I love my life

Admittedly, there are few places in the world that compare to living in Durango (beauty-wise anyway.)

I always forget that until I move somewhere else.

The one place that I have lived that takes my breath away as much as a drive from Durango to Ouray has was Switzerland. However, I must say that Los Angeles does not impress me that much. At least the area around where I live.

I am big on scenery, ambiance, atmosphere, whatever you want to call it. This is true for me of nature and of the environment of shops, buildings, cities, etc. Surrounding the YWAM L.A. base are some brown (desert-y) mountains, a few palm trees, but there is really no color. I guess I am really itching for that green mountainside that turns bright yellow and bright orange and deep red during the fall.

I will say that there are some absolutely gorgeous bright pink, yellow and white tropical flower trees around here that perk up the otherwise sandy atmosphere.

Today, Benjie and I took the girls and we went to downtown Burbank, which is about 10 miles south of us. We shopped at Ikea and ate at Chevy's Mexican food restaurant.

I was so surprised: downtown Burbank is absolutely the quaintest little downtown I have seen around here so far. I haven't been far, mind you, but this was a little piece of heaven to me. It had stone and cobblestone and trees everywhere and little shops and restaurants; it was beautiful.

To top it all off, the weather has had a temperamental mood swing of sorts. It has gone from like 105 degrees to 65 today! That was amazing...I can literally feel fall in the air, and my insides bubble up with giddy-ness over that fact. I hope it stays this way because I hear that it has a tendency to fluctuate back and forth in these autumn months.

I think going to Burbank was Jesus' special gift to me today. I ate great food, browsed at a great store, and walked in the crisp and sunshine-y fall day. And all of that with my amazing little family.

One blessing after another, indeed. What a perfect Sunday.

I love my life.