Life in Oregon

Wow! Has it been 6 months since my last post? I'm sure folks were doubting whether I'd ever blog again at this point. :) I confess that I was hoping to have a definite direction to report in terms of permanent housing, but we're still in our rental house and at this point looking to build. It's been a challenging transition for us in some ways and easier in others. But overall I think we're settling in just fine. I thought I'd share some insights into life in Oregon for my Texas and East Coast friends who have never been here.


Rain...yes there is a lot of it. Ironically, we have fewer inches of rain per year in Oregon than our friends in Texas. The main difference is that we'll have a light rain all day long (or days long!) instead of 2 inches in an hour due to thunderstorms. One of our main purchases after moving was a waterproof snow jacket. The lining zips out for rainy spring and fall days, or you can keep it in when it's 35 degrees outside. Rain jackets are a must because if you wait for the rain to stop before running errands, you could be waiting for days!


Bikers...biking here is a year-round activity. I've seen folks out when the temperatures hovered around freezing on their bikes. There are a number of people that bike to work all year regardless of the weather. If it's cold, you'll see gloves and other cold weather athletic wear. And it's not only the bikers braving the weather. Runners are also out at all times. Again, I guess if you don't go out in the rain, you'll be trying to exercise indoors for a large portion of the year.


Corvallis...This is the town where Dan and I lived when we were first married. We moved to Atlanta 11 years ago. Since we moved, the town has grown to 54,000 people, there is a Trader Joe's, another movie theater (bringing the total to 2!), and the Oregon State football stadium has grown to hold 45,000 people. It's actually nice to be able to drive around without getting lost or using my GPS. I know where everything is and I can get there in 10 minutes. We're even attending our old church which I think is still about the same size as when we left! There is quite a big of change that has happened in our church in terms of attendees. There are still some folks there that we knew years ago, but many have moved or changed churches. It's almost surreal being back here, but this time with three kids. :)


I've included a few pictures from our fun in the snow last week - Josh sledding, Andrew on the tube with Uncle Tim and a cute one of Evan. And I'll work on blogging more frequently to share a little more about our transition and how the boys in particular are doing. Enjoy!