

By the time we move I will have finished my degree - Sociology of Religion M.A. - but Matt will have 2 years left of his PhD. Since he will only have to pass a major test and write a book during that time we figure, what better place to study and write a book than Portland?

We move mid-June.
Let the countdown begin!