I chose to live in Murrieta, Ca. for many reasons but there a a few that stand out. When I decided to move out of Bellingham, Wa., it was simply to move back to the sunshine! Bellingham was a beautiful, safe and quaint little town so it was very important to me to find a town in Southern California that had similar values.

Having a young family, it is very important to me to live in an area that has low crime rate. Murrieta was voted the 2nd safest city in the United States according to the FBI! This was a huge consideration in moving back to So. Cal., I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to keep my family safe.

Another very big concern for me was replacing the beauty of the Northwest.  To be honest, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to find a city comparable. Murrieta is named “The gem of the valley” for its beauty. There is lots of outdoor activities to do here and we are only an hour from either San Diego and its gorgeous beaches, Los Angeles or even Big Bear. You can literally go hiking, surfing and skiing all in the same day!

Schools are also a very big concern for me, I have 2 young children and I wanted to ensure they would be a part of a great school system. Murrieta is known for having a great school system. Murrieta schools have received many honors and distinctions. High test scores and creative programs place Murrieta Valley Unified School District in the upper echelon of school districts! My kids absolutely love their school and their teachers!

Community is also a very big consideration in choosing a city to live in and I truly feel Murrieta is second to none! The people are friendly and really love getting out to enjoy all the great things available to them. There are many activities to do here too. I will cover this in more detail in my next blog, but Murrieta is a great place to live, play and raise a family!

It’s hard to believe that we are already heading into April! Living in Southern California has many advantages and terrific weather is definitely one of them! We don’t have the brutal winters here like they have in some other areas. For Southern Californians, we just have to deal with the inconvenience of less than perfect weather for a co

It’s hard to believe that we are already heading into April! Living in Southern California has many advantages and terrific weather is definitely one of them! We don’t have the brutal winters here like they have in some other areas. For Southern Californians, we just have to deal with the inconvenience of less than perfect weather for a couple weeks a year! This usually comes mid-February to mid-March. We did get quite a bit of rain this year, but we needed it so we are happy to see it come and even happier to see it go!

The spring solstice or vernal equinox is the day in spring when daytime and nightime are of the same length. This tends to happen around March 21st of each year. Today is the 22nd so we are over the hump! The days are now getting longer and the nights shorter and we are about to have an epidemic of Spring Fever!

I want to share with you the 7 things I love about spring in Murrieta.

1. Spring Cleaning~ I know this may not seem that exciting but every spring I start noticing the projects that were put on the shelf since summer and it is time to get them done. I was in Home Depot this weekend and it seemed everyone was there for the same reason I was, to gather necessities for their weekend Honey-Do list! The car washes seem to be the popular spots too! As soon as the weatherman says “No chance of rain”, we all get lined up!

2. Green, Green Green ~ Everything is green! Everywhere you look, the winter rains has produced an amazing green landscape. Lawns are thick and tall and the shrubs are like trees! There was a roar this weekend and it wasn’t NASCAR, it was lawnmowers everywhere being put to the test! Actually, one of the several trips to Home Depot was to check out their deals on mowers!

3 Longer lasting days ~ I am not a big fan of day light savings but I really really enjoy a couple hours of sunlight after I get home! I am in the office until 6:30 to 7:00 so during the winter it is dark by the time I get home so activities with the family are usually limited to indoor stuff and usually involving a television. We live close to a greenbelt with a walking trail and it is by far one of our dog Congo’s favorite places to go so in the evening time we lace up and go for a nice evening walk or bike ride.

Sometimes if we feel like we really need to get out we will go walk Old Town Temecula which has lots of great shops and restaurants and even a horse drawn buggy to ride around on if you’d like.

4 Hummingbirds ~ A tradition that I will never be tired of is sitting on our patio drinking coffee with Sarah and watching the Hummingbirds come in to feed. I could sit and watch the hummingbirds at the feeder for hours.  It’s relaxing and peaceful.

5 Go swimming ~ Here in Murrieta the weather doesn’t waste much time heating up. We have already seen temps reach 90 degrees! With it staying lighter later there have been times we will head to the beach. It’s only about an hour drive to our favorite Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, which gets its name because local residents used to come to the area for midnight picnics early in the early 1900s.

We don’t have a pool at our home so if we need to cool off and don’t want to drive to Encinitas we head to the YMCA, it’s a great organization and has family swim times and lots of programs for kids. My son Evan just started playing YMCA Basketball and he absolutely loves it!

6 BBQing ~ Is it possible to truly enjoy spring without firing up the BBQ? Not at our house! We find ourselves BBQing 3-4 nights a week at least! We live in a Col de Sac so more often than not a neighbor will stop by to chat for a while or even stay for dinner. One of the greatest joys of practicing so close to where we live and in a community like Murrieta is having friends/practice members come over to BBQ!

7 Easter ~ Having young children, Easter is one of my favorite celebrations in spring. My wife and I like to get up extra early to play Easter bunny and hide eggs and other gifts for the kids. It is almost as exciting for them as Christmas morning! Since we have moved back to California, my father has come out several times for Easter and my kids are his youngest grand kids so he loves it.

Watching my kids hunt Easter eggs and how excited they get doing it just about gives me as much joy as I can handle! My son is almost 10 so I don’t know how much longer he will be a willing participant but as long as he is I will don the bunny ears and I know for a fact my daughter is good for many more Easter egg hunts!

After hunting Easter eggs we really enjoy going to church and we love going to Revival in Menifee. Pastor Gary is young, hip and he has even finished an Ironman.

After church we of course go home and BBQ!

