It would appear that I have slacked off somewhat in my goal to be a regular blogger. Oh well, that's how life goes. Work's going good - I've been on my own for 2 days now and nothing has come to a screeching halt. Well, kindof, but it's because of the weather, not something I did. Monday I took my mentor to the airport, and Tuesday the company paid me to take the COO and his family to the airport. I like this job. Seriously though, it's a really good job. I can show up pretty much anytime in the morning (or afternoon), leave just about whenever I want, everybody's friends, and it's just nice to go to work.

We've been steadily getting unpacked and organized (mostly thanks to Lex), and I've started commuting more and more from Rockaway. I haven't done the round trip in one day yet, but I'm getting closer. The highways closest to us were closed Monday, so I had to drive ~140 miles up through Astoria and down into Portland that way. It took me four and a half hours, which isn't bad considering 90% of the way was packed snow/ice. Fortunately the highways opened up again and I was able to go back to Rockaway and get Lexie for Christmas.

Snow?!? In PORTLAND?!?!?!?

As you can guess from the title, it snowed here. Lots (okay, maybe not North Pole lots, but seriously, this is Portland Oregon and it's snowing!) The roads are all iced up, and I'm surprised I haven't seen any accidents or heard sirens. That'll probably be tomorrow when people *have* to go out to go to work. But yeah, it's crazy. We're supposed to get like 3-4 inches by the time all's said and done.

So it's been awhile since I've posted - I missed posting last Saturday (I don't remember why), so here it is. I started work yesterday at BeyondWords, working in the warehouse. My days are mostly spent filling book orders and shipping them, as well as rearranging the warehouse (they're adding a conference room and the warehouse is shrinking). The people are super friendly, and the work's pretty decent.

Lex and I are mostly moved into our house in Rockaway - there remains one, maybe two more loads before we're completely moved in. The last big push on that was this last weekend. The hard part now is finding a place for everything and organizing it all. We haven't been to our branch out there yet (the Neah-kah-nie Branch) - we were in Rockaway, but Lex was sick and we got to Rockaway at like 11:30 pm Saturday, after working all day. This week though.

At some point I'll figure out how to put pictures up (once I get pictures) of the house, and also of the wedding and other stuff. For now, you'll just have to suffer my writing.

Cheerio

So, I didn't think I'd be able to blog today. You see, I'm in Utah, which isn't too bad, but I'm in Upalco, Utah. For those of you who know where that is, yeah. Everyone else, imagine the middle of nowhere and you've go it. We're here for Lexie's cousin's wedding, and for an early Thanksgiving with her family.

Anywhoo, so this week has been pretty good. We got accepted for the place in Rockaway, we'll be moving over the course of this week when we get back. I also got a job in Beaverton/Hillsboro. It's temporary - 3 months or so - but that'll be long enough to find something else and start to get our feet under us. I also sent in the papers to enroll in the online CJ program at PSU, so hopefully next semester I'll be able to take all my classes online.

Lex started working down in Salem - she had general orientation Monday through Wednesday of last week, and she's scheduled for shifts the Friday, Saturday, and Monday after Thanksgiving. :( I'm going to miss her while she's working. Maybe this calls for a trip to the Salem RT ward....(is there such a thing?)

At this writing, I have been married for exactly 3 weeks. The time has flown by - it's hard to comprehend how fast 3 weeks passes. I was talking to my mechanic/friend yesterday, and he and his wife recently celebrated their 40th year together. How awesome is that? How awesome is it that we have not just this life, but eternity? I love the gospel.


We decided to go with the place I mentioned in my last post. We move in on the 24th. It will probably be a little bit of a drawn out process - hopefully I'll start working that week, as well as Lex. She's heading down to Salem half of this week for orientation at the hospital for her RT job, and then we're going out to Utah for her cousin's wedding and an early Thanksgiving with her parents/family.

I'm excited for these changes. Everybody says change is hard, and it is, but change is also good. It exposes us to new things, gives us new experiences and perspectives. It also highlights the things that don't change - love, family, trust. Because, even though Lexie's parents and siblings are in Utah, my mom's in Thailand, my dad will be in Boise, and my siblings are in Utah, we're still family, and nothing will change that, and that's what's important.

This past week has been kindof a whirl. My mom left for Thailand, Lex took her boards and passed (YAY!), and we've been out in Tillamook and surrounding area looking for a place to live. It doesn't help that the sleep schedule has been completely kaputzed - sleeping in 'till 11 or so and going to bed at 2 am. Plus, I keep waking up in the middle of the night - multiple times. Not that I'm complaining, just explaining.

I think we've found a place - Lex was even able to negotiate them down on the price some. We'll go out there with a camera sometime and I'll upload pictures of the house. I was really taken with it - it was the first house we visited. It's back in the woods a little ways, with a nice view from upstairs of the lake. Close enough to the highway that it's not inconvenient, but far enough that it's not noisy or busy. And hey, it's on the coast.