WHY NEETIE MAE'S HAT BOX?

Nettie Mae was my great grandmother. Simple as that, she was a hard working, loving, beautiful woman who I loved and respected even though I really didn't know her that well, she passed away when I was 13, and my family might accuse me of romanticising or idealizing her life, but if I am please keep it to yourself. I didn't even know that her real first name was Nettie until this summer when my hero, my grandfather died, I knew her as Grandma Richards or Grandma. She lived in Payette Idaho, which is only about 10 miles from my new home in Ontario, and played a big part in our decision to move east(that and the fact that, in Portland Oregon we couldn't move far enough west to get away from the jerks without drowning)to the high desert.

We started planning our escape quietly in June or July. The Oregon coast sounded like heaven, I spent a very big chunk of my childhood there. Let me tell you,it's expensive and jobs are very hard to come by. Central Oregon has the same issues. We bought a big map of the state and lived with it on our kitchen wall,running over to it looking for places that had something to offer, a low cost of living, a job, low land prices, it was the same every evening around our place for quite awhile, check the map and then check the web. We fell in love with Sumter, but how to make a living? The idea of being snowed in and house bound with Nick and Bruno was beautiful, but love doesn't put food on the table. One day, while I was at work, Nick went on line and googled the company I was working for. There was a location in Bend, one in Redmond and one here in Ontario. We planned a trip out here to see what it was like in October. To say that, initially, we were underwhelmed would be an understatement, but we decided to give it a couple day to explore. Boy am I glad we did! This town is great for us, the people are friendly, the sky is blue, the town is flat and there is great coffee! So that was that, the decision was made, Ontario it is.

I gave my notice at work, we picked a date and we started packing. There were a few times when I asked myself if this was really the right thing to do. When I had those moments all I had to do was look over at Nick, I know that beside him is where I want to spend the rest of my life, and that when we work together to achieve a goal we can't fail.

So here we are, at the Ontario Inn, our temporary home, waiting to hear if our offer on our dream house is accepted. The proud owners of a newly acquired 1980 Datsan pick up truck. Two people and one dog who love each other and want to build our dream life together.