In Which I Tell You How We Like It

"How do you like it there?"  seems to be the most common question thrown our way from friends and family since our move from warm, sunny Arizona to (an exceptionally cold winter in) New Mexico.   I will tell you!

For starters, let me just say that in many ways life in New Mexico will never measure up to life in Arizona for the simple fact that our family and friends are not here with us.  We went from the majority of my husband's family living a few miles down the road, to not knowing a soul.  We miss our family and we miss our friends!

Other than the "small" matter of starting from scratch in a new community, I have to tell you that I almost shock myself with how much I like it here.  Even starting from scratch has it's own excitement.  More importantly, the people, though all strangers thus far, are so friendly that it seems impossible to truly feel lonely.  

For example, on Monday I went to the grocery store with the girls.  Instead of pushing the double stroller while pulling the shopping cart behind me like I did last week, I decided to take advantage of the shopping carts with a toddler-sized car attached to the front of it.  Naturally, Princess "drove" us around the store with great delight, but after checking out I noticed a sign that instructed shoppers not to take the carts with the cars outdoors.  No problem.  I simply emptied all of my groceries and children into a less exciting cart, and off we went...except the alarm went off and the cart's front wheels locked up before I could exit.  (Apparently this is part of a new security system to prevent pharmacy cutomers from leaving without paying for their prescriptions.  The device is deactivated by going through the checkout line.) 

The person who had this cart before me should have been in trouble, but instead I looked like the criminal.  As soon as this happened, a sweet middle aged woman and her elderly mother stopped and the younger woman exclaimed, "The same thing happened to my mom just last week!"  Then her mother came up to me and proceeded to explain her story with great empathy until the security officer arrived and set me free.  

If this had happened at the grocery store in a big city, I can almost guarantee you I would have been lucky if a stranger cast a sympathetic glance in my direction.  Certainly no one would have gone out of their way to keep me company and make me feel comfortable in that awkward situation.  And that is just how friendly people are here, and is only one of the many examples I could site.  Folks just chat with you like they know you (or want to know you).  It just jives with me.  So when we wonder where we should buy a piece of furniture around here (the internet is not the best resource), we simply ask the random couple at the store as we're chatting.

As trite as this may be, we also enjoy the weather.  It has been almost 9 years (!!!) since I moved from Portand, Oregon to attend college in the desert.  And just as Portland leaves a person aching for reprieve from the incessant rain, so Phoenix had worn me out on it's sunshine...particularlly the variety of sunshine that chases most of us indoors for roughly half the year.  Where we're at in NM, we anticipate the variety of four distinct seasons, and have already enjoyed lovely snowfall.  For the first time in years, I wear socks daily.  My feet didn't realize how much they missed the comfort of socks until reunited with them.  Oh the bliss!   At the warmest point in the summer, temperatures may reguarly hit the 90s, but won't evenings in the 60s be lovely?

Next, we love My Stud's work commute.  In Arizona, his commute took 45 minutes one way without traffic.  Now, he is home in 10 minutes!  This means he no longer has to wake up at 4:30 a.m. which means that he can stay up later after getting home from work earlier.  I haven't caculated it minute for minute, but I would venture to guess that our family time each day has nearly doubled each evening! 

This town is small, but it's not too small.  Roughly 40,000 people live here and the population doubles on weekends because it is the hub of the region so a lot of folks from smaller towns come here to shop on weekends.  So even though it is a small town by our standards, it still feels lively at times.  And the rest of the time?  This town has a slower pace.  The speed limits are lower, people pull out of parking spaces more slowly, and generally aren't in a hurry.  The city girl in me may feel impatient at certain moments but the calm demeanor of those around me seems to quickly rub off in those situations.  It feels good to slow down a little bit, and realize that life is not a rat race after all.

Right now it is pretty cold - low 40s during the day, and temperatures often dip into the teens at night.  It just so happens that holing up for the Winter is pretty compatible with having a newborn baby, so I'm happy to do it!  For now, we're enjoying lots of family time indoors, on the hunt for a church to join, and slowly becoming acquainted with this new home of ours.  A trip to the children's museum will be in order soon as well.  (See?  There are lots of great "city" amenities still.)  In the Spring, we will start venturing outdoors, likely taking up hiking and fishing.  I hear both are excellent in these parts.