Country Mouse Married City Mouse

Once upon a time there was a small country mouse who married a city mouse. The city mouse had a great job in the city so that is where they moved. Sometimes the country mouse missed the country but she learned to like it because that is where her husband had a good job.

Putting up lights for our reception.

I once heard Matt's grandma say she told herself when she got married she would never complain about where they had to live for her husband's job. Then she said with a twinkle, "Luckily, I've never had to live anywhere I didn't like!" I had a feeling they could have lived many places and she would have a good attitude about it anyway.

I have to admit that I might not be as nice as Matt's grandma.

I've read a few too many books that gave me a few too many ideas about the kind of place I want to live. Like the beautiful Prince Edward Island or Concord, Massachusetts with the March family, Stars Hollow, Connecticut from Gilmore Girls, Hannibal, MO with Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer kind of places. Places like where I grew up (sort of)...

Places with:

huge yards

vegetable and flower gardens

seasons with fall foliage, snow at Christmas, fresh springs, and warm (not boiling)summers

a forest to walk in and build forts

a creek to swim in

lots of tall trees

small town charm (1 school, Country Fairs, seeing everyone you know at Wal-Mart)

and character

On my 20th birthday by one of the Pages Springs where I grew up. I found out later this is the day Matt bought my engagement ring.

Cornville had almost all of those things. I'm not saying Cornville was perfect (just the thought makes me laugh). It was not... trailer parks, every house had a junk pile and usually a few cars that didn't run. I longed to have neighbors to play with. I wanted somewhere I could walk to that wasn't the fish hatchery. Now I want some nature I can walk to that isn't the desert! I never wanted to live in the same town I grew up in or even too close to it. That always felt so limiting to me. Maybe because it was a small town. People who grow up in cities might not have that issue. I just wanted to live somewhere like it with a few improvements.

Our outdoor wedding reception in Sedona. I HAD to have an outdoor reception. It was beautiful except for the sprinklers!

Adjusting to life in the city has had it's bumps:

rude drivers... I've come to the conclusion that turning on your blinker to switch lanes is an invitation to cut you off

the towns all blend together into one big metropolitan mess

everything seems like it should be close but still takes forever to get there because of traffic

this particular city is SOOO HOT for about 8 months of the year, lacks the seasons I love, and has almost no charm unless you count ghetto

You live closer but get to know each other less

I have found there are some things I like:

there are plenty of grocery and clothes shopping within 2-20 minutes as opposed to 20-120 minutes

when we go out to eat with have TONS of restaurants to choose from

you can go see a play, museum, etc. although I must admit that Phoenix is lacking in many cultural events and good public transportation

I love walking around my neighborhood and passing 10 houses of people from church that I sometimes get to say hi to on my way

AZ doesn't have much humidity despite the heat. No stale crackers or constantly soggy towels.

Some things have made living in the city easier for me:

I LOVE our house. It has some of that country charm. It's not Southwestern (except our Satillo tile)

I love having a fairly good sized yard by city standards. Before we bought our house I would stop at the floral section at the grocery store just to look at pretty plants and flowers because I missed green so much!

I've learned my way around a few places so I don't freak out about traffic as much

I love that when I want something I can find it. I'm not a huge shopper but it's nice there is somewhere to look besides just Wal-Mart. It can be overwhelming when I feel like I should look everywhere to find the best deal.

I love living close enough to go to big family events. Both of our families are Arizona natives which most people think is unheard of. This was the big factor for why I was willing to stay here over beautiful cities like Austin or Seattle... too bad the only big AZ towns are Phoenix metro area, Tucson, or Flagstaff. I love Flagstaff but there's not too many computer engineering jobs up there.

Our little haven. No neighbors on 2 sides is a big plus for me!

I realize now that most of the places I want to live only exist in fiction or the 1800s. Yes, the climate still exists but not the same charm. I was soo lucky to grow up where I did.

Where most of my swimming was in my own personal backyard creek.

Where the same kids in my kindergarten class were in my senior class.

Where you could barely see the nearest neighbors much less share a wall or fence with them.

I think we all want to give our children the great things from our childhood. But Matt had great memories of his city childhood as well. Playing hide and seek with the neighborhood kids at night until the streetlights came on, going on walks around the golf course, swimming at his grandparent's pool, buying candy from the local store, his penny saver paper route. I guess the moral of this story is that you have to

Grow where you're planted.

So are you a country mouse, a city mouse, or a little of both? What would be your "dream" location?