2 Year Anniversary in Portland

Today is my two year Portland anniversary. Who would have thought I would still be here settling into this odd but wonderful city? Two years ago I would have told you I would only be in Portland for 7 months. A year ago I would have told you I would probably only be here one more year. Now when people ask me how long I think I’ll live here, I simply say “I honestly don’t know, but why leave something that’s so good?” I still miss my family and friends in Texas every day, but the longer I am in Portland the more I love it and accept it as my home (at least for now).

After reading through some old blog posts and my post on this day last year, I realized how much I am continuing to grow year after year. If I was to describe this past year in one word it would be this: faith.

Within the last year I have discovered:

- you can plan your life, but 90% of the time things don’t go as you planned

- you should wear wrist guards when snowboarding

- you can do anything you put your mind to, even running 26.2 miles

- a little bit of encouragement can go a long way

- how to live in the moment

- giving visitors “Mary’s Portland Tour” never gets old

- spontaneity makes life more exciting
- I'm no longer weirded out or surprised by the weirdness of Portland

- how flat Texas really is in comparison to the Oregon terrain

- my Texas accent is never going away and it apparently gets stronger when I talk about Texas

- you can eat at a different Portland restaurant every night and never run out of options

- the power of prayer