I love LA

Moving sucks. No way around that. We hired movers as the ultimate gift to our spines but we still had to pack. This was what the truck looked like at the end of the day... (fyi, if you are looking for great movers these are the people to hire.)Mr. Man took the kids and dogs and went on ahead. I followed the truck up to our new house by myself and bid my OC residency farewell. Farewell Maison du la Francaise! Oh how I loved you. On the drive up, I thought about how much I'd miss my friends. I felt like I just hit my groove... I had replenished my dwindling list of friends, since all my friends kept moving away. I had a great group of friends I could call on to help out with the kids if I was in a bind. I'm going to miss that the most... And I couldn't help but wonder if I would find new friends in LA who would pitch in when I needed it. Then there is the new big mortgage... my business... and by the time I hit LA I was a wreck.

As I turned up the hill, leading the truck to our new home,I was greeted by the sight of my children, nieces, nephews, and cousins all sitting on the ridge behind my house. They were all cheering and waving me home. I walked into the kitchen to be greeted by Mr. Man, who wrapped his arms around me and whispered, "Welcome Home, I can't wait for the next 100 years." All that anxiety started to slip away. Then the house was full of people. Movers...family..cousins..friends... new neighbors who all pitched in to help unload and setup. The house was loud, full of laughter, and the kids ran by me with giant smiles beaming from dirty faces. They were thrilled with the backyard and the "mountains behind our house".

I spent 10 minutes in this house on the night I looked at it. I never saw it in daylight, the only other time I was here it was raining buckets and I couldn't quite get a glimpse of the backyard. It is a very pleasant surprise. Behind our house is nothing but hills, this picture is just steps from the back gate of our property. It's crazy amazing, and each day I have to pinch myself and say, "This is real." I had no idea that such an oasis existed in Los Angeles.
We have hiked each and every day since we moved in. The kids and dogs love it, and I had no idea this would be better than a jungle gym. Then there are the deer, this shot is from the living room window. This is a pic taken from my back door. Each day we keep a count of the number of deer we've seen. Fifteen deer passed by our living room window on Day 2. Sandy is terrified of them, Skoopi wants to chase them. Here the kids sit on the ledge that is just up the hill from our house. The view from this house is amazing. I wash my dishes at night with a view of the city's twinkling lights. The sunsets are gorgeous (thank you smog!). And the very best part is Mr. Man is home each and every night for bedtime. I think we are going to like here.... A LOT!