The Museum.... After Dark

Last night, Lindsay and I joined her co-worker and his girlfriend and headed to OMSI After Dark. OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) hosted an event: Shaken and Stirred. Basically, you pay $6, get 10 tokens and a shot glass and can try a vast array of liquor from local distilleries. It was a party. Hundreds of people flooded the museum for Shaken and Stirred, the Body Worlds exhibit, and other activities.

Lindsay and I decided it'd be in our best interest to avoid sampling over 20 liquors, so her co-worker gave us a few tokens so we could try a few. (We sampled a delicious bloody mary made with spicy vodka. An excellent brunch drink option.)

Whoever thought of hosting a night at the museum (complete with beer, wine, liquor and food) for the 21+ crowd is a genius!

After wandering around Shaken and Stirred, we headed into the Body Worlds exhibit. It's a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures. It's a controversial exhibit, but I enjoyed it. It was even better than I thought it would be because both Lindsay and her co-worker actually understand the human body and anatomy, so they enlightened me when I had questions.

On a human level, however, I couldn't help but want to know who the people featured were. Here I was, looking at their plasticized corpses, fascinated by their bodies, but I wanted to know how old they were, what they looked like, where they were from, what kind of people they were, and how they died. Of course, that's not the purpose of the exhibit, but I couldn't help but wonder.

The First Month

Until Saturday, we had been staying with Lindsay's parents and brother in the suburbs. They have been incredibly supportive and generous, and I am so thankful for that. We owe them a number of seriously nice dinners. It's been great getting to know them more, and I've certainly bonded with her brother, DJ, over a number of puzzles and delicious West-coast brews. (We've coined the activity "Puzzling and Guzzling," although somehow we manage to do far more puzzling than guzzling.)

Lindsay interviewed with a few PT clinics before taking a job at OHSU, a teaching hospital here in Portland. She started in their outpatient clinic on Monday. After a few months of unemployment, I think she's excited to be back working and doing what she loves in a less hectic and far more efficient professional environment.

I have been searching and applying to jobs every day. I have a (very) part-time tutoring job, which starts soon. Of course, I'll update when I have anything to share on the job front. It's been very frustrating and tedious, and I know it'll take persistence and diligence.

In April, we spent a good amount of time exploring the city to find a neighborhood in which we'd consider living. I immediately fell in love with Northwest. (The city is cut in half west-east by the Willamette River and north-south by Burnside St. It has five sections: North, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast.) The west part of the city is definitely more developed and densely populated.

After spending 3 weeks searching craigslist for apartments, we finally found one we loved. Our apartment is on the third-floor of of an early 1900s Victorian house that has been completely renovated and refurbished. It was originally built for the daughter of John Couch, one of Portland's founding fathers.

Some features we're thrilled about: beautiful wood floors, both bedrooms have walk in closets, new kitchen, new bathroom, lots of windows and natural light. I think I even saw Mt. Saint Helen's earlier today from our back room! We have space for a garden in the back yard and a "mini deck" (a wood fire escape) off of our living room.

(Last night we had our first visitors on our mini-deck.... two plump, audacious raccoons. They didn't seem at all frightened of me, even as I was hissing at them and slapping my running shoes together. Alas.) We have been eating dinner in our camping chairs, so hopefully we will find a couch and kitchen table soon.

(I'll forever want New Yorker covers in my bathroom thanks to Brady Hall at Crescent Beach)

Front entrance

Our bedroom

Living room

Just a few blocks from us are a ton of restaurants, bars, coffee houses, and shops on a relatively narrow tree-lined street. TWO bars within 5 minutes of us have ping-pong tables! I'm excited to explore the city, but I'm really looking forward to just getting to know our neighborhood more. We've decided every Thursday we're going to leave our apartment and walk through our neighborhood to try a new restaurant. Looking up reviews on Yelp is prohibited.

