Adulting

I am 42 years old and still sometimes don't feel like an Adult. I know, I know how can that even be possible since in less than 10 years I am sure I will be a Nana to someone. I tried talking to my kids who are now by law all adults (18,18,19,20) about when I first felt like an adult. Is it weird that I think the first time I really felt like an adult was when we bought our first expensive fridge? I remember telling my husband that we sure are adults by now! I felt like an adult when we got our first deep freezer and it was completely full. Even though it pretty much had to be with four teens. You think that I would feel more like an adult when I had my children. I think I like to feel that I have always had a little bit of child in me. I hope that is how my kids have grown up knowing that although we are strict parents that have their best interest at heart that we also can wrestle and laugh with them at a moments notice. My parents were that way. We knew the rules and how to behave but we definitely could come to them to talk and laugh. I wonder with each of my children what will be the thing that makes them feel more like an adult? For some reason it was having tons of food for all my kids and the items to place them in. That is what did it for me. I guess for someone else it might be buying a new home or even graduating from college and paying their own bills. I just laugh every time I look at that huge fridge with the extra drawers and fridge part on top. That is when I felt like an adult ha! I think its good to have our inner child always be there. To not stuff them far, far away. Its good to be an adult. Adulting can be hard sometimes though so make sure that you always take a step back and let your inner child out too. I am happy to report my inner child is still ageless.
                                                                                           Love, Ro

Small Town Vs Big City

Being an Army brat I went to 22 countries before I was 20 years old. It was an adventure that I wish now I would of paid more attention too. We lived in big cities like Tokyo, Japan or Munich, Germany. Stateside we were always in big cities too. Funny how I should end up in a town of 250 people that is actually big in size because of all the ranches. I thought I would write a blog about the difference between this small town and a big city so all of you see what we do here.

 1.When I moved here seeing the stars at night was amazing! If it wasn't cloudy there were a billion of them. The moon was so bright we could almost walk around using that as our light source. There are so many stars to be seen that once a year many travel here to go to a Star Party in our town. People bring telescopes that are larger than I am. Its pretty neat to be able to see Saturn's rings up close. I love that you can at least weekly see a shooting star.

2. Small towns means everyone know each other. When you go to get gas at Juniper Junction (our only gas station) you are met with a smile and a hello. Its not fake....Shari and her crew already know your name and genuinely care when they ask how your day is going. They also do flowers, balloons, gas and its our only place in town to rent movies. 

3. We only have one restaurant which is really good. Its open for lunch and early dinners. They have good home cooking BBQ on the weekends. Its a small town so most of us have a tab there and pay weekly or monthly. Great service and again....everyone knows your name. Its kind of the place to go too. Its packed a lot of times especially on Friday nights and Sundays after church. The Oney Frosty is the ONLY place to go! They know your drink before you even ask for it. If you go there though try their milkshakes!

 4. Living so far out we don't have mail service to our homes. No one in town does actually. Everyone has a PO Box. The only time we will get mail at our homes if you order something and FEDEX or UPS brings it to you. Even then you know you live in a small town because they bring your dogs snacks and know them all by name. No one is afraid to leave it on the front porch if you aren't home because who wants to drive down the 5 mile dirt road to get to your house to even look.

 5. Traffic....When I first moved here we made a video of the "traffic" because we found it so different. Let me show you a pic of "traffic" in the hussle and bussle middle part of town. If two cars are on the road then its normal. If three cars are on the road then you start to wonder if everyone is going somewhere and you didn't get invited ha!

 6. The cost of living is lower here. More so I mean in the sense of rent. There aren't apartments to rent or apartment buildings anywhere. Its either a house, Mobile home or a trailer. Most houses are nice ranch houses with lots of out buildings, barns and sheds. Some are extremely nice but most are modest nice houses! Cost of renting a house though is much lower. Probably because there aren't many people who don't live here for a long time. I will give you an example. A four bedroom 3 bathroom house with acreage goes for less than 1000 a month. Most cities that would be a one bedroom apartment. When we moved here we stayed at THE LAST RESORT IN ADIN for two months while waiting on our house to open up. Its a motel that has 6 rooms. Its super clean and we were treated like family. Dave and Linda the owners were fantastic. We were really blessed. Everyone is so hospitable.

