vie a la table

it only seems appropriate to follow the crowd and sum up our year before we kick off 2010…it was a year of serious change for me and wil…and to write a normal blog might take forever. we also ditched christmas cards this year. not a preferred choice as i love writing up our little letter each year since we married, but when you add the paper, ink, and stamps (i wonder how many increases in postage will take place this year!), it’s a small fortune. and when you get to where we were on cutting unnecessary things out of the budget, cards went without an argument. so here’s a list of highlights for you all.

• january and february filled with daily life and seeing a record amount of movies in the theatre in time for our friends’ annual oscar bash. our investment in cinema paid off as i guessed the most winners right!
• mom and a friend came for a visit in the spring time…got to experience more of the rural south at a garage sale that lasts for miles (who knew people could have so much junk!) and the lost baggage center.
• of all things, a scrubs episode changed our life, when it inspired wil that the time was now to pursue something you love for the rest of your life…and he decided to research culinary school.
• by april we had our house on the market…in hopes that it would sell before wil’s fall enrollment would take place! enjoyed the constant stress of showing a house a couple times a week with two great danes. we spent many afternoons with the four of us driving around (some days too hot to be outside for too long!) to waste time.
• as our departure from nashville loomed, our time with friends grew more bittersweet, highlighted with a great evening on the hills of arrington vineyards with picnic blankets, bottles of wine, and catch phrase.
• at the end of june we joined family in montana to celebrate my parents’ 25th anniversary…a good way to ring in independence day with lakeside s’mores and firecrackers!
• with life’s timing upside down, we received an offer from some dear friends to spend the summer at a music institute in the north carolina mountains, outside of asheville. it only made sense to take advantage of a period of rest in a beautiful setting while the house was in escrow and to do a little work to earn money. we will cherish the friendships made and solidified over terrible camp food, waterfall hikes, office episodes, and breathtaking symphonies!
• august brought us the end of our time at brevard, to come back to nashville to pack the rest of the house, sign papers and pack the dogs in the car in preparation for our cross country drive! it didn’t help that the week our house loan was to be paid off by the sale, our mortgage company disappeared off the face of the earth, with no one knowing where anyone’s loan information went! (god took care of that later)
• i won’t deny it was a little nervewracking to drive 2400 miles with only a city as a destination…no apartment or house lined up, and our stuff to arrive on a freight truck within days or our arrival! we touched base at our parents, but quickly scoured portland for a building walking distance to wil’s school that would accept two giant canines. that was interesting…
• we found a place and moved in at the beginning of september, and road tripped down for a tour through california, visiting 5 cities to see family we hadn’t seen for too long.
• wil started school shortly after that, while i got to experience the loveliness of job hunting. yay unemployment!
• although it soon became a tight squeeze for us, as the expenses outweighed a zero income, we fell in love with the city over the last few months and have enjoyed the proximity to everything, including our family. i finally landed a part time retail job for the time being, and get to walk to work. we went from a one car family to now hardly using it at all!
• with time on our hands, and wil’s expertise already increasing, we’ve enjoyed transforming this blog to reflect the foods and experiences we love, and are excited about furthering this endeavor in the new year, with a new layout and look.

christmas was of course a highlight, and here i am sitting back at home already, in my pj’s waiting to watch the rose parade. i guess i should wake wil up so we can enjoy a french press together on the couch with flowered floats passing by on our screen. happy 2010 everyone.

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kris, life, oregon, tennessee by kris