Move to Oregon

The trip was long, but it gave both of us a time to reflect upon our journey and ponder our future. He took the truck and trailer with the dog and I drove my car behind. Cozy, warm, great music and my cat next to me as I embarked upon our small “wagon train” towards Oregon. I enjoyed the scenery and the weather was fantastic. Many parts of the trip, I was able to open my sunroof and just breathe. I took this picture as we were leaving Shasta just before we entered Oregon. I couldn’t resist…

Arriving at our little rental house in the country was like opening presents on Christmas morning. The little treasures it holds gave us much excitement as we explored. ½ acre of fenced property on the river and a view of the Astoria Column was a complete surprise. There is so much room for our pets to play. One of the first things we had to do was to plop our Papason chairs right in the middle of it to toast a glass of wine.

We have been very busy since we have arrived. Our moving company arrived shortly thereafter, but in one day we got everything in its place and it is very livable for placing a two-story, four bedroom home into a two bedroom, one car garage. Luckily we are both masters of organization. We have taken some time to visit the beach, and to go to town, which we marvel at the fact that we are actually living here. There is so much that we have incorporated into our lives to conform to our new lifestyles…

Reading the morning newspaper in front of the picture window, taking time to walk down to the river and breathe the fresh air, checking the mail and actually reading it, and – for now, visiting the internet café to check our e-mail. We don’t have internet at home yet, so this is a nice way to make a day of it. Going to town is an actual pleasure. The Post Office is a beautiful marble and brass gem, which makes you feel as though you are really going somewhere as you enter its polished entry. The bank is small, but friendly with five smiling ladies saying “hello” and clammored to assist me. It is really overwhelming to learn that people still care in this world, and it will take me a long time to get used to this way of life.

We finished our day yesterday by sitting atop the tallest hotel in town to observe our new city. We noticed how clean it is, from the rooftops to the streets, it is spotless. Everywhere you look is an absolute wonder. We are so lucky.

I will be rolling into my new hometown of Oregon on Sunday!!! I can’t believe it’s already here!!!

A little over two weeks away… I am so excited I just want to burst! Our rental house is finally secured and the movers are set to be here in 12 days. The first thing that I want to do when I get there is take my dog for a run on the beach!!!

I forgot that I had given up on this goal. Now that it’s a sure thing, I might as well re-adopt it :)

The little town that we are moving to is so welcoming and exciting. So much to do and see. We have had our ups and downs about relocating there. Visiting several times to ensure it was the right place for us and we’ve come back to the same place every time.

Not long now!

I can’t believe I am giving up on this goal. When I first came to 43T, this was one of the goals I was sure I would complete. I just don’t see it happening any time soon, and for that, I need to put it away so that I don’t get down about it. My luck may change, and circumstances may offer another possiblity. I will take this as a sign that it just isn’t the right time for us yet…

We are waiting for two more weeks to see if we can sell. If not, we’re taking it off the market. We were listed in a magazine, which our Realtor hadn’t given to us. After finally demanding a copy, we noticed that she had us listed at $30,000 more than we are! In this market, that is a mistake that we just can’t afford. Not only that, but the ads in the newspaper have been consistently wrong for months!

After complaining, she informed us that the new developer in our area is offering a $10,000 bonus to anyone who refers a qualified buyer to them! What a surprise! If she were a good Realtor working for her own clients, she would have alerted us weeks ago… Obviously she is receiving the carrot by swaying potential buyers in their direction rather than ours. So, this goal will soon be removed, along with any hope to be in Oregon any time soon.

I’m afraid, after being on the market for nearly 5 months, our dream of selling this house and moving to Oregon are completely out of reach.

Nothing has sold here for a very long time, however they keep building new homes all around us. Our city has done some poor planning and has completely screwed up our market. I am an interior decorator & very good at “staging” a home – mine looks like a model home, so I know it’s not the appearance or appeal.

Now that it’s been this long, our jobs & new home purchase have all been chucked, so this goal will soon be chucked as well.

If we had only done this a year ago…

We put an offer in on a home in Oregon on our last trip with a contingency on the sale of our home here. We just paid for a home inspection when we got back the bad news. There was a lot of work to be done to the 80 year old home… electrical, plumbing, foundation. For a historical home, the improvements would make our investment worth even more, but given the size of the home, we’ve decided that it’s just not worth it!

I am so sad. I loved that house, but we will have to let it go.

I would love to live a minimalist life… it would be easy in Costa Rica because the less things you have, the less you will have to clean mold off of them! Now that we’ve decided to stay in the states, we’ve kept most of our stuff. But what we do have (even though it’s everything we use) still feels like too much. I’m down to minimal but still feel a little claustraphobic with stuff… guess I need to have another throwing away party before we move!

We just lowered our home another $9,000 ($20,000 from our original price). The market is so slow here & they just put in 4 new neighborhoods around us which is an equivalent to about 1200 new homes. It’s outrageous, some are 7 bedroom homes… crazy! So, now that we’ve lowered, I’m anticipating that we will be selling soon. I need to get things tied up & get Oregon more a priority. I’m also going to purchase the “St. Joseph” to bury near our For Sale sign. I hope it works!