Working My Way Back To You

As the previous post points out, we spent some money over the summer in just a slightly more extravagent fashion than normal. It was our "Honeymoon", so the splurge was warranted, but it did deplete our bank account. Thus the following will describe how we replenished in Portland, OR and are currently sitting in an airport in Doha, Qatar. 

We returned from Europe at the end of September and immediately ventured out to Baltimore for a wedding between some good friends of ours. It was a fun few days and a lovely ceremony.

We settled back in Portland, taking advantage of my Dad's kindness and unoccupied basement. Julia had already lined up work covering a maternity leave for a clinic in the SE part of town and we knew we would be around at least through the holidays. I began to look for seasonal jobs to fill the time and bank account. When Julia was offered more work that could last into March, I got a seasonal job at Danner, a footwear company about a mile from my Dad's house, that wanted someone to help process returns until April. Things were lining up nicely; Julia could easily drop me off at work and I could walk home or call my Dad for a ride.

So we both worked. Things were kinda normal for those 6 months; pottery classes, hiking, disc golf, Julia running her Rodan + Fields side business like a boss. We took short weekend trips when we could and got to attend multiple family and friend gatherings. One notable change was Julia's sister, Angie and family, moving back to the United States from Nicaragua in the fall. The political unrest of 2018 severely hurt the tourist industry and their business, so they decided this was a good time to try life where the Pacific waters are a little colder. The counter weight to that joyous arrival, was that we both lost some dear relatives to cancer during those months, something that is becoming all too common.

Beach trip

Pottery Class Production

Zoo Lights

iFly w/ Hoelter kiddos                           Hiking up Multnomah Falls

Angel's Rest hike in the snow

Quick trip up to Seattle & Tacoma for some work and some play

       

Enjoying some Portland March sunshine 

There is not much else to say. As the paychecks kept coming in, we let ourselves buy plane tickets to the backpacking destination that we feel we need to do while one of us is still young. In a few hours a plane will take us to Nepal, where we will test our physical limits and oxygen intake. From there we will fly to the heart of the SE Asia backpacking circuit and see as much as we can see before coming back at the end of July. As sad as it is to say, working for 6 months straight has been rough but also a good way to acclimate for the eventual full time jobs we promise we will settle down and get someday. Thanks for reading, this should be fun.