Hey springbabes!<br><br>
Yeah, let's totally hook up on your way through here. Want to meet at Braun Books? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> The Pastry Pub is fabulous, too. I could maybe arrange for some other hip mamas whom I've met on MDC to join us, too.<br><br>
I feel for your sis and bil. Teaching in that area is a total killer. It's all changed so much there. My grandma was born and raised in Lancaster. When I see pictures of her from when she was a kid, it's an entirely different world. I think I'd like to move to northern California along the coast somewhere. Who knows what'll happen. And, you're right, the cost of real estate can be prohibitive. I might have dh talked into retiring there though. The few trips I take there a year are just teasers for me. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/mecry.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="crying"><br><br>
My husband is firmly rooted here, but I'm ready to hop the next breeze outta here. He's a Cedar boy. Born here, grew up here, and to top it off, painfully shy and deathly afraid of big life changes <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/scared.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="scared"> , like moving. It must be the gypsy in me, but I'm down for selling the house and packing everything I own into a trailer (and give what won't fit to charity) and hit the road. It'd be the ultimate unschooling experience for dd and me. I have all kinds of crazy ideas like this, and my husband brings me back to Earth by asking how I'd finance it. I don't know. Sell some art? Weed gardens? Sell chicken eggs? Ride people's horses? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/shrug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="shrug"> I'm sure I'd think of something. That'd be part of the adventure. See, opposites really do attract. Dh is the pragmatist and I'm the idealist.<br><br>
But I grew up in Canyon Country and never left (except for family trips, etc.) until I went to college. Springbabes, you're looking at moving from a side I can't fully know. I've known "military brats" and they have very strong feelings about moving around so much. They felt cheated by the impermanence and transient experiences of their childhood. To never feel "settled" is probably more than a little disturbing on some level.<br><br>
And you had a good point about being so far from civilization. When that fiber optic line was cut in Richfield a month or so ago, I had no way of contacting anyone outside of Cedar. All land-line long distance, as well as my mobile phone, was useless. No credit card could be used and all ATMs were caput. Sheesh! Talk about being thrown back a hundred years. It was really unsettling.<br><br>
And there isn't much to be said about diversity here. I'm really glad that the Shakespeare Fest is here. It brings more educated people around, and there is a strong counter culture that is starting to make its presence felt. I'm hoping it doesn't get squashed by the powers that be. I've been to Moab, and I liked the progressive feel of it. I feel a little of that brewing here, but I like what you said about how "people always want to live where it feels like home for them." And it just doesn't feel like home to me here. Dh knows how I feel about moving to California. It's been a source of many discussions. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/shrug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="shrug"><br><br>
I met dh at a gym. (Btw, he's a recovering Mormon like I am.) I was in the middle of being this single, carefree career woman when I met him. I fell head over heels, the whole nine yards. Everything happened so fast. Moving in together (his LDS mom did not approve <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/nono.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="nono">), getting a house, having a baby. It all felt so right, and I had no consideration really for the future. I was living in the clouds so much, and the real skeletons in my closet had not started to make themselves known at that time. But none of that mattered except us. Isn't that how it goes?<br><br>
Now that the dust has settled and I'm facing my issues head on, in many areas of my life, the sh** started to hit the fan. That's also when my past, my heritage, caught up with me. I started to second guess everything I'd done for the past 10 or so years. I'm still married, but it hasn't been easy. Reconciling how I truly feel about where I am and what I want to do makes me want to run away to what's familiar. It sucks doing it, but I have to grow up and find peace where I am. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/duh.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="duh"><br><br>
On a more physical level, I really have a hard time with the weather here. When it's not freezing, it's windy. I think there are maybe two days out of the year that I would consider pleasant enough to be outside all day. I'm used to the Santa Anas, but c'mon! Every tree here is permanently bent to the north. And I'm a lizard. I like it hot. 90 degrees is nice.<br><br>
Oh, another great book is called <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Mormon America</span>, by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling. My dad's read both, too, and loves them. The info is presented so plainly that they are not condemning of the Mormon church, IMHO. The info is presented so that anyone unfamiliar with the LDS faith can understand the social, religious, and political roots of this marvelous religion. Those who are hostile toward Mormons may, unfortunately, use the info as fodder for their hatred. But looking at it from a purely historical perspective, ya know, stepping out of the religion of my childhood, both books are fabulous.<br><br>
Anyway, I'd better go. My laundry has blown off the swingset. That's where I dry the clothes! :LOL
