We’ve successfully maneuvered the first quarter of 2016! [edit: I guess it’s technically the first 1/3 at this point] High fives, all around! I’m here to give an update of all things in the work-life spectrum and answer all your burning questions: how is the travel going? how is working at home? is Snickers still maintaining her 20-hours-a-day sleep schedule? So, without further adieu….
Matt’s jet-setting lifestyle is probably more interesting, but until he decides to give an update, you’ll have to settle for mine.
Work
In short, the first three months haven’t been much different work-wise than while we were in Louisville. While I’ve had to post-up at some not-so-ideal locations (I’m looking at you, half table in a tiny Santa Cruz apartment), my boss and job are flexible enough that the transition has been mostly seamless. January was a little all over the place since we weren’t stationary and I also hadn’t yet told my boss that I was no longer in Louisville. Couple that with sometimes spotty internet and it was a little stressful, to say the least. Thankfully it was temporary and with February came Portland and insanely fast and reliable internet all provided by Matt’s company! Score!
Right now I’m still working EST to keep in line with my meeting schedule. Since I told my boss we moved, she gave me the option of working Pacific time, but ending at 2pm every day just happens to be a nice perk :). I have an office set up in the bedroom, so I pretty much roll out of bed at 6am and log in before walking the pup and brewing some coffee or tea. It’s not the most ideal set up; the desk isn’t ergonomic and the room gets zero natural sunlight, but it works for now.
Life
The biggest adjustment has probably been to apartment living, which hasn’t been easy coming from living in single family houses for the last 5+ years. While the units themselves are pretty quiet thanks to concrete walls and floors, we still experience a lot of outside noise. The biggest offender is the trash compactor, which is right below our unit and tends to run between 4-5am daily; we didn’t really think a lot about the logistics of a second floor apartment when we moved in. Live and learn. Also, since we don’t have a yard we’re having to walk Snickers a lot more. It’s actually not too bad since we were already walking her 3+ times a day, but sometimes it’s raining and the last thing you want to do at 6am is take the dog out for a poop.
Otherwise, life in Portland is going great. Snickers and I have settled into a routine during the week which goes something like: walk, work, eat, work, walk, eat, work, walk, work out, eat, walk, sleep. Sure, we miss Matt while he’s gone, but we’ve found plenty of activities to keep ourselves entertained. I’ve found a great little yoga studio – Yoga on Yamhill – that offers some intense power vinyasa classes, is all donation-based so it’s accessible to everyone, and is only about 1/2 mile from our building! I also stumbled upon a bodybuilding gym (Loprinzi’s) that I’ve been going to a couple times a week. The gym hasn’t been updated….ever, so the equipment (and, boy, is there a lot of unnecessary equipment) is straight out of the 50s. We’ve also enjoyed weekly visits to Mt. Tabor – a park in the city built on a volcanic cinder cone and has lots of hiking trails and a large off-leash dog area, and runs/hikes around Forest Park. The food and beer scene is great! We’ve been trying to hit up all the places and drink ALL THE BEER but we find ourselves going back to Base Camp Brewing for their beer and awesome patio (and, yes, that is a toasted marshmallow on my s’mores stout in the picture below) and Por Que No for the stellar margaritas and tacos.
I could go on and on about the food and beer, but that’s a post for another day.
mattandbethtravels 