My impromptu 2 1/2 month trip to Milan, Italy....and everywhere in between....with my boyfriend Shane :)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Happiness (and apartment pictures!!)

Perhaps it's because I'm living in a foreign, unfamiliar country in a less-than-homey apartment, or maybe it's because I really haven't had any friends to hang out with ever since I graduated from my PTA program 7 months ago, but I've found myself thinking a lot lately about how much a location can affect my happiness.

I've lived in a lot of great places throughout my life, not the least of which is San Luis Obispo, my current "home." (Even though I actually don't have a house to go back to after this.) But every time I've sat feeling blue, trying to think of where I've been the happiest, one place always seems to jump to the head of the line. That place is...ready for this?.....Loma Linda, California. This is where I spent a mere 15 months completing my PTA degree, but I can honestly say that every time I think of it, I feel sunny inside. I just can't get that feeling out of my head! My classmates or others who may have been there for a long enough period of time might be wondering if I'm losing my mind. Could I really be homesick for this dry little Adventist-run town? Yep, I sure can.

Now, I realize that maybe my happy feelings are derived from memories I have of the people and classmates I shared all my fun times with. But all that aside, I think it's more than that. And for my own justification as well as my oddly high level of enjoyment for making lists, I chose to list the pros and cons of settling down in Loma Linda.

PROS:
1. It's almost always sunny there, which REALLY affects my mood
2. Nearly every morning when I woke up, I felt happy, which is kinda rare
3. Almost no rain! or terribly cold weather
4. Because I have memories there, it makes me love it even more
5. I'm already familiar with the town, so I'll never feel out of place
6. The mountains are 1 hour away, and the ocean is 1 hour away--what more could you want?!
7. There are palm trees
8. There's a hospital right smack in the middle (a very good and prestigious one, I might add)
9. I'm Adventist, and it's an Adventist-based town
10. If I chose to move there, there's a church school for my kids to attend, as well as a university, if they so choose
11. If my kids do attend the university there, I'll know they're getting an excellent education
12. It's a college town, thus there are always new people to meet and make friends with
13. There's a healthfood store there with all the "veggie meat" I could ever want!
14. There seem to be PTA jobs aplenty in the area
15. LA is only 1.5 hours away
16. Vegas, my favorite city, is only 3 hours away
17. I already know my favorite places to eat, stores to shop at, and fun things to do
18. I do still have some friends in the area, which would really be nice
19. I think alumni are still allowed to use their huge all-purpose gym and swimming pool/sauna
20. One of my favorite churches of all time is right next door in Redlands
21. It's in California, which is like Texas (my second favorite state), only better
22. There have been studies proving that the people who live in Loma Linda live longer
23. It's a very low-crime town

CONS:
1. Traffic is terrible
2. It can get miserably hot
3. Although it is low in crime, San Bernardino, one of California's highest crime towns, is right across a bridge
4. Shane might not have as much luck finding a job in engineering as me
5. My friends ARE mostly gone--it won't be as fun as I remembered or hoped
6. I won't be college-aged for much longer, so those new friends are more scarce than I think
7. No snow in the winter; I do enjoy having a Christmas that actually feels like one
8. Taxes in California are terrible
9. Housing expenses are a nightmare
10. It's smoggy


I dunno, I think the pros outweigh the cons don't you?? I'm sure there are more cons that I could think of. Feel free to tell them to me, because I don't think my chances of living there are very high, and I need to start changing my mind. I guess the next best thing is SLO, a nice little home, and my decorating skills. :)

BTW, I finally got the apartment cleaned and took pictures the other day. Lazy me is just now getting them posted. So enjoy!


1. Our kitchen, consisting of a tiny sink, a tiny washing machine, an average sized stove and oven, and an average sized fridge. Oh, and a microwave that also is a toaster. The room you see in the background is the bedroom--the only other room other than the bathroom.

2. The kitchen table, our front door, our drying rack, and the bathroom door to the right. And those are our prized free wines, which we've decided to give away to nice neighbors and friends.
3. Another view of the kitchen/bathroom door. Don't know why we didn't take out the trash before taking these pictures...4. The bathroom, consisting of a toilet AND a urinal. When I sit normally on the toilet, my knees touch the wall. I think Shane actually has to sit sideways. Haha! (But I really don't know, so I shouldn't spread rumors.) I post these bathroom pictures because I know my family wants EVERY detail. :)5. The shower, which thankfully gives a nice, hot soothing spray and not a cold trickle. 6. Looking in from the door--my bed and desk, and the window that looks towards the front of the building.7. Both the beds, and our coat rack. We also each have a little nightstand.8. My desk, where I (attempt to) study each day. The lights in this room (since the main one is burnt out) consist of 3 lamps, and only 3 plugs. 9. Our rather large closet and Shane's desk. And apparently I just can't take straight pictures. 10. The view out our bedroom window of the street market in front of our building every Saturday and Tuesday, all day.
11. And the view the other direction, towards the Garibaldi train station, which is between here and those "skyscrapers." And once again, I can't take a straight picture.