I am so blessed and grateful to have had my grandparents visit us for 6 days....It was such a busy time sightseeing and catching up. Time went by entirely to fast but we were able to share our rich and culturally diverse state. And I was excited to share our new and not so new way of living with them.
Their visit started out with a local visit.....Nevada City and Grass Valley. We walked around downtown and window shopped.....I bought NOTHING.....just in case you were wondering ;)
The next day we drove down to San Francisco and had an amazing time and the weather was beautiful. Coming from a small town in Ohio, my grandparents were a little culture shocked by the big city and how far we have to travel to everything (even the grocery store is almost an hour). We were able to drive them across the Golden Gate Bridge, experience the Wharf and Pier 39, introduced them to their first street performers, bought bread at Boudin's, they got to eat lunch at The Hard Rock Cafe for the first time and walk down Haight Ashbury. It was such a great experience to be able to go to a "touristy" area and I came home with no tchotchke items....no key chains, no sweatshirt and no stuffed animal (In full disclosure....I did buy my husband some salt water taffy). I left with amazing memories of my grandparents, my mom and my sister experiencing the big city together and that was worth more than any store-bought trinket.
On Thursday, my husband had the day off and wanted to work on the foundation so we relaxed at home. I was able to harvest the garden with my grandparents and put our bounty to good use and made fresh salsa. Chris showed them what Jerusalem Artichokes were and how to harvest them....and the two completely different tastes you can experience. Chris taught Grandpa Randy how to use our lumber mill...they turned ordinary trees into lumber for our house. We will always have the memories of how they helped build our home.
On Friday, we took them to see all that Sierra County had to offer. We went to Downieville, checked out the breathtaking Sierra Buttes, had lunch in Sierraville and experienced the beautiful Lake Tahoe.
I will forever cherish the quality time that I was able to spend with my grandparents. I was able to show them the beautiful state that I now call home, they were able to bond with my husband, and experience our new radical way of simple living. We ate 100% organic and locally grown food, we harvested and prepared food out of our very own garden, my grandpa helped Chris mill lumber for our new home, and I was able to learn a lot about true forgiveness.
And since we are on the subject of clothes......it's that time of the year. Time to switch out the summer clothes for the sweaters and scarves. I have a hard time (sometimes!) getting rid of my clothes...."I might some day want to wear it or need it for a photo shoot or costume." So I found this idea and I have implemented this into my closet. When it's time to switch my closet out for flip flops and tanks, I will simply re-purpose or thrift store all the items that are still on the backwards hangers. 
