One Year in Oregon: A Retrospective

As of Wednesday, I will have been in Oregon for one full year.  This time last year, I had meant to be starting to drive up; instead, I spent the whole day packing my brother’s and nephew’s stuff into the moving truck, asymptotically approaching done as we got more and more exhausted.  That evening, I slept at their place; the next day, we finished up the last bits of packing and drove off to the first and only July rain I have ever seen in Los Angeles – its own special good-bye, it seemed – and made it up to around Redding before stopping at a Motel 6.  The next day, August 1^st, my Oregon anniversary, we crossed the border and made it to my apartment complex just barely too late for them to let me check in, so I stayed at my brother and nephew’s new place for one last night before moving in.  I moved in on August 2^nd.

So yesterday is the anniversary of the day I moved all my earthly goods out of my parents’ house and struck out on my own, though my Oregon anniversary is only almost here.  Seems like a good time for a retrospective.

So here’s some highlights of the year, some things I’ve learned about Oregon, some changes I’ve noticed in myself… all thrown together in one jumbled rambling retrospective.  One year down.

Hiking.  I’ve sure done it a lot more now.

Oregon drivers think inconsiderate drivers are people who give them a tiny jolt of extra adrenaline.  Los Angeles drivers (including myself) think inconsiderate drivers are people who drive down a one-lane road, or the fast lane of a wider road, at 5 mph under the (low) speed limit when there’s nothing particularly interesting going on in front of them.  Or exactly at the speed limit, for that matter.

I now know where the controls for my car’s bright headlights are.

Layers are such useful things. 

Yeah, those stories about people who live in cold climates actually having their bodies change to compensate?  Apparently it’s true.  My temperature sense is way closer to a normal Angeleno’s now.  Of course, I’m still not much for the cold by Oregonian standards.

Last year, I didn’t know I was anemic.  This year, I know… and thanks to iron, I’m running faster than I ever have before.

Yogurt-based fruit smoothies are some of the most delicious things ever.  I can practically feel them nourishing me.  And what do you know, eating a large quantity of fruits and vegetables seems to really help one feel healthy.  Who’d have thought?

A new sister-in-law!  Such a beautiful wedding.  Getting all 13 of us siblings together for the first time in almost 19 years was a nice highlight too!

Last year, I had danced only a low single-digit number of times.  Now I am quite decent at English country dancing.  ^__^

Last year, I knew all the theory, but I knew very little about how electrical engineering… works… in practice.  Now I know so much more about that side of things.  I’m a professional RTL coder, I am.

Cleaning an apartment where you live alone is not automatic, but it is *much* easier than cleaning a rambling old two-story house with a basement in Los Angeles where you grew up with a huge family.  And in either place, FlyLady is your friend.

REI is your friend.

On an Oregon hike, you shouldn’t wear jeans.  This is completely counterintuitive to me.

The air is always fresh, always clean – though it might have a little pollen in the spring and mildew in the winter, still, no smog.  Ever.

Oh, In-N-Out, I miss you.

Flaggers are crazy.  Oregon is crazy.  Seriously, I’m pretty sure our lives would be happier up here if they rerouted traffic.  But no, it’s more fun to hire someone to stand there and BREAK EVERYTHING.

Sure is nice, having freeway meters where they stagger the greens so one lane gets green at a time, instead of turning it into a game of chicken…

Balls.  Dinners at Shari’s.  Bible study.  Tutoring some wonderful kids and eating dinner with their wonderful families.  Camping trips – two of them. 

I’ve gone from less than nothing (in debt to my dad) to five figures in my bank account.  And stock and a 401k and health insurance all my own, no less.  While upping my standard of living significantly, furnishing my apartment, obtaining cold weather clothes, etc.

I can sure be extroverted when I live alone… and I sure spend more time on Facebook that way.

Reading in the woods is *splendid.*  My apartment is *splendid.*

Friends – It’s so strange to realize that this time last year, I didn’t know all these wonderful Oregonians.  I have been blessed, no question.

Dilbert is a documentary.  ;)

God is faithful… again and again.  A thousand times I’ve failed; still Your mercy remains.

Portland is a beautiful town, er, city.  I never get over the view on the bridge over the Willamette.  And the forest around the city… there are no words.  The river, the forest, the mountains, the elegant buildings and public art, all combine to make it incredible.

The Gorge: the Columbia River Gorge, a.k.a. Land O’ the Best Hikes EVAR.

Powell’s Books.  ‘Nuff said.

I never dreamed apples could taste so good.

I know my Oregon geography better now, though it’s certainly no match for my Los Angeles and California geography…

I had people call me brave.  Interesting to move and see how far you’ve come – a few years back, I don’t think anyone would have thought me brave.  I was always the girl of a thousand crippling fears.

Adults have so many choices.  So incredibly many choices.

Mostly I guess I’ve learned that I can do this living on my own thing, even a thousand miles from home, by God’s grace, and it’s scary and it’s a big change and it takes so much work and planning, but it’s also exciting, rewarding, satisfying. 

No, this doesn’t sum up the year, not nearly… but it’s something to honor this occasion, at least.

Here’s to many more such years.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylight, in moonlight, in starlight, in cups of coffee,
In inches, in miles, in laughter and strife?
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
How do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? 
Measure in love.  
Seasons of love.

-"Seasons of Love," Rent (from memory, so may not be verbatim)

(Though this is a leap year, so that should really be five hundred twenty-seven thousand, forty minutes.)