We flew into Portland June 6th so we have been here for a month and a half now. Last week the couches we ordered finally arrived and Friday our stuff from Berlin will finally arrive. I still have stuff here and there all over the valley but more and more it is coming back to me as I clear out from spaces. My wine was collected from one house, some of my stuff came with me from my parents house. My stuff is out of my Aunt’s house and the end table came from the place I lived before I left. My brother reminds me that he has some stuff he will bring over soon, etc.

All of that is to say that often we get asked if we have settled into our house and life yet.

And then answer is…more and more, bit by bit but it still all feels pretty surreal.

The settling process is a process and it is so interesting. I was talking to my therapist the other day about finding out who I am in this place at this time. In each location that we dwell, we find different aspects of ourselves. We take on hobbies, interests, loves, doubts, and places we dwell differently. I have changed over the past five years much like this place and these people have changed. We have had life surrounding us and everything and everyone has changed because of COVID, life circumstances, big surgeries, life changes like babies born and people around us have passed. I have shifted what I prioritize and how I priortize it. I have had experiences that have changed me, travels that have opened me, healthy ways of living that I don’t want to give up but also there are things here I want to take on that I missed.

Settling doesn’t take into account all of these shifts and thoughts and dreams and feels. Settling disregards that maybe we don’t want to settle fully but enough to live life well and to have lovely moments without giving up pieces of what has become part of me.

At the same time, it is feeling nice to settle into this house and gain some routines. It is lovely to start to work with the church in a regular way. It is wonderful to establish more and more of who we are here. We are starting to meet a few neighbors and sit out on our patio almost every evening. We are starting to figure out walks we like and places we like to try. We have work spaces and we eat at the dining room table together. There is something to be set for setting a place as home and making it more and more so.

We will see what happens!