The New Safeway on Bass Lake Road in El Dorado Hills

 

    This brand new shopping center is making positive economic waves for the community of El Dorado Hills. That shopping center is at the Bass Lake Road/Serrano Parkway intersection and it is anchored by a Safeway grocery store. Also, at the shopping center, there is a Mexican restaurant called Mexico Lindo, a yogurt shop called Jon and Bon's, a Chase bank, Great Clips hair salon, and others in this shopping center. This new shopping center was just completed in May of this year and Safeway opened in that month along with the center.

My family and I just shopped at the new Safeway in this center just over a week ago. We bought groceries, toured the store and I was able to find a car model of Doc Hudson from the Cars movie. I thought that the store looked really nice, spacious, and clean being a new store.

I hope that you are excited about this new shopping center in our community and I hope you are able to stop by soon!! 

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men.   Colossians 3:23

 

Just say NO!! NO to Going out of business signs.

Normally, I don't get political on my blog, but I am very passionate about small businesses, and I believe I need to do something to stand up for them so that they don't just shrivel up and die. I can't let this happen. That is why I am writing this letter to the governor telling him to defend our small businesses. 

 Dear Governor of California, 

I believe you (the governor) need to watch out before half of your state leaves to places such as Idaho, Texas and South Dakota and overwhelm their cities with refugees from California wanting to escape your policies you have created. You also should watch out before you get removed from office and Arnold Schwarzenegger II takes your place as governor. Do you want to end up like Gray Davis, who got recalled from his office as governor because he did moves that were very unpopular to Californians, such as causing blackouts all around the state because they didn't produce enough electricity to keep California powered. Does that sound similar to what you have been doing? Do you want a Republican who wears a MAGA hat and waves a Trump flag to take your place as governor who cares about the liberties of the people of California? 

You have closed down the economy of your state and forced many people to the point of rioting on the streets destroying cities which you love because of the protests that you have encouraged. You forced everyone on lockdown for two months and closed stores that were nonessential for that time period and they only reopened because the people pressured you to do so, but you kept marijuana and smoke shops open. 

You have forced churches to only have online service because you are afraid of someone getting sick at one of the churches in our state. You have caused people to not receive the help that they need such as treatment of disease because people are afraid of getting COVID, even though some clients need help more than they are afraid of getting the virus. Thankfully, because of the cries of the people, and because of Trump's executive order to reopen churches across the country on May 22nd, churches have been able to hold outdoor service, which I have been a part of. It is only by God's help that we have been able to attend church service at all. 

You have closed down the indoor part of restaurants after they worked really hard to take safety precautions to reopen- distancing tables, sanitizing tables, employees wearing masks, etc. so that they could serve their customers. Some restaurants have had to permanently close because of what you have done. The local Sizzler in our town closed for good because you forced them to close the interior of their restaurant. Their restaurant and their employees' days of working there are finished... finito. They never get to work there again. They may have a hard time finding a job to fill that hole, unless you can reverse things and let restaurants reopen, which they would gladly take. This is the same story for other restaurants around the state. 

You have closed down indoor malls in many places which have many stores that are barely surviving as it is. Have you seen the Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights driving on Sunrise Blvd? I bet they would be glad if you let them stay open instead of having to be shut. It looks very sad driving by it with it being shut. It hurts the stores around the mall by the mall being closed. I bet JCPenney and Macy's at the mall would do better if you let the mall be open. As it was, the mall has been struggling already-with only 61% of the spaces at the mall occupied with stores. These places are fragile, and if you keep enforcing these policies, they may no longer exist. That would be a really sad outcome, because I really struggle with stores closing and it hurts when I see one go under which I loved going to. I have autism, which makes my brain impaired, which aggravates the stress for me when that happens. It makes me grieve for days, even weeks after I hear about it. To cope with the pain and to divert my mind off of it, I started writing a blog about new businesses, which is the platform I am writing to you on, so that I can help these businesses get the customers and money they need to be successful so that they don't end up as another business that went under. Sometimes, it has been successful; sometimes, it has not. 

 If you don't change your rules and reopen things back up, people are going to revolt against your rules and vote in a new governor, or some counties may secede from your state to form the State of Jefferson. Churches have already had enough with your rules and some churches-(for example, Grace Community Church in Los Angeles) have still had indoor church service with singing and they are just happy to congregate together as a church. Restaurants have had enough of your restrictions and some still have indoor dining in the local area I live in, which many people have been gladly using, some from far distances, just to support their cause. 

Sincerely, 

Hayden LePore 

Thanks for reading my letter and I hope you learn from this letter and that you are inspired to tell others about it!! 

