The Move.
Leaving my family and friends in Michigan behind was one of the easiest things I had ever done. Now, you might say I'm heartless for that, and I know how it sounds. But, we knew the move would be the best thing for us all. To love eachother, not take it all for granted and to enjoy the little things again, moving across the country was the way for us to do all of that.
Staying in rural Michigan where I was raised was not the life I wanted. When I was 8, all 6 of my family members boarded a plane and went to Oregon to visit my super cool aunt. Visiting the coast in Florence and walking around flea markets in Eugene seeing all kinds of people in different walks of life changed my view on small town Michigan. My dream was always to move there and be that super cool aunt that my nieces loved seeing. I strayed off the dream path for a few years, 10 years to be exact, but finally one day I woke up and realized I needed to change my life if I ever wanted to be happy. And two days later I was on a plane to Eugene, Oregon.
It felt so freeing to only have my close family members know where I was going and what I was doing. My aunt was looking forward to having me stay with her and help the cause. When I landed after a 16 hour cross country plane trip (I had the longest layover in Chicago, which fuels my hate for that city), I walked into a house I had never been in before and it felt like home. The next few days my aunt was around to help me get comfortable with the new environment. We went back to the coast, exactly to the place at Heceta Beach where I had fallen in love so many years ago. Then she took me to the Sister Mountains. The almost 3 hour drive there was one of the most beautiful treks I had ever been on. On the way, we stopped at the Sahali Falls where you could walk right to the top of the waterfall with nothing blocking you from jumping in(if you did, you probably wouldn't be alive to talk about it). But it felt so amazing to have nothing holding you back.
Seeing the Sisters just took my breath away. I had never seen anything so magnificent in my life. Snow covered in the middle of April, like they didn't care that there was no snow anywhere else. We drove next to a field right at the base of the huge beauties, and I knew right then that this was there i was meant to be.
A couple weeks later, I decided to go back to Michigan to tie up loose ends and leave the proper way, not just pack in a day. I needed a plan. So I worked my ass off getting 3 hours of sleep between bartending and beverage carting every night for the next 3 months. Finally I saved up over $5000 to make the big move. I didn't have a solid plan like i had hoped, but that was okay. I leased a brand new car, found a couple great restaurant jobs, and eventually met my new best friend who I became roommates with.
I found some of the truest friends I could have ever asked for. It was okay that I only had 1 family member on that side of the country because I was surrounded by friends who treated me like family. If i ever needed a dinner date because I craved sushi (my new favorite food) or just wanted to stay inside and watch movies and day drink mimosas, I could text any of them and they would be there that minute. I lived in Michigan for 18 years and had only 2 friends like that in school. But as soon as we all graduated, nobody talked or would hangout. I was lucky to have Oregon.
Staying in rural Michigan where I was raised was not the life I wanted. When I was 8, all 6 of my family members boarded a plane and went to Oregon to visit my super cool aunt. Visiting the coast in Florence and walking around flea markets in Eugene seeing all kinds of people in different walks of life changed my view on small town Michigan. My dream was always to move there and be that super cool aunt that my nieces loved seeing. I strayed off the dream path for a few years, 10 years to be exact, but finally one day I woke up and realized I needed to change my life if I ever wanted to be happy. And two days later I was on a plane to Eugene, Oregon.
It felt so freeing to only have my close family members know where I was going and what I was doing. My aunt was looking forward to having me stay with her and help the cause. When I landed after a 16 hour cross country plane trip (I had the longest layover in Chicago, which fuels my hate for that city), I walked into a house I had never been in before and it felt like home. The next few days my aunt was around to help me get comfortable with the new environment. We went back to the coast, exactly to the place at Heceta Beach where I had fallen in love so many years ago. Then she took me to the Sister Mountains. The almost 3 hour drive there was one of the most beautiful treks I had ever been on. On the way, we stopped at the Sahali Falls where you could walk right to the top of the waterfall with nothing blocking you from jumping in(if you did, you probably wouldn't be alive to talk about it). But it felt so amazing to have nothing holding you back.
Seeing the Sisters just took my breath away. I had never seen anything so magnificent in my life. Snow covered in the middle of April, like they didn't care that there was no snow anywhere else. We drove next to a field right at the base of the huge beauties, and I knew right then that this was there i was meant to be.
A couple weeks later, I decided to go back to Michigan to tie up loose ends and leave the proper way, not just pack in a day. I needed a plan. So I worked my ass off getting 3 hours of sleep between bartending and beverage carting every night for the next 3 months. Finally I saved up over $5000 to make the big move. I didn't have a solid plan like i had hoped, but that was okay. I leased a brand new car, found a couple great restaurant jobs, and eventually met my new best friend who I became roommates with.
I found some of the truest friends I could have ever asked for. It was okay that I only had 1 family member on that side of the country because I was surrounded by friends who treated me like family. If i ever needed a dinner date because I craved sushi (my new favorite food) or just wanted to stay inside and watch movies and day drink mimosas, I could text any of them and they would be there that minute. I lived in Michigan for 18 years and had only 2 friends like that in school. But as soon as we all graduated, nobody talked or would hangout. I was lucky to have Oregon.
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