Life...while adjusting to a 700+ mile move, lots of newness, we are all adapting! We had our first holiday, Halloween, in our new state and it was a huge success. Come to find out we live in one of the most sought out neighborhoods for halloween, we were in awe at home many trick or treaters there were. We were told that this year was nothing like in the past, less kids this year than in years past, it was shocking! Back in our old neighborhood/town, we would leave a bowl out on the steps only to come home to find it still full. So for us, this was crazy fun to see how all the parents out with their kids, teenagers out running around with scooters and bikes going from door to door. Granted some were dumping bowls of candy in their bags, but would you expect anything different? No. All we can do is raise them right while their young and hope that when they get out on their own they are respectful humans, whether that always be the case or not, at least we can go to sleep at night knowing WE did what we could as a parent raising our children.
Every year, I do a theme for the sisters. I have always found it fun to do a theme as I was blessed with 3 girls, why not make it a fun tradition. I will admit last year there was zero theme, 1 wanted to be a haunted bride, 1 wanted to be a cat & 1 was too little to know any different. We rolled with it, a part of me felt like I "failed" because I didn't make all of their costumes, but then a part of me was relieved that I didn't put myself under all the stress/pressure of getting the costumes done. (Procrastination is my middle name, there is no other reason to stress other than me waiting until the last minute, I work well under pressure)
This year the girls were "The Batty Sisters"...aka they were all dressed like a bat! Sometimes it just the "name" or the "catch phrase" that makes a theme work! Very simple costumes, but they rocked them. The age difference in my girls definitely makes the costumes every year, they are 3 1/2 years spaced out. My oldest has the "pre-teen" look going on, my middle just rocks her own style, my youngest, well you never know what you will get from her. It just works! We make it work! The weather in Kentucky was comfortable, we had a good downpour while we were out walking, hit under someone's tree, but then we were blessed with a beautiful night and a double rainbow!
I'd call it a successful first holiday in Kentucky.
It continues to blow my mind how you simply pick a house on Zillow, you are basing this huge decision based off what the house looks like, how many rooms, how the neighborhood looks from google maps...but then when you get here you realize just how lucky you got with the house you chose & the neighborhood it's in. In Kentucky it is based upon your neighborhood you live in. No one goes off of streets, it's what neighborhood do you live in & instantly everyone knows based upon that neighborhood. Maybe its like this everywhere...but for us, this is new! In Austin it was based upon which quadrant of town you lived in (NE, SE, SW, NW)...based upon that you would know "rich neighborhood" ...sketchy... so so...the list goes on. I'm sure every town does similar, I do remember going to college in Duluth and they would go off neighborhoods as well. So now, I just have to get familiar with neighborhood names and try to picture them on the map when I'm talking with people, because eventually I won't be the "new girl" in town.
We keep getting asked how's the move..sad you left Austin....How are the girls doing now that you have been there for almost 3 months. My answer remains the same...its still new. We're still adjusting. I am so happy we moved. I don't miss Austin, I miss the people in Austin that became family to us. I love the options here. I was never much of a horse person prior to moving here, I find the culture here fascinating. The money, the time, the passion, the entire operation is just incredible. If you haven't watched Secretariat or Dreamer, I highly recommend. They are based off of horses here in Kentucky, Secretariat obviously the most famous. We have watched the movies since moving here & the meaning behind them just represents so much more than it did when we had watched them prior to moving here. Josh's job is Equine based, so his knowledge about horses and farms & operations has grown SO MUCH since moving here. I am fascinated by all of it that I am constantly asking questions & wanting to learn more.
Ultimately....this move was what we needed! Could our kids have had similar experiences in Mn? Maybe. The horse culture is in Mn, clearly, but it wasn't apart of our everyday lives back in Austin. The girls have learned more being exposed to it here, horse country is no joke! The other part of culture down here that I really love..."no mam, yes mam" ...the southern hospitality, the "Miss, Mister"...addressing with respect. I will say I have a lot of work to do with our kids in that regard, everyone teaches their children to address everyone as "miss (first name)" and we didn't hear that regularly in MN, so its something I have to remember and start teaching our own kids. I love it!
That's all for now.
XO - KK
Comments