Embracing Paradise

Okay, fine. There's nothing left to complain about. I do love it here.

The whole world has blossomed this month . . . which is not to say it hasn't been blossoming the whole time, just that I am able to look around and finally see it. I guess this is what comes of having everything (mostly) settled, of knowing where things are and who people are, and of recognizing that we are in one of Earth's mostly lovely little paradises. One thing that has been especially good for me is a trial membership I've had this past month at a yoga studio. After feeling my fitness slipping away over the past few months, getting my body healthy again has felt divine. Although I arrive at each 6 am class with my eyes falling shut, by the time I leave after class, I feel amazing. Yoga is probably my favorite way to exercise, and if I could afford the $100+/month fees to continue, I would probably do it. However, a side benefit has been that as my fitness level has risen, so has my endurance. As I think I mentioned before, there are a lot of hills around here, and the shortest route I can find to run is a daunting 3.5 miles. During my most recent loop, however, I was able to clear the full distance without walking in only 40 minutes, including stretching and cooling down! I was quite impressed with myself, actually, and can no longer rule out morning runs as a regular way to exercise. Additionally, my visits to the beach have evolved into a weekly ritual. I take off my shoes while I'm there and run at least a mile in one direction before turning around and walking back with my feet in the seafoam, watching the surfers and birds and occasional sea life as I return. There is a great peace in the lulling sounds of the crashing waves, as well an excitement that comes with watching the undulating ocean and the surfers trying to find its rhythm. If someone would just give me a surfboard (they're a bit pricey), I think I would have a new hobby.

In the afternoons, the kids have gotten much more into their routines as well. Sera is quick to sit down at the piano and practice, sometimes multiple times each day, and the others more or less follow her lead. I've been amazed at what quick progress I've made with both Emerson and Sera, who have nearly completed another set of piano books since we moved. Addy and Asher aren't learning new music quite as quickly, but Addy especially is developing a real musicality in her playing that is a pleasure to hear. Asher's sight-reading has come a long way, but I can tell he is anxious to be back in band and playing trumpet again. Alas, his trumpet has still not surfaced anywhere, and we may need to buy him a new one--a real shame, because he really connected with the one he had, and heaven knows not all instruments are created equal.

Emerson has really gotten into cub-scouts, since that's basically the only activity he has been involved with, but he's lucky to have such a fun group of boys and leaders. Asher, too, has enjoyed having a bigger scouting/young men's organization, and especially enjoys playing basketball after activities on Wednesday nights. Have I mentioned his burgeoning obsession with basketball? I should, since it now influences almost every aspect of our lives. He is constantly throwing balls (and other things) into baskets (and other things). Additionally, his attempts to improve his "hops" might drive me crazy. At first it was door frames, then ceilings, and now the high archways throughout our house--naturally he needs running starts for all his jumps. We got him a bedroom hoop which he loved, but after misusing it several times, it is currently taken away. Hopefully he'll behave himself well enough to get it back before long, but beyond that, he looks on craigslist for full-sized hoops almost every day. Addy and Sera have kept pretty chill so far, but I'm gearing up to figure out what good (and affordable) activities there are for their interests for next year. I tried to sign Addy up for an art class a while back, but bafflingly, she declined. Since they don't have exceptional art offerings at the schools here, I hope I can find something that will help her continue to develop her skills in that area. Sera seems quite content with piano, and considering how much dedication she pours into that, I am hesitant to disrupt it.

One fun little tradition that has cropped up this month is Taco Tuesdays. It's pretty much the only way to eat on Tuesday nights in these parts, from what we can tell. Since Aaron and Asher are gone to children's choir rehearsals that night anyway (with a cheap taco stop of their own on the way back), and since we live only blocks from Rubio's where fish tacos run $1.50 each on Tuesdays, we've started making it a weekly trek. The whole restaurant spills out customers during the weekly affair, and without fail the kids run into a number of their friends while we're there. Afterward we stop at the pool if the kids are done with their homework, and I realized just last week that if I bring along a bottle of shampoo, we can knock out showers afterward as well. Tacos and a lack of wet towels strewn through the house? Sounds like a win to me.

Another fun thing we finally dished out for is Sea World. Although I guess we would have been smarter to get our tickets back in January (they have a deal for San Diego residents where buying admission for a day allows re-entry throughout the rest of the calendar year), it took us a while to take the $500 plunge. But it has been worth it! We have visited twice already, and as amazing as I remember it being as a kid, it has maintained all the excitement it held then. I'm a complete sucker for wild-life exhibits, and ten times more so when it's marine life. We've only made it to two of the shows so far, but they are just incredible! It doesn't hurt that a couple of remarkably fun thrill rides have been added to the mix. For me personally, that beats out a straight amusement park any day--rides are better as a break from admiring nature's treasures than as a full-day activity in my mind. We've also visited a few of the exhibits--the sharks and the penguins--but what is exciting is how much more there still is to explore! It's wonderful to have a full year to go back again and again, rather than trying to fit it all into one day.

We also enjoyed a wonderful Easter this year, although it broke with some of our past traditions. Because Aaron has been playing for Lutheran services, and because I have always wanted a chance to attend an Easter service at another denomination, we got up a little earlier, dressed up in our matching finery, and attended the service he was playing at. There were balloons involved, and the Hallelujah chorus, plus stained glass, so it was really quite lovely. Afterward we attended only sacrament meeting in our ward (where I, incidentally, gave one of the talks), then went to a dinner at the home of one of the members of the Lutheran church. Their home was a gorgeous estate built onto a hillside and overlooking a lake, with flowers and vines growing everywhere. The meal was extraordinary, and we even managed to talk someone into snapping a few pictures of our family. The kids were well-behaved for the most part, and we all enjoyed a unique egg hunt which involved everyone hiding an egg for someone else, using the first letter of that person's name to choose a hiding spot. It took Asher quite a while to find his stashed among some alyssum flowers. At home we ended up dispensing with our own egg hunt, but between the one at the party and a ward egg hunt the afternoon before, not to mention Easter baskets, I think everyone survived (though don't get me wrong--they definitely complained). As it was, I don't suppose we spent as much time dwelling on the true meaning of Easter as we might have, but since our theme this year is "Come Follow Me" and we've had consistent lessons on Sunday nights about the life of the Savior, I hope our hearts were in the right place anyway. Emerson has christened this "the year of the broken traditions," as it is. Still, we couldn't have enjoyed a lovelier holiday.

So I guess the moral of this story is that even if you really don't want to live in paradise, and even if you don't think southern California is all that great . . . it actually is--at least in our little corner. And sooner or later that just has to kick in. These days I'm waking up with a smile on my face, sucking in the delicious smell of the roses that seem to line every street in Carlsbad, gazing at the blue sky through the gorgeous purple flowers that are popping out on the trees all over, luxuriating in the fact that my hair has turned quite a nice color in the sun and I no longer feel even the least temptation to dye it. I drove past the Flower Fields the other day, a gorgeous hillside covered in multi-hued tulips and accented with an old-fashioned windmill, and I just had to confess that I'm pretty lucky. We honestly don't know how long we'll be here--there are plenty of factors pointing to it not being forever--but we are here now, and there is a whole lot of beauty and fun and joy for us to experience while we are. And finally, I think I'm actually ready to fully embrace that! Viva San Diego!