Thoughtful Thursdays: Where I Live

I am really enjoying participating in Kenlie's Thoughtful Thursdays.  

Where I Live

1. Where do you currently live? I live in Clovis, California.  It is a pretty large city (80,000) people right next to Fresno.  Like you drive through a stop light and you are suddenly in Fresno.  It is located in the center of California in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley which is a major agricultural food production region that supplies food all over the world.  We are about 1 1/2 hours from the mountains and 2 hours from the ocean.  It's a great location.

2. Have you lived in your current state throughout your entire life? Yes, I have lived in CA all my life.  Born in southern California, but my parents moved me to a tiiiiiiiiny town called Chowchilla when I was three.  It's about an hour north of where I live now, and my mom and sister still live there.

3. If you answered no to Question 1, then where else have you lived? Heh, I've barely even traveled out of state much less lived out of state!

4. What is the coolest thing about your city/town? Even though it is a large city, it maintains a slow town feel, especially in the downtown area which reminds me of the tiny town I grew up in.  It is also pretty safe here with lots of police presence and a great public school system (although my kids go to Catholic school!).

5. Are there any holidays that your state goes all out to celebrate? If so, tell us about it.  At Christmas time there is the annual Electric Christmas Parade in downtown.  We also have Big Hat Days and Rodeo Days which are fun festivals to attend.

6. Describe your neighborhood (climate, scenery, etc.) I live on the edge of the city limits in a neighborhood filled with single family homes that is about 15 years old.  My husband bought our house before we met.  We are the third house in a cul de sac, with an empty field across the street.  This has been great because our kids basically own the street in front of our house for riding bikes and playing basketball.

Looking at the empty field.  On the other side of the trees on the left of the photo is an irrigation canal.  It's nice because no houses are built on the curve of our cul de sac.  There's only three houses here.  Pretty private.

I took these two photos last night standing in my driveway after we got home.  The sky was such a pretty pink.  

It's really hot in the summer.  It's a dry heat, but I hate it with a passion.  It's in the 40s and 50s (sometimes 60s) in the winter with heavy fog that makes driving pretty scary at times.

7. What do you wish you could change most about the place you live? I wish it wasn't so hot in the summer, and I wish we had the brilliant fall colors that you see in the north and in the east.

8. Describe your home. What’s your favorite thing about it?  I live in a one story house with three bedrooms and an office.  We have an open concept with a fireplace connecting our living and family room.  My favorite thing about it is the open concept.  The kitchen and family room are like one big room.  I also like having a garage because I grew up without one.

This photo was from 2008, but the house hasn't changed all that much.

9. Where do you shop for groceries? I used to go to Vons (basically a Safeway), but now I go to the Neighborhood Wal Mart because everything is so much cheaper.  Plus, I love the Savings Catcher program.  Wal Mart owes me nearly $80 right now!

10. What is your favorite regular activity in your city/town? We have a great system of bike trails that used to be railroads.  The RR are how the town began a hundred years ago.  It's fun to ride bikes or run along the trails.  You can literally go from one side of town to the other.  Our other activity is soccer.  It feels like the whole town plays soccer every Saturday in the fall.

See you next Thursday!