meeting the fitness room

We have a small but decent fitness room here at the apartment building - will hopefully keep me from having to pay for a gym membership. There are only two treadmills and two ellipticals though, which could pose a problem during peak hours. Fortunately, the machines are equipped with cable TVs. It's nice to get an hour in on the elliptical while catching up on my reality TV.

paleo dinner 2

So I prepared another Paleo dinner tonight. The picture did not turn out too well (I should have checked it before I ate the food haha). Even though it doesn't look great let me assure you it was delicious!

Braised eye of round steak with basil infused goat cheese on top, squash sauteed with spring onions and cayenne pepper, and baby spinach with mushrooms, bacon, and garlic.

coffee for all...

I knew that moving to the Pacific Northwest would have its advantages...

That, my friends, is a Starbucks coffee machine in my office which grinds the beans for you fresh for every cup of coffee. Although our Admin Asst. in Atlanta ordered us great coffee from some vendor in Hawaii, I have to say access to fresh ground at any time of day is better. I feel sorry for the people in ATL paying 50 cents for Keurig Cup Coffee - The PDX office has its priorities in order for sure!

first dinner...

I cooked my first dinner in the apartment tonight (that didn't involve bread and cold cuts). Garlic pan roasted chicken breast paired with sauteed fennel, spring onion, and tomato with a touch of basil and honey. It was delicious (and paleo)!

And yes - I am still eating off of paper plates. Dishes TBD.

farmers market saturday morning...

Today's haul from the farmer's market: Fennel, Spring Onions, Basil, Zucchini, Squash, Raspberries, Cherries, Mt Hood Blackberry Raw Honey, Basil Infused Chevre, and a Strawberry Rhubarb Empanada.

city tour and mac 'n cheese

A lovely new friend, Jonathan, offered to take me on a car tour to highlight some of the parts of Portland I've yet to lay eyes on. We drove through the Nob Hill/Alphabet District and then made our way up to the Pittock Mansion grounds which afford spectacular views of Downtown Portland. I snapped this photo, but it doesn't really do the views justice:

After our stop at the Pittock Mansion, we drove through North Portland, Alberta, and Hawthorne districts. We also took a brief trip over the Columbia River and drove through downtown Vancouver, WA. By this time we were hungry, so we had dinner at Montage (http://www.montageportland.com/), a Southern/Cajun fusion place. This place has like 8 different types of Macaroni and Cheese. It was delicious. A unique touch they do on the traditional doggie bag are aluminum foil animal sculptures. On this night, I was the recipient of an aluminum foil rhinoceros. I felt really guilty tearing into him the next day for lunch!

life trickles in...

Slowly my boxes I shipped last week are arriving. These contained some clothes and books.. but none of the clothes I was really looking forward to. I suppose those will arrive this Friday. Until then - limited wardrobe.

first food cart taste...

So today I visited the food cart pod closest to my apartment for the first time. There seem to be lots of delicious choices. The problem is that the pod is only open for lunch (11-3). This could be a good thing, however, because if it were open for dinner I may never cook.

Here's the Thai cart I tried:

I had basil fried rice. Unfortunately, they were already out of Thai iced tea by the time I got there.

It was indeed delicious! I'll hit up that cart again soon for some green curry.

elegant but slow...

I can already tell we're going to have a love/hate relationship. I appreciate your sophisticated design and energy saving techniques. I also loathe how slow you are.

minimalism.

The couch is arriving tomorrow. Until then... minimalism.

the view...

Here are a few photos of the view from my apartment taken with Hipstamatic. I have a great view of the Willamette River and a not so nice view of the "Black Box" office tower beside my apartment building. Overall though I love the view and the apartment as well.

Somewhat misty view of the Willamette:

This is the view from my bed:

Looking down from my apartment on the 14th floor to the rooftop flower garden:

Pettygrove Park, which is a small pocket park, is just steps away from our building:

This is also looking down from my apartment. Common plaza area with BBQ grills and a community garden:

And the sun is out...

the move...

Moving across the country poses quite the challenges. First, you must procure housing in a city you are typically unfamiliar with. Then comes the logistics of moving one's personal effects over the Mississippi, across the Great Plains, over the Rockies, and finally to the pinpoint spot that is to become one's new home. Finally, you have to get yourself out there and bring all of these logistical challenges to a close.

