•9:54 AM
LANA:

I told DH I can't help it. I know it's dorky, and it's not exactly the food he ultimately aspires to create, but I think the fact that he works on film sets is just super cool. You can't deny that being based in MN for the past 28 years, you don't see a whole lot of this particular industry. I'm going to just sit here and be my dorky self and be gleefully delighted that this is the job God gave him for the time being!

There have been even more surprise blessings than we expected. In the matter of finances, we expected that he would be making one dollar less an hour than he did in Minnesota. When he arrived, he learned he would actually be making a dollar MORE per hour, with double overtime. We were so thankful for this news - maybe we could pre-qualify for a mortgage! - and there was still more to come. From next week he'll be officially promoted to 'chef' (which is yet another answered prayer - he gets to plan menus and actually use his passion for food much more than he has been), and be given a raise to a wage we have never even thought possible in this economy. We are joyfully amazed, and so grateful to God for this awesome gift to our family!

I love the strange little perks and nuances of his job, too. For instance, today he was told to park our van in the studio lot and leave the gas cap open. The transportation crew will fill the tank for him while he works. Much appreciated with a 20-mile commute and gas near $4.00/gallon. For another, he brought home an entire chocolate cheesecake. Not complaining! And best of all for this dork right here, an invitation for me and the boys to come visit the set when they film close to our neighborhood next week - I'm so there!

Yes, the schedule is grueling, but there seems to be a week off in April and another in May on the horizon which will be a lot of fun. Plus now for the first time in his career, he can count on having Saturdays and Sundays off.

All in all, it's a really exciting time for us, seeing what God has put in place for us here in Oregon. We're not entirely sure where this job will take him or how long he can do it, but we have the ultimate confidence the God does, and as long as we keep Him in sight, we'll be on the right track and enjoy the journey!
•10:21 PM
LANA:

We are here! DH flew to Portland on March 13th, and had pretty much been squatting in our apartment until the boys and my mom and I arrived by van 5 days later with provisions. Thankfully, a friend who lives nearby dropped by with some sleeping bags and pillows so he wouldn't have to curl up with a pile of socks and his coat for a blanket at night.

We are still living pretty scrappy here since our moving truck has yet to make an appearance. But it hardly matters.

Driving over from Washington into Oregon and pulling up to the first gas station to have my tank filled for me (it's illegal to pump your own gas here), I seriously almost cried happy tears. 20 miles outside of Portland, seeing mossy boulders and pine-studded cliffs bursting with waterfalls next to the highway and raindrops sprinkling down even in sunshine, I did. To say the natural beauty here is breathtaking is an understatement. There are forest corridors that are dark even in daytime, tree trunks wrapped with vines, and twisted branches completely fuzzy green with moss, pink and white cherry and apple blossoms between the roads - and this is all within the city and suburbs! In MARCH!! It's gorgeous and clean and fresh pretty much everywhere, and boy do these people like to landscape! I am thrilled that this is finally our home! As evidenced by the number of exclamation points in this paragraph!!!

As for DH's work, it's a pretty brutal schedule. He pulled a 17-hour day just before last weekend, and most days average about 15 hours. He leaves our apartment at about 2:45am and gets home around 7pm on a normal day, but every day is slightly different and he doesn't know until the end of the work day what to expect for the next day's schedule. A praise, though - he's actually been making more money per hour than he was told at the interview - with double overtime, which he hits by the 3rd day of the work week. Some of the guys doing this job work only 6 months out of the year. They take their much-needed breaks between projects to take real vacations and rest up for the next.

And yes, the elusive titles of the projects are finally known! He has been working on two sets - the first is the TV series 'Leverage', and the second is a pilot episode for a new NBC series called 'Grimm' that will air this winter if all goes well. He says that it's funny to see people coming to eat in costume - for Grimm there are a lot of policemen and CSI personnel with fake guns and handcuffs, and last Friday he fed a zombie. After the pilot, he'll work on a movie called 'Gone', which we know nothing else about at this point.

All in all, we're messy, we're tired, we've spent a heck of a lot of money getting here and need to spend a whole lot more to get settled again (need to buy second car again and replace all our furniture), but at this point, it's all just details. By the skin of our teeth and the grace of God, we made it home, and we've got nothing but time to sort it all out.