But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29

Our trip to Utah 2020

Last month, my parents and I went on a vacation to Utah to escape from our house. On our trip, we saw many towns and places, some I haven't seen before. To give you a taste of what our trip was like, on the first day, we drove from the town of Pleasant Grove (suburb of Provo, 30 minutes south of Salt Lake) where we were staying to the town of Heber City where we went to a church called Grace Family Bible Church, a small church we have been to a couple times before when we visited the area which has really welcomed us. After we went to church, we drove from the Heber Valley up a little two lane road winding up the mountain until it reaches 9,000 feet and then drops down to Park City. On the drive, we saw views of the valley, beautiful tall aspen trees, little patches of snow up on the mountain, and beautiful views of Park City, where we walked its beautiful historical downtown with shops and restaurants and beautiful architecture of the old buildings.

The next day, we went to the town of Saratoga Springs, where we saw Utah Lake from the west side looking at the east side of the Utah Valley. We also saw some new construction in the area with new stores and houses being built due to the rapid growth of the area. We ate lunch in one of the new shopping centers at Mod Pizza, which actually has gluten free pizza that my family and I could eat. We had pineapple and chicken and dairy free Daiya cheese on top of our pizza. It was delicious!!

Then we drove down from the Utah Valley to the town of Mona, where we saw the Young Living lavender farm. We visited the lavender farm gift shop, where we looked at the Young Living product offerings greeted by nice people working there. Then we opened the door in the back, and a whole new world was unveiled-flowers, ponds, waterfalls, a fun creek that I really enjoyed playing near, and different plants they had for us to look at. Plus, we even had a view of Mount Nebo and its magical look with the garden and its trees.

After we went to Mona, we drove even further south to the town of Tropic near Bryce Canyon National Park, which was our hub for visiting Bryce Canyon-eating dinner and lunch at three of the four restaurants in town, and where we stayed the night. The place we stayed at is called the Bryce Canyon Inn, where we had a 2 bedroom cabin with a living room with a nice television and a table where we could eat breakfast at. We ate dinner the first night at the Rustler Restaurant-where my father ate some delicious trout that I had a piece of, along with my meal of chicken.

We rose up the next morning and went to Kodachrome State Park, where we saw different rock formations, a tall chimney rock, and a rock similar to Uluru in Australia. After we went to the park, we ate lunch from a place called Route 12 Grille and Gift Shop at the Sinclair gas station where we took sopes with chips and rice and beans to our room where we ate. The food was really delicious!!

Then we drove to Bryce Canyon, driving from the open plains of Bryce Canyon City to the dense forests with ponderosa pines, and when you go up higher, seeing aspens with their beautiful white bark. Plus, you have vistas looking at the dry Colorado plateau where our cabin was at and looking at the cliffs and arches formed from years (could also be days) of erosion. We enjoyed seeing the canyon so much that my dad and I went on a walk to explore the Sunset point area of the park where we walked steep canyons down the hill and up back on a strenuous, but fun hike. Back in the town of Tropic, we ate dinner at a restaurant that is a part of the place we stayed, the Bryce Canyon Inn Restaurant, where we ate burgers and fries. 

The next day we drove from the town of Tropic and headed south near the Sevier River with its lush valley and beautiful water, which then gave to beautiful pine forests and then gave to the East Fork Virgin River valley leading to the magnificent Zion Canyon, which was amazing!!  Seeing how steep it was from the valley to the tall rocks that only an amazing God could make, with the trees, the river, the red rock formations, and how beautiful it was.

We then went to another part of the park, which is very unknown. I didn't know about it until we took the drive to see it. It was a 24 mile drive to a beautiful alpine lake called Kolob Reservoir, where we saw tall steep red mountains, vistas of the Virgin River Valley, of the canyon, juniper, ponderosa pine trees, and up the hill we saw beautiful aspen trees and lush green meadows where the lake is at.

Then we ended our trip in Utah by staying in the city of St George at the brand new SpringHill Suites in the east part of town and had takeout from Benja's Thai Garden next to the Red Cliffs Mall and took the food to our hotel patio that we thought was beautiful with the pool next door and fire pits.

I hope that You enjoyed learning about our trip and that it will inspire you to get out and make a trip yourself if you can!!

Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"  Behold the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.  Isaiah 40:9-10

Thank You for reading my blogpost and God bless!!

 

 

 

Looking for new hobbies? Look no further than Citrus Heights at the new Hobby Lobby

 

There is a new Hobby Lobby in Citrus Heights that just opened a few months ago (and just reopened along with other Hobby Lobby stores after two months of being closed due to the lockdown) in the old Toys R Us building at 7800 Greenback Lane. At Hobby Lobby, they sell,

·         Home Decor and Frames

·         Scrapbooks and Paper Crafts

·         Crafts and Hobbies

·         Fabric and Sewing

I visited this Hobby Lobby on the 2nd of March (before everything happened with the virus) with my family to look for watercolor paper for a project of mine. I really enjoy visiting the Hobby Lobby stores that I have been to. It is really nice to have a Hobby Lobby store in Citrus Heights and I believe it gives us a reason to visit Citrus Heights to go shopping. This new Hobby Lobby store opened at the end of January of this year. 

