David needs to build one of these!
Showing posts with label small town living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small town living. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Adventuring with different lifestyles...
That title could be taken in a wrong way. What I'm talking about is suburban vs. urban vs. rural vs. nomadic vs. small town living. We've done all of the above!
Suburban: When our boys were growing up we lived in the suburbs of Denver and loved it! Our jaunt with rural living had me wishing that our boys could have experienced that and I was telling my oldest this and he responded that he LOVED living the suburbs as a kid. So not knowing anything different I guess it was the best for them! We lived in one middle class subdivision for 9 years, then "moved up" a bit into a newer neighborhood and my boys enjoyed it there. We did too! It was what we needed and wanted in that season.
Urban: We lived in urban areas when our boys were babies (Denver); for a 6-month stint when Austin was a Sr. in high school and loved it both times! I loved being able to walk to just about anything we needed. Homes were older but had way more character!
Rural: When we moved back to Texas we wanted rural... and we LOVED it! We had almost 3 acres; had chickens and a garden; were neighbors with goats, sheep, donkeys and horses. We loved the quiet and how bright the stars are at night. We loved not having to keep up with the Jones' with our "yard". We loved the slow pace and the down home folks. The only reason we left this lifestyle was to venture into nomadic living.
Nomadic: As most of you know, we lived and traveled in a fifth wheel for a year. We knew that this was probably a short term arrangement for us but we loved it all the same!
Small-town living: Where we are now. We live in a town with a population of about 6000 people. We can walk to just about anything and can actually walk to the end of town in any direction and it wouldn't be hard at all! We love the quiet, the simple, the down-home folks. We have multiple Mexican food restaurants as well as many other very good places to eat. We have a very nice HEB, hardware store, department store and lots of convenience stores. We have a town square and a library and many churches. We have big store shopping anywhere from 15-40 minutes away depending on which big store you want to shop. We've only lived here 6 months but we feel like we have enough to realize which one we really like the most.
Which one do you think we like the most?
Suburban: When our boys were growing up we lived in the suburbs of Denver and loved it! Our jaunt with rural living had me wishing that our boys could have experienced that and I was telling my oldest this and he responded that he LOVED living the suburbs as a kid. So not knowing anything different I guess it was the best for them! We lived in one middle class subdivision for 9 years, then "moved up" a bit into a newer neighborhood and my boys enjoyed it there. We did too! It was what we needed and wanted in that season.
Urban: We lived in urban areas when our boys were babies (Denver); for a 6-month stint when Austin was a Sr. in high school and loved it both times! I loved being able to walk to just about anything we needed. Homes were older but had way more character!
Rural: When we moved back to Texas we wanted rural... and we LOVED it! We had almost 3 acres; had chickens and a garden; were neighbors with goats, sheep, donkeys and horses. We loved the quiet and how bright the stars are at night. We loved not having to keep up with the Jones' with our "yard". We loved the slow pace and the down home folks. The only reason we left this lifestyle was to venture into nomadic living.
Nomadic: As most of you know, we lived and traveled in a fifth wheel for a year. We knew that this was probably a short term arrangement for us but we loved it all the same!
Small-town living: Where we are now. We live in a town with a population of about 6000 people. We can walk to just about anything and can actually walk to the end of town in any direction and it wouldn't be hard at all! We love the quiet, the simple, the down-home folks. We have multiple Mexican food restaurants as well as many other very good places to eat. We have a very nice HEB, hardware store, department store and lots of convenience stores. We have a town square and a library and many churches. We have big store shopping anywhere from 15-40 minutes away depending on which big store you want to shop. We've only lived here 6 months but we feel like we have enough to realize which one we really like the most.
Friday, September 13, 2013
No longer a slave to Starbucks...
I have not been to Starbucks in about 6 months... and even in the last year and a half I've been probably a total of 7-10 times. Coming from an almost "every day" habit, this is so freeing!
Today I ventured into the "big city" for a day of fun for me. I had a free drink for my birthday thanks to Starbucks so that was my first stop. I've had the Starbucks app on my phone for a while now but never used it like it is supposed to be used. When I approached the cashier, I told him that I had a birthday reward but had never used the app so he needed to guide me! It was very simple and so very cool! I even used the balance of a gift card I've had for over a year right from my phone! VERY COOL! So I ordered THE drink of the season, Pumpkin Spice Latte and my old favorite, an old-fashioned doughnut. I waited for my drink, then because I arrived early enough in the morning, I headed outside to enjoy it. It was still in the upper 70's at this time so it was quite pleasant outside.
