Oregon Nesties
estherandgeoff2
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
**LindsayBee**
First off, welcome to the OR board. I hope you will have a good move to OR. Do you or DH have jobs lined up?
Secondly, could you check your signature in your profile? It is not closed off coreectly and it makes the Reply and other buttons dissapear at least in my browser. If you use <a href=""> for a link you have to close it off with </a>.
Re: **LindsayBee**
Thank you!
I'm not sure how exactly to change the problem with my signature. I am new to this site and I have no idea how all these things work. I tried to insert an anniversary ticker that I made, but I checked and it does end with </a> so I don't know what to do! Thanks for letting me know it was a problem, I will try to continue to figure it out.
I highly recommend you guys get jobs first-they are VERY hard to come by here, and employers are often unwilling to hire people from out of state, bc so many Oregonians are unemployed. This is NOT the state for you if you're thinking you can find a job quickly and easily. It took some of us a very.long.time to find jobs when we moved here.
Good luck.
Hey LindsayBee! I am new here too. I would recommend you check the ticker code and make sure you copied the whole block of code from the window. It appears like the final bits of it might be missing.
I am sure if you give it another go, it will work just fine.
But to answer your original question?and welcome to this great state of ours, by the way?I would definitely second the "start looking for a job if you don't have one lined up" comment. In general, however, I would say go exploring: Portland has lots of great, quirky attractions, including a giant bookstore, Powell's, and some fantastic parks, trails, etc. What sort of things are you interested in? I am sure we could give some great recommendations.
Thanks for the tips, I will give it another go!
We have started the job hunt online, but don't have anything lined up yet. We don't expect it to be quick and easy, but are hopeful we will find something in the first month or two, and have some money saved up in case things don't go as planned. I'm so very excited to go exploring! When my husband and I visited we only had one full day to walk the streets and stop into shops, so I know there is so much more for us to see! We are just trying to start a new life that is ours as we start our own family. My husband is a music man that plays about every instrument and writes all his own stuff, so he is interested in the music scene. I absolutely LOVE photography, and I think Oregon is the perfect place for me to dive into it and see where I can go with what I can do. Other than that we are wanting to become more outdoors people so I'm very anxious to see all the parks and trails. We did take a 5 mile hike while we were there on the coast (which is where he proposed) and it was absolutely breathtaking! Kansas doesn't have much sightseeing or natural beauty so this adventure I am ready for!
What kind of work will you be looking for??
Just don't get discouraged if you don't find something in the first month or two. It's BAD here. My husband has been out of work 14 months and counting....
Yikes! Unless you've got a years worth or more of living expenses saved up I wouldn't move here without at least one job offer having been accepted. You didn't mention what field you and your DH are in, but expecting to find a job in most any field right now within a month or two is completely unrealistic.
Really, I'm not sure you can realize exactly how bad it is until your brother has been looking for work for over two years. Or how your cousin looked for over a year, and decided to go back to grad school because the outlook was so bleak. Or how one of your best friends is having to pick up more hours at her job while going to school full time, because her husband had to quit his part time job to volunteer (and lose money to do this) in hopes that the connections he makes will help him get a job after 18 months of looking.
I'm not trying to be mean; it's just that if you currently have jobs it wouldn't be wise to leave them to come here for an adventure until the economy turns around.
I will speak for one of those who just moved to Oregon from Southern CA a few months ago (October) after researching it since this summer-why we chose Portland, where to live, costs of living, job markets, cost of moving (NOT cheap!). My DH and I agreed we wouldn't move until I got a job, though. I started researching companies this summer, and planned on a good year. After a few months of looking, I somehow was offered a position where I wanted to work, but had pretty specific skills that were pretty tailored to the position, so I moved up here and DH moved up when he could join me a few months later. DH is finishing up school and is planning to start grad school this summer.
The job market IS hard here...these ladies aren't lying. I lucked out and thank my lucky stars. We came from a very high cost of living area, but there were still expenses living registering cars, in our new state, startup costs of moving so far (and only being able to take so much) etc. that add up the costs, wiping out the small savings we did had.
But I will be positive in saying that we both love it here. LOVE. People are so nice, the area is gorgeous, and overall...it just has a great vibe to it. We've certainly taken advantage of the beauty and nature (and beer!) that Oregon has to offer. (but we're nice Californians...I promise!)
Learning to start all over again... Blog
Visit my blog about my family's experiments in eco-living
DH has been unemployed for 8 months as well. Oregon has among the highest percentage of unemployment in the country. So really do your research before you move.
The music scene is great. I love photography as well and there is plenty of opportunity here for that as well as hiking. But having jobs to afford those things is your first priority.
My amateur photo blog
I mean this in the least snarky way possible: you really should NOT move to OR. For real. In think we rank like top 5 in unemployment in the country.
You may be thinking "I'm different, I'll have options". Really, no. I'm a professional, very educated, and I have connections I thought I could fall back on. Unfortunately, so do thousands of other people. I think hourly people at Powells at least have a bachelors, and many a Masters.
We were transferred here with DH's work. It took me months to find work, and even now my salary is significantly less than what I could command (and did) on the East Coast.
Please don't come to OR and start using up resources if you won't be paying into the system. Its not fair, and trust me when I say the 'plan' you have is going to put you on government assistance in no time.
Also, Lindsay, I see you decided you loved OR after a summer visit. Everyone loves OR during the summer. However-it LITERALLY rains and/or is gray from October through May. As in, you will rarely see the sun.
Its really not the Wonderland you think it is. It IS beautiful here, but it seems like you've created somewhat of an unrealistic fantasy for yourself. Did you see all the young, homeless kids we have here who are your age? How do you think that happened? Many of them 'play music' as well.
