Living Our Life in Our World Our Way
Those who are on Facebook are familiar with the little reminders that pop up on an almost daily basis. This time of the year, many are likely receiving reminders of Mother’s Day posts from years past.
For many, Mother’s Day isn’t all roses and breakfast in bed. It’s happiness and sadness intertwined.
Here is a memory that recently popped up on my Facebook page.
https://worldofweeks.com/2011/05/08/the-life-of-a-mother/
We have had a lot of plans for our future and as is true for most of us in life, those plans sometimes need to change.
One thing our move to Texas has made me realize, is that I need to let go of some of those things I really had hoped to do in life. Like farming. Yes, I’ve had to let go of the farming dream. For a number of reasons, it’s just not feasible for us in the future.
Why?
For those of us who may not be familiar with the Dallas area, it’s a very large city that is growing in leaps and bounds right now.
Hubby recently heard that there were approximately 1000 people per day moving into the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area. Texas has made it easy and lucrative for businesses to move here and that is exactly what they are doing. Many large companies have pulled roots from other states and move or are moving to Texas. Dallas is a magnet for many of these companies who are building their offices here. This, of course, means building more houses, apartments, roads, schools, etc. This also means buying up more farm land to expand and build on. Every day I pass fields with farm animals roaming around as shopping centers are being built across the street and roads expanded to carry the additional traffic thru that area. The land that those buildings and road are now sitting on used to pasture for these farm animals, so there is less farm land available now.
While roads are being expanded and probably beyond, traffic becomes a problem. We’re fortunate to enjoy some farm scenery around the RV park, but this also means hubby is commuting to work. His commute can vary from 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic. While this is doable for the time being, it’s not something he wants to do his entire working career here and I don’t want him to. After all, any additional time he spends on the road is time he isn’t here with his family. That’s not a good trade-off.
The additional influx of businesses means the job market here is outstanding!!! It also means the real estate market is booming. As I’ve looked at real estate have discovered three things.
Aside from the cost and commute, we have had to decide what is most important. Specifically, what are our priorities now that we live in the DFW area?
Ultimately, we decided that getting a farm down here is out of the question. My hope is that we are able to find a home that sits on a large enough piece of property that I can do some gardening. That will be the extent of our farm life. A home with a pool and nice outdoor living space is what we will look for in our home down here. More travel seeing other parts of Texas, the U.S. and the world is what we desire.
Some of that travel will need to include visits to other’s farms so I can get my fill of the farm life I’m leaving behind.
Sometimes our priorities in life change and even though I would love to do all those things my heart desires, I have to pick and choose those things that are most important – spending time with family, seeing the world, enjoying life – those are the biggest desires of my heart so that is what I need to do.
We close on our home in Illinois next week and some have asked when we’ll be buying a house down here.
Unfortunately, because the housing market hasn’t bounced back in Central Illinois like it has here in the DFW area, we won’t be putting any money in the bank from the sale of our house. We refinanced our house when the market was really good and used the additional funds toward the adoption of our girls. In essence, we received the proceeds several years ago and now we’ll be in the position of trying to save enough money to buy a house down here.
All the changes in our life are good though. These changes are life experiences and life experiences are what keeps life interesting.
So we’ll continue to enjoy RV living. We’ll enjoy some travel. We’ll spend time with family. Hopefully one day we’ll buy a house. Along the way, we’ll do our best to enjoy life and make memories.
Our life experiences, even those we can’t remember, play a significant role in shaping our personalities. They help determine the things we like or dislike. They peak our interest in certain things.
I remember spending a lot of time at my grandparents home as a child. Until this weekend, I wasn’t aware of how much time I spent there as a child. I remember the outhouse, that was very scary to use at night. I remember the chicken coop and the chickens. I remember eating oatmeal with half-n-half. I remember my grandmother’s cooking, which was always yummy!! I remember several things about time at my grandparents home, except I don’t remember the goat. For a matter-of-fact, I had no idea there was ever a goat until my sister shared that information with me.
Could it be the goat that I don’t remember found its way into my psyche and that is why I have such a big desire to have a home in country with goats? It’s a life experience I don’t remember and I find that lack of memory disappointing.
Maybe the goat that I don’t remember has nothing to do with my deep interest in goats now, but I certainly enjoy being around goats and still hope that one day I have the opportunity to raise a few goats.
