in a year

This month was our one year Santa Paulaversary. I've been thinking about all that has happened, and all that has changed, in the course of a year. It blows my mind that it was only just over a year ago that we left New York City.

Back then, we lived in a 700 square-foot, 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment on the 19th floor (of 31), overlooking the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge. I could plop my head on my pillow and see the Empire State Building. When I talk about life in NYC to anyone in CA I always get a big reaction-- anywhere from I don't know how you did that with twins to That is sooo cool.

Now, we rent a 2-story, single family home with more bedrooms, more bathrooms, and a garage that we park actual cars inside. We pay about the same in rent but for 3 times the space. I haven't really mentioned any of this to my NY friends. (Until now.)

Then, it was a 2 block walk to Jared's clinic and the subway. I used a double stroller and 2 Mommy Hooks to carry home my groceries (and babies). We would walk anywhere from a block to a mile to get to fantastic parks and playgrounds, or we would take the subway to Central Park, Union Square, Washington Square, or wherever there was a (working) elevator for our double stroller. I didn't know how much I'd miss the parks and playgrounds there.

Now, we drive or sometimes bike to one of 3 or 4 parks in town, and none of them are nearly as good. Often we drive the 15-20 minutes to one of the parks in Ventura, which are much, much better. And of course there's always the beach. Oh, and our backyard! Bless you, backyard!! We drive to the grocery store, library, everywhere. For Target and other suburban standards, we drive a little further because our town is so small.

Back then, we went to church at the most amazing ward, overflowing with talent. Artists, musicians, writers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, homeschoolers, homebirthers, etc etc etc who were young, interesting, fun, good looking and fashionable. There were way more people we would have loved to be friends with than we had time to get to know. The good friends I did find were real, true, golden. Oh, how I miss them all. And somehow it could be lonely amidst all those people, especially for the first few months after the twins were born. I guess with so many great people, you can't invite everyone, and it's easy to overlook someone. We took our turn being that someone, probably more times than we know, and that never felt too good.

Here, our ward is so ancient, it's comical. No really-- on my first Sunday there, one (very old) man told me that the average age in the ward is dead. So I said, You and I bring the average age down, and I gave him a fist bump. (All that is true except for the fist bump. It was a chest bump.) (That's not true either.) But, the ward is great-- surprise twist ending! People welcomed us so warmly. They still make us feel so appreciated, wanted and needed. And the few young families that are in the ward are now some of our favorite friends ever. The other day one friend said to me, I don't know if you were an answer to our prayers or if we were an answer to yours. Yes.

Back then, Bethany and Isaac were a year and a half old and had that first language explosion just after we left NYC. I remember counting Bethany's words and being shocked that she knew 50. Within a few days it was 75. And a few days after that I stopped counting. Isaac was behind Bethany but still very verbal. They also had hardly any hair.

Now, they are two and a half and as talkative and full of personality as can be. The other day I ran an errand just with Isaac and he chatted my ear off the whole time. Mama, what's that? Mama, what you doing? What's tractor doing? What's tree doing? You hear that? I hear the firetruck! Let's go see the firetruck? What's fireman doing? He's had a hundred haircuts and she's had none because her would-be shoulder-length hair is so curly it just boings right up around her cute little head.

Then, we could hardly make it through 15 minutes of church without leaving with one or two crying/hungry/poopy babies, and by "we" I mean I because Jared was sitting on the stand with the Bishopric. The kids weren't old enough for nursery, but were too active to handle in Relief Society, so Jared (when he could, which was surprisingly often) and I created a baby school in one of the empty classrooms. Just a place were we could feed, diaper and play with babies freely. Sometimes Arden or other active kiddos would join us. That was all if the kids and I even made it through all 3 hours of church. Big if. But we always went to take the Sacrament and were almost always on time. It was the hardest day of my week.

Now, it is once again one of my favorite days! Hurrah. The kids rarely need to leave the chapel (well, still maybe once per Sunday) and they play fairly quietly in our row (except today when they started fighting over a toy). They love their nursery leader and their friends at church. And even though we now go and sit as a family of four, we're always late. Things are pretty much as good as we can expect, and it's all about expectations. :)

Then, Jared was still... still... STILL a student, who had his very last day of school (clinic) on our 10th anniversary. Back then he had only this dream of moving to Santa Paula; I had never even seen the place and had only heard of it through him. And he had only "discovered" it just a couple months before, basically through a late-night google search.

Now, we are in full swing building an orthodontic practice that we hope to open in the Fall. Jared has worked incredibly hard this entire year on securing his office location and was finally able to sign a lease in July. (He's been working as an orthodontist in other dental offices in the meantime.) He is busier than ever-- definitely busier than residency and maybe even dental school-- and it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. But I am so proud and appreciative of all his hard work. He's doing amazing things.

Oh, how to wrap this one up. With me? I mean, it feels like the whole thing has been about me, although not specifically me. And now that I think about it, I think the least has changed with me. It's hard to say what I was like back then, but now... I just started training for a half marathon in November-- something I've wanted to do forever and am finally giving it a try. I've been working out with friends at a fitness studio, and my size is the same but I feel stronger. I've been spending a surprising amount of time helping to start businesses-- Jared's practice, and one with my mom that I'll have to share more about soon. My hair doesn't even touch my shoulders anymore and I'm addicted to cutting it. I drive a Honda Odyssey everyday, sometimes more. And one that I realized just this morning-- I can look at my son and know which spots to wipe off because they are dirt, and which spots to skip because they are freckles. Their love for me has never been more sweet and my love for them has never been more fierce. More than ever, I am the mama.

If more posts and more pictures happened here, that would be okay with me.