Moving...

This past week has been an interesting one. Last Thursday (5/13) Craig got a message from his friend Justin regarding a programming position at his company in Oregon that they have had a problem trying to fill. He said that they have a few remote programmers that work out of Southern California but they would prefer to find someone local and if Craig would be willing to move, he would more thank likely have the position. Craig was immediately excited about this opportunity and I was naturally hesitant about such a drastic change. Leave my friends? My family? I don't know anyone in Oregon! What the heck is IN Oregon?! But in the end I decided that Craig should take this opportunity. I wouldn't want to be the person holding him back (could you imagine the guilt?!) and I think it will do good things for our relationship. The pros definitely out weigh the cons, I mean really - no sales tax (compare to nearly 10% in CA), cost of living is much less, the houses in OR are way larger and on much more land, a new culture, new people, and I hear it's just beautiful there. Craig has always wanted to move to a more "urban" environment and he also loves the beauty of green landscapes and Portland fits in with both. In the past we've talked about moving to another state, I was always joking about it but if California is falling apart at the seams then why not move to a place that has it's sh*t together (well, more so than CA)?

So when is all of this going to take place? Well, I intend on working as long as I can where I am at. The "extra" money will come in handy and as it is now there isn't too much of a shortage of work for me to do. It's been slow but I feel there will be enough work to last until the move. Plus if my boss agrees to it I could do some remote working to wrap anything up or on an as needed basis in the future. Craig put in his two-weeks at his current job earlier today (5/21) and then he'll drive to Portland to begin working and looking for a place to live and then we'll arrange a moving truck and coordinate how we'll get everything up to OR. With that said we have no idea when we'll actually be moving but I estimate around the end of June and early July. 
I am hoping to have a farewell party on the Friday night of our moving weekend so for now just keep your Friday nights toward the end of June, early July open. :-)  We will need some volunteers on the following Saturday morning to help us load the moving truck, everything is packed (as it is currently stored in the garage at the condo) but I think a few extra helpers for the heavy stuff would be nice to help us get the truck loaded up faster so we can start our seventeen-hour drive to Portland sooner. That should be an interesting drive with two dogs.

The past week has been bittersweet. Thinking about missing my friends and family immensely has brought me to tears a few times, the thought of being in a foreign place and not knowing anyone but my husband has made me nervous, but the excitement for things to come has made me optimistic and I can't wait to get this adventure started!

Much love to all of our friends and family, we will miss you!! 

P.S.
You will visit us in Portland, won't you?