Yea... the PSL was okay, but really not something I'd pay for these days. It almost tasted "fake". It's hard to describe but had a chemical-y taste to it. I didn't even finish it which is disappointing. But in that same breath I'm so happy that I've finally broken away from the bondage of Starbucks!
Today I ventured into the "big city" for a day of fun for me. I had a free drink for my birthday thanks to Starbucks so that was my first stop. I've had the Starbucks app on my phone for a while now but never used it like it is supposed to be used. When I approached the cashier, I told him that I had a birthday reward but had never used the app so he needed to guide me! It was very simple and so very cool! I even used the balance of a gift card I've had for over a year right from my phone! VERY COOL! So I ordered THE drink of the season, Pumpkin Spice Latte and my old favorite, an old-fashioned doughnut. I waited for my drink, then because I arrived early enough in the morning, I headed outside to enjoy it. It was still in the upper 70's at this time so it was quite pleasant outside.
Yea... the PSL was okay, but really not something I'd pay for these days. It almost tasted "fake". It's hard to describe but had a chemical-y taste to it. I didn't even finish it which is disappointing. But in that same breath I'm so happy that I've finally broken away from the bondage of Starbucks!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
An evening of bubbles and relaxing!
Brynn provided the bubbles and Sadie provided the laughter... D and I relaxed!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Movin' on...
to our new adventure! Small town living!
We've put a contract on a house in a town with a population of around 6000 people. We both grew up in small towns and before our road trip adventure lived in a very small town but came to the 'burbs of Austin to do all of our shopping and most of our dining (although our little town did have its share of great places to eat - read MEXICAN FOOD). But it's been a while since we lived in what we call a self-sustaining small town (has everything we NEED to live with no true need to drive into the big city). Our last house was only about a 20-minute drive here so we've visited often and have always loved this little town.
After much drama on an offer on a house on an acre just outside the town, we put an offer on an older home inside the city and they've accepted it! The one-acre house outside of town? We found out at the last minute that the HOA "rules" didn't allow chickens? Really? But we can have chickens in town...
We have a quick closing date (20 days!) and are having fun browsing craigslist for furniture (we have none). Yesterday we went and saw 4 items at different places/homes and bought all four of them! So we now have a couch, chair for the living room, coffee table and lawn mower! The only pieces of furniture we kept from our previous home (stored at my parents house) are family treasures - a shelving unit that was my Grandma's and a hope chest and little hallway table that was David's mom's. We also have some smaller unique items that we saved that would have been hard to replace. We got a storage unit to hold all of the "new stuff" until we can move in.
The house as far as we can see is in great shape... needs paint and "our stuff" but it has great wood floors in the main living areas... gorgeous terrazzo tile in the entry and lots of character. And we can have chickens (one of our true desires) again. It is also within walking distance to HEB, Whataburger! and several other places. Notice how I list the important things first!
We've been through the house-buying/selling process enough to know that it's not a done deal til everything is signed, so here's hoping it all goes through!
We've put a contract on a house in a town with a population of around 6000 people. We both grew up in small towns and before our road trip adventure lived in a very small town but came to the 'burbs of Austin to do all of our shopping and most of our dining (although our little town did have its share of great places to eat - read MEXICAN FOOD). But it's been a while since we lived in what we call a self-sustaining small town (has everything we NEED to live with no true need to drive into the big city). Our last house was only about a 20-minute drive here so we've visited often and have always loved this little town.
After much drama on an offer on a house on an acre just outside the town, we put an offer on an older home inside the city and they've accepted it! The one-acre house outside of town? We found out at the last minute that the HOA "rules" didn't allow chickens? Really? But we can have chickens in town...
We have a quick closing date (20 days!) and are having fun browsing craigslist for furniture (we have none). Yesterday we went and saw 4 items at different places/homes and bought all four of them! So we now have a couch, chair for the living room, coffee table and lawn mower! The only pieces of furniture we kept from our previous home (stored at my parents house) are family treasures - a shelving unit that was my Grandma's and a hope chest and little hallway table that was David's mom's. We also have some smaller unique items that we saved that would have been hard to replace. We got a storage unit to hold all of the "new stuff" until we can move in.
The house as far as we can see is in great shape... needs paint and "our stuff" but it has great wood floors in the main living areas... gorgeous terrazzo tile in the entry and lots of character. And we can have chickens (one of our true desires) again. It is also within walking distance to HEB, Whataburger! and several other places. Notice how I list the important things first!
We've been through the house-buying/selling process enough to know that it's not a done deal til everything is signed, so here's hoping it all goes through!
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