San Di-Portland

This is Sushi, we just found her a couple of days ago. She was so skinny and malnourished. we had to take her in and get her back to full strength. She would have died if we didn't take her in.

She is adorable and very sweet. loves head rubs and she purrs when you get near.

The Big Move
We flew up to Portland this weekend to meet up with the Le's. They are also moving up to Portland and so we splitted the cost of the U-Haul. So basically we loaded up the U-haul on Friday morning and unloaded everything Saturday Afternoon. I still can't believe we have so much stuff. It is incredible! The biggest thing we had was the fridge. We did have help because Quoc's brother and cousins came to help him and they were kind enough to help us also.

Thanks guys, it would have taken 3 times as long without you! If you guys were old enough to drink, i'd buy you all beers.

The fridge itself barely fit in the spot for it. It sticks out a little bit, but its okay... free fridge, can't beat that. We slept in our house for the first time that weekend. Mostly quiet. There were a few kids/teenagers out late sunday night laughing and being obnoxious... an older neigbhor came out and yelled at them to be quiet. Which was good cuz we were very close to calling the cops. It was midnight on a sunday night! Hopefully that doesn't happen anymore.

We also met some of the neighbors. Our direct neighbor to our left are a middle-aged couple. Very nice. And we met a neighbor across the park that could be around our age. He has a two year old girl. Its a nice change of pace because where we live now, we know none of our neighbors and we don't even stop to say hi when we pass each other on the street. It is a big difference in mentality between Portland and San Diego.

Our house is still a mess, i won't talk about the lack of hot water and how that affects taking showers... but everything is moved in, we purchased a couple of pieces of furniture... we still need a washer and dryer... and last but not least, we need jobs up there... but overall, a very good weekend in the new house. Here are some pictures for all to see:

Dinner at Mr. A's was nice. The view was cool. the food was okay. The Service was excellent. My parents like fine dining and fine wining... hehe. I can't see myself ever ordering a 100+ dollar bottle of wine. And its super hard for me to order a 33 dollar plate of veal. You'd think for 33 dollars, you'd get the whole baby cow. But alas, i got 3 pieces. so that's 11 dollars a piece. we also ordered 13 dollars worth of mac and cheese. Granted, it was the best mac and cheese i've ever had. but it was a small bowl.


anyways, did some more packing this weekend. All my clothes will fit into 3 or 4 space saver bags. Which is amazing, cuz i have lots of clothes. I have more then my fiance, which is amazing. I figure its the 3 year head start i have in collecting clothes, plus most of my clothes are t-shirts, and everyone knows that doesn't count. I also packed most of my shoes away... so sad. now my selection of feet attire has diminished by 2/3rds. I only now have 6 pairs of shoes to pick from for the next month and a half. sob. sob...

well, back to work. 24 Season Finale tonight, but also lots of packing to do still.

Space Saver Bags...

These things are very much worth the 25 dollars at costco. I've stuffed so much clothes into one bag, just to see it shrink to a small flat package. I recommend everyone who's moving to get some of these bags. Something so simple... whoever thought of the idea earned my dollar today. One of those 'i wish i thought of that' moments.

Dinner tonight with the parents and my brother at Mr. A's in downtown San Diego. Entrees range from 20 to 40 dollars. Crazy expensive if you ask me. but i'm more of the frugal side, plus my parents are paying, so who am i to complain! :) I even got my brother's birthday present on the cheapside. got it from midnightbox.com, similar to woot.com if you've heard of it. they offer one item a day at a heavy discount.

This weekend should see lots of packing and sorting for me and the fiance. We are coming down to the wire for the u-haul. so it should be frantic. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that i'm moving. Part of me still thinks its months away instead of weeks.

What is this all about? Not another one of you! Stay in California. I know i know, i'm gonna hear it from all of you. But hear me out. Let me plead my case and hopefully i can convince you that I will be an excellent citizen of Portland.

First all, I haven't moved yet. I'm still down here in San Diego, but we (there's more of you?) plan to move in August. So you have a couple of months till another Californian moves up to your city.

Let me tell you a little something about me, I'm actually from Portland. I lived there from ages 2 to 11. Many of my fondest childhood memories stem from water puddles, the smell of wet pavement and wild blackberries. I've had this undeniable urge to move back there for years and it is just now that I have the means to do it.

So this blog is both for my sanity as well as to keep a log of my move to Portland. And then it will turn into my rediscovering how beautiful Portland is. Hopefully i can update it as much as possible.

Really, i'm a nice guy.