One Year Later...

It's officially been a year since we moved to Iowa. A year since I chose to leave the place and people that I grew up with behind. It doesn't seem like it was so long ago already. Time is sneaky like that.

This last week has been a little sentimental. I think things like, "It's been a year since Elayna played on the coast." "It's been a year since I was a Portlander."

I don't know where to feel at home anymore (both places seem like they could be homes to me), but maybe I should focus on what I do know. 

I know that I no longer feel as though I can only exist in one place. I was worried about that. I was worried I would be sad if I were too far from the ocean, or from Portland itself. Although I miss those things, I have also realized that a place is just a place. What is going to make me happy is my little family. 

I could live anywhere with Jake and Elayna and find myself settling in. I wouldn't say I feel completely at home in Iowa yet, but I truly like it here. It grows on you. Most days I would say that it feels right for us. Elayna is happy here. SO happy. That has been the best thing to watch. I'm thankful for that. 

I will probably miss Oregon forever, but I think we made a good choice for us.

Anyway, here are a few images from our last months before the move. I never got around to sharing them before, but they are a few of the pictures that I feel sum up the beauty of Oregon for me. The trees, the ocean, the city, my college campus downtown... these are the places that I think of when I remember Oregon.