15 Things We Will Miss Living in Lemoore & California

We have about 15 more days before we make our final farewell to California for a long time before we return.  The beauty or beast of my job in the Navy is to move around and meet new people, places & pleasures.   The biggest and most important thing we will really miss are the people around us during the entire 4 years we were here (even on my deployments & helping Myla and Sam in my absence) but we cannot mention them all.   We have about 15 THINGS we are so THANKFUL for in our 48 months (minus my deployments & underway) of living in Lemoore.  These are just the few that we can think of right now:  The 15 People, Places and Pleasures we will miss in the Valley.

1.  South Valley Christian Church

The best church from coast to coast.  All the pastors were on top of their game and the community have kept us focus in service to the community and God through worship and networking.  We love you and we will miss the Vacation Bible Adventure, Praise Team and our weekly sermons from pastor Jeff.

2.  Neutra Elementary School
From kindergarten to grade 3, from Spelling Bee winner to Top 3 student, he develop himself into a true academic and team player at the very young age.  We are so lucky to get him in one of the best school in California.


3.  Navy Base Housing Convenience
After 18 years in the Navy we took the hook of staying in Navy Housing and it was an amazing 4 years of convenience.  The hospital, mini-mart, Fleet and Family, McDo, Parks, Pools, Spuds and all conveniences are all walking distance from our home.

4.  Pacquaio Party with the Amores & Other Pinoy Parties & Pinoy Turo-Turo
From San Diego to Port Hueneme to Hanford - there is always pinoys everywhere in California.  From Jolibee in Bay Area to Seafood City in San Diego to Zeny's of Lemoore.  We will miss my kalahi, katropa and kabayans. If you want to blend in, California is the place to be.


5.  Utilities
There is no doubt we save a lot of money, time and stress from the hassles of being a homeowner for once.  We should have tried this before but it was an experience and eventually we have to face reality that we have to be on our own so we will not be spoiled again by living in housing again, but it was a great experience.

6.  Yosemite and Sequoia National Park
Many knows we love to travel and our favorite is going through God's playground:  the beach, the mountains, the lake and parks.  Two of the best National Park we have been through from coast to coast is the Yosemite and Sequoia and we are so lucky to be in the central valley for 4 years and an annual park card holder - it's worth the trip.


7.  "Shoveling the Snow - Free" Winter
Yeah, everyone in the upper East Coast can relate to what we've been through when we were in Connecticut for few years, we did not miss the shoveling in our front yard but we never really hated the snow.  We did miss the white Christmas but we will surely miss checking in at the beach motel in Point Mugu on Christmas in California.

8.  Mortgage and Maintenance Free Navy Housing
Living in military housing was a benefit not many appreciates specially those who are already in the military.  We enjoyed it after 20 years in the Navy, the last 4 years was the only time we live in housing and we enjoyed the convenience of not worrying about home owners, maintenance and other hassles of owning a house.

9.  Sam's Daily Sports
Basketball, Baseball, Swimming, Football, Soccer - those sports that Sam enjoyed, developed and excel in the last 4 years help him stay out of video games and kept him alert and strong and prepare him for bigger discipline later.  The coaches were great and attending every single one of them was really a pleasure (well not really on the hot summer above 90s).  He also excel in playing Tennis, Walleyball with us and he is great in Karate as well.  The Navy base have great and active program sports for Sam and we will miss it.

10.  *** Friends and Neighbors ***
I will not mention every single names but you know who you are.  The meetings and parties were truly memorable and when we need a quick sitter for Sam, you are always there for us. 

11.  Business Contacts
Finally, Myla can say that we actually had more business profits here in Lemoore versus Connecticut in our MVOSS Creation printing business.  Although we may lose some of the clients due to our move, we develop our contacts and business skills from team sports shirts and retirement souvenirs and church uniform and special promotional products.  What a great time for business.

12.  Small Town Community 
It was shocking at first for us who grow up in the city and living in a suburbs for awhile in Ventura and New England when we first move to Lemoore whose mall is basically Kmart unless you drive further to Hanford.  The cattle of cows & goats, garlic and cotton field in all our drives daily from work to home was a sight we may miss when we move back to the city.   

13.  Day trips to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Barbara, Silicon Valley
Some of the most sophisticated city (next to our ultimate favorite Chicago and NYC) are a pleasure to visit and a sure treat for us "city people".  We will miss the shops, the museums, the concerts and other crowds unique to cool California.

14.  Weekend trips to San Diego, Las Vegas & Friends in Ventura County
Point Mugu is home with all my friends and my mom and never get tired of seeing some of the best people in our life.  We have some of the most memorable moments in San Diego where 2 of my last squadron deploys onboard Lincoln and Nimitz.  San Diego coast, Kona Kai Hotel, Balboa Park, Zoo, Legoland and SeaWorld are just some of Sam's favorite parks and Myla's getaways.

15.  Monthly road trips to Pacific Coast Highway
Morro, Pismo, Laguna, Huntington, Avila, Santa Barbara and all the beautiful beaches in PCH - cold but Sam can tolerate them even without the wet suits

But don't be sad our Lemoore and California friends, there is always this blog and Facebook to get us connected.  I am pretty sure that stocks for Facebook is still viable and will last for another 5 years to be a means to get connected.  Get those Androids and iPhones in your hand everyday and you will be with us everyday unless you're not on 4G LTE or have a strong WiFi.