Unique Neighbors

It hit me today how much I am going to miss my dear neighbors and this great neighborhood. Now I don't mean one neighbor in particular because here in Utah the neighborhood is your ward (church group) so you know everybody on the block! When I first moved here, I was overwhelmed by the lack of privacy. It is sad to admit but I was even looking for a house with plenty of land (compared to California) so I would have "space" from my neighbors and not even have our front doors too close to each other and I did get just that. I still felt the need to plant more trees in my back yard because I swore everyone could see into my yard and right into my living room and kitchen 24/7. This was confirmed to me on the first snow storm that arrived. We had no idea how to shovel snow properly and our neighbors finally admitted to seeing us out their windows and laughing and they live two streets over!! Before moving to Utah, Brandon and I had spent almost 10 years in apartments with almost no privacy at all, the walls were thin and you heard practically everything - I would study and the neighbors would be having a party, I wanted the kids to play in the back patio and my neighbor would be smoking and using foul language so naturally when I had an opportunity to buy a house I knew that I wanted privacy and space-- lots of it!! Of course, we would say "hi", bake the occasional loaf of bread, but we didn't really have a relationship with any of our neighbors back home. It is so different here. It took a while to get used to. I always felt like I was being watched, not that I was doing anything wrong, I just wanted some peace. So even though I got plenty of space in Utah because of the close knit neighborhoods and wards it felt like everyone knew everything about everyone and I DIDN'T like it. Now I have grown to LOVE this set up! I have complete peace and feel so safe and secure. The boys can go up and down the street and not a single worry or concern enters my mind. I literally know ALL of my neighbors up and down about 4 or 5 streets. I know the couples, their children, their thoughts and feelings about many issues including their goals and I have even heard many of them bare testimony in church. We chat on facebook, we read each others blogs, and I LOVE knowing my neighbors! The thought of moving to San Diego and leaving this type of neighborhood behind is very sad and even a little scary for me. I have gotten so used to this that now NOT knowing my neighbors seems odd. I will make every effort to get to know my future neighbors and those on my block- it will just be so different.Isn't it interesting how your perspective changes!?! I don't know what it will be like but one thing I know for sure is that I will surely miss my Utah family! Thanks to all my wonderful neighbors and friends we really do love you, you are amazing, we have learned something from each person in this ward and we are so grateful to have known you and hope to continue our relationship with you regardless of where we are in the world!