Saturday in my part of Texas is cool and partly cloudy. On the agenda for this weekend . . lawn mowers to repair, a second chicken coop to be built, a bit more planting in the garden, a couple more fruit trees to be planted, fencing off a playground for the chickens . . the list of things to do never seems to get any shorter. But, we can’t imagine being anywhere else!
We’ve traded this landscape for this:
We’ve gone from this house (that was the Google image of our house in MO with the trash can by the street), with the concrete driveway, garage and manicured lawn (well, maybe that’s a stretch!) to this:
With this for our “yard”:
There’s hardly a morning that we don’t wake up and one of us says “Can you believe we live here?” and sometimes we say it several times a day. Often I walk through the house, with no dishwasher and that’s less than half the size of our past three houses, and think to myself how lucky we are that we knew what we wanted and persevered til we found it.
I’m surely no expert but in my mind, I think I see and talk to folks all the time who don’t have a clue what they really want in life. Too many only want to keep up with the neighbors . . or be seen and make sure everyone knows what they have acquired. I guess it takes all kinds and maybe that truly is what makes some people happy. When I think back in our own life just 15 or 20 years ago . . things were so different. We didn’t really know what would make us happy. The last year we were in Kentucky, we had picked out a lot in a fancy subdivision and had plans drawn for a big house to be built. Thank goodness we didn’t go that route! Maybe at the time that would have made us happy and maybe if we had done that, because that wasn’t long before the bottom fell out of the real estate market, we would still be there and be happy but I can’t imagine that.
This morning my wish for everyone is that you know what truly makes you happy .. whether it’s your relationship with your spouse, your family, your friends, or whether it’s where you live and your current lifestyle; and if you’re not living your dream, you can figure out a way to get on the path to where you can live your dream.
Life is too short and I’m telling you . . I have a real hard time wiping a big old smile off my face! 🙂
Linda S says
I can hear the joy in your post and I’m so happy for you. I’m getting close to what makes me happy. Life is good. I’d rather be out of town, but this will do for now. Have a great weekend Judy!
FrancesB says
Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.
~Socrates?
It seems you have found contentment.
FrancesB says
Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.
~Socrates
It seems you have found contentment.
shirley bruner says
I’m so happy for you….country life is great….even with snakes and ticks. LOL we are currently working on eliminating some trees that need to come down…and cutting the wood for the winter. i have flower beds to finish up…..and there is always grass to mow. but …. you’re right….life is grand.
Oh…and i have a kitchen ceiling to caulk and paint
Linda in NE says
As far as I’m concerned those big houses are just too pricey. Not only in money but in time spent on cleaning and upkeep. And I’d much rather look out the window and see some cows behind the fence across the driveway than look out at my neighbor’s McMansion a few yards away, with the fancy cars in the driveway, and know the poor people who live there are working themselves to death trying to keep up appearances. Your way, and even mine, are better….Lord knows I’d rather be sewing or looking up genealogy or just playing on the computer than slaving away keeping up a huge house and landscaped yard…never mind the huge payments that go with it.
Doe in Mi says
I know how you feel -gloriously happy! Thats how I felt when I got my current home – its HOME, yes it is and I love it. I just knew when you were going thru all those problems that if you were patient (and you were) that the lord would find you your home. Happy for you girl.
Peggy says
I love this post. It is not what you have that makes one happy. It is what you enjoy about what you have that makes one happy. I was talking with some friends yesterday who still thought we were moving to WI. It made me happy when I said we are staying in KY and the two who didn’t know we were staying both commented they were happy we were staying. Wisconsin was a goal for us, but that will not happen soon. So we will make the best of our stay in KY and make improvements in the house we own to make it comfortable for us. I don’t care what others think or what others have. We have friends who are super rich and we have friends who are poor. It doesn’t matter to us as long as they are honest and do their best at making life good.
Pam says
You are really blooming where y’all were planted.
Most of all, you know that happiness comes from within oneself.
Some people wait all their lives for someone else to make them happy.
I’m delighted for y’all.
Karen says
Judy, you sound so happy and I couldn’t be happier for you. It was a long difficult journey but well worth it. Enjoy!
Ava Crotinger says
Over a year ago, when you said you were moving to the town that you now call “home”, I googled the town and read a post from a young woman who had moved to that very town with her boyfriend who had been transferred there with his employer. She was from the east and was very, very unhappy and bored. She said there was no night life and no shopping, no entertainment and the list went on. It’s just amazing how we all put value in different things and situations. There’s value in our differences and so happy we live in a free country where we can make choices.
Alma says
Just yesterday I was in a little store selling novelty signs. I really liked the one that said:
The best things in life….are often not “things”
You found your dream place. It is not a mansion but it the BEST !!
Happy Easter
diane says
That’s the best thing in life is to be HAPPY and you and Vince have done just that. It’s wonderful and you now know it:)
Marilyn Smith says
What an uplifting post! I am just so happy for you and Vince. The only way to be any happier would be if Chad & Nicole could find a job closer to you – say within an hour or two of you. You are living your dream!
Joyce Anderson says
I wouldn’t trust that bull, they can be very mean.
Karen says
it is nice to be living your dream isn’t it. I know we are happy here and love being in the country – my sister on the other hand is a city gal and when she comes I can tell she doesn’t like it here and only comes to visit because she is my sister and we have sisterly love going on! we are like night and day.
Karen
Quilter Kathy says
What great advice! I hope to work on doing exactly that!
vickie van dyken says
All is calm all is right! I know just what you mean. When I used to visit my Son I could hear the folks in the next house flush there toilet…LOL and he was paying big bucks for this???? Not me. He says his wife ( she has banned me from the house) would not live in the country, I get that. Anyone who gets a boob job before 30??? must be crazy hahaha. Now I can see getting them lifted later in life, but at 30 and at the price of it all?? Nope not interested. I am what I am and I am happy with who I am….My lfriend is upset because I finished my Bucket List, she says I must add something else to it. Why?? I invite people over and tell them, “I hope you are coming to see me and not the house” LOL our house is really nice but sometimes I get Quilting and well I should dust and mop more…..Nope I am happy with my life, although I wish my D-I-L would grow up…her problem, not mine….So I go along and do what I do and adjust to what life throws my way. I see no reason in being sad or unhappy. Smile and count your blessings, it is good!
You are a good person Judy and you defintly deserve the happiness you have worked hard to achieve. God Bless You with even more than you need:)
Diane S. says
I’m one of those people who can get used to anything. I’ve lived with blue wall-to-wall carpet and variations of blue wallpaper in most rooms for 9 years. Blue is my least favorite color. But it’s well done so I live with it. When I hear “There’s street noise, so I don’t want to buy this house” I think, it’s so easy to get used to things! They disappear! If you’re with someone you want to be with, things look beautiful wherever you are. I’m so glad you’re happy, Judy!!
Lynda in Leicestershire says
It’s funny how things work out, isn’t it? We moved 50 miles away from home with DH’s job for a two year contract, and that was 25 years ago! We moved from the city to a small market town, and really couldn’t think of living anywhere else! We too talk about might have been, should have been, but love the firendliness of small town living, and the easy access to the countryside that brings. Would we have been as happy if we’d stayed where we were? Do you make the best of what you’ve got so you think the alternative would have been worse? Don’t know, but am just happy with what I’ve got!