To Dare Mighty Things: How we got here

Although our obtaining jobs and deciding to move to Eugene happened rather quickly. a lot took place in a short period of time. Before I explain how it all went down, let me explain how it all began.

We got married on July 24, 2010. Since that day, we always talked about our goals and aspirations. Some of these goals have already come true such as obtaining our degrees and visiting Kenya where Samantha is from. However, something we always wanted to do was move away from Springfield, not because Springfield is a bad place, but because we wanted to experience other parts of the world together. We always semi-joked that after graduating school, we would find jobs somewhere completely random and unknown to us. Little did we know, that somewhere would be Eugene, Oregon.

Back in May of 2015, we obtained our degrees. Although we had jobs already, we knew better ones were out there now that we had the necessary education. One possible destination we always considered was moving to Portland. I applied to many jobs in Portland and the surrounding suburbs, but I never received any feedback. After becoming disappointed with the lack of prospects in Portland, I randomly applied for a mental health therapist position for an organization called Willamette Family. At the time, I only noticed that the job was in Oregon and that was good enough for me. I didn't even think I would hear back from them like all the other jobs I applied to.

But I got a call. Willamette Family wanted to do a phone interview on June 4. At the time, I was also having interviews with other organizations around the country. Not thinking much about it, I didn't even bother to look at where Willamette Family was located. However, I became excited about this organization after my interview. The phone interview lasted well over an hour and I felt really good about it. They seemed to connect with my therapeutic style and believed in providing a full spectrum of services including medical and mental health services at their center. Noticing my excitement, Samantha wanted me to look up where this organization was located. Not knowing where Eugene was located or what the city was about, we researched the city on the internet. We quickly discovered that Eugene was similar in size to Springfield and was also a college town with the University of Oregon located there. We also learned that Eugene was a family friendly city and that the ocean and mountains were located nearby. Researching the city made us want to explore the city for ourselves, we just needed to hear back from Willamette Family to see if I was offered the job.

On June 24th, I received an email from them; they had offered me the job! After finding out I got the job, we started looking for job opportunities for Samantha in Eugene. Samantha applied to so many jobs, but the one she ended up getting was one of the first jobs she applied for which was for a review program specialist position at an international non-profit organization called Organic Material Review Institute (OMRI). She was offered a phone interview on July 16th. A long month later, she was offered a second interview via Skype on August 19th. A day later, she was offered the job. After being offered the job, we immediately purchased plane tickets to visit Eugene between September 5-12 to see if this was where we wanted to move. During that time, we visited the city and much of the surrounding area. We looked at houses and found one close to where Samantha would be working. Samantha even got to visit her employer who invited her to a downtown scavenger hunt and a visit to a local brewery where we both got to harvest hops. How cool is that? After the visit, Samantha felt welcomed by organization. Working for an international non-profit organization has always been one of Samantha's goals, and now she has seen the goal come to fruition.

Below are some of our pictures from the visit to Eugene. We will be leaving to Eugene on September 29 carrying all of our possessions and belongings in a moving truck. We both begin our first day at work on October 5. It is amazing how this all came together. Truly, we feel this is something that was meant to be and we look forward to this new chapter in our lives.

Waiting in the hotel lobby in Portland.

On top of Spencer's Butte, a fantastic hike.

A local Eugenian hiking barefoot.

At the Pacific Ocean, about an hours drive away from Eugene.

Just some of the quirkiness that is common in Eugene.

Samantha feeling chill in Eugene.

We got lost in Portland. It ended up being okay though, we actually enjoyed ourselves. Portland is only two hours away from Eugene.

Enjoying an afternoon at Hendrick's Park in Eugene. Eugene is home to many beautiful parks.

On the plane to Eugene for the first time.

Salt Creek Falls is about 90 minutes from Eugene.

A landlord at one the houses we visited us gave us some of the grapes growing on the property. They were delicious!

Dutch Bros. Coffee is found everywhere in Eugene. We received free drinks because it was our first visit. Way to make an impression on us Dutch Bros.!