Below are some basic facts that will help you understand where we are coming from in our decision to leave Thousand Oaks, California for Louisville, Kentucky.
We are a family of five living in Thousand Oaks, CA. My wife, Maria, is a full time stay at home mom with her hands full raising two girls and a boy. Enabling her to stay home was one of the biggest and most important decisions we faced several years ago. We have been blessed that we have been able to make it work through all the struggles. That focus, commitment and sacrifice is a core to what we believe in. You could say it is a precursor to this decision to leave the home we have created here in California for a slower pace of life in the countryside of Kentucky.
My employment is a non-typical (for California) 3 minute commute away. Luckily, I have been able to take advantage of this by coming home for lunch, attending school performances and coaching kids’ soccer. I have been blessed with a great employer however, I will not retire any time soon staying here in California. We are not rich but also don’t live paycheck to paycheck. College funding needs some attending to and our last vacation was a modest jaunt up the California coast hitting Best Westerns along the way.
The kids are spread out in age so one attends middle school, another is in elementary and another is in pre-school. They get the typical suburban tract home neighborhood experiences — playing in the front yard, watching tv and quarreling with each other as siblings do.
Church attendance is a semi-regular occurance — more frequent than just Christmas and Easter but not your die-hard every week. Values are important to our family and we routinely teach the kids prayer, manners and respect. As with kids, this needs consistent reinforcement. Hopefully, you catch us on a good day. I am also a realist.
Extracurricular activities are cyclical — kinda like church. We are very good home bodies but when we get out we enjoy local hikes (under 1 mile — the little legs get tired), the zoo, the beach and trips to Home Depot and Target. Oh yeah, and Grandma and Grandpa’s house along with also visiting Opa.
That’s about it. It’s a pretty good base to start with.
…..Dan
