Yesterday...

...was a bad day.

I don’t think it’s a big secret that things haven’t been easy for us so far in Oregon …yesterday was no exception. I have days like yesterday every now and then when things collide and I can’t handle them on my own. I’ve been looking for a job for nearly nine months and have not had good luck. (To illustrate my point: when we moved to Oregon in March I bought a pack of resume paper, which had 100 sheets in it. Last week, I ran out). *Ouch*

There’s nothing like putting your absolute best out there only to be rejected. Again. And again. And AGAIN. A few weeks ago I was the “runner up” for a great state job that was just five minutes from our house…it felt great to come that close. But “close” doesn’t pay the bills.

(Speaking of, what’s with those things anyway? Do they seriously need to be paid EVERY month?! No one told me that. I’m sure I would have remembered if someone told me that).

Anyway, back to my bad day. So far, we’ve survived (miraculously) on one income. It’s not easy and we haven’t exactly made it on our own the whole way, but we’re still here.

Things got a little overwhelming yesterday which prompted me to think about our current situation. We are somehow getting by while I continue the wearisome task of finding a job. We don’t own the house we’re in. We don’t have any friends here yet. We’ve needed to lean on those close to us for support, which is hard to accept and frustrating to do (to me anyway).

Yesterday all of that got to me and it became too much. Lucky for me I have an amazing family. They’re always there when I need them and they always know what to say. They reminded me that while things are very difficult right now, they could be worse. They could be so much worse. We have a roof over our heads (with a beautifully painted front door, which we did ourselves. Pictures coming soon). We have our health. We have each other.

Though I’m sad that we don’t have friends here yet, we still have our old friends. And we are working on finding a church to call home, which will help. And as for leaning on family for support- though it isn’t easy to do and I wish we didn’t have to, I am so very thankful that they are there to lean on. And someday, we will be there for them the way they are here for us now.

And it’s okay that we don’t own this house right now, we might someday! For now we have a really great setup. So far we’ve helped our landlord by replacing some bathroom fixtures and repainting the interior…there are more changes to come! It’s been so much fun learning how to do these little fix it projects and seeing the results.

And lastly, I am trying to remember that while this economic crisis is most definitely affecting us, we are not alone. And our country has faced this before, and survived. It will most likely take years, but we’ll get there. For now, we’re holding on.

So thanks to my family for being there for me yesterday. And today. And all the other days I have. And thanks to everyone else in my life for being a part of it!

Today is a much better day, especially since this is what I get to hang out with:



Positive posts in the future, I promise!

From Oregon ,

With Love