Well, not today or immediately, but we will be moving soon. Dan and I have wanted to move away from Southern California for years now for a whole host of reasons: real estate here is insane, a horrible school district, traffic, poor air quality, and the whole atmosphere in this area. Given our working situation - Dan working, me at home - we will always struggle to keep our heads above water here. We are currently trapped in a townhouse that is much too small for two boys but can't move unless we go hours inland (where there are no jobs for Dan) or leave the state. Oregon has just felt right to us for a long time and that's where we want to live.
A few weeks ago Dan was approached by a headhunter about a job near Portland, Oregon. There was a mad scramble to get information to her, get references checked, etc. It looked like the position was a lock since the headhunters only presents one candidate: Dan. Unfortunately, the company found someone local who knew someone else within the company and he got the job.
Dan and I talked, and we've decided that we need to make this happen. He's not getting considered for positions because he lives out of state, so searching here just isn't working. Having a job in place before we move would make the most sense, but we could wait years for that to happen. So we're going to do it. I feel exhilerated right now. It's a bit scary, but we can make this happen.
Right now we're putting together things to do to the house to make it more marketable. Cheap things (not much extra money on hand right now) like painting, replacing the kitchen floor, getting new blinds, things like that. The house is in decent shape but needs some updating and clean up so it is more appealing. I'm going through everything in the house and selling or giving away anything that isn't essential, a process that feels freeing and just plain good.
Looking at comparable houses that have sold recently, we should be able to get at least $150K more than we have tied up in mortgage which should help a lot in finding housing out in Oregon. Just talked to our financial planner and he's helping us work out the financial details. He also offered Dan a position in a group he just started heading up, a position that may well give Dan work while we start out up there. It's amazing how opportunities appear when you set your mind firmly on something.
Haven't been doing much knitting or crafting or cooking in the wake of all of this, but now that things are settled I'm guessing I'll tuck more in. I will be making soap in the next few days and photographing that as I go - have to use up the oils and supplies I have here in bulk before we go, so much soapmaking will be happening in the next few weeks. I also need to finish up the shawl and the scarf very soon. Oh, and I'm making a panna cotta brain mold with pomegranite sauce for Halloween. Stay tuned.
That is quite a big move. Exciting! I love, Love, LOVE Oregon! Clean and beautiful. If you don't mind snow I would suggest Minnesota too.
ReplyDeleteHeck, for that amount of money you could prolly buy a house straight out, no mortgage, or close to it. ok, maybe that's an exageration, but not by much. Congrats on taking the leap, the fist step is always the hardest. Hey, the KnitPicks outlet is just across the river from portland in Vancouver.
ReplyDeleteWe're looking at getting a house in the ~$300K range, one that is large enough to suit our needs perminantly if needed. We live in such a teeny tiny space now that I want the choice of just plain staying put wherever we end up. Should be very doable, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the good wishes!
We're also planning on moving to Portland, from England though! Our plan will take us 17 months from now though, but I'm already trying to do the planning and starting with the finishing of the house and getting rid of stuff that we don't need/want or can't afford to ship overseas!
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading more about your move!
Anna, I'll be sure to post all of what I find so you can have more help with your move as well! Maybe we can get together and knit in 2007 :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're coming to my neck of the woods! I'm in Vancouver, about 3 miles from the Knit Picks place...too bad they don't carry the yarn there yet...just the company headquarters and a small store front.
ReplyDeleteI just moved from Oregon to Wisconsin. We loved it there -- and lived about 45 minutes N of Portland. Just to warn you though , Oregon does have some problems with funding for community things like libraries, schools, etc., so we decided to move to a place that supports community services.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the environment changes there in that regard. It is beautiful though and the people are very down-to-earth. And the yarn stores?? To die for. (Wasn't that way when we moved there.)