10 minutes from the office, 10 minutes from the mountains, 5 minutes from the freeway, walking distance to a grocery store and movie theater, and about all the shopping I could ever need to decorate and maintain a home.
The neighborhood itself is just adorable; it boasts a wide range of starter homes and giant live-and-die-here-types of homes, with a cute little apartment complex nearby that keeps everything interesting.
And the people? Oh gosh. I love the neighbors.
They're all so different. Mormons, Muslims, Catholics, Atheists ... Asians, Hispanics, Indians, and Caucasians. There are new little families with one or two kids, elderly couples, empty nesters, and people wrangling teenagers.
I've started up a book club to try to get to know more of them.
I've met a handful; it is always so fun to connect with women of all ages and backgrounds through a book. Gives you some common ground; somewhere to start a real, meaningful conversation. Most memorable of the book club meetings had to be when Rima came. We had read "A Thousand Splendid Suns", a book following two women living in Afghanistan during the takeover of the Taliban. She set us straight on a lot of the culture there. She grew up in Saudi Arabia and insisted she did not know Afghanistan, but she certainly had a better idea of it than the rest of us! We talked about the burka and how for many women it was a badge of honor, of being loved and protected and privileged. How the head covering is, for many, a cultural fashion statement more than a token of faith. I have loved getting to know her and learning her perspective on things!
A cute young mom in the apartment started up park days ... I was so relieved! That was probably the best way I made friends in our California ward; getting outside in the fresh air for some adult interaction while the kids learn to play with others is absolutely the most refreshing thing. It saved me when I was all by myself with Mac, and now that I have three kids, it saves us all. Belle has found a couple of really great little girls to pal around with; Hailey and Afton are her "best friends" and she asks for them on a daily basis.
Hailey's mom teaches ballet, and even put on a couple of free intro-to-ballet classes at the church. Of course we just had to go. Belle was in heaven prancing around the gym with Hailey.
Mac has some little buddies as well. He even played on a baseball team with Sam this year.
We've had a few little families over for dinner and loved every one.
It's not like it was in California; I don't think it ever will be the same. Because here, friends come second to family. And we finally have family around!
But this home feels like it is exactly where we need to be.
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