Wine at Walmart, and other things

Well we've been here in Bakersfield for almost a month now and I've been so busy just getting unpacked and settled that I haven't had a whole lot of time to check everything out yet but I am really excited to do that. I have been out a few times just running around and from what I've seen I really like it! I feel like I'm 10 minutes from everything and we live in a really nice area with lots of green trees and all the shopping areas are clean and nice and there are a lot of smaller shops that I want to check out as well.

I'm excited because I literally have ONE box left to unpack and then I'm going to clean my house from top to bottom and then I will feel like I will be able to relax completely and start enjoying just being here.

So far, these are the things that are different then back home:

The grass.
It's weird. Different from home. It's really thin and when you walk on it without shoes, it's kind of poky. When I have time I'm going to try to find a lawn sprayer dude to see if they can help improve it in any way.

The trees.
Love them! There are these small trees all over the place that have giant pink blossoms all over them and look like big bouquets of flowers and from what I can tell, they stay that way. I also love the palm trees. Every time I see one it makes me smile and reminds me that I'm no longer in Utah!

The People.
People here are SO much more friendly then back home. (sorry to my Utah peeps, but it's the truth!) Every time I'm at the store people stop and talk to me about my two boys and their ages and names and I literally have full on conversations and feel like I sometimes leave the store with a new friend! Oh, and did I mention the different races of people? I live around people of all types and from all backgrounds. I haven't got to know any of them yet so I will blog about that when it happens. One of my next quests is to meet some neighbors!

Coffee Everywhere!
Yep, it's true. There are Starbucks everywhere and we went to a really cool movie theatre here and they even served coffee there! Payson, where I lived, a Starbucks finally opened up only to close again after a year and a half.

Churches
I came not only from Utah, but Utah County and any one that lives there knows that it is mostly Mormons that live there and there is a Mormon church on every corner. Nothing wrong with that if you're Mormon but because I am not, it wasn't the most convenient thing. Here there are Christian churches all over and I've already tried out two and this Sunday I am going to a different one until I find one that I feel like I want to become a member of. That is awesome to me!

Pre-Schools
I just started researching preschools this past week and they are about THREE TIMES the cost of the ones where I lived! WHEW! The cool thing though is that there are a lot of Christian schools here so the one that I will try out first is a Christian pre-school which we did not have back home. How cool will it be to have Toby going to a school that not only teaches him his ABC's but also is centered around God every day?! I'm not sure how we will afford it yet but I know God will provide a way so I'm not worried. He starts the first of August!!

Wine
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a big drinker of any kind but I do really like an occasional glass of wine and back home I would have to go to a specific liquor store (and there weren't many) to get a bottle of wine. Well not anymore. Here, they sell it at Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, pretty much everywhere and it's a lot less money too. I'm not drinking any wine at the time because I'm nursing but let's just say, my wine rack is finally starting to fill up again and I can't wait to have my sisters all here for a little wine and cheese party! Who wants to come?

Okay, well those are the obvious things that are popping up so far. I know there will be lots more and I'm excited to discover the good, the bad and the ugly about living here! I want to keep my posts A LOT shorter then this one but I had to get all of this off my chest. He he he