Back to the Bleakness

So this isn't going to be the most inspirational of all blogs - I just thought I would update quickly to let you all know that I have arrived safely back. I flew in directly to miserable weather and well, it hasn't let up since! Between the rain, grayness and grime everywhere (did I MENTION the rubbish??) I'm not super thrilled to be walking the sidewalks and frequenting the train stations of Manchester again. Having said that, I did have a lovely first weekend back. It was a bit manic (we had a wedding to go to just 3 hours after I got off the plane- and it lasted all day!) but great! I got to catch up with good friends and we really enjoyed staying at Steve and Lynn's lovely new home. We are now house sitting for my dear friend Louisa and also loving her place- which incidently would be just about the perfect size for a new little nest for us. And on that topic-the house hunt continues - we have a few avenues we exploring. I am working full days until next Wed so I cannot do any viewings except for on the weekend. I am definately ready for a place of our own again.

Mostly I'm nursing a bad case of homesickness on top of a sore throat and cough. As much as I love being reunited with my wonderful husband, it was incredibly difficult for me to say goodbye to family and friends. Leaving after the THIRD year was just as hard as leaving the first time- it really doesn't get easier for me! However, as my dad reminded me this morning, I can and will cherish the time that I had with everyone in sunny Cali. Being with you was good for my soul! It also reminded me of how blessed we were to grow up in a place where the outdoors can be enjoyed year round- more or less 24 hours a day. And I mean this literally! I was reminded by a friend of how we used to sleep out in my mom's garden on a futton. It was so great to go to sleep under the stars with the gorgeous smell of summer flowers all around. It is SO amazing to be able to be outdoors at anytime and I really took advantage of being able to eat outside! I really do believe that there will be long meals in the gardens of heaven someday!

I must get my pictures onto a disk and then I will post a few of my lovely month in the sun.

Summer Days on the North Coast

I thought that since I haven't really posted for a while that I should give a quick update.

I am having a wonderful time being home. My parents took the family up to the north coast for 2 weeks. It has been the first time in a couple of years that all 6 of us have gotten away together.

The location we go to is a 25 mile stretch of rent-able properties along the north coast (like the house you see in the picture) called The Sea Ranch. It is a funny eclectic mix between very upper middle class comfort and a bohemian artist colony. More or less each house as a painters studio and every single house has an ocean view, and is just 10 minutes walk from the many little beaches along the shore. This picture, taken by my dad, is of my sister and me on one of our 6 mile strolls to the recreation center.

I spent a glorious 2 weeks in which I baked in the sun to my heart’s content, and reveled in many lazy hours reading and sipping on smoothies. We went berry picking (and picked about 3 lbs of blackberries!) and made homemade tarts which were so good that they never made it to plates because we ate them straight off of the baking sheets.

I’m still working on resizing a lot of the pictures we took, but I will post more as soon as I get a chance.

Now I’m back in San Jo- spending long summer days (and wonderful evenings outdoors) surrounded by the sweet comfort of old friends. It really doesn’t get much better than this. It would be perfect if only G were here also.