Wednesday, September 10, 2008

everywhere you go/you always take the weather with you

i know, popular consensus should be that it should be rainy and miserable here in the northwest so i will feel bad about moving away...

i hate to say it, but it's been ABSOULTELY GORGEOUS since i got here. sunny skies, awesome temps, no humidity and to top it all off everything is SO GREEN. which somehow just makes the nice weather that much better! ...but, if it makes you feel any better... everyone keeps telling me it's just because it's summer, and come winter i will rue the day i said i liked rain. but, we'll see. i sincerely doubt it...we all know how i kinda dig the grey-rainy weather. but worry not, i'll let you know at the first sign of precipitation!

have been trying to settle in here in portland, which is a whole bunch of mixed emotions for me at the moment. i had a great 20 hours with emily over the weekend. though WAY too short (i guess that part of our relationship is back to the status quo). we brought miss puma home from the airport and then got some delicious indian food in a cute neighborhood over in SE, and then just chilled with puma for the evening. speaking of puma, she's doing quite well in the new digs... though she was quite angry with me for a day or two and refused to cuddle... but i'm back in her good books now (after some cat treats, of course). then saturday morning em and i took the bus downtown and explored the famous saturday market! we had a great time and a massive (and delicious) cinnamon bun! yum! then em had to journey back to san diego and i was left on my own.

i have since explored a bit and found the trader joe's (essential to life) and amazing coffee shop (where i'm at right now... more on this in moment), have been running in washington park (which i wish i had my camera for, so pretty!), met up with some people from a hiking group and went bouldering at an awesome rock gym... and not to mention have gotten lost going various places all week, but also managing to see some other parts of the city. all in all it's been good.

the rest of my time i have been looking for/applying for jobs. and that's the tough part... in the last 2 days i must have sent my cv in to at least 20 jobs... mostly medical reception/billing. and i know, you're wondering why on earth am i not doing acupuncture... here's the thing, in this field there are very few opportunities to be hired... which means there isn't much to apply to. it's pretty much a work for yourself/create your own job/open your own practice kind of thing. which is great, because it's what i want to do. however, it definitely requires some financial resources that i don't currently possess... and therefore, i am currently looking for other gainful sources of employment (but will be doing acupuncture as much as i can at the same time). so, cross your fingers that i will pick up a job soon because it will make me a much happier and less stressed out alexis (and we all like that better).

so. i have to say. it's really weird not knowing anyone here, i have huge gaps of time where i feel like i would normally call someone and hang out, or go explore with... and i just don't have that here. mostly i'm doing ok with that. but, there are definitely times where it hits me and i do question myself and my reasons for moving. i don't reget it, and don't think i made a mistake, but i have questioned it. and i know this is the hard part, and once i have a job and a routine, and meet people it'll be a little less emotional rollercoaster-y. (d'you like how i just made up that adjective, ha).

oh, the coffeehouse i'm in. AMAZING. it's called random order coffeehouse and they have really good ice-brewed coffee (i know, i so don't drink coffee, but i LIKE this) and to DIE for baked goods. i had this awesome savoury muffin today - cornmeal with cheddar, bacon and green chilies. YUM. reminds me of NZ, i always had stuff like that there. they also have free wifi (clearly) and a selection of pies that looks scrumptious (i haven't yet tried one). i seriously am contemplating moving in... their motto is: don't forget to save room for pie. how could it not be an awesome place? ha!

(can you tell i am procrastinating doing real work since i wrote any entire paragraph about the coffeeshop?) *sigh* best get back to writing cover letters and looking for jobs...


2 comments:

Dida Atassi said...

alexis!!! you are so cute. i love you and miss you! this blog is wonderful. i'm bookmarking it to keep up with all your latest!! xoxo -dida

Emily Kelly said...

1) rollercoaster-y is TOTALLY an adjective. love it.

2) yes please I would like a cornmeal cheddar chili muffin. YUM.

3) want to help me bake box-mix banana bread? I know you're well beyond the box-mix, but it's still my "baking" staple :) and it could always use your magic baking touch!