Who'da Thunk?

After mentioning on Facebook I had spent the day cleaning and organizing the rabbit hutch and cages, my cousin replied commenting she had just cleaned her hen house.  She then remarked 'who'd thought we'd be doing this when we were in the Rockettes?"  {The 'Rockettes' was a baton group we were both part of in our youth - me for most of my elementary, jr, and high school years - not THE ROCKETTES. but wouldn't THAT have been a cool story?}

Anyway, her comments made me think.

It is ironic the life we've chosen to live.

I think growing up my plan was to be a 'big city girl'.  Wow -- couldn't be much further from that now if I tried.

I grew up in a fairly small town -- although now, it seems like quite the 'big city' compared to our current whereabouts.  LOL!

It was a rather rural area for all intents and purposes.  At least where I grew up.

We had a couple acres; dad always grew a garden in the back; had a burn pile; a ride on lawn mower; a pick up truck; mom had an outdoor laundry line; we often had dogs and or cats, not to mention the occasional bird, rabbit, or hamster; and I REALLY wanted a horse.

When you drove around our quaint little town, seeing acres of corn, gardens of various vegetation