We have lived in Utah 6 months now (I can't believe it!!!), and I keep forgetting to post about our house, and our Utah experience. Out house is on the end of a U shaped street, so we don't really have a
neighbor next to us on the left. We just have a big grassy area where
we put our swing set. The boys LOVE playing out side, and are out there
for hours EVERY day. Many times Wesley is out there bright and early,
and then after school (when school was in session) until dinner. I love that my kids love it, and I
love how safe our neighborhood is. I check on them quite a bit, but I
feel safe letting them play in the front. In Cali, I never let them in
the front unless I was with them, and we lived in a pretty safe area.
Bad things can happen anywhere, but there is definitely a much different
atmosphere in our new neighborhood vs our older one. We never have hovering helicopters like in our old neighborhood, and we rarely have sirens. When we used to hear a siren go down the street, we assumed it was probably for a shooting, or drugs, or a robbery. Here, we assume someone had a heart attack, or a house is on fire. There is NO graffiti in our neighborhood. No scary gang looking people. No litter. Most people are friendly and helpful, and want to say hi. I can go to the store, and not be paranoid I'm going to be mugged. I don't always have to be 'watching my back' so to speak. I feel like I am in a movie. This can't be really how people live! Its so nice to
feel so safe and comfortable. Yes, Yes, bad things can happen here too (and do occasionally), and I will always have my Cali instincts, but it really is such a different feeling here. I think we are one of the few houses on our street that keep the porch lights on ALL night.
I also love all the nature that surrounds
us. I love going on hikes around the neighborhood. There are literally
hundreds of hiking trails all over the area. It has been fun exploring
them. We live up the side of a hill, and our street is
a little steep. Its not as easy to walk on as our old neighborhood.
However, all the nice hiking trails make up for it! :-) Its amazing that we can be driving in the middle of the city, and there will all the sudden be a sign pointing to a hiking trail. There, in the middle of the town, is a gorgeous forested nature area with streams and so on. It seems in California, there is not a lot of nature left in the cities, (besides the trees that have been planted, and people's gardens).
Our house is huge. Coming from a smaller house, I was pretty excited to have more room. However, I was super naive, and assumed that it wouldn't get as messy if we only brought 1500 sq feet of stuff into a 4000 sq foot house. Yaaaaa right. Kids will make a 4000 sq foot mess in a 4000 sq foot house - simple as that. Cleaning it is an all day, every day job. Besides that, there are a lot of things I really do love about it. I love the big basement (play room) we have. I love all the storage. At our old house, things were squished in closets, in the garage, and in any other nook and cranny I could find it. I was sooo stressed by how messy and stuffed our old house was getting. Now, I have tons of room in the basement to store all the boy's old clothing, food storage, holiday decorations, and so on. I have so much room for all my craft items, and all our of children's books. I don't have to cram all three boy's clothing in one little room. The boys love the giant tub in the master bathroom with jets. They call it the 'swirly whirly' tub. The boys each have their own room, plus we have two guest rooms, I have a craft room, and we have an office room. We could have like 6 or 7 more kids and still be comfortable (ya right - that's not going to happen, lol). I love the big window that is above our door. It overlooks the valley below, so when I walk up the stairs at night, I can look out and see all the lights. Even though we live on a hill, our house doesn't have supper views. However, we get to see the view each time we drive down our street, and our living room has nice views in between the houses in front of us. A few rooms upstairs also have awesome views. I wish we had a big backyard, but we do have a big side yard with a swing set, and the boys have plenty of room to run around.
There is sooo much to do up here. I have been so busy the last 6 months taking the boys to all sorts of fun places. In California, there is a lot to do, but sometimes things are far away, or you have to deal with traffic and crowds. There is often so much going on, its hard to hear about things in Cali. Here, everything seems pretty close, and easy to get to. If there is a big event, everyone knows about it. There are a lot of people up here, but not nearly as many as in so cal. I feel like, if I had my friends and family up here with me, things would be perfect. However, to be honest, I am lonely. I am getting to know people from my ward and neighborhood, but I don't have any super close friends yet. Everyone is sooo nice, and I feel like I've gotten to know way more people here than I did in the years I lived in my old ward, but I do miss the close friends I had in cali. I don't know how long we will live up here. Its so hard, because I was terrified to move up here. It was one of the HARDEST things I've ever done, but it really has been very rewarding. I love it here. However, If we get the chance, we will probably move back down to Cali. I will miss Utah sooo much though. Its growing on me in ways I could have never imagined. If we do move back, living in such a nice area has ruined me. I don't think I can ever go back to my old town. Ontario is where I grew up, and I will always appreciate it. However, now that I know better, and live in such an amazing area, we will have to move to a nicer part of Cali (which unfortunalty means it will cost more $$$ too). Good 'ol expensive California. I am grateful though for the experiences I have had in Utah. I feel like a kid getting to experience seasons. Spring was amazing. Everything went from DEAD, to green in a matter of weeks it seemed. The flowers started coming out of the ground, the trees started getting these gorgeous flowers on them. Everything was coming to life. I've never experienced anything like that in California. Even this Summer heat I appreciate more (and I normally hate the heat). In Cali, it is hot about 9 months (or more) out of the year. Here, I know this heat will only last a few months, and it will start to get cold again. I know that in the Winter we will be stuck inside due to the snow, so I'm embracing the Summer in ways I never have in my life. I'm amazed by how much I have experienced in my 6 months living in Utah. It has been hard leaving everything I have ever known and loved behind, but I have also grown in so many different ways. I'm lonely - I'm not going to lie. I miss my family sooo much. I miss the beach. I miss Disneyland. But I do love Utah. This adventure we are experiencing is fun, and new, and exciting, and that is what life is about, right? :-)
Here are some random pictures of my house and neighborhood that I have taken over the past 6 months
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| It was fun getting my garden ready in the Spring time |
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| Sledding in the back yard |
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| Now I know where the "popcorn popping on the apricot tree" comes from! A bunch of tree sprouted pretty white flowers at the end of Winter. They only lasted a few weeks, but it was so pretty! |
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| Pretty views from my neighborhood |
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| This was at the beginning of Spring when the snow was starting to melt, and the world was turning green. I LOVE the gorgeous mountain views. They surround us! |
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