Portland: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

I love being back in Oregon: no sales tax, flat commutes, awesome public transportation... the list goes on and on. Furthermore, moving to Portland was about the easiest move possible. As one of my new friends, Cincy, said 'the Portland womb has opened up to me'. I don't know what that means but it's definitely positive.

The Good

It's pretty amazing to move to a new city and already have a line-up of people who want to hang out. I have a preestablished network of salsa buddies, cycling friends, snow bunnies, hiking partners, Spanish speakers, Jesus lovers, themed partiers, foodies and other fun adventurers. Many in this group are childhood friends. There is something to be said for having friendships with people who know your family and who you were as a child. I also love that I run into people I know, mainly from high school, around town. Portland really is just a bigger Eugene...and the dream of the 90s.

My streak of most amazing roommates continues here in Portland. I knew we were off to a great start when Connor and I rolled up in a UHaul at 1:30 am to find Dustin had made two little beds for us, left a light on, and even had a pot of homemade soup for us in the fridge. He also leaves me love notes / sends me sweet text messages when we miss each other because of our wacky schedules. I am so lucky.

This move has also proved to be beneficial to my game. Examine, if you will, these two photos:


Who wears a snuggie to a going away party? Never mind there is the 'sexy dress' underneath on loan from the Kimberly Tracy collection.


I wasn't even trying to do a Blue Crush face. I'm just that hard core. Is it any wonder that I got a date out of this surfing weekend. ;)

The Bad

This is going to come as a big shock: I am an impatient person. Yes, it's true. While I shouldn't be restless for not having a permanent job after ten weeks of living here, I am. I'm looking for that job that is the perfect combination of making the world a better place and actually getting a pay check that can support my crazy adventures. For now I have a temp job that doesn't really accomplish either of those goals. However, I will say this job is the most ridiculous to date. I signed a non-disclosure agreement with my temp agency but let's just say part of the job involves women + sexual frustration and the other involves a male body part + a Spanish speaking country. Piqued your interest?

I am also trying a new form of shameless self promotion: being a guinea pig in a research study at OHSU. The study is on a new birth control patch. (No, I'm not testing it's efficacy.) The nice thing about doing this project is I'm meeting a lot of researchers, getting paid, and contributing to science. In the process I have learned a lot more about my body without getting fat or crazy. Everybody wins.

The Beautiful

The powder is EPIC this winter/spring. I am thankful to have a few buddies who are happy to play hookie from work when there is powder + sun. Night skiing is also a popular Portland activity that I fully support.


Luke spent most of the day applying sunscreen to make sure he didn't get incriminating goggle marks.


Hot onesie on loan from the Connie Beckley ski bunny collection. (formatting is weird because I'm doing this on the temp computer. ;))

The primary purpose of this move is to be closer to my parents. But, those world travelers are all over the crazy place. How can they look this happy when I'm over 7,000 miles away?



I'm joking; I'm happy my parents are buzzing around. Right now they are in Japan. They're coming back for a couple weeks before heading to Dubai and then Germany. I guess this confirms wanderlust is genetic.

When my parents aren't in Oregon, I take the opportunity to head to Seattle to see my favorite little person: Oliver Beckley. He is such a big boy (both literally and figuratively). He turned the big three last month. Bouncy house + Pizza + New Toys + Cake = best birthday ever.

I'm setting the precedent that anytime Auntie is in town we do something fun. (I mean other than the usual snuggling, pancake eating, book reading, fort building, and dancing business.) Last visit we went to the zoo. How many monkeys are in this photo?