Although our heads are still in the clouds, we’ve
established some roots in Bend, OR. After my gracious
mother welcomed us in for a couple weeks after our arrival back stateside, we
landed an apartment and made our way to beautiful central Oregon. Bend is a
town of about 80,000 people and an Olive Garden. Mostly I care about the Olive
Garden. (Although, I hear Bozeman just got one! As soon as I left, naturally.)
Unlike Bozeman where everything was either on 19th or 7th,
I actually have to mapquest my errands to make sure I’m not bouncing back and
forth across town, but I do love the options.
The surroundings also help
alleviate the impact of a population this size. It honestly feels like we are
camping. There are SO MANY trees!! Big, tall, mature trees. After being in lush
NZ for so long, I am surprised that I adore the high desert shrubbery as much
as I do. I have also never lived in such a volcanic area either, which makes for
neat geological observations. For instance, the mountains are weird. It is
hardly a range, so much as random snowy cones jutting out from the horizon.
They look silly, but (for all you Colorado folks) they are in the west so
directions finally make sense again!
We’ve moved the few boxes of our stuff into a two-bedroom
apartment on the west side of town. We’ve fallen in love with the hardwood
floors and granite countertops. Almost too spacious for our lack of
possessions, it is just the right size for us. Don’t get me wrong, although
it’s wonderful, we still have to shove the fridge door shut and finagle the
occasional derailed closet door. But for us right now, it’s perfect.
 |
| Boxes of new furniture! |
 |
| Chris' creative space |
 |
| My creative space |
 |
| Our new bed! With the guest tree from the wedding. |
 |
| A little slice of NZ |
 |
| View from the kitchen- those are cutting boards on the wall. |
 |
| Our couch really isn't THAT tiny! |
 |
| Some space to work out |
Our New Jobs
Yay! We’re employed! Obviously, this was one of our main
concerns after both being unemployed for seven months. I landed a job at a
preschool in a town just south of Bend. I will be a main teacher and work part
time. It seems like a wonderful, fun environment and I cannot wait to become a
part of it! Unfortunately, we have to wait until the state goes through all my
paperwork before I can technically start. Within the next week or two I should
be good to go!
Chris has gotten a job at Seventh
Mountain Resort as a banquet server with the possibility of moving up to
supervisor in the near future. Again with the paperwork, as soon as all his
files go through, he will start subbing in Bend. Time not at work he spends focusing
on developing his comics. He has a real knack for humor and drawing, so he’s
decided to take cartooning seriously and see where it goes. I truly enjoy Ripe In
Parody and I am proud to be a part of his creative endeavor.
Crafts
I decided to be productive and make a craft every day until
I start my job. Some are more elaborate than others.
Day 1- Question Notebook- when I have a question, I write it
down in here. When I have a spare moment, I research the question and write
down the answer.
Day 2: Love Notes- I made cute backgrounds and put them into
frames. Chris and I write each other notes about specific things we love about
each other. Sappy, I know. And yes, that’s my blood smeared across that one. I
didn’t know that I cut myself on the glass and smeared my wounded finger across
the paper as I glued it down. I decided I’d come too far to go back and it
would serve as a sign of how much effort I put into it. 
Day 3/4:Idea Boxes- I turned some silly circular boxes from
goodwill into fun boxes for date and dinner ideas. We’ll pick one every month
and make it a point to do those things as a date. For April, we’re going on a
specific walk and then to the Deschutes Brewery! (it must have sensed that we
haven’t gotten paychecks yet)
Day 5: Shadow Box-
Basically I put my wedding dress in a shadowbox and made it look pretty.
 |
| Sanding the sharp edges |
Day 7: I created a photo album of New Zealand on Snapfish
because they gave me a coupon. I also
made crepes. J
In the next few days I plan to make a meal plan board, mozzarella,
another piece of art, a temporary headboard and other things that strike my
fancy.
What the Future Holds
As far as what will happen next, I’m not really sure. As of
now, I will still try to get a job in the public school system for the coming
school year.
We really want a dog (our apartment now doesn’t allow them
though).
We’ll buy another car soon because both of our jobs are out
of town in opposite directions. We’ve got our eye on a specific Prius, but who
knows!
As long as it doesn’t conflict with work, we’ll be in MT for
a wedding in mid May. I’m not sure when we’ll make it to CO, but I’m still
hoping for this summer sometime!
We will miss everyone on Easter!
Sending our love from this side of the world (unless you are
our NZ fans ;))