Yesterday morning I went on my first city run. Let's just say it's a little different from running in the Big City. I ran a mile northwest through our neighborhood (it's amazing to me how little traffic there is!!!) to a Forest Park trailhead in MacLeay Park. According to Lindsay, Forest Park is the largest city park in the country. Its name certainly fits it. Within a minute or so of running up the trail, I felt like I was miles outside of a city in the woods, when I was still, in fact, in Portland. I'm looking forward to exploring the miles and miles of trails.

I think I'll be spending a lot of time in Forest Park, and I have a feeling if I ever have a bad day a walk or run in the woods will help center me.

Visitors welcome as soon as we find a couch!

Portland --> San Fran

Two weeks ago, we drove to San Francisco to support Lindsay's friend from graduate school, Cheryl, as she ran the Nike Women's Marathon. Cheryl hadn't run for a month due to an IT band injury, so we knew she could probably use all the cheering she could get.

We left Portland on a Friday morning and began the first part of our 11 hour drive, which we decided to split over two days. Since we actually wanted to get to San Fran, we opted to take I-5 instead of the more scenic route along the coast.

The drive from Portland to Eugene (where the University of Oregon is located) was mind-numbingly boring. Flat, straight, miles and miles of farm land. On a clear day, however, Mt. Hood is visible in the east (I'm still getting used to seeing actual mountains--topped with snow--on the horizon).

After passing Eugene, the landscape became far more scenic. Vast forests of pine trees spanned for miles and miles east and west. To the east, we passed Deschutes National Forest followed by Umpqua National Forest. To the west, Rogue River National Forest. We drove some serious inclines and descents while weaving through mountains and forest.

Southwestern Oregon

After 5 or so hours of driving we decided to stop in Ashland for lunch. The town is located in the south end of the Rogue Valley and close to the California border. It is home to the internationally renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Southern Oregon University.

The whole time we were there I kept thinking that my parents would LOVE this town. The main street is full of little shops- pottery, antiques, other artisan crafts-, tons of restaurants and some bed and breakfasts. We also came across a relatively small and tame Occupy Ashland protest, which was the first time I'd experienced an Occupy protest outside of a major city. (According to The Daily Beast, Portland was named the 2nd "most angry city" based on the number of protesters per million, behind Denver.)

Ashland

View from the road

After lunch, we hopped back on I-5 and continued the drive towards Shasta Lake, in Northern California, where we camped for the night.

Mt. Shasta from the south (14,179 ft )

Shasta Lake from our campsite

We arrived in San Francisco in the afternoon on Saturday and checked into the place we stayed for the night. We didn't want to spend a fortune on a decent hotel room and didn't want to spend money on a crappy airport hotel, so we investigated other options. We could camp, but that would require us to stay at least 50 miles outside the city or hike in (and with Lindsay recovering from knee surgery, that wasn't feasible).

Lindsay came across Airbnb.com online so we investigated. Basically, people rent out their homes or rooms for a night or up to weeks. We found a room available for a reasonable price at what looked to be a very cute house in Southern San Fran. The hosts were very well-reviewed on the site, so we went for it. It was great! The hosts, Lori and Thad, were very welcoming and hospitable.

Bay Bridge

Later Saturday night, we met up with Lindsay's friend from childhood and his girlfriend for drinks and dinner. We managed to come across a Pittsburgh bar (which reminded me of the Primanti Bros.) so we watched the end of the Sabres/Penguins game (go Sabres!). After, we ate dinner at the Stinking Rose (known for their heavy use of garlic) and had a lot of great conversation. It was wonderful meeting them, and we're actually going up to Seattle to spend Thanksgiving with his and Lindsay's family.

On Sunday, we woke up bright and early to head down to the race. We parked close to Golden Gate Park and walked into the park to catch Cheryl around mile 15. There, I jumped in with her and I ran with her until about 100 yards from the finish line (right on the ocean near the park's entrance). She did an incredible job, and I give her so much credit for fighting through intense pain from the beginning of the race. (Go Cheryl!) I'm glad I could support her by running the much of the last half with her.

