Country

I seriously took these on my bike ride. This is right off the "main road"

I've come to the realization that we now live in the boonies. It's crazy. I went for a bike ride the other day and just had to take pictures of what I was seeing. It's so foreign for me to see hay bales and animals when so close to my house! I was used to seeing lots of cars, people, and stores... It will definitely take some getting used to, but it is absolutely beautiful. I wouldn't mind a few more stores though.

Our Newest Addition!

We have now fully embraced the slow paced life style of the central coast.

They're Here!

The Pod's have finally arrived! We have been dreading this day since the day we began packing them. Since we have definitely downsized, we have absolutely no idea what to do with all this stuff from our old house. Wish us luck! There may be a massive garage sale in our future.

Friday Nights

We've already started a new McAlpine family tradition. Every Friday we go to the Avila Beach farmers market. Wait, before you think we're too lame, it's actually much more than just a farmers market. While you can buy fresh produce from all over the central coast, they also have local bands and local restaurants come down to set up booths for dinner. We've sampled several things, but all 3 of us love the fish tacos from Olde Port Inn. It's actually one giant fish taco that fills your entire plate! Yum. We order our fish tacos, get aguas frescas (haha, Val I think of you every time!), and park ourselves in front of whatever band is playing that night. After we're finished with dinner and people watching, we do our grocery shopping for the week.

Happy Acres...

One of my absolute favorite places that we have discovered here is Happy Acres Farms. It's about 30-45 minutes away, and totally worth the drive! When you drive up you see the cutest dogs, and a field full of goats, mini horses, and even a llama and a calf! The owner is so sweet and crazy and definitely encourages you to explore. They have bins full of peanuts that you can feed the animals too (as you can see from the pics, my dad and I may have enjoyed that part more than the school children with us!). They also sell goat milk products... which means cheese tasting! Yes, you can sample all their cheeses and goat milk ice cream, completely free (although it's hard to walk away without buying anything... I bought lotion and lip gloss)! It's so tasty and fun and I cannot wait to go back!

New Life Community Church

This is the reason we moved up to the central coast. I've already felt so blessed by this church! It will take a while to get used to going to a large church though. I can't wait to get involved and really make it home.

Check out their website:

http://www.nlccn.org/

First Guests!

One day after I arrived in Nipomo (yes only one) we had our first guests! After frantically unpacking it was so good to see Val & Veronica! Since I had only been a resident for about 24 hours, we let my parents lead the touring. Our first stop was wine tasting at a beautiful vineyard.

(if you look closely you can see the ocean in the background)

We then drove down to Avila Beach where you can actually drive out onto the pier! It's mildly terrifying at first, but oh-so-fun. On the pier you can eat, buy fresh fish, or go down to see the sea lions (if you are brave enough!). The girls sent me down to get pictures of them after they saw they sign "Sea lions will bite." Luckily (for me), they were calm and posed for my camera.

After Avila we ventured to Cambria, and Harmony (population 18). We browsed their stores, got snacks, and watched people glass blowing!

We drove around looking at the sights and quickly realized you could not fit everything into one trip (lucky for me!). Sunday morning we woke up and went to church, experienced the strawberry festival, and explored the "night life" in SLO (by night life I mean we went to Barnes & Noble and drank hot chocolate). It was so good to see familiar faces in this unfamiliar town. I cannot wait for our next visitors to arrive!

Nipomo?

We are currently renting a house in Nipomo, CA. It's a few miles from Pismo Beach. I thought I would give you some random facts about this town I'm sure you have never heard of!

* Part of San Luis Obispo County (or as we "locals" call it "SLO")

* Population of 12,626

* It is located in an area designated by the "Places Rated Almanac" as having the best climate in the nation, with a perfect score of 100.

Check out mynipomo.com. It's a blast from the past.

We haven't decided whether to make Nipomo our home up here, but for now we are having fun exploring it. As my dad likes to tell me, "We're not in Orange County any more."

Why I'm Here

I just wanted to give a quick background explanation to why moving to the central coast was an accidental adventure. My parents and I had been happily living in Orange County, CA when my dad was laid off. He worked temporarily at our church, but was always looking for something permanent. At that time, I was working at a credit union that was getting ready to make some major changes. Knowing that a move was possible for my parents at any time, I obviously began thinking of what I would do. God made the decision easy for me. I was laid off from the credit union less than 2 weeks before my dad accepted a full time job in Pismo Beach. We made the decision as a family to move up, and we have just started this adventure! I wanted to keep a record of the whole moving process this time. I can't wait to see where God takes us. We are clueless right now - but very excited!