How It All Started : Way Up North In Cali

I have lived "Way Up North in Cali" for most of my life, so many people assume I live here because it's all I know. They are wrong. I choose to live here. In fact, as far jobs for myself and my husband, it's not the easiest place to live. Being an architect in a small city is not ideal, and other places have a more options for pharmacies and hospitals for my job. But our focus as a family has always been to find balance. We want to find joy in our work, but we also want to be happy where we are when we are not at work.

My husband and I love cities. Especially ones that have great culture and beautiful skylines. We are not afraid of an urban life. "The City" is often where we go to vacation because it is so different from where we live. Early on in our marriage, we always assumed that we would live in a large city to accommodate Quinn's career in architecture. Living in Redding was no where on our radar.

2000 - Brooklyn Bridge

At the end of my husband's schooling, we took an amazing trip to New York City. Quinn was asked to present his Master's Project (thesis for architecture) to Parson's School of Design in New York City. It was a great honor. The professor that sponsored his trip was willing to give Quinn a glowing recommendation to one of the biggest architecture firms in the country. We treasured every moment in the city; we went to museums of art, watched a Broadway musical and ate at amazing restaurants. But it was on this trip that we both realized that it was not where we wanted to raise our family.  Barbed wire fences around concrete playgrounds and Public School number 123 wasn't what we envisioned for our children. We also knew that commuting an hour (or more) each way to work was not how we wanted to spend our time. We decided then that we would go Home.  Home, of course, is wherever you want it to be. Home, is where your heart is. Home, for us, was and is Redding.

Rocky Slaughter in his article, "The Lifestyle City" for Redding Weekly, is more eloquent than I am with his words when he said, "In Redding, lifestyle design is actually a thing. We just have so much more flexibility to choose what we do, when we do it, and how."

For me, loving Northern California is easy because it rivals anywhere on earth for being one of the most beautiful and environmentally diverse places on our amazing planet.  The outdoor activities and natural beauty of our area cannot be beat. While our city has a much smaller urban culture, it is here. The performing arts are growing every year. I personally have plans to see a play and two musicals in Redding over the next two months. I'm not sure I need more than that, but, if we cultivate unity in our community and give the events already happening our support, it will continue to grow.

I have a dear friend. A lovely, sweet, beautiful friend. But she does not love where she lives. She, like me, lives in Redding.  How could this be? How could I love living here, and she dislike it so much? It troubled me. Not so much that she didn't like Redding, but that she wasn't happy.  She was continually looking outside of her home for happiness. I'm not talking about her "home" as in her house and family, she loves that very much, but she looked outside of her city and region longing for greener pastures; a better place to live. So, I guess part of me started this blog for her. I want her and others to see how beautiful life in Northern California can be. I want to show that while Redding, like any city, has it's challenges, the beauty here far outweighs them. I hope to encourage people to try new things and embrace the good of where they are.

2014 - My family @ Market Street Promenade, Downtown Redding
PC: Wildauer Photography

I love a good trip as much as the next person. There are so many wonderful places in the world to see. Just ask my very patient husband, he will tell you that planning our next vacation is one of my favorite things to do. Be that as it may, I believe being content where we are makes those other adventures all the better, so when those adventures are over, we can find peace at Home.