After a great weekend in San Francisco, we headed home.

Mile 15

2 miles from the finish

Success!

Transition

Ever since I can remember, transitions have been difficult for me. (Just ask my parents.) I remember as a 1st grader feeling sick to my stomach because my classroom was in a different hallway than Eamonn and Kristin's. I couldn't bear the thought of only seeing them at lunch. I didn't want to go to school, so I'd cry and cry. Sundays were THE WORST. Of course, I went, and I got over it (and soon began to love being more independent), but that was one of the first real major changes I'd ever had to deal with, and it freaked me out.

In the spring, my parents visited Kristin and me in New York. At that point, moving was becoming less a distant dream, and far more real. We walked to the Met, and after seeing a few exhibits we decided to sit in the cafeteria for a snack. My parents asked if we were considering moving, and I said yes. Within minutes, in a packed museum basement, the Brady ladies--my mom, sister, and I--were in tears. (Sorry, Dad! We definitely got the weepy genes from my wonderful grandma, Jane Curtin.)

I'm still grappling with the fact that I'll see my family less, but I also know I've been incredibly lucky over the last few years. I had the pleasure of living with Kristin for 3 years. (It's so much easier asking a family member to rinse her oatmeal bowl than an unrelated roommate!) We experienced triumphs and failures as new teachers together, and I'm not sure I could have gone through that without her. During those three years, I saw my parents more than I ever did while in college. We explored the city with them when they visited, and we went to see them in Binghamton over four-day weekends and extended breaks. Any opportunity we had to go home, we did. It was comforting and rejuvenating. (Although taking the luxurious Greyhound back to the city after a break was never a welcomed experience.)

I know there will be moments on dreary, cold, and relentlessly rainy Sundays where I'll really miss my family and friends. But, I'm comforted knowing that I've embarked on this journey with someone I love. And, after spending a month living with her generous parents and brother, I feel like I have a second family here.

Changes

In April, Lindsay and I flew to the West Coast over my school's spring break. We visited Eamonn in San Francisco for a weekend, then rented a car and drove Northern California's scenic highway 101 up the coast. We wove along the ocean, through Redwood Forests, marveling at the simple beauty of the Pacific Northwest. A refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of the Big City.

After two days of driving, we arrived in Aloha, OR (a suburb of Portland) to surprise Lindsay's parents. They were indeed surprised! Later that evening, we broke some rather big news: we'd be moving to Portland in the fall.

Lindsay grew up in the Portland area and went to the University of Oregon for undergrad. After graduating, she packed up her belongings, shipped a plethora of boxes, bought a one-way flight, and moved to New York City to begin a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program at Columbia.

Fast forward five years.

I was teaching English for a third year in a South Bronx high school. I had lost my previous teaching position due to budget cuts, was hired shortly after at a high-performing middle school in the process of adding a high school (a very ambitious goal), and began teaching the first cohort of 9th graders in September. Although I felt significantly more confident as a teacher, within a month, I felt like a first year teacher all over again. A new school to navigate, new kids, new administration. Our 9th grade was experiencing serious growing pains, and I felt in over my head.

It was around then that Lindsay and I began seriously discussing a possible move. I had never considered moving to the West coast (it's so far!!!!), but then again, before joining Teach For America, I had never considered moving to New York City. (Thanks, Kristin, for embarking on that journey with me!)

Both Lindsay and I yearned for something different: a slower-paced city, easier access to the outdoors and activities we love (hiking and camping), and, in general, a more sustainable lifestyle. Portland seemed to be that change we desired.

So, somewhere in between San Francisco and Portland on a misty April morning--despite my fear of change and being so far from my family and friends--we made a decision. We'd leave our jobs, our friends, our apartments, my family, and move.

Onto a new coast, a new city, a new adventure.