Today we’re running another installment of our “Thankful Thursday” series. This time, we’re especially thankful … for YOU, the Pure Jeevan family! Who’d have thought, less than two years ago when launching this blog, that we’d make thousands of connections with others looking for inspiration on their raw food journey?!!  It’s simply astounding — and we’re still actually “just getting started.”

As always, we’re thrilled to provide information and inspiration. It’s counter-intuitive, when you really consider it; “raw foods” may be just two simple words, yet there always seems to be more and more to talk about, more people to interview, more success stories to highlight, more recipes to contribute, more tips and tricks to share, more personal reflections to offer.

While we would love to develop a more interactive experience (and we’re working on some things!), the format here on the blog is pretty much the same as it is for all blogs; we present information for others to read. It’s kind of an outward-facing act, when you consider it. However, today we’re turning that around 180-degrees. Today, we need to leverage the cumulative knowledge of the Pure Jeevan family. We desperately need your help! And it might just be SO easy for you to help us!

You see, we’re researching. Since we had to postpone our U.S. RV tour, we can no longer wait until we’re on the road to discover our own Utopia (which was part of our original plans). We figured that during our cross-country tour we’d visit someplace and just *know* we found our new home. Now finding the ideal location to relocate has become a bit more difficult. We’re currently seeking the ultimate place to live (for us) and want your suggestions! Below is a list of qualities we’re seeking in a new home. We’re asking everyone we know (and even people we don’t) to take a look at the following list and offer us any suggestions for further research. So, please, if you know of a city that potentially fits our needs (or at least fits many of them), then please let us know. It could be a simple comment like “Santa Rosa, CA” or as long of a recommendation as you care to offer!  Here’s our criteria:

	Sunshine.  We’ve discussed this periodically before. This and the next item were what prompted the move in the first place. While Pittsburgh is certainly a beautiful city, it ranks very low on this criterion. In fact, it’s less sunny here than Seattle! (We have 45% sunny days here; Seattle has 47%.) We’ve also likely discussed some related factors here — e.g., how sunshine affects mood, how Vitamin D deficiency is linked to disease, how raw foodies tend to feel cold more often, etc. So, sun is important to us! We need a minimum of 250 days of sunshine per year, but we’d prefer more.
	Fresh air.  Again, while Pittsburgh is a fine city, it also happens to be among the top-most areas for air pollution. Year after year, the American Lung Association publishes its list of the worst places to live in terms of air quality. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh is always near the top. Since we have a chance to design our lives, we want to breathe the freshest air possible! In fact, we want to live in a place where the air quality is valued and safeguarded. Wendi has strugged with the poor air quality before eating raw foods, but now she’s even more sensitive to air pollution (we all are, actually). So, no more industrialized areas for us!
	Proximity to a progressive / artsy city with lots of unschoolers and activities for teens.  As we stated in a prior post, we’re also doing this for our daughter. While it may be fun to live in an extremely remote area, she really needs to be somewhere where she can make good, solid friendships. As she’s a highly artistic, creative person, it would be best to find like-minded people her age. We’ve found some amazing locales based on all of the other criteria here, but this one’s definitely a deal-breaker. (Sorry Redding, CA. You almost made it, but just weren’t perfect for us in this area!)
	Affordable land.  After living for more than a decade on a postage-stamp-sized lot, it’s time we stretched out a bit and acquired some land. We’d like 20+ acres (though a lot more if the price is right–we’ll be needing a lot of land for a future project). Ideally, it would have hills, trees, rocks, streams, wildlife, and privacy … and yet be close enough to civilization or a city so that our daughter could have many friends. A tall order, yes, but we’re sure it exists somewhere.
	Long growing season.  Aha, and here’s another reason we want land — the ability to grow most (if not all) of our own food! The longer the growing season, the better, in fact. We suppose this is another way of saying that we want a “warm” climate. However, we’re also not opposed to a little bit of winter. Perhaps one of those areas where it might snow just a little bit. But, we’re through with these “cold from November through March” scenarios! Fort Colins, CO, was very high on our list two years ago, but we’ve since decided that we need a warmer year-round temperature and longer growing season.

So, as you can see we need some help, since we haven’t traveled all over the US. We’re open to any and all suggestions. Surely such a place exists. We’re simply searching for it at the moment! So please think on it and let us know any suggestions you might have. We really appreciate your help! If you’d rather drop us a direct email, you can reach Wendi at WendiDee [at] PureJeevan.com or Jim at Rawdiant [at] Gmail.com.

Thanks so much!

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