Updated Portland Capers!

Hello there.

Becka and I went to the Forestry Center at Washington Park. I have added the photos of our day to the front of my Portland Capers slideshow. If you're really, really bored, you may enjoy this.

Slideshow!

Update! With photos of trees!

Hello!

I have been so busy lately! I started a job and have to actually WORK now! Like all day! Five days a week! Can you believe it??

The job is awesome. When I started training it dawned on me this is a great opportunity and they don't hire just anyone - which should have been clear to me after the HOUR and a HALF interview I went through to get hired! It's going well and I am happy with it.

Additionally, I went for a walk! My cousin showed me this great park by her house where she walks her dog and I went to take photos today. Here they are!

Walkies!

Things are good on this end...how are things with you?

Jeannie's pictures!

My friend Jeannie (who is an excellent photographer) came to visit Becka and I. We had so much fun and it was wonderful to see her again!

She made a set on Flickr of her photos, taken mainly at Waterfront Park, The Coast, Multnomah Falls, the Japanese Gardens and a couple of Becka's adorable cat Nomie (who was featured in the "Keetykeetymowmow" video you saw a few posts back). All of the photos are really pretty. You should check them out. :)

Jeannie's Pictures

Thank you for visiting Jeannie! It was nice to see you!

What did this guy do today?

This guy went to Cannon Beach.

He really can't help himself.

He also got some pictures of the famed "Haystack Rock"
which is SURREAL in person.

After that, this guy went to Cranky Sue's for
clam chowder and a turkey burger.

Mmm.

The first picture is courtesy of my friend Becka, who accompanied me to the beach with our friend Jeannie, who will be sending me more photos of our day which I will share with you.

DID I MENTION HOW AWESOME IT IS HERE? DID I?

What did you do today?

Rockaway Beach, Cannon Beach and Seaside!

On the way to Rockaway Beach, I decided to take a longer route and explore the coast a little bit before meeting my friends (read: I got lost). I made a Flickr set of the photos from that excursion as well as some I took once reaching my destination.

More Beach Photos

Enjoy! I recommend viewing it as a slideshow!

THE BEACH!!!

So my dear friends Kevin and Jordan (who just got ENGAGED!) went with Jordan's parents, brother and brother's girlfriend (who also just got ENGAGED TOO!) to their yearly vacation spot of Rockaway Beach. I happen to live 1.5 hours from there now, so I totally went to see them for the day. It was so cool! I can't believe I can daytrip to THE COAST now! We had delicious food (courtesy of Jordan's dad), explored the town, swam around, made sand castles/sea turtles and just relaxed on the shore. The weather was perfect as well!

Here are the photos, courtesy of Kevin:

Me, Jordan and Kevin.

The view from their hotel room.

The whole crew.

Not sure what's going on here.

Thank you to all of you for such a fun time! I really enjoyed myself! Congratulations to Jordan, Kevin, Mike and Jill too! You guys are awesome!

"We'd like to offer you the position..."

Those have to be the 7 most satisfying words to hear.

I am officially employed in Oregon. :)

I have a new love...

Matzo Ball Soup!
Originally uploaded by reseda76

...and it goes by the name of "Matzo Ball Soup" at Rose's restaurant.

SO DELICIOUS.

WOW.

LASERTIMES.

LASERTIMES.
Originally uploaded by Dynamite Doggies!

Here is another video from my friend Jennifer, dog trainer extraordinaire, and her super awesome friend Stella. You might remember them from the last video when Stella had SO MUCH on her MIND.

(That video is here.)

Stella is just too much, isn't she? Hahaha!

The Bite of Oregon!

Amber and Tim asked if I would like to go to a festival at the Waterfront showcasing regional cuisine from all over the state today.

WOULD I?!

We had such an awesome time! I'm really glad they're here! Here are some pictures.

Bite of Oregon

Also, I will be periodically updating this set from before. There are some new pictures loaded today from our walk all over town after the festival.

Portland Capers

I am starting to feel like I might possibly be at home. :)

Mainstream Media

Heh.

This is what happens when you've officially lost it.

Keetykeetymeowmeow.
Originally uploaded by reseda76

I actually talk to my friend's cats this way. Both of them.

Send help.

Dinner! OMG!

Dinner! OMG!
Originally uploaded by reseda76

Thank you everyone for your prayers, pep-talks and phone calls. You cannot even imagine how much it helped. I am feeling much better and even went out to dinner with a friend! Yes! Jenn! My friend from high school! She has been living here for six years! Who knew?

We went to Blue Tangerine at Bridgeport Village. I had the grilled veggie kebab with saffron rice and Shirazi salad.

IT WAS AMAZING!

I'm back. ;)

Checking in...

I am feeling much better now. Prayer and phone calls to some very important people helped. Thank you for helping me.

The sun is out, it's warm and pleasant, I'm finishing my laundry and then walking to the store. Again. Smiling at everyone I see on the way. Again.

This is becoming a good day. :)

This is normal.

It hit me about a day ago that I am not on vacation. I am not going home - I am already home. At first this was exciting and cool to think about, but now those feelings have passed and I am terrified.

As I write this there is a huge knot in my stomach and my hands are shaky. Going outside and walking around helps this a lot, but then it always comes back. Part of me wants to run back to Utah where I know I'd be safe - but how "safe" would that really be? What would I be running back to? Not much more than what I have here. I went through so much planning and work to get here. It would be very unfair to myself if I just threw it all away.

These feelings are normal. I left a job and familiar environment for something nearly completely unknown. Feelings of fear and worry are part of the picture. I tell myself that all the time. It doesn't stop them, but it makes them easier to handle. Crawling back into bed and putting the covers over my head is all I want to do, but that just intensifies the feelings so I should try to do other things.

Moving here with a job waiting probably would have made this easier, but I wasn't going to wait for that. I wanted to get out of Utah and get going with this adventure - which I did. Now that I'm here the feelings of fear can get so strong that all I want to do is go home where I would be safe. Except I'm not actually in danger here.

I'm just in an unknown right now and once I know it better, I won't be as scared. Really.

There is a walking route I've taken a few times. It's familiar to me at this point. I may go walk that now.