Our Year in Texas

It was one year ago today that we marched five kids, 9 pieces of luggage, 5 carry-ons, and a cat through the Portland, Oregon airport.  I was so excited for our move to this suburb of Houston, but I felt on the plane that my heart was breaking just a little bit.

It’s been a good year.  It’s been very tough.  I have cried a lot, and discovered what is really important to me.  Six of the most important things are here with me, wherever I live, west coast, east coast, “third” coast (which kind of makes me chuckle).  Some things that I learned were important to me are not to be found in this corner of Texas.  And that is just that.  (I’m not going to elaborate, because it gets depressing.)  But other things are here, too – good friends, mostly.  I’m happy to have those wherever we live.

The way I talk about Oregon, people assume I grew up there.  It’s the home of my adulthood, actually, since I grew up in California.  And while I love California (and all my family there!), Oregon was the home I CHOSE, and I miss it so badly.  Texas is a home, too, a home that will give us more chances for our future.  A future, probably, that will see a farewell to this place.  But that’s still a little bit down the road.  We’ll cross that bridge when it builds itself before our eyes.

We celebrated our one year anniversary by spending time together – we took all the kids (minus the luggage and the cat!) to the Houston Zoo.  And while the rain poured and people scattered to all the dry places, we laughed to ourselves and said, “Hey, we’re Oregonians, we don’t mind this stuff!,” and we were happy to see many of the exhibits without company.

You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:

1. Blasting Into the New Year, Texas Style
2. Texas is My Elephant
3. Welcome to Texas

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