CRepetti, I'm comin' to visit you!! Seriously, we have friends in Temecula who keep inviting us, and it's just so difficult to get over there, although it's only 1 state away, because I know we'll need lots of $$s just to do what we want w/the kids!

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I love where I live. I have lived in West Michigan all my life. I used to think about moving out of Michigan, but never had the courage. Since I have a family. I won't move. it doesn't matter where you live here you are so close to the water (the big lakes or inland lakes) I'm about 2 1/2 hours from Chicago and Detroit. So if you want to see the big there - your there fast. The city I live in is great. It has a good school district, people are friendly and everyone looks out for each other. I love the 4 seasons we have. With any place you live it has it's good points and bad points.

Well, if you don't have the money to do all of the activities, atleast come and visit with your friends and do some of the free things - like the beach, Balboa Museums on Tuesdays - and then on the do one or two of the other activities that you want. Staying with your friends will save you a lot of money and also let you pack lunches on beach days and museum days to also save money.

I hope you make it out soon! You won't regret it!

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***The greatest work you will ever do, will be done within the walls of your own home.***

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Lovin' Life w/3 Beautiful Children, Cameron - 7, Natalie - 5, Ashley - 1

I LOVE where we live. I'm 20 mins from DC and all the big city offers, but I live in the great family raising suburbs with no crime of Burke, VA with tons of parks and activities for the kids.

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

I live just outside of Corpus Christi, we are about 20 miles away - close enough that we could go into town everyday if we needed to but far enough away that we don't have to deal with the traffic or high crime.

We've been here for 7 years and I still love it, except for the occasional hurricane. Can't imagine living anywhere else.

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We live in a community with a population of about 50,000 on the central coast in CA. I love the weather and the natural beauty here! We are 10 minutes from the beach, and a short walk into a state park full of redwoods, hiking trails, and a river. The schools are top knotch, and crime is very minimal. It's a family-friendly town, and we love our neighbors.

The downside is the cost of living . . . housing, taxes, groceries, utilities, etc. There is not much in the way of affordable shopping here (no Target/Old Navy/Marshalls), so, I usually drive 30-45 minutes away or shop online, for kids clothes . . . thank goodness for mommysavers Bargain Shopping forum!!

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Attaining financial freedom is like eating an elephant . . . it takes one bite at a time.

no. i don't really need to go into detail..

the only thing i do prefer about idaho, is that it is cheaper to live here than a lot of places.

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Forget the Joneses Blog

I am from Northeastern Ohio and for the most part I do love it! But we do get the cold and snow too, so that won't help you at all! Our winters are rather long, but we do have seasons which I LOVE. Our cost of living here is low, so that is a huge plus if you are living here, a drawback if you are transferring from here to someplace else. We also have the water, so no shortages of water here at all. No hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. The winters have actually improved greatly here, thanks to global warming, so we do have nice days here in winter just like you do in Michigan. Ds is in an independent school but our schools are fantastic here. Other than the long winters I'm very happy here. But spring comes along in April so we just have to wait it out!!

I don't love where I live right now, and I didn't love where I grew up, but we lived in Charlottesville, VA for 8 years and I truly LOVED it!!! It is small enough that the pace is a little slower, but big enough to have luxuries like shopping and a fantastic public library system and excellent schools. I loved living in a college town, too, and we had access to phenomenal health care through the University of Virginia. I would move back there in a second if my DH didn't have such a great job where we are now.

I now live in West KY. I am less than 10 miles from the TN line. Less then 2 hours from Nashville...heading there in a few hours...so this will be my last post. I am also less than 3 miles from St Louis and Memphis so there is plenty to do and lots of day trips to take.

I am from WV and have lived in South Alabama & Tennessee also. But I have to say I love Murray best. The people are wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The friendliest people around. Whn I go back to my hometown I am reminded about how rude the general public can be. Around here everyone speaks to you, helps you, smiles at you, calls you Hon, Sug (Short for Sugar) and children address adults with a Ms in front of their first Name like Ms Joyce, Ms Amy, etc. Back home up north it was last name or first name. Manners are really taught around here and stressed. The schools are awesome. There are no piercing, wild hair, mohawks, t-shirts that say bad things, belly shirts, etc. The public schools have a DOOR GREETER ( Dress Code Monitor really) and if you aren't dressed acceptable it is either back home you go or to the office to pick something FUNKY but modest out of the clothes box to wear all day. Needless to say everyone comes modestly dressed.

Low crime and we pay $500 a month rent for a 1700 brick ranch within a block from the university.

The only thing I don't like is tornado season.