I grew up in a town about an hour from the big city of Vancouver, a town called Maple Ridge. Since I spent pretty much my whole life there, I felt like I knew everyone in that city. I couldn't walk into Red Robin without knowing half the restaurant. Some people might be totally happy with that, but I felt sort of trapped. My family kind of had the same feeling since we lived there for so long. So, when I graduated... we sold the house and my family (my brother, my mom, my dad and I) moved to Kelowna, BC. Kelowna is absolutely beautiful and I love living there! Mostly because its NEW! New people, new house, new environment, new activities, everything was new.
I was a little nervous to go back to my hometown, since I hadn't been back for 2 years. There are lots of people there that I was nervous to run into (personal drama I will not discuss publicly), so I distanced myself from Maple Ridge. But I believed enough time had passed, and I wanted to show my boyfriend where I grew up, that was important to me. PLUS.. my aunt and uncle and twin cousins live there, so it was so nice to visit with them!
I definitely missed the beautiful cherry blossoms, mountain ranges, greenery and of course the tulips! The views of the valley are views that are so unique and I almost forgot how different and beautiful it is there. I drove around and showed my boyfriend all the houses I've lived in as well as introduced him to some childhood friends; the trip was actually very positively nostalgic for me! I'm very happy we went and I'll definitely go back again soon! Even though my hometown used to be a place I sort of despised because of growing up there and being severely bullied through high school, plus being the home to my ex-boyfriends... I did have a really good time and it made me really happy reminiscing my childhood. Also holy crap.. I did not miss the gas prices in the lower mainland (1.70!!!!) WHAT THE HECK?!
We also got to see the famous Abbotsford Tulip Festival on our way out of the valley! Stay tuned for the next blog post about it!!! I gotta live you guys on some sort of cliff hanger! Xoxo