Nice to meet you Santa Rosa

Does anyone blog anymore? I've been swept away with the social media craze that is instant gratification in small tid-bits. Heaven forbid I read a paragraph. But I started blogging when no one else knew what a blog was, really I'm so cutting edge like that. So why stop now? With two young home-schooled kids and one on the way, my posts may be fewer and further between, but writing will prevail.

So we moved and settled into this new life in Santa Rosa. There's been a lot of learning. The steepest climb has been for me, and if I had to pick, I would choose it this way. I'm so grateful that my kids transitioned without any effort, and that Brent is thriving at work. Leaving family and friends in the desert was hard for this mamma who was just starting to get comfortable with the luxury of having family close.

I've learned I thrive when I am out to prove something. Maybe this is something we all do. The heart kicks in, and we're going to survive. This was evident when I was the underdog my first year at Aspen. Everyone in my studio were from conservatories on the East Coast, and I was this ugly duckling from Utah. But while they were out partying and drinking at night, I was still practicing, logging the extra hours. In the end it paid off in a big way. Again we challenged the norm when we chose to live (and raise our family) in an old-folks home in the "arm-pit of California" that is Riverside. It could not have been a more unconventional situation. But I loved it. Really, I LOVED it. Our dear little 700 square feet was perfect for us and other than racing to see family on the weekend we never really felt the need to leave it.

And then we met Santa Rosa. Everyone told me that I would love it. EVERYONE. Like you, your brother, your mother's friend, and the random lady in the grocery store everyone. I don't know why this bugged me so much. Why did this bug me so much??!! But it did. I was frustrated that people had made my experience without me having even lived it. They had already told me what I would feel, and I never got a chance to surprise them. Weird. I know. Anyway, I think I came with a little bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.

However, to my credit, there were some pretty hard things to get used to. For example, the people here are rude. I mean, I've lived in New York City . . . . I'm not turned off by people who are blunt and just tell you how it is. But the people here are way beyond that. They go out of their way to yell at you. Or me. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm a magnet for mean comments slathered up in bitterness and thrown in my direction. Because it happens at least a few times a week. People have come up and yelled at me for looking at my cell phone in a parked car in a parking lot. Seriously, they go out of there way to find me and attack me. At first I thought I'd kill them with love. But I'm so over that. The next person who comes at me (I'm sure it will be in the next few days) will have someone to reckon with. I fear for that person. All the frustration of all the run-ins are about to come out.

Also, it is agonizingly expensive to do/buy/eat/drive/entertain anywhere here. Milk is $4.80/gallon, which is about what gas is too. Even silly things like getting our family photos taken. I have called 5 different recommendations and every one of them is over $600/family session. You will live in a shoe box in a terrible neighborhood if you want to find a single-family home between $2,375 - $2,600 a month in rent. And that house won't have a yard and will smell like cats. Babysitters are just as stubborn in their prices. It's like someone made up a funny dream where everyone spends loads and loads of money and at the same time pretends that it's normal, and somehow I ended up in that dream. Sometimes I just want to shake people and scream "where is the sanity?!".

But there are good things, too. I love living in the mountains. You really just can't compare the smell of mountain air to anything else. It's crisp, cool, and clean. The trees here are awesome - so many redwoods splattered with a few palm trees and so many animals. Every morning we have deer outside our window, often with one or two little ones tagging along, and wild turkeys come in flocks a few times a day. Land here is green, full of vineyards and orchards and growth. The ocean fog comes in every morning and helps us all wake up slowly, the kind of mornings that offer a soft sweater and warm drink and then by afternoon it's warm and bright and sometimes even hot. We have hikes right outside our front door, and the views are breathtakingly beautiful. The rocky ocean coast is just 30 minutes away, and the drive to get there is very similar to driving through France: fields full of cows, small cottages, fields of grapes, a beautiful winding river, green and blue everywhere. In fact, other than Larommiguiere, I've never lived anywhere as beautiful as here.

We're expecting a baby and I'm so grateful that the hospital offers private rooms, and mid-wives instead of Doctors if you choose. Brooklynn has started her 3rd grade curriculum in home school and we found a great home-study program here that gives us all the resources free of cost, and supports her moving at her own pace without any hassle. There's also an amazing youth orchestra that rehearses on Saturdays (not Sundays!) that is letting her join even though she's 5. And Brent's job came with a full family membership to the athletic club next door, so there's 2 hours of free babysitting every day as I hit the gym and keep this pregnant belly moving, in addition to total pool access and unlimited golf for Brent and Brooklynn, which is a lifestyle we've never had before and really is such a huge perk. So there are some wonderful things about Santa Rosa as well.

We've had our arguments, but I have high hopes that we're past the rockiest point in our relationship, Santa Rosa.
Here's to feeling fall weather and seeing your colors change.