2,278 miles later

It's officially 7 months since we moved from California to Michigan. I can honestly say the hardest part of the entire move was fielding the constant requisite question, "Why would you move to Michigan from California???!!?!?!?!"  Well, as many times as I have answered that question, and there have been many, the answer remains the same.  Michigan is a fantastic place to raise children.  And that's why we moved here.

Even better, we have extended family here.  The seasons are spectacular. The public schools are thriving.  There's water at every turn.   We live in what feels like a National Park.  A family of deer visit every morning and a family of groundhogs come out in the evening.  The bluebirds outnumber the robins, the chipmunks hold their own against the squirrels, and the bats keep the mosquitos at bay.

The local parks are amazing, the nature trails are endless and the public library is top on our hit list.  We've been to museums, zoos, pumpkin patches, lakes, rivers, petting zoos and county parks.  We are looking forward to building snowmen and sledding down our hill.

Gone are the long commutes, endless sig-alerts, zero-property line fencing, high taxes, high housing costs and high crime.

Now, I have an even better response to the question of why we moved to West Bloomfield from California.  My answer, "Because, it's home."