2019 - THE FIRST PART
Well, I’ve got a whole helluva lot to catch you all up on! Also, get ready. It's like 90% pictures. They're so much more descriptive and better than words.
This post is a precursor to the other one I'm working on. That'll be much longer, but covering a three-week trip I did recently. It's taking me a long while to write up (as it always does), but in the mean time, here's a good bit of what I've gotten myself into this year!
2019 - The first 3/4 of it
As it’s been almost a whole year since we last caught up, I’ll just give you the highlights with some pictures. So. What the hell have I done all this year? Well, I'll try to keep it brief (at least with the words, not the pictures)
Snowshoeing and some other winter stuff was a good bit of fun in the early part of the year. It wasn't a crazy good winter for snow, but Mt. Hood never fails to be a wonderful place to explore (whether there's a lot of snow or not)!
Because of the not-so-snowy winter, there's been great weather for Hiking almost all year! And as you know, the PNW is not short of options to adventure outdoors!
With my older sister close by, Mom in the same town, and my little sister coming back from DC every so often, there was a bunch of time for the Whole Family to hang out together. Always a treat!
I've been lucky to get back into Mountain Biking over the last couple of years, and this year I've gotten in a ton of riding. Portland is an amazing place to call home base with tons of trail networks close by, and I added to that with a trip to Oakridge, OR for a buddy's bachelor party, and then even got up to Whistler, BC. The Mecca of Mountain Bike Parks. Not once, but twice. Oh boy is it a blast!!! And, I'm slowly getting better.
Black Rock - Fish Ladder Gap Black Rock - ET Booter
I got all crafty and handy and made myself a sturdy little Shoe Rack! All my shoes were just sitting in the closet on the floor, and I had a tiny little spot in my entry way to utilize, so bada-boom bada-bing, a shoe rack! HUGE thanks to my buddy Joel for letting me use his shop!
Another amazing thing about Portland is it's a musical hotbed with great Concerts all the time. Because of that, I've been lucky enough to see a ton of great bands come through town, including Brasstracks, The Dip, The California Honeydrops, Harry Mack, and more!
Along with family I've had some amazing time with Friends, in Portland, out of Portland, out of the country, I'm really truly blessed to have some absolutely amazing people in my life!
Enough about Portland, but after this. This is such a cool city, with so many great things about it (and bad, of course, just like anywhere), it's truly a beautiful and awesome place to live.
A couple years ago I started learning how to Swing Dance, and I'm still going at it! I can keep a beat, but I don't know a whole ton. So weekly classes and social dancing has been awesome to slowly learn more and just have a great release during the week!
Hiking has been fun, but I've also gotten in a couple Backpacking Trips, which are always such a blast! Nothing like being responsible for everything you need out in the wilderness surrounded by nature! The pinnacle was a "Pleasure Cruise" with Sam and Morgan through North Cascades National Park. What a BEAUTIFUL place! We put in a little over 80 miles over 7 days, and saw some absolutely pristine scenery. Really, go to NCNP, it's beautiful! And make sure you have some crazy fun folks like Sam and Morgan. They make for amazing traveling buddies :-)
More about bikes, I ended up Building a Bike from the ground up! My old commuter bike was starting to wear, and I didn't want to have to rebuild it for the fourth time. So I decided to Treat Myself and splurge on a shiny new one. I bought the frame and everything about it, and put it all together myself. ZOMFG It's such a nice ride. And the color is picture perfect!
Last but the furthest from least has been all the fun times I've been able to share with my Awesome Mommy!!! I really love living in the same town as my Mom, because it means random breakfasts, fun times at baseball games, a random hike, helping out when we need it, and just being able to share some time together. I definitely have the coolest Mom ever.
That's a super clif-notes version of all that I've done. Obviously more, and more detail I could go into. But alas, I was not diligent at keeping up with all this throughout the year, and I've got a lot coming up in the next few months.
Now, because work is annoying, we’ll get that out of the way first. To do that though, I’m gonna have to rewind to last July.
Zeit zum Zurückkehren - Time to Return
As you all know, I did a work rotation in Germany as part of my career development program. It was a great experience, and I had a great manager over there. Last year, that manager reached out to me to see if I had any interest in going back to Germany to work for him! Long story short, it took a couple of different roles, some hemming and hawing, a lot of unsureness on my end, a TON of support from some amazing friends and family, and a bit of politics within the system, but I’ve accepted an expat position back in Germany, and will be moving back to Karlsruhe at the end of January 2020!
The role is still a little undefined, but it’ll deal mostly with trying to increase efficiency and cooperation for testing activities on a global scale. We’re moving into a few advanced projects where we need to leverage resources as best as possible and minimize any double work, regardless of what’s needed in whatever region. That’s super hand-wavy and full of buzzwords, but as I said, things are still to be defined.
So, what does this all mean? I will be packing up my belongings, moving out of my lovely little apartment (which is the most consistent dwelling I’ve had since high school), and moving away from Portland (which is the most consistent city I’ve lived in since high school) after roughly 3.5 years in the Rose City. At the end of January, I’ll be moving back to Karlsruhe to work back in Wörth at the Test and Development Center there.
Before I move, I get to go back for a week to re-meet the group, sit with my future manager and discuss the role and my fit, meet with my HR key account and do some paperwork and stuff, and get to some of the logistical things like an apartment search, registration, and stuff like that. That Look and See trip will take place sometime on December, roughly 6-ish weeks before I actually move over there, which will be at the end of January. Then, my contract starts February 1. It’s gonna be a whirlwind up until that point. But, it’s also going to be quite the next little chapter in life!!!
I’m going to do my best to enjoy the rest of the year before I go, and see as many people as I can. I won’t be gone forever, but I’m gonna miss all the lovely people around me!
I truly can't understate that enough - I am really going to miss being so close to so many amazing, loving, fun, adventurous, and awesome people. As I said, there was a lot that played into this choice, and truth be told, I had a bear of a time trying to decide if I wanted to do it or not. I almost said no. Part of the reason that could've made me decline this is the whole situation of being away from the ones I love. I never want anyone to feel I'm abandoning them because that's NOT the case. I've been given a great opportunity, and think of it this way, now you all have a couch to crash on in Germany!!!
With all of the indecision and unsureness that led to that acceptance of the expat position, as well as all of the bullshit and stress going on at work, I was WAYYYY overdue for a vacation. I knew I needed a trip, and earlier this year I booked tickets halfway across the world based off of a book.
Up Next
Pretty soon here I'll have another post published, and this one will be a write-up on my trip to Nepal!!! It was an amazing trip, and I can't wait for you to all experience the adventure!!!
Original Publish Date: November 14th, 2019