Well, this blog has been a long time coming but I am finally there! Procrastination is in my nature which is always something I am trying to work on. One of the main reasons I want to start a blog is to keep in touch with my family back in Oregon and give them a way to keep up on what's going on in my life. A life-long Oregonian for 28 years, I am currently living in beautiful Kentucky which is about 2700 miles away from my family. Kentucky is a gorgeous yet economically challenged state. I'm learning to look past all the double-wides to appreciate the miles of rolling green hills and sun almost every single day! If you know Oregon, you know that sunshine is few and far between!
There is a lot to appreciate about where I am living right now. Having spent the majority of my life thinking I was born to be a "city girl", it only took me 3 years of living in Portland, Oregon to discover I was in no way a "city girl". It didn't take me long to grow tired of the 24-7 traffic, wall-to-wall people EVERYWHERE, and the fact that houses are separated by sometimes as little as a foot. Not to mention that city life is expensive! Having spent my whole life within 2 hours of where I grew up, I was ready for something different. I wasn't sure what that was and I certainly didn't think it would involve moving across the country! Now that I am here though, I love that Ashland is the polar opposite of Portland. I love that I haven't seen real traffic since December! I love the sunshine! I love looking out the window and not seeing a 100 homes squeezed onto an acre of land (yes, that is an exaggeration). The people are wonderful here. Simple, warm, and friendly all the time.
That's not to say there aren't things I miss about Oregon, because there are a million things! What I miss the most though is my family and friends. I miss that I can't see my parents whenever I want or my brother. I miss my parent's dog and my brother's dogs! While I don't miss my job (yet), I do miss my cube mates and my boss. I miss my small circle of close friends who I also can't see whenever I want. I miss Whole Foods desperately as healthy eating doesn't seem to have caught on in the South yet. I miss Chipotle, Quizno's, Henry's in downtown Portland, Salvador Molly's in Hillsdale, and GOOD mexican food. People in Kentucky seem to have no clue what real Mexican is. And I am really going to miss attending Oregon Ducks football games in the fall.
All in all though, I feel extremely blessed at this time in my life right now and I don't feel like I have anything to complain about. I have a happy and healthy marriage as well as two happy and healthy chihuahuas. My husband's family has taken us under their wings and welcomed us with open arms and plenty of support. Things can only keep going up from here!
