Room With A View

We recently moved  from the city to the country.  The house was surrounded by cornfields.  I admit to being a bit afraid of how I would feel about the landscape after the corn was harvested.  Corn makes a pretty good privacy fence.  

It made me think of the walls we all have, that keep other things out.  We usually suspect removing them will be a bad thing. Indeed a scary thing.  In the case of the corn, it's a dusty thing. Noisy, but fascinating.  We are such country living newbys.  We share our lane with the farmer so he has access to his fields.  We didn't have to, but seeing as there was a tradition in place we chose to honor that. 

Such a surprise to see a combine, tractors and semi's in the back yard area while they harvest.  Instead of city lights and noises we are seeing farmers at work late into the night.  It's a different world and we are thrilled to have a better understanding of it.  

As to the view, I find I love it either way.  Before we were in a cocoon of corn, now we have wide open vistas.  Fairly flat vista's because this is central Nebraska. Makes us appreciate the rolling hills we do have.  The wall came down and it's all good.  

New Digs

We took a leap of faith and bought a new house.  Now the task begins to make it a new home.  It will be the first house that is ours.  Not mine/ours.  Just ours.  It represents many firsts.  First house in our new locale.  First house in the country.  First house that doesn't have neighbors, unless you count the wild life.  Nice change from the wild neighbors from other neighborhoods.

About a year ago we pulled up all our roots and moved.  Just about a year later we are moving to put down new roots.  Basically, it's a leap of faith. 
Faith in real estate, in our jobs, in new adventures. 

Already one of the dogs tested the boundaries and made a run for it.  Luckily she came back when I notice a white blur on the wrong side of the fence.  I called she came.  Good girl.

No doubt this move will test our boundaries.  Those of patience, endurance, adventure.  And, I have to believe, it will give us new gratitude for house, for home, for roots.

Security Questions

Can one human actually remember all the passwords and security questions needed to manage their accounts?  I guess, some do it without issue.  Not this blonde.

I thought, at one time, that an easy security question for me to answer would be my favorite hobby.  Thus far I have tried the following answers to no avail. Sewing, beading, quilting, gardening, writing, reading and cooking.  Hmmmm....still haven't come upon the right hobby to give me access.  What else could I have chosen? Perhaps I should try the following - shopping, eating, drinking, dogs, Pinterest, Ebay or Facebook.  

Thank God each time I fail at the first two attempts I'm prompted by another question, father or mother's middle name.   Those I haven't forgotten yet.   Seems like if I consistently fail at the first question (as in 100% of the time) they should be intuitive enough to say "hey, blondie, would you like to pick another first security question?"  Would that be too much to ask?

I'm secure in the knowledge I don't know what my favorite hobby is, they could be secure enough to ask me to play again.  

On-Line Miracles

By chance, many years ago, a group of people ended up single.  By choice, by chance, by loss of a spouse to death, some had never been married.  None of us expected to be there, all of us were.

Life drew us together sometime thereafter through a local singles group.  The beauty of that was while some met future spouses, all of us made friends.  Girl friends, guy friends, guys who were just friends and vice versa.  We joined a site, but were blessed to become part of a community.  Since then we have shared trials, tribulations, successes, wildest dreams.

So, you're wondering where this is leading.  Yada yada yada, you've heard of on-line dating.  Some judge it's success only via a marriage license.  I beg to differ.  I wouldn't be where I am today without the use of a singles site. Okay, several singles sites. 

The good Lord doesn't hesitate to use the computer world to bring people who need each other together.  He probably doesn't experience the same glitches we do.  I suspect his computer never gets virus', or crashes on Him.  Or runs out of memory, or needs to be backed up.  His system would put Bill Gates to shame.

But He manages to bring us together, no matter our circumstances.  Which is cause to celebrate.  This weekend a couple will exchange their wedding vows in front of friends who they met through that same singles group.  Their invitation came via email, which has been the thread that has bound us all together.

  

While we can't physically be with them to celebrate.  We'll do the happy dance from afar.  Miracles come in a multitude of ways.  On-line we celebrate them all.

The Big and Little of It

You know the saying, it takes a village...  It's funny how that works.  I've always been a big city girl.  Until about a year ago.  Of course part of me still feels that way.  Probably always will.

But life took us down new roads and I've developed a new perspective about cities, towns, villages.  I am beginning to wonder if the smaller the town the more people you know.  Granted your odds increase when the population decreases. I still miss seeing people I know when we go places out here.  Now if I cross paths with someone it's a huge deal.  First time I ran into someone I knew at the grocery store was a red letter day.

What got me thinking is the conglomeration of people who group together to build a life.  Some are large groups, some are medium, some very small.  Not unlike the pioneers who pulled their wagons into a circle for safety's sake. There are our work groups, church groups, quilting groups, etc.   There are groups that form randomly because of a tragedy. Groups that form in neighborhoods.  You catch my drift. 

We made a big move to a little city, but that only defines the geography of it.     Now we're getting ready to move to an even smaller city.  In the process our world increased.  We used to know bigger cities and the surrounding areas intimately. Now we know many more towns and cities.  The roads that lead to them have expanded our horizons. I guess the bottom line is little places are making a big impact on our life.  Part of that is still scary, but it means we're growing in our little part of the world.

In Between

They say these are some of the  biggest stresses in life:   getting married, changing jobs, moving, loss of a loved one.  Check, check, check, check and I'm throwing in another check because we are getting ready to move again.

I'd never make it as a military wife.  Never would have made it as a pioneer wife.  Thankfully we are past child bearing age, as would sure don't need that stress added to our life right now.

We are in that stage of moving where it doesn't quite seem like it is going to happen.  Thirty days from now we'll be in the thick of it. Luckily a lot of our stuff is still in boxes from our move just about a year ago. We could probably do without all the other stuff in boxes.  We've been using the essentials, the rest is extra. Honesty, it may be like Christmas, or a garage sale (I'm not sure which) when we finally get to unpack everything.  

For now we are in between. In between buying and moving, packing and unpacking, loading and unloading.  We are anxious, but not stressed.  Okay, one of us is.  

I hate to wish time away, but I do wish we could get on with it.  In the meantime, or the in between time, I try to figure out exactly how we should be preparing for this move.  So we pray.

Which Side Are You On?

Not whose side, but which side.  Of course there are two sides, or more to any store.  For example, my side and the wrong side.  The upside and the downside.  The inside and the outside.  The wet side and the dry side.

So, to get to it, there are days in marriage that neither side is happy with the other.  Days like this come and go.  Frankly, the always surprise me when they happen.  It's like a reality check.  Must have the bad with the good to increase our gratitude.

For reasons I won't go in to we switched sides on the bed last night.  My idea, guilty as charged.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  But man, I probably wouldn't offer again.  I like that other side for a reason.  It fits me, it knows me.  That side knows my flip flops and restless turns.  My side is roomy and comfortable.  The other side really didn't want me there.  It was not welcoming and not nearly as spacious as my side is.

But sometimes you just need to try and see which side works best.  Last night was an epic fail.  So I will appreciate my side even more tonight.  See, proof that discomfort, when embraced,  increases our gratitude.

Both sides are the same, yet completely different.  I will side with that concept.