North Dakota!

In telling people that we were moving to North Dakota, we have heard several things over and over. "Do you realize how COLD it is up there??" (usually with all kinds of drama about layers of clothing, heating costs, and even details on how long it takes for skin to freeze!) "You are going to be sooooo bored! There's nothing to do there!" and my favorite "It's so ugly out there!"

To the people who've said these things? If you think the gorgeous rolling hills of North Dakota are ugly, you are crazy! And honestly, if you feel that way, you are welcome to stay away. I like quiet rural areas, and we don't need you and your negativity around.

Okay, I feel better now. I've had nothing but support here, so the above comments haven't been directed to any of my dear readers. Just needed to vent. :)

Anyway, I've been there, I've seen it, and I'm in love! Our new little town is everything I could have hoped for. The landscapes we've seen all the way across the state are beautiful!

I didn't know what to expect. I haven't been too far east in Montana before, and I know eastern MT and looks very similar to ND. As we got farther east, I kept waiting to see something ugly. Nothing. I will admit that I have a tendency to fall in love with areas where it's recently rained - and it had definitely been raining everywhere we went. I had been told it was flat. I expected to see nothing but wild grasses for miles. What I found was beautiful rolling hills and lots of interesting scenery.

And the smells! We had the windows partially down for most of the trip, and the smell of the flowers growing wild along the sides of the roads was amazing!! So sweet and clean!

I will admit the first few days were really hard to deal with. I get cold easy, and I had thought a sweatshirt would be enough of a jacket. I didn't account for the difference higher humidity makes! It was rainy and sooooo cooooold! Come to find out the first day we were there, the humidity was at 90%! The next day, it was 78%. But after a nice sunny day, I got aclimated to the new area pretty well because the next rainy day, I was just fine.

As far as nothing to do? We went 4-wheeling, we went out to eat, there's a bowling alley and a movie theater. We're not too far from Fargo where we played mini-golf and raced go-carts. There's also a HUGE concert in October in Fargo that we're really looking forward to. Yes, our little town doesn't have a lot going on. But that's a big part of what we love about it - life is simple. Crime is very low. We saw law enforcement patrolling all the time. We walked a large part of the town and felt completely safe the entire time. People watch out for each other and take care of each other.

We have a couple of options of houses to buy when our house in MT sells. We have a house to rent for now. And the best part? Surfer Pirate's new employers are wonderful people who appreciate and take care of their employees!

I can't wait for our entire transition to our new town to be done! This is such a wonderful change for our little family!