The Pearl

I've successfully made my move to the Portland metro area. I live between Hillsboro and Beaverton, over a hill in the country. It is peaceful, gorgeous, trees and birds, and we have a pet cat. I love him a lot. His name is Boots but I call him Bootsie. He is a bobcat but he is grey and has a little white on his chest. He sleeps on top of the washer and dryer on one of Grandpa's (Alexa's grandfather) old sweaters. Every time I go through the washroom to the garage to go out, I always stop and pet him. He is really friendly and likes to be brushed with his cat brush. I have to be careful or he will get cat hair all over me.

Grandma Gladys died about a year ago and I had to go through my room and take some of her stuff down to the basement. She had been an Avon lady since the late 60's and had tons of cool costume jewelry. I cleaned out drawers full of random necklaces, bracelets, and really cool rings. There were cabinets full of old perfume, bath oils, skin care and men's cologne. The packaging was all so interesting to look at and so stylish. It is funny how packaging changes through the years.

I've spent the last couple of weeks looking for a job and exploring Portland. I'm happy to say I have a decent sense of direction and where everything is at now, and I don't get lost anymore. Lex has class at PSU in the morning so I have been riding the Max downtown with her. While she is in class, I go explore downtown. I usually end up in the Pearl District. It is one of my favourite places to be. Everything here is to my liking. I just come down here and find a coffee shop and internet. There are so many cool boutiques and restaurants. I really like going to this place called Sippen Krantz. It is a coffee bar and it is really nicely designed. The coffee is also great, and the people are friendly. My kind of place. There is cool lighting, as you can see below... and my hair is kind of wild... I've discovered that no one really minds that here. I am really loving it here.



Besides exploring, I have been looking for work. I applied at a million different places, but I ended up getting a job working at Noah's Bagels yesterday. I'm going to be a little shift manager, so I get paid more. After my training I will get even more, so that is nice. Also I get to wear jeans to work every day, I get free espresso, bagels, and I will never work past 5:30 pm. I'm really glad, because there are a lot of cool things that go on in Portland at night. I wouldn't want to get stuck working and have to miss out on a social life, or more importantly, amazing concerts. It is a blessing. I was really down the day before yesterday, I didn't think I would get a job. I prayed about it, I really wanted a couple of the other jobs I had applied for but it had been a week and a half and I hadn't heard anything. I applied at the last minute that night for Noah's, and then I got a call at 8 am about it. I figured I'd go. In the car driving there I was thinking to myself and God, I need a job, and if this is the right one for me right now, impress me in that direction. If not, and there is something else He has planned for me now, help me see that this job isn't for me. Well, turns out it is for me, so I took it. I will probably keep it for a year while I go to school and until I find a good starting place more in my line of work. I'm really thankful though.