The story I am about to unfold is one that many have already heard. However, it is my duty to document this historic journey in order to preserve one of the more exciting moments in our family's life thus far. And so, I give you the first installment (of many), of how we listened and followed a calling to move our life up to Oregon and build our first house!
Late last spring, Brant was given word that his job with APU's University College was going to be made into an entirely remote position, effective June 30th. This happened to be the same day that we were set to make a trip up to Oregon for a 2 week summer vacation with our families. We drove up I-5 pondering all of the change that had just occurred, mulling over just how we would "survive" having Brant work from our small 2-bedroom townhouse, particularly over the summer months when the kids were off of school. Living in SoCal had its definite perks, but possibly the biggest setback for us was the lack of momentum we felt with being able to have a sustainable lifestyle down there, let alone ever being able to afford a house. This sudden remote job change was definitely rocking the mind with feelings of being "stuck" and leaving us wondering what to do next?
As we crossed over the border in the late afternoon, Oregon was on its best behavior: warm summer evening, clear blue skies, with a sunset that was beginning to paint itself over the mountain range and hillsides. Quietly, but almost simultaneously, Brant and I began to feel a prodding in our hearts. There was a stirring inside that was undeniable: God was telling us to open our eyes and our ears, and to listen, because he was about to reveal some pretty spectacular changes in our life.
Over the course of the 2 weeks we spent in Oregon, we fell back in love with our home state. We are both born and raised Oregonians, and we've always considered Oregon to be "home," but only in the sense that all family lives here, so naturally, we come back to visit often enough and then leave again. This time, however, we felt the strong, clear calling that it was time to come back home.
Our vacation had us in central and southern Oregon, and we were feeling a tug to consider what life might be like to move to this side of the state, rather than the Portland area, where all family is located. We grew attracted to the idea of Bend for many reasons, but the lifestyle and invigorating vibe that pulsates year-round was highly attractive. Pulling us in was the beauty of the mountains, the trees, the blue sky (300 days of sunshine!), and all 4 seasons, giving outdoor recreational options for the family a plenty! The work-life balance in Bend seemed to resonate deeply with us, so we started our pursuit.
During the span of just over a month, we explored what housing could look like and stumbled upon the idea of building. We found this wonderful company that builds custom homes, Adair, and the pieces just fell into place, one right after the other. Our financing went through without a hitch; we found an incredible piece of land in a great school district; we snagged the property for less than the asking price; Brant was granted permission to work from anywhere. We were listening and God was moving.
With the help of Brant's parents traveling over to Bend in our place, a wonderful realtor and modern technology, we viewed the property via Facetime, and made an offer that night. The obvious occurred, and our offer was eventually accepted! As a side-note, Brant and I have discovered that in our marriage, we tend to make decisions unconventionally and do things sight-unseen (we even bought our dog over the internet from Indiana, without ever meeting him first! Who does that?!?). This time, though, we decided it would be in our best interest to make a trip up to Bend to view the site in person, as this decision was clearly a pretty big deal. Once more, the pieces all lined up perfectly, including childcare in our absence, and the two of us flew up for a quick weekend trip to check out the property. We were floored and absolutely in love with the land, the neighborhood, the house plans we had picked, the school, and the city of Bend itself.
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| Guess what we did?! |
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| Our property!! |
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| See that giant lava rock? Yeah. So cool, but it has to go. |
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| This will be the front of the house and the driveway. |
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| The view from the front of the house, up to the green space, where there is a playground, and just further, a pathway that leads to a canal. |
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| The backyard....work with me, here. ;) We've got all kinds of ideas brewing! |
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| The canal that is just behind our neighborhood, with a pathway that goes for miles in either direction. It's wonderful! |
We celebrated that evening with a nice dinner at the Pine Tavern in Downtown Bend. It was a wonderful meal and a memorable start to our life in Bend!
And so begins our transition. The journey is ever-going, as God continues to weave our story together. Our adventures have only just begun, and we are so excited to see what's in store for our family as we become Bendites.
