It seems every year we are approached with a new set of detours and roadblocks. Whether it is babies, moving, job loss and changes, it seems every year we were presented with something else. This year was no different. The setbacks thrown at us this year were unexpected to say the least, and at first they were very unwelcome.
I usually see myself as a person who can handle a difficult situation and accomplish whatever is needed to get done and move on. This time I found it more difficult. I found myself questioning my roles as a parent, wife, daughter, sister. I questioned the decisions I have made in my life and wondered if I had made the right decisions along the way. I wished I had taken different paths at times, I was more emotional than I think I had been in my life. I felt more alone than ever before, farther away from the people that were important to me.
So I decided I needed to try looking at things through rose colored glasses. Maybe this was going to be better. Maybe the life we had was toxic, maybe it was sucking the life out of us as a family. Lots of people said maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Whatever the case, we needed to make the best of the situation.
So here we are. After visiting Middleton over the 4th of July, we had our minds made up that this is what we wanted. We wanted to raise our kids in a little simpler town, with a little less hustle and bustle. We both grew up in small towns, we both miss the closeness of it. Meridian was voted many times over for being an "ideal" place to raise a family, but I don't think it was ideal for us. There was too much competing with the neighbors, and friends. Not feeling as worthy because our house wasn't the biggest, or that it wasn't ours period.
Here are just a few things I have already determined that I love about small-town life.
- Ridley's. I love running to "town" to grab something at the supermarket and recognizing the cashier every time. It reminds me of the days mom and I would go to Doug's IGA.
-Driving through the neighborhood and having people we don't know and kids we have never seen, wave to us.
-Going to local events and realizing most of these people know each other.
-Horses EVERYWHERE. All kinds, Quarter, miniature, Mules, English, Western. The whole town is covered in horses.
-minimal stop lights. I haven't counted but I don't think there are many, if any, in Middleton.
We have only been here a week and already I feel the stress melting away. We are mostly moved in, the kids are meeting new friends, we are finding things to do locally instead of running all over the place all the time. I think it will take some adjusting to and realizing you can't just go to town anytime you feel like it. But I like that. I think in the long run it will be a good thing for us. We all needed a new and fresh start.