Murrieta is a town that I can easily find a lot more than 7 things I love to do in the spring. The biggest thing I’d like to suggest is to get out and enjoy yourself. Go have fun and go watch your kids have fun. We live in an area that has unlimited resources for fun, go out and find them!

uple weeks a year! This usually comes mid-February to mid-March. We did get quite a bit of rain this year, but we needed it so we are happy to see it come and even happier to see it go! The spring solstice or vernal equinox is the day in spring when daytime and nightime are of the same length. This tends to happen around March 21st of each year. Today is the 22nd so we are over the hump! The days are now getting longer and the nights shorter and we are about to have an epidemic of Spring Fever! I want to share with you the 7 things I love about spring in Murrieta. 1. Spring Cleaning~ I know this may not seem that exciting but every spring I start noticing the projects that were put on the shelf since summer and it is time to get them done. I was in Home Depot this weekend and it seemed everyone was there for the same reason I was, to gather necessities for their weekend Honey-Do list! The car washes seem to be the popular spots too! As soon as the weatherman says “No chance of rain”, we all get lined up! 2. Green, Green Green ~ Everything is green! Everywhere you look, the winter rains has produced an amazing green landscape. Lawns are thick and tall and the shrubs are like trees! There was a roar this weekend and it wasn’t NASCAR, it was lawnmowers everywhere being put to the test! Actually, one of the several trips to Home Depot was to check out their deals on mowers! 3 Longer lasting days ~ I am not a big fan of day light savings but I really really enjoy a couple hours of sunlight after I get home! I am in the office until 6:30 to 7:00 so during the winter it is dark by the time I get home so activities with the family are usually limited to indoor stuff and usually involving a television. We live close to a greenbelt with a walking trail and it is by far one of our dog Congo’s favorite places to go so in the evening time we lace up and go for a nice evening walk or bike ride. Sometimes if we feel like we really need to get out we will go walk Old Town Temecula which has lots of great shops and restaurants and even a horse drawn buggy to ride around on if you’d like. 4 Hummingbirds ~ A tradition that I will never be tired of is sitting on our patio drinking coffee with Sarah and watching the Hummingbirds come in to feed. I could sit and watch the hummingbirds at the feeder for hours. It’s relaxing and peaceful. 5 Go swimming ~ Here in Murrieta the weather doesn’t waste much time heating up. We have already seen temps reach 90 degrees! With it staying lighter later there have been times we will head to the beach. It’s only about an hour drive to our favorite Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, which gets its name because local residents used to come to the area for midnight picnics early in the early 1900s. We don’t have a pool at our home so if we need to cool off and don’t want to drive to Encinitas we head to the YMCA, it’s a great organization and has family swim times and lots of programs for kids. My son Evan just started playing YMCA Basketball and he absolutely loves it! 6 BBQing ~ Is it possible to truly enjoy spring without firing up the BBQ? Not at our house! We find ourselves BBQing 3-4 nights a week at least! We live in a Col de Sac so more often than not a neighbor will stop by to chat for a while or even stay for dinner. One of the greatest joys of practicing so close to where we live and in a community like Murrieta is having friends/practice members come over to BBQ! 7 Easter ~ Having young children, Easter is one of my favorite celebrations in spring. My wife and I like to get up extra early to play Easter bunny and hide eggs and other gifts for the kids. It is almost as exciting for them as Christmas morning! Since we have moved back to California, my father has come out several times for Easter and my kids are his youngest grand kids so he loves it. Watching my kids hunt Easter eggs and how excited they get doing it just about gives me as much joy as I can handle! My son is almost 10 so I don’t know how much longer he will be a willing participant but as long as he is I will don the bunny ears and I know for a fact my daughter is good for many more Easter egg hunts! After hunting Easter eggs we really enjoy going to church and we love going to Revival in Menifee. Pastor Gary is young, hip and he has even finished an Ironman. After church we of course go home and BBQ! Murrieta is a town that I can easily find a lot more than 7 things I love to do in the spring. The biggest thing I’d like to suggest is to get out and enjoy yourself. Go have fun and go watch your kids have fun. We live in an area that has unlimited resources for fun, go out and find them!

A couple of weeks ago I was reconnected with a shipmate of mine that served with me onboard the USS Fletcher. We hadn’t spoke to each other in over twenty years but within a few minutes we were talking to each other like 2 old sailors! It brought back a lot of memories that I had forgotten about. We reminisced about all of the great ports we visited throughout the years. We talked about friends and where they are in their lives now and I even discovered that I lossed a few friends.

At the time, joining the Navy, was to chase a dream of becoming a SEAL. I had no idea what was involved just to get accepted into BUDs training. I was a Shipboard Firefighter (Hull Tech) in the Navy. We were in charge of the ship’s Damage Control readiness. We worked very hard to ensure fire safety of the ship and if there was a fire, we put it out!

I have a tremendous amount of respect for all firefighters but what made our job a little different was if we lost control of a fire, out home sank to the bottom of the sea. Fortunately, that never happened. But what I did learn was teamwork. If an  engine room catches fire, and a team goes in you must operate as a team or you die. We had to operate as one. We trusted each other as if family. We built the kind of bond that even twenty years didn’t weaken. I have been out of the Navy now for twenty years (as of April 28th) and I still miss it! Honestly, I got out of the Navy to go to college, get a degree and return as an officer.

I had no idea the direction my life would take me. I have an awesome wife, 2 beautiful kids and am blessed with an opportunity to change lives with chiropractic. I have had many military as patients over the years and we have always shared a few stories with one another. I’ve been asked many times if I would do it again and my response is always “ABSOLUTELY”! The time I spent in the Military has given me the tools to succeed in business and life. I am very proud of the fact that I am a veteran. My son has recently shown interest in being a soldier (he wants to have a grenade launcher), and asked if it would be ok. I simply said, “Son, you are going to be great at whatever you choose to do and I would be so proud to see you follow your Dad’s footsteps! Just go to college first!”