Moving.

What we will miss about Oregon/Forest Grove:
Chris' 2 minute commute to and from school.
The friends we made.
Our cheap rent.

The fresh "after rain" smell and air.

All the huge green trees.

The colors of changing leaves in the fall.

All of the things that bloom in the spring.

Each season actually lasting a season, instead of a week before it snows.

The mild weather, aka no snow.

Chris getting snow days when it actually does snow.
A gorgeous coast an hour away.

Saving tons of money by not having a Cafe Rio.
Free gym.

No sales tax.

What we will NOT miss about Oregon/Forest Grove:

The long lines at gas stations/aka not being able to pump your own gas.

Too many months of rain and gray skies.

The 800 mile distance from family.

Being 40 minutes from the mall.

The gang bangers in town.

Our (ghetto) apartment complex & most of our neighbors.

Not having a dishwasher.

The humidity.

Not having a Cafe Rio.
Tiny gym.
Being an hour from the airport.

I never dreamed I would marry someone who would take me out of state for a long period of time, or at all.
But it's hard to imagine what my life would've been like if Chris had been able to stay in Utah for all his schooling.
We would have missed out on so much!
This experience forced me to do a lot of things that scared me and that I didn't want to do, but isn't that what makes us grow?
I really think we grew in ways we never could have without living away from family.
We learned to rely on each other and the Lord and had to figure out how to do things on our own.
I learned a lot about myself...my weaknesses especially.

I have to give a huge thanks to my mom who spent so much of her time chatting on the phone with me.
I know I couldn't have made it through without that.
Chris always jokes that my mom is probably excited for us to move back just for the fact that she will get an hour of each day back...that she used to spend talking to me on the phone.

I can't believe that our time in Forest Grove is actually over!

It seems like just yesterday that we said goodbye to Utah and family and drove away.
I honestly thought it would take about 10 years to make it through the next 3 years.
First year went pretty slow...adjusting and all that.
Second year went at super speed.
Third year went at turbo-warped speed.

In the first few weeks after moving to Oregon I would ache for family, friends, and familiarity.
I was scared to drive anywhere, fearing that our car would break down and we would have no one to call to come help us.
The first time we went to the grocery store here and they had a whole isle dedicated to alcohol and not a single brand of bread that was familiar, all I could think was "We're definitely not in Utah anymore."
It was a rough transition for me, I was barely 21 (my birthday was about a week before we moved), had only been married for 8 months and had never lived more than an hour and a half from family.
It was easier for Chris and he helped me get through!

We knew the move would be bittersweet, but leaving Oregon was more bitter than I expected...
it is our home, our life, and what we know.
It is very exciting to move on, to be 1 year away from Chris graduating, to be close to family here and there this next year, but oh so sad to be leaving this beautiful place that quickly stole our hearts.
It's so sad to think that the friends we've made here will never be a part of our daily lives again.

It's hard to leave now that we feel like we're finally used to living away from family.
It's hard to move on now that we've got the student life down.
What will life be like in Utah, trying to include family time into our daily lives again?
Hopefully we still like them ;)

It is so hard to close that chapter of our lives but we are trying to focus on all the exciting things coming our way.
With a baby coming soon and 3 more moves ahead of us, this next year is going to be anything but dull!

Goodbye Oregon and friends, you changed our lives and we will miss you!