Homecoming: Back in Portland

There are so many posts I want to write, I need to write, but none of them actually have made it to the blog yet. Here I am, again, realizing, again, that it’s been two months since I’ve blogged, again. <breathe> As overwhelmed as I might feel about not having written for so long (and having lots of ideas of what to write on!), I’m just going to take it one step at a time, one sentence at a time, one blog post at a time.
When I think back to April 15, a lot has happened since then. More friends have gotten married (yay!), more friends are on the path to legally be able to marry (YAY!) more planes have been boarded (gotta do it), more trips have been planned (woo!), miles have been driven (ugh!), but all in all, things have been good.

The biggest thing to have happened since April though is my move back to Portland. At the end of May, I loaded up the car, bid adieu (for now) to my AZ friends and made the long drive up to Portland with some quick stops in San Diego and Sacramento. Since I got to Portland at the start of June, things have been a blur. I moved back, I found an apartment, I moved (aka hired movers) to move all of my stuff into my apartment, I unpacked (mostly) and organized (about 60%) of my apartment, I went back home to Toronto for a weekend, I attended two weddings, and I’m starting to finally feel settled.

People have been asking me how it feels to be back: it feels great. I feel like I’m back with family. It has been a challenging year for me, to say the least, and while my support system is strong, there’s just something about being able to spend time with people face-to-face that can’t be replaced. Everyone I’ve seen has been excited or happy to see me (or at least no one’s said, “Wait, you’re back? Ugh.”, or, “You left?”) which makes this homecoming pretty fricking awesome. As cliche as it sounds, sometimes you do really need to leave to appreciate what you have in front of you.

I’ve already been asked if I’m back for good or just temporarily—and I’m not sure. For now, I’m going to just focus on settling in, getting rid of my boxes, spending time with people and enjoying the sun (even a heat wave in a non-ACed-and-until-recently-only-1-small-fanned apartment) and Portland. What that means for those of you who live in Portland is hit me up, let’s get together! And for those of you who don’t live here, you have a host, just book your ticket and adventure awaits you in the City of Roses. See you soon!