I've been meaning to write for awhile about this new little town of ours and this morning at the park, I met yet another two moms who were so incredibly sweet, one who actually invited us to her annual Easter egg hunt, so I feel compelled to write. About how much I love it. And how surprised I am to love it......
My dad grew up in a very very verrryyyy small Southern town and yes, like a typical bratty teenage girl I remember thinking (and apparently saying because my dad reminded me of it a few days ago) "ugh how on earth could anyone live here?!?!?!!" I mean, Charlotte is such a monster metropolous......................right?!?! In any case, I just couldn't imagine not having a big downtown to go to for concerts or nice restaurants, or a big mall, or having a next door neighbor that's a farmer. I couldn't fathom. And now I can :)
It is PHENOMENAL. I cannot overstate how incredibly nice everyone is. Genuine, not an ounce of pretention, slow sweet Southern talkin' people. I can't believe it. The day I left CO I was crying........hard. Inside of course because I was on a plane with a baby and 100 other people but I was scared to death of where this plane was taking me. I loathe change....at the beginning. I know ultimately its good for me and I always always always am able to see how good it is for me in the end, but on the front end I'm a miserable person to be around, trying to hold on to whatever it is that I had and am leaving behind. I can't say it enough. There really wasn't any part of this, other than being closer to our families, that I was excited about. I was sure Colorado was going to be the best play we ever lived.................and it was amazing. But after a month, I sit here and say, "Colorado what?!" We've found a good grocery store with lots of organic food for the buddy, there are awesome outlets 15 minutes away where we can find great stuff for CHEAP, there is a MALL!, our neighbors are old, yes, but extremely sweet and love Declan, the local library has a wonderful (free!) kiddie reading and playing program that we go to once a week, we've signed him up for swim lessons starting in May, the weather is out of control.............in a good way. I could go on and on but I am just shocked at how much I love this small little Southern town. We walk down the street, and without a doubt stop and have a conversation with the person passing. People around here honest to goodness just care. They care who you are, they care where you came from, they care about this little smiling boy you push in a stroller, they want to help you find the street you're looking for, they give great advice on local little gems or restaurants...........it just doesn't end. Now, Conway is never going to have some upscale state of the art shopping center with the latest and greatest in shops and restaurants. No chance - they're cool with their Wal Mart.
I've always been a very competetive person so while I sit here and say how much I love how no one around here is pretentious, I think its because I hate how sometimes I can be........................this place is going to be good for me. There doesn't seem to be competetion to be better than your neighbor, build a bigger house, open a nicer restaurant, drive a nicer car........none of that. They are who they are, and they love and embrace the old Southern small townness :) Yes, townness.....I'll write Webster about it later. There is so much to be said for just being content where you are. I'm learning............
It's just nice to be somewhere that you can relax...........its like vacation all the time. Truly - my in-laws used to live about 40 minutes from here and Carol told me the same thing about when they lived here - this is where people come to vacation, and we LIVE here!
I just continue to be shocked daily about how great it is here. Maybe its because Decky and I are back together with Paul and I'm just overwhelmed with how much love there is in our house, but I truly do love it. So much more than I thought I would. Thank goodness :)
PS - so you guys don't vomit because of how cheesy and gross I am, there are certainly things I do not like (ie the creepy critters that somehow make their way into our house on a daily basis) but I'm trying not to focus on those :) Only thinking positively around here or I could easily step back and no one wants that!