There are five Hobby Lobby stores in the Sacramento area, including this new store in Roseville on Douglas Blvd, Arden Way in Sacramento, Elk Grove, and a store at the new Delta Shores center in South Sacramento, if you are wondering about how many Hobby Lobby stores there are in the Sacramento region.

I hope this blogpost has given you some encouragement and hope for this time. And I hope that you can visit Hobby Lobby sometime soon so you can have time out of the house.

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Thank You for reading my blogpost and God bless!!

 

My perspective of our current situation

 During this time, I believe that supporting your small businesses is crucial.  One way I have supported them  is by praying that they will be able to reopen and that they will have the customers they need to stay in business. I think that this is important because God hears you when you pray, and our businesses need lots of prayers.

I also believe that being in quarantine is not good for our economy. It is not good because it causes people to lose their jobs and their livelihoods because their businesses are closed. And it is not good for all of society because it can cause people to get cooped up and go crazy, like many are right now. I have been cooped up and crazy before too, becoming bored because of the lack of things to do at my house.

In my personal experience, it has been really hard for me to see businesses close because I know that people are losing their jobs and if it was a really good store, I am sad because there is one less good store that I could get my things from and I lose the good service they provided. As the case with Combellack's, it was a historical store that meant a lot to Placerville and losing it was like losing a piece of the town. When I was a little kid, I was honestly afraid of seeing different businesses close. It was too traumatizing for me to look at them. I would cry a lot when I saw one close, especially if it was one I really liked going to, because I realized it was no more. That is why I believe we need to support our businesses in our community. I don't want all of our businesses we like to close.

As a way of trying to lessen the impact of the pandemic on the economy, my family and I have supported our local businesses by buying groceries from Fork Lift in Cameron Park, pet supplies from Lee's Feed in Shingle Springs, plants from El Dorado Nursery in Shingle Springs (while getting inspired with all their ideas about what we want for our backyard), landscaping materials from Acer Landscaping (next door to the nursery) for our yard, hardware from Churchill's Hardware, takeout food from Cameron Park's Thai House, Los Pinos Mexican Restaurant, Fernando's Costa Del Sol, and Shingle Springs's Back Forty Texas BBQ.  We have even tried burgers and fries from a new place we have never visited before called the Breakroom in Shingle Springs.

Another positive thing that has happened during this time is that I have been able to see and spend time with my nearby neighbors. Our neighbors have shopped for us when we couldn't find the supplies we needed, such as toilet paper, or didn't want to deal with waiting in line to enter Costco.  As a fun thing to add, I have been able to help my neighbor next door when he needed to clean out some brush from his yard, which I thought was a nice thing to do instead of being inside all day.

A week ago, we did something creative; we celebrated my father's 50th Birthday party by having a parade. Many of my dad's friends drove by our house waving to dad and bringing birthday signs, talked with us and even gave dad funny gifts, rolls of toilet paper. I had a really fun time and in fact, we had more people for dad's 50th birthday than we had for any previous birthdays in years past.

We've enjoyed meals on the patio, a couple walks each day seeing all the houses, trees, birds, and beautiful flowers. When it rained, I've seen streams flowing in our neighborhood that I thought were cool. I've enjoyed working with my dad outside in the backyard on retaining walls and planting plants in the ground.

I hope that you are doing good during this time and that you are thinking of things to keep you up and going. Thank you for reading my blogpost and God bless!!

Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.   Psalm 46:10-11

 

 

 

The unveiling of the new second location of Under the Arbor

 

On Saturday, February 1st, a local favorite, Under the Arbor, extended their arbor to Placerville. Their new location is at 289 Placerville Drive is in the former Sierra Gold Graphics building. I visited this new location on the Grand Opening day where I browsed through the store and enjoyed seeing all the nice furniture and exhibits that they have for sale. They have little vendor booths that sell candles, furniture, signs, and even one that sells Blue Lives Matter shirts and gear to honor those who didn't make it home. It is called American Heroes and it is run by Chantel, a family friend.  I really admire that they do this and I think that it is really respectful for those families. I had a really fun time exploring the store and I hope that you can visit it the next time you are in Placerville so you can see all the beautiful booths inside the store.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD and not for men.     Colossians 3:23

Thank you for reading my blogpost and God bless!!