Monday, June 24, 2013

Less and More...

     I've been feeling "the need" to start a blog. Everyone does it right?! So I should have one too... What has been my hang up? A title....yes I couldn't come up with a cool, creative, trendy title so I couldn't start a blog. That may be the first indication as to how this blog will go since I've been trying to come up with a title for oh....say....3-4 months. May not be seeing many blog posts from me if that is how this is going to go! haha I'll give it a shot, but please don't have to high of expectations of me!
     
     So the title....After months and months of stewing over what this all important blog should be called I have finally settled on a line from one of Steve and I's favorite bands, songs. My brother and sister-in-law have gotten us into Red Dirt Country and one of our favorite bands is the Randy Rogers Band. When Snyder was in the "I'm not going to go to sleep at night and am going to make you walk for hours with me" stage, he would want nothing to do with me. He would only want Daddy. I would feed him and try to rock him to sleep....because that is "what you are suppose to do" and he would get madder than a hornet. Enter Daddy. He would turn Randy on the CD player very softly and they would take laps around the basement. They would walk for hours singing to Randy. I'm not going to lie. That is one of my favorite early memories of this little boy....getting to see Daddy and son cuddling at night....AND he would calm down as soon as he would hear Randy....so the lack of screaming was an added bonus! Still, almost 7 months later, there is a Randy CD found close to every CD player we own, including the car that can be turned on incase of a melt down. On the 6 hour drive to Sabetha, Mommy and Daddy have to crank up Randy, and belt it out at least a couple times to get little man to calm down.
      
     So one of our favorite songs is "They Call It The Hill Country, I Call It Home". This pretty much sums up the last year or so of our lives. A little over a year ago we lived in a small "look alike" house in the city. A little over a year ago we both had decent jobs in Kansas City and friends who we loved spending time with. A little over a year ago we had a 100 pound golden retriever whose life pretty much revolved around that tiny "look alkie" house and the fenced in back yard. A little over a year ago we found out we were pregnant after about 4 years of waiting. A little over a year ago we started sending out resumes to the engineering firms and schools in the Rolla area. We were tired of the life in the "leveled and paved" city and it was time to move home to the hill country....or so we thought. After sending out the resumes we waited.....and waited.....and waited. NOTHING! Finally in September Steve was offered a job with an engineering firm in Rolla and we started packing boxes! We moved in the middle of October and I was due with Snyder the end of November....That gave us just 6 weeks to get settled in and welcome our baby boy home.....to Grandma and Grandpa's basement! Finally about 5 months later we finished re-doing our house and moved in. I think we are finally starting to feel settled and settling into a routine. Doc, Snyder, and I hang out all day and when Daddy comes home after work, we all eat dinner and then spend family time together. Then it's bathtime for Snyder and Mommy and Daddy fall into bed shortly after Snyder goes down!
     
     So what have I learned from all of this....now that we can somewhat look back on the last year and say "we've made it!" I've learned that we have given up so much and have so much less:
           -Less space (we downsized houses....mostly in storage space)
           -Less money (Steve took a pretty hefty pay cut to move and I'm staying home)
           -Less friends (we left so many amazing people in KC)
           -Less time (we have given up a lot of time this spring getting this house ready and running around the country like crazy people.....not sure this will ever slow down :))
    
     But we have so much more in so many ways. I am so grateful to be able to stay home with Snyder and be here to see all of his firsts. We are surrounded by family and know that Snyder will grow up among cousins. We are getting to rekindle friendships with some of Steve's childhood friends who have also moved their families back to the small town. We have less worry about Snyder playing in the street and getting hit by a car or taken by someone. We actually have time together as a family! I cant describe how wonderful it is to have time together to spend just doing everyday things. Even though the hussle and bustle of the city was one of the things I loved most about being there, the slow pace of the small town is so wonderful to have back in our lives. I love that everywhere we go, there is someone who is excited to meet Snyder or comment on how excited they are to have us back in town. Even though we have less space on the inside we have hills, creeks, valleys, expansive playgrounds, and so much room to explore (and I feel safe exploring those spaces).
  
     I was one of those typical small town kids who said they were going to leave the small town and never look back. Well I went to the city, and while I loved my time there, it made me realize that the small town life was where my heart would always be. While I will always be a Kansas girl in my heart, the hill country is really starting to grow on me. Knowing that this is where Snyder will grow up and call home makes it extra special as well. In 18 years or so when he is packing up and moving to the big city to go to college somewhere, I'm sure I will shed a tear or two, but I have a feeling he will always carry a piece of this place we call home with him wherever he goes (just like his Mommy does that little small town on the Kansas Prairie that led her to this small place in the Ozark hill country)!


1 comment:

  1. Welcome to Blog Land! You couldn't have a more perfect title- it's such a great song and so fitting! I love the web address and the look too!
    You have an amazing way to look at life. I'm always so afraid to have less because we all work so hard to get ahead... I sometimes forget that less really is more. Thanks for the reminder this morning!

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