Wow Scarlett! I do believe you are the rudest person I have encountered in quite some time. Regardless of how "helpful" you THINK you are being.
First of all, I am well aware of where Oregon ranks in unemployment, because I have done my research.
How dare you assume that I have this way of thinking that I will have some awesome job when I immediately get there, and I don't think I'm different than anyone else! I have had to struggle all my life so having a low salary for a less than desirable job are not something I'm scared of. We are definetely moving to Oregon, and I don't think it's fair of you to tell us not to because you don't want us using up YOUR resources. The state does not belong to you so you should stop acting like your the only one allowed to use up what they have. You don't know what our "plan" is, so for you to assume we will automatically be using government assistance is ridiculous. I posted on this site seeking support and advice from people who have been in this position before, not so some self righteous person could tell me where NOT to move and bash my ideas like I just came up with them yesterday.
We have put alot of though into our move, and yes we only visited in the summer but my mother in law also lives there so we are not unaware of the weather and bad things about Oregon. I personally love the rain and I saw many many homeless people. Again, we've done our research! I don't think it is a wonderland and just what part of what I've said makes you think I've made this unrealistic fantasy for myself?? I'm simply trying to find more information on the state I am moving to, and someone asked me about my interests. My interests and expectations are two completely different things, and just because my husband plays music does not mean we expect to live off of that and that alone. So I would appreciate it if you quit criticizing every single thing I have said about our move.
I understand you want people to know what it is really like, but it sounds to me like you don't like any outsiders moving into YOUR state. For all you know we have been saving up for years and years, because that's how long we've been planning this, so thank you for being rude and demeaning, but I just don't need that kind of help.
OK, LindsayBee!
You can go away and not come back now. You don't know her in real life, but we all do. Calling Scarlett rude is not acceptable, because she is one of the most amazing women I have ever met.
She was trying to be helpful, just like we all were. Maybe you should have posted that you've got two years worth of living expenses and that you both have PhDs and thus will be snapped up in a heartbeat in a high market area in your original post if those were the cases. But the truth is, the vast majority of people moving to Oregon probably don't and are sucking up resources that we - the people who are fortunate enough to have jobs - provide.
So back the eff off. And stay in Kansas where you can get blown away by a tornado. Kthxbai.
*waits to link arms with other awesome Oregon ladies and walk off*
WOAH WOAH WOAH...slow down LindsayBee.
First...Scarlett IS one of the nicest people ever...so don't call her rude.
You're right...we did all assume your situation because of what you had posted initially, wihch didn't include alot of critial information that we made judgements on. I know the girls here have heard so many time "we're moving to Oregon! No jobs! We'll be fine!" Meanwhile, their loved one's go months and months looking for a job and struggling to make ends meet...so you have to consider their pont of view, too.
We didn't know you had 2 years worth of savings saved up for this move. We didn't know you did tons of research. We didn't know your high levels of experience you have. Yes, it's wrong to assume things, but you assumed Scarlett's an unhelpful rude person, which is SO far from the truth. So, I guess we're all guilty.
In the months I've lived here, I've learned Oregonians are VERY passionate people, very protective of their state, and very passionate about fixing their state. This is why you get such a harsh response of "don't move here." I got it, too and understandably so. They were just trying to warn me...and the same to you.
Learning to start all over again... Blog
*sigh*
Listen, that was me being NOT snarky. And the fact that you are so defensive tells me that you're more than a little concerned about the truth in what I said. Which, by the way, I based solely on what YOU had posted-I didn't make any assumptions, bc you spelled it all out for us: this grand 'plan' of yours.
But hey, do what you want. You're obviously going to be so much different from all the other people like you with the same half-baked plan. How foolish of me to think otherwise.
Here, let me put it to you in a snarky way, since you're accusing me of being such an ass: If you move here w/o a job, you're an idiot. I'm not going to argue that point with you further.
ETA: You failed to pick up on the fact *I* was an 'outsider' once too-not long ago actually. Many of us were. We have been in that situation, so its laughable for you to paint me otherwise. We have also helped many an Oregon nestie (myself included) find a job when their DHs school or job brought them here.
The difference between us and you (or people who listen to logic and you) is that we or our DHs were gainfully employed before we made the move. TIA.
...And thanks Ladies for defending me. I PPH all of you IRL and online, and one of the reasons I've become so passionate about this subject is bc I see you and your peeps dealing with this awful economy of ours and the repercussions of it. Its easy to get defensive when no one you love is struggling.
*Hugs!*
Well I doubt any of you will accept it, but I do apologize. I honestly just felt very attacked by Scarlett's words because I am just needing information on a new state. The husband says we are moving so we are moving, I can't argue that and I'm terrified so I just needed some help.
Being told I had a plan that will immediately fail and that it is very likely I will be homeless....yes it put me on the defense.
I simply needed someone to politely tell me that it is worse than most people think and to be very prepared, but I got much more than that.
It will please some of you to know I will not visit this page again since I am not welcome, sorry for wasting your time.
Everyone got defensive, and I'm sorry for what I said before. Honestly though, we don't want people to move here and to suffer and to go into debt because they can't buy groceries because they can't find a job. We don't want people to be homeless. It's sad, and I wouldn't want anyone to go through that. But that's how it is here right now. That's why people are so blunt about it. It's not that we hate anyone who moves here, people just need to have a plan.
I also can't understand why you can't talk this out with your husband. If Jeff said "Hey, we're moving back to Boston in 3 weeks!" I would be telling him hell effing no! You should have some input on where you live, too. Can't you talk to him and say that you're not moving until you've got money saved up and until you've got at least one job lined up? Or some sort of plan rather than flying by the seat of your pants? If you can't, I'm sorry. I couldn't live in a marriage like that.
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