I have to say that I am quite proud of myself for navigating these challenges. I did LOTS of research online and found an apartment building that I fell in love with. I rented an apartment sight unseen and am confident I made the right decision. The ability to rent without a house-hunting trip surely saved me several hundred dollars.

I sorted and purged and packaged all of my personal belongings. The storage building in South Carolina is no more - it has been vacated and all of its contents sorted through. Furniture went to Alabama (my wonderful bed, that I already miss by the way, is at my mother's house just waiting for my next visit). Lots of decoration items and clothing are set for a yard sale TBD by my mom. A glimpse of my personal life can be found at the Goodwill in Atlanta, GA.

All of this purging and packing left me with 8 boxes + my desktop computer that are currently in the midst of making their way across the country via USPS and UPS. I look forward to their arrival to add some additional pieces of me to this rather empty apartment.

My car is being shipped across the country as well. The transport company gave me quite a scare last week when they called and said they would not be able to pick up the car as previously scheduled. Fortunately, my gracious coworker and friend Laura agreed to take care of the car pickup for me, since my flight was already booked to PDX. They should be picking the car up on Monday or Tuesday.

So all of the challenges, for the most part, have been met and I am now a resident of Portland, OR. This could not have been accomplished without the help of awesome family and friends, who all had a part in helping me out.

Cheers to the adventures that await me here on the West Coast...

A great week...

This week was pretty fantastic for several reasons:

First, I finally received my offer for my relocation to Portland. I had been given an offer a couple of weeks ago which, I felt, was not enough to justify my moving across the country. I'm really proud of myself in that I went back with what I think is an aggressive offer. After over a week of not knowing if they would meet it, or how they would react, I finally got word that my counter had been approved. I'm very excited about what Portland has in store for me but nervous about the new responsibilities this job will bring. 

Second, I took my ESRI Desktop Professional certification exam on Wednesday. I really studied quite a bit for the exam and so I felt prepared. When I got into the exam, however, my confidence was eroded. Essentially, the exam was not based on everyday, practical application of the software. There were many questions that were obscure, with ambiguous answers. I left the exam with little confidence of a passing score. Friday, I received my results and I did indeed pass! Very exciting, and very good to have this on my resume.

Lastly, I received a letter from Wells Fargo, whom I have my automobile financing through, on Friday. Essentially, the letter stated that there had been an error in the way they had computed my interest over the life of my loan, and that they were lowering my APR (by 2% mind you) and crediting the lump sum of the miscalculation to my principle. Essentially, my car payment went down by almost $50 a month and $800 was applied to the principle of my loan. With the lower APR and my raise at work, I should be able to pay my car off in no time. 

So that is a brief summation of the highlights of my week. Here's to hoping the good karma continues!

 

will all the holidays be like this?

This entire weekend has been rather rough. Yesterday marked two months since my dad lost his battle with cancer. I want to blog about his cancer specifically since I did not blog during its course, but will save that for a separate blog. I really am beginning to wonder if I will have the roller coaster of emotions on the 18th of every month going forward. My best friend Jessica, who lost her dad a little over 4 years ago, told me that it never really gets easier - just different. I suppose time will bring me to this feeling of difference.

Mother's and Father's day were never a huge event in my family. Of course, there were cards and crafty school art projects along the way, but as far as celebrations go, we never were ones to focus on celebrations of parenthood. Only in the past few years did I start sending my mother flowers or candy or cookies on mother's day. I always was a "momma's boy". I honestly can't tell you the last time I bought a father's day card and gave/sent it to my dad. I typically didn't even call him on Father's Day, because his birthday always coincided within the week and I would just lump all of my celebratory tidings into one brief phone call. Maybe that is where a lot of these feelings are coming from today. I'd give anything to just be able to pick up the phone and tell him "Happy Father's Day". If only there were an address that would assuredly get him a card I'd gladly go fight the crowded aisle of Father's Day cards at Target. Had I known this time last year that he'd be gone, I would have went to visit - to take him out for dinner - to hand deliver a card selected with love. My daddy was not a sentimental man - but he was a hard working man and deserved the acknowledgement.

Mine and daddy's relationship wasn't perfect. There were angsty years where we barely spoke. I do know, however, that he loved me unconditionally and would have done anything for me. I just hope, from the heavens above, he feels the love I'm pushing his way today and that I continue to make him proud in everything I do.

Just remember... if today was the last day tomorrow would be too late. Say what you need to say.

back to blogging...

I'm growing older. Memories are harder to keep. I must blog for longevity.