Well, there it is! We moved to Oregon, DH got in a job he loves, we bought a house, I had my real Christmas tree and... are we done? Is the sparkle of all things fast and new gone?

Oh no. No no no.

Things HAVE happened and I hope they always will. I looooove change and progress and possibilities around the corner. DH was promoted to Lead Line Cook after just 6 months, the minimum waiting period for promotions at his job! He's been told by his superiors that he is one of the best cooks they have ever hired and the management sees him as a 'key player' in the future growth of the Allison, which is quite an honor. *proud wife*

I have a driving ambition in encouraging my sister and her husband to venture out West (and if you even MENTION to me you want to move - you'll be on my hit list, too!) They have the itch to move out of Minnesota, and I am presenting Portland to them with great fanfare and allure. When Kelsey visited us a week ago, she played in the Pacific Ocean, the mountains, hiked up a waterfall, the zoo, downtown vintage shopping, Jory restaurant, the beer movie theater, Voodoo Doughnuts and probably a dozen other things in her 7-day stay, all in the cocoon of balmy spring-like weather that remained in the 50's the entire time. So far, pleased to say, it seems to be working.  I hear September 2012 is Final Decision Month for them.

As for the house - lots of work to do! But it's ours, and the kids yell, and I work out and do laundry at 11pm and don't worry about who can hear me. Awesome.

Last of all, we got a bunny. A pregnant bunny. Due next week! Who wants a baby bunny?

Anyway, we've finally come home, and this glow, this warmth, this deep-seated satisfaction of finally being settled after years of striving to 'arrive', so to speak, is immensely gratifying. We're content with days of DIY house projects and punching the timecard in the general quietness - for now. :)

House hunting in this economy, in our price range, in this area of the country - is a complete rat race! Every house we've been interested in enough to offer on, has been scooped out from under us sometimes even before we got the chance view the property! Investors throwing in their cash offers, properties that banks won't finance because it needs too many repairs or simply doesn't have a fridge, 5 other offers on the table, short sales and all their funny laws and ways... we haven't gotten anywhere.

Now one of the properties we wanted to offer on but couldn't because 3 other offers had already been submitted the day before and the bank chose another, went back on the market yesterday. This time we're the first offer in. Last night, I felt immense peace and excitement. That same anticipation I was assured with the night before we sold our house, and right before DH got invited to Oregon for his first interview. It's incomparable, and the message feels clear. I am sure this is... it.


AAAAAAAGGGGGHGHHHH before I could finish this post, our realtor called!! We got it we got it we got it!!!!!!

LANA:

Now that DH is out of the film catering gig and received his last paycheck, I can finally spill the goods! I already said he wanted to leave the job because of the insane hours and relatively low food quality. But there was a whole lot more to it.

I guess you hear it all the time - the film industry is hard and cold. But if you're like me, you were probably thinking of it from the talent's point of view. Constant rejection and criticism, the casting couch, things like that. I was surprised, maybe more than I should have been, that it's hard and cold all the way down to the ground level behind the scenes.

It's a 100% fear-driven work environment. They do not want you to feel comfortable or secure about your position on the crew. I didn't mention it before because our mortgage lender would not have liked to hear this at all, but DH's company signed a contract with the production company every single night to be hired for the next day and the next day only. The upper echelon on set (the producers and execs) are rich, powerful and moody because they can be, and because it works to keep your performance on its toes. They know what you are being paid and they know 200 people would jump into your place in a dead second.

There is no loyalty to speak of, even within the catering crew. It truly is every man for himself. Mysterious 'complaints' run rampant on the set, and any one of these could be grounds for your termination, whether or not they are true, or even important (for example, if one person out of 120 thinks the table seating is too tight - and she happens to be dating one of the producers). DH was expressly warned not to do any special favors outside of what they were under contract for without speaking to his boss first, because today's kind gesture could become expected as an entitlement tomorrow and if you refuse to do it again, you may find yourself out of a job depending on whom you've ticked off.

Frenchy, DH's boss, has been in the business for over 20 years and seems comfortable playing any game that needs to be played to cover his own back. Sadly, it was hard to respect him in the end. It was interesting to me that his longest term employee has been there only three years (and he's on the verge of leaving as well). Despite the money to be made and stars to meet and the parties to go to, no one can do it for long. It's too demeaning, and too lonely.

The heavy paycheck was great, of course, but it came with many strings and ugly feelings, and the uncomfortable knowledge that it could end at any moment for any trivial reason at all. It's no way to live.

For us, anyway.

LANA:

Ah...heh. Yep!

So it sure is good that God prepared us for the decision we made this week. Had He not, would we have been able to make the decision we did? Would the decision have even been on the table? You know what, I don't think so. We would have never been where we are now, physically and spiritually, if He hadn't brought us through so many storms. And now the financial waters may get kind of rough again, but our souls are soothed, and even assured that this is the right road.

DH decided to accept the job at the restaurant, at a rather crippling pay cut. If we had not gone through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and rid ourselves of debt, saved a bundle and learned how to limit our living expenses, it is pretty much a given that we would not have been able to afford to take it. But I trust my husband's relationship with God as much as my own, and he feels strongly this job opportunity was a clear answer to his prayers. There certainly were many 'coincidences' of timing and events that made it very easy for him to nab the position. Almost like he was being prodded and pushed along towards it through doors opened by invisible hands.

