It was exactly one year ago on August 5th that I arrived in Washington, without one iota of personal knowledge about the Northwest, but with unyielding hope and faith that this would become my family's permanent home. And lucky for us, living in the Northwest has been just about everything we dreamed it would be. After traveling and living all over the world, I have found home and I can't imagine living anywhere else. This year has had its share of challenges and moments of doubt. We spent thousands of dollars moving across the country and living for months without jobs. The job search was much harder and longer than we ever imagined it would be; and although we are happy to finally be employed, Robb still isn't in the field he'd like to be at and the money I'm making is far below what someone of my experience and education might deserve. But we are both working full-time, paying bills, and even managing to pay down some debt and save a little. And while we don't have the perfect jobs, we live in a place that ensures the hours spent together outside of the office are filled with variety and happiness.
It's amazing how quickly a year passes and although we tend to fill our days off with exploring Seattle or getting outside, we still have so much we want to do. There are neighborhoods in Seattle we haven't even gotten close to yet. We really should take some time to visit downtown Tacoma. We have tons more hiking to get to and we need to visit Mount St. Helens. Robb still hasn't seen the Pacific Ocean and I'm on a mission to visit Oregon to see the Columbia River Gorge, Haystack Rock, and Crater Lake. We want to visit a little Bavarian town called Leavenworth to partake in authentic German food that I miss so much, visit the beautiful San Juan Islands to see orcas, and head to the border so I can cross Canada off of my countries-to-visit list. And I haven't forgotten that we need to head inland and explore Idaho, Montana, Utah, etc. Thankfully, since this is now our home, I suppose we have all the time in the world to experience it all.
Every day that I see Mt. Rainier on my drive to work, I am reminded of why we moved across the country. Who knew that risking so much could reap such great rewards?
1 comment:
Hi, Just happened upon your blog today from the 'Ten things to know about Seattle website'. I have read up to this entry and just wanted to let you know how grateful I am that I found it. You see, I live in FL (Land O Lakes) and will be making the move to WA state (near Tacoma I hope) next July. I've been to WA twice the last 3 yrs, both times staying in a cottage in a small town called Grapeview (near Belfair). I have lived in FL my whole life (I'm 48 now) and from the very first time after leaving the airport at SEATAC I knew in my heart that someday I would live there. So... my sons have grown into men and now it's just me and my 2 cats and even though I'm older than you, I know that this is now the time to make this all important step into a new life. Reading your blog (and seeing the pics) only inspires me more. I will definitely be reading your entries as the months turn into days until my big move so I just want to say thank you for showing me again what I feel in my heart...that the PNW is where I can start the second part of my life with renewed hope and longing which I cannot put off any longer. I can't wait for a change of weather (which is a big reason to move there-you living in FL know and understand that. LOL!) Well, sorry for dragging on but count me as a new bloggienet friend, lol and if interested, when I make the big move (with my cats and rental truck) I will tell you my story too. Take care and thanks again for a GREAT BLOG! Cheryl (Land o Lakes, FL)
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