Farewell to Paradise

Well, the time has come. We've been in the small town of Paradise, CA for two years now and it's time to move on. I have to say that these two years have been kind of like a refiner's fire for us in a lot of ways. We moved away from everything we knew to live in a small town, which was a totally foreign environment for us. I don't think we've ever completely gotten over the culture shock. :) But I think Heavenly Father had this in mind so that we could be away from the distractions and learn some important lessons. We've had to face things that have been, well, let's just say that to call them "challenging" would be an understatement. But we've learned SO MUCH and have emerged changed and better than we were before. We've learned to "let go and let God" in more ways than I can say.
First of all, we came to Paradise broke. More than broke. We were in a messy financial nightmare. Over these two years, we learned to live without credit cards for the first time. To create and stick to a budget. The difference between wanting and needing. How to tell ourselves no. That the kindness and generosity of people all around us is abundant and humbling. That no matter how impossible and bleak a situation may look, God is in charge and works everything out for our benefit. That we are safe and loved.
Healthwise, I came to Paradise very, very tired. All the time. Over the past few years, I've gotten into holistic medicine and it has helped me immensely. I used to get sick all the time and now I rarely do. A lot of things had improved for me, but my energy levels were still really low. Here, I was able to work with many amazing people in the field of holistic health that I really feel like I was led to. It's also way cheaper here than in So Cal, so I was able to get more help. These people helped me learn a lot about myself and my body. I finally processed and released deep grief concerning my dad's death that had been weighing me down that I wasn't even aware that I had been carrying. This was not only an emotional relief, but a physical one too that allowed me to have more energy, feel more joyful on a daily basis and be able to enjoy the present moment more. I also conquered a sugar addiction--and when I say "addiction", that's no joke. I used to be desperate to get my sugar fix every day and now I don't even miss sugar at all. That's amazing for me. I've incorporated many more whole, healing foods into my diet and recently gave up eating meat. I've basically done an overhaul on my health and I'm feeling a lot better. And the journey continues.
I've also changed my thinking about a lot of things to have a more positive peaceful perspective. I grew up feeling really bad about myself and I had this huge fear that Melia might somehow end up feeling like that too. So I was constantly worrying about doing things "right" with her and worrying about her relationship with Bo, etc. I've been able to let that and many other things go and see things in a better, more relaxed light. I've been able to relax about a lot of things and it has allowed my relationships with family to improve. There are many, many lessons that God has helped us learn here and, even though it's been really hard, I'm so grateful. We are emerging from Paradise pretty near perfect now. HA HA! :)

Anyway, here are some things we will miss and not miss about being in Paradise.
We WILL miss:
Grandma Adeline. She has been nothing but loving, giving and generous to us and we will miss having her around.
Our family in the form of Aunt, Uncle, cousins, semi-related cousins, and adopted family members.
Our friends from church, the community and work.
The beautiful trees and flowers.

We will NOT miss:
The huge amount of bugs.
The lack of lawns and paved sidewalks.
The dirt and spiderwebs everywhere.
That everything closes at 5pm. :)
Having to drive a long way through nothing but bushes to get to a "city".
The lack of variety of stores.
The lack of variety of people of different ethnicities.
Being in a small town.

Sorry, but the fact is we are city folk through and through. One thing's for sure though--it's the people who have touched our lives here who have made these two years well worth it. :)