Apart from the initial wage issue, DH is going to absolutely love the work ahead of him. The kitchen has its own gardens on site to grow produce, and close relationships with local farmers for pork and beef. The executive chef who hand-picked DH for the position previously worked under Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, which is pretty much any chef's nirvana. DH will finally be able to grow as a chef again, and have a good chance to advance up through the ranks (he's going in at the bottom). We have absolutely not given up on Paris, either. We're getting closer, in a roundabout sort of way. :)

I prayed that the wage would be 'enough', and even though, yes, in all honesty a few indignant tears may have squeezed their way out (how many times should one man be asked to 'start over' in the only field he's worked in for 14 years??), they have dried up now and I trust that it is indeed enough, simply because that's what we will be given for now. I am so, so glad that we learned that money cannot be our comfort and safety - only God can be that, and His arms are so much wider and loving than the hard, unfeeling god that money makes - counting on that god just stresses me out!

So DH has just two more days on the set. I do not know what this is going to do to my chances of going to the wrap parties! But it's cool. I'm going to get my husband back from the land of 17-hour shifts, and he's going to be inspired in his work again. He's even going to take a week break in between the end of this job and the start of the next. A whole week to rest and spend time with the boys and I, maybe take a drive down to CA to see the redwoods and hit 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' museum along the way.

To make it even better, DH's dad  'happens' to be stopping in for a visit one of those days! It'll be the first time his dad has ever met Theo in person. DH would not have been able to be off work from the set that day if everything didn't happen when it did, and he would have missed what is definitely going to be a rare and special time for our continentally-divided family. Life is good.

Thank God for change, and for new adventures! Let's get this show on the road!

LANA:

LANA:

 I know DH is completely blasé about the whole thing (or maybe it's clinical-level exhaustion), but the boys and I visited him on set for the first time yesterday to watch him in action, and it was about one of the coolest things ever. When we were driving closer to the set location, there started to be little yellow signs tied to the street poles saying 'LEVERAGE' with arrows pointing out the turns. That was exciting. Then I had to talk to someone at the parking lot entrance. I told him I was there to have lunch with DH in catering, and he pointed me to 'Crew Parking'.

The boys and I found the base camp where DH was set up and then mainly lurked around the catering truck and tent to wait for lunch to begin. Christian K. was one of the first to come striding up to the table to table to eat. No thoughts of 'he looks shorter/fatter/paler/disappointing in person' here. Quite the opposite - he practically sparkles. Seriously. Like he walked - go figure - right off a tv set. He was tan, cut, upbeat and friendly with the cooks, complimenting them on the dishes and flipping his hair around like no one's business. DH says he comes out for lunch pretty often (many main actors just have production assistants run them food in their trailers).

 LANA:

I woke up in the middle of the night not too long ago, and in my foggy 3am brain, I could just grasp at the tail end of this cool dream - our family had made the move to Oregon, DH was cooking for tv shows and movies, and I was about to start shopping (and working out amongst the moss-enrobed pines) for my dress for the wrap party.

Then I grinned like a lunatic at myself in the bathroom mirror and literally boogied my way back to bed - my bed that is safely anchored under a patch of pine trees right outside of Portland, empty because my caterer husband has left for the set over an hour ago - to envision what sort of pretty cocktail party dress and shoes I finally have a decent excuse to buy.

I'd had a lot of those dreams in the past year - the we-made-it-there-everything's-going-fine dreams - only to slowly surface and see I was still existing quite solidly in our unfortunately-decorated orange bedroom with brown marbled wallpaper in Detroit Lakes, with no hint of reliable employment in sight and the ever-present dread of having to visit 'the weird tenants' this week.

So what with already being so happy and thankful for our prayers having been answered about all of this, it's with a little trepidation, a bit of guilt (here it comes again) and a lot of shyness that I admit... I'm asking God for more.

A house.

It's been just 3 weeks since I got here, but I can barely think of anything else. We are so close to being truly HOME. This apartment, while quite nice and safe and happily not boasting the brown/orange/green color scheme of Detroit Lakes, comes with a Japanese businessman upstairs who unwinds by singing some karaoke into an impressive sound sytem every Saturday night and the constant threat of receiving a lease violation if I use the washer/dryer after 10pm (or fail to use the fan while I cook, or hang curtains without prior approval, or my bike rolls 6 inches off the patio, etc., etc.). You get the gist of it. This isn't really OUR place.

I can't wait to make a home for my family again. I've got stars in my eyes, dreaming of pretty paint colors, sparkling lights, a fenced yard with a puppy. And the best part is I wouldn't have to ask anyone if that's ok with them first!

We know the responsible thing to do would be to put this job DH has been given to good use and put together a 20% down payment. That would still be hard to achieve (and more hard to wait for, especially since we rented this apartment with only a 6 month lease in hopes of being in a home by then), but God has brought us this far; I know He'll give us His patience and wisdom and bring this whole journey to completion; I really can't wait to see what He's got in store for us.