6 months ago, today, we were driving over the Fremont bridge. NW Portland was just in front of us, and we were about 4 minutes from our new home. We met our dear friends out front & handed over the dogs so we could sign our lease. We got the keys, then enjoyed our first meal on the floor. Later that day, our belongings were delivered, and our 600 sqft apartment filled up quickly. We walked to Trader Joe’s to buy a pizza & a bottle of wine. We watched a dvd on our laptop while sitting in bed (it was our only furniture), and feel asleep feeling excited & a little scared that we were finally here.
The last six months have been the biggest learning experience of our lives … we’ve flourished, we’ve struggled, we’ve been happy, we’ve been sad, we’ve fought, we’ve enjoyed our time together, we’ve traveled & explored, and we’ve enjoyed learning to live on our own in a new city.
I thought I’d recap some of our favorite moments from the past 6 months … This might be a long post … Just warning you now!! :)
Adventures:
When we first moved here, I don’t think we realized how many adventures we’d go on … We always wanted to go out and enjoy Indy, but rarely did. There were always excuses … so upon moving to Portland, we were eager to explore & really justify a cross-country move!
Our first little adventure was to the Hoyt Arboretum. We absolutely love this place … it’s amazing for hiking & seeing sweet trees from around the world.
Visting Pittock Mansion towards the end of fall was awesome. The weather is pretty great, and a semi-cloudless sky meant we got a peek at Mt. Hood.
I took a tiny trip up to Mt. Tabor (a volcano inside the city limits).
On November 29th, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary & our 6 year dating anniversary with a trip to the coast. We’d been before, but this trip was extra special. We took the pups with us & enjoyed a day by the ocean.
Right before Christmas, we headed up to Mt. Hood with Amy & Rob. It was the first snow we got to walk through … and duh, we spent some time at the lodge drinking awesome drinks!!
Photo taken by Rob Alan.
On New Year’s Day, we headed to the Gorge for the first time since moving here. The Gorge holds my heart … my heart hurts (in a good way) whenever I think about the beauty there, and it’s home to some of the most beautiful views in the world.
In January, a new friend, Nicolle, invited me on a little hike around Oaks Bottom. It was so wonderful to take a 2 hour hike with a new friend …
Later that month, my aunt came out to stay with us for a few days … We went snowshoeing on Mt. Hood & the vacation was capped with a trip to Rockaway Beach. We watched the most beautiful sunset from Cape Meares.
After traveling a bit towards the end of January, we needed another adventure for February … We headed to Cape Lookout for a day trip with the dogs. This was the trip with the bears … that terrible sign that almost ruined the trip!
In March, we realized we hadn’t really shared much of the great city we live in. So, we took a day to walk around and capture the city we love so much.
Our friend Amy suggested I take Jimmy on a surprise trip to see a Frank Lloyd Wright house near Silver Falls … so we made a day out of it. Seeing that property, then heading to Silver Falls Park for hiking & awe-ing at waterfalls.
To celebrate Jimmy’s birthday, we took a truly EPIC hike up to Angel’s Rest! We’ve really gotten into hiking since moving here & this hike was especially beautiful. It was difficult, but so rewarding.
A few days later, we headed back to The Gorge to hike the Eagle Creek Trail to Punchbowl Falls. We definitely want to re-hike this as it wasn’t the best weather & I think we took the wrong trail.
Amy surprised us with a trip to the tulip fields!! Such a great way to spend a day … we got to walk through a ton of flowers & eat food that was really bad for us! Loved this day so much!!
We haven’t blogged the official post from last weekend, but our most recent adventure was a trip to the coast: Lincoln City to be exact. Our friends Matt & Ali invited us to celebrate Ali’s birthday along with a few more friends. It was so so so great & we almost thought about staying at the coast forever.
Photo taken by Alison Murray.
Besides our adventures, here are a few cool things we’ve done!
I started my Monday Morning photo project. I’ve posted at least 3 photos every Monday morning for the last 21 weeks. The photos are just meant to tell the story of my life … at the end of the year, I hope to compile a book of photos.
We started cooking a lot more at home. We even shared a few of our favorite vegetarian recipes.
While we were hoping to share more of our tiny apartment before now, I was happy to share a peek at our living room.
We both learned to knit! I know it sounds nerdy, but we love it. We’re still learning, but it’s been a really fun hobby to share.
Overall, the past six month have been a period of growth & learning. We’re just starting to feel settled, and we’re agreeing more and more than Portland is the place we belong. We miss our friends & family back in the midwest more that we can ever say, and we are super excited about heading back to visit next month.
As we head into the second half of our first year, we’re hoping we continue to share these adventures … our main goal is to never be able to say we didn’t get outside enough. So far, we’re keeping good on that promise.
Thank you to everyone who has shared this adventure with us!
