Looks like a go.

I won't believe it until we are actually driving North with all our junk in tow, but it looks as though God is opening all the doors for us to move to Portland. Neither of us has felt that living in L.A. was 'in sync' with our dreams/vision for future family life. Last August our dreams became more concrete as we fell in love with Portland--for many reasons.

But everyone has different priorities and things that matter in choosing a place to settle--and peace be with that!

At the risk of offending anyone who loves living in So. Cal, (blogging was supposed to be such a liberating endeavor), we long for a place where the pace of life is slower, the air is cleaner, recreational living is right outside your door (without having to drive hours in traffic to access it), where people know their neighbors and actually socialize with them, where people are at least slightly less concerned with how you look and what you own, where people drive vehicles commensurate with what they can afford (imagine that!), where every kid you meet at the park is not a child-actor/model appearing in ??? or every mother an aspiring stage mom. To illustrate, a true story: my hairstylist told me that her boyfriend really wants to move back to Oregon, where he is originally from. She really loves it there and would also like to move, HOWEVER. (And this is precisely what she said)--' in all honesty, I would never make near the kind of money I make now, anywhere else. In this (cosmetic/hair/style) world, it's a well-known fact that no where, but in California, is it common for women to spend so much money on their hair.' Ouch.

Yes, there are the gorgeous mountains (when you can see them), beaches (if you have the hours to drive or the bucks to afford living there), hiking trails (if you can breathe for the smog), nice shops (if you can read the signs)...ok, I'll stop now that I've permanently p.o.'d everyone that loves CA. Suma sum arum: it's just not for us.

One more thing: last, but definitely not least, we have desperately missed being a part of a church community. We have really, really tried...and so as not to disparage any part of the body of Christ, I won't get into that. But let's just say, on the very positive side, that we both felt a unity of spirit and hope for this area of our lives, when we have visited two churches in Portland that are both places we could could join wholeheartedly.

So we've prayed and prayed that God would make a way for us to live in a community we feel is....more 'us.'

Now let it be said that our #1 con to moving, is the people we love here. There are many souls, very dear to us, who will happily remain in CA. And that will definitely be a loss...and they will be missed. But some of these souls are also moving, others of these souls have very busy lives and we don't get to see each other often anyways. As such, we've had to wrestle with the consequences of missing occasional get-togethers...versus stuff that also really matters to us, and is missing, every single day of the year.

One other thing: we are so grateful. SOOOOO grateful. God is SOOO good to us, and we love the lives that He has given us. We deeply appreciate our health, the joy of our marriage and family. We adore our house. But these other things, the daily community life in which one lives, have huge long-term impact on all of these things as well.

So here's a nutshell of what happened recently. We took a trip to Portland a few weeks ago, just for fun, together with Denise and Matt. Thinking that the first domino that needed to fall was for us to find a tenant for our house here in CA (since it's such an awful time to sell), we were not planning on doing anything other than looking around and having a jolly time. First morning we are there, we walk around the corner for breakfast at a tiny place called Fat Abes. (We were staying in the neighborhood we'd like to live in)... the place is packed and we're asked to wait. Then the hostess offers that we can also share a table with another family, if we're willing. So we get sat with a couple and their two adorable little girls. We're talking amongst ourselves for a while, and then begin chatting with the couple we don't know.

Having noticed that there is basically no homes for rent online in this particular neighborhood, I ask the lady where she would suggest looking, when the time comes down the road, that we are actually looking. So she smiles sheepishly and says....'well actually, our home is going to be for rent May 1st.' She then goes on to explain that they are moving to the UK for 3-5 years (her husband is British) so that their girls can know their grandparents there. But they love their house, all their best friends live on their street, etc. and so they definitely want to move back into their house when they return. She then offers that we can come see their house if we'd like. We do...and while smaller than our current house, it is adorable, perfectly located and just even better than we'd dared hope to find. Knowing that the homes are all older and therefore smaller in most Portland neighborhoods, we were already prepared for the downsizing and believe that it's totally worth it for the location.

It's a charming house built in 1925, very well-kept, with 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a big office and a huge useable basement. There's a charming yard filled with trees and all kinds of beautiful plants & flowers that will soon bloom--including, hydrangeas, for cryin' out loud! (my fave). The rent is reasonable and the time frame is do-able. In the meantime, we return home to find 2 sets of renters who are interested in our home--one of them our neighbors, who we really like.

Can you believe it? It's CRAZY. And as I said, I'll believe it when we're actually driving out...because it could, of course, all fall through at any moment (life has taught me that this is a very real possibility.) But on the optimistic side, it seems that one door after another is opening and we have surely committed all our plans to the Lord, so it's in His hands no matter what.

Here are a few pics of the house in Portland. I'm only posting the outside ones out of respect and consideration for the privacy of the owners, who graciously allowed us to visit without notice.

It's located in the Sellwood Moreland neighborhood, just around the corner from tons of cool stuff, including a wild life refuge just down the street, the 400 miles of Portland bike paths, 15 minutes bike ride from downtown.