7. The school is pretty neat here. Every teacher pretty much knows every student in the whole schools name. If the kids do something at school you better believe I will know what happened before they even get home. News travels fast in a small town. There are about 200 students K-12 grade here. Its 4 towns together that go to this school. The classes are small and you really get that one on one attention that you need. It would be really hard for you to try and hide and not be known. The kids have a lot of sports even though its small. Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Wrestling, Baseball, Dance, Softball and Track. Kids can stay pretty busy. There is a lot of clubs also like Science Club or 4h, FFA and leadership etc. Its not just the parents that are involved. The whole community comes out to these events and really support all the kids. GO CARDS!

 8. Cooking. Planning meals is something you really had to do. We do have a corner store that has meats, milk, canned foods etc in it. Its high priced though so its really for going to grab something if you ran out of it. They do have pizzas and sandwiches there which is cool. Mostly though to get to a real grocery store its 70 miles away. Also that's our nearest Starbucks. When you go shopping you really stock up. Its not going to buy food weekly but usually bi weekly or monthly. Most people with large families freeze their milk or bread and thaw it out when its needed. A lot of people but not all have gardens during the summer and some can their foods. It seems like everyone has a deep freezer for meats. You really do have to plan your meals out if you want to follow a recipe. We have to stock up being a large family. We have two deep freezers which seems excessive but they are in full use.  One is just filled with beef. The other for our milk and any other frozen goods.  That leaves the inside freezer in our fridge for ice, ice cream, etc.

9. Its pretty cool because you get to see land for miles  without any obstructions even. I love it here because I love all the animals that are all over and I have a fondness to Barns. Don't know why I love them but I do. I take pictures and paint them a lot. Just on our ranch we have cows, horses, lambs, dogs, cats and chickens. Usually we have a couple pigs also but we haven't picked them up yet. I love driving on the country roads. Breathing in the fresh air and being able to see for miles. It was funny when my nephew came to visit ( he lives in Virginia) because he just could not get over the fact that their weren't buildings everywhere. He also though it was too quiet. It definatley can be extremely quiet.

10. Everything does seem to be far away but that's what makes an adventure. If your child comes home the night before an event and says, "oh Mom I need black pants and a red tie tomorrow I forgot to tell you". Its not like you can just run out and get it. You can call up your friends which happens a lot between the parents to see who has what. Home Depot is 2 hours away which makes it difficult sometimes. If you want sushi that's two hours away too! A movie theater is about 45 minutes away. The nearest stop light is about that far too. We do a lot of planning. When we go to the city we have a list a mile long and fill up the truck to capacity when coming home. You better believe I have a Starbucks in hand though. When someone goes to the city they also call their friends to make sure they don't need anything that they are missing. I love this town.


There are a lot more differences of course. Probably millions....okay probably just hundreds but those are the top ten that come to my mind. I love living here. Our friends are amazing and so so kind. The town itself is cute and every one waves as they drive by one another. Their are some downfalls but not many. Things may be far away, people know everyone's business, the bus stop is 5 miles away so its not like the kids can walk home, and you have to drive far to get to anything. Gas can be outrageous. The rest of it though I love! Wouldn't trade it for the world. Still am going to travel a lot because its good to get out and experience the world....no matter where you live.

                                                                                        Love, Ro

Why I sent myself to time out

Have you ever had one of those days? I am sure everyone has where you just need a little peace and quiet. Normally my days are pretty good, great actually. I am a busy working mother who still wants to make sure that I get up to make a balanced breakfast and end with a balanced dinner. Are they always the healthiest? Maybe not but its balanced! On those chaotic days I think every person especially parents needs to put themselves in a time out! Go somewhere to be alone for a moment. To think. To feel. To not react to your day. Its interesting because I have even thought about taking a time out daily for myself. For my mental and emotional health. Not that my family is bad. It isn't. It may be a little hectic but each year as one more child leaves the roost it seems to get a little easier and a little harder all at the same time. Take a time out! Go someplace where you can relax. Drink your hot tea, coffee, water, wine or whatever it is that helps you to just chill for a moment. Everyone needs some time to themselves. My time out is usually in the bath tub with a bath bomb and my mineral water close by because I make it so hot my skin is red. I know when I am with Lo we tend to sit by her pool with a glass of wine and just talk. Yours might be reading by yourself with no distraction, maybe its even hiking or meditation. Whatever is your thing to relax.....try and do it once a day if possible. Give yourself that mental and emotional health that you need. Put yourself on a time out! I think if everyone did this daily we could be able to cope more of what is going on in our lives whether its kids, family, work, extra activities, or anything else that we need a small break from to make us a better person. The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.
                                                                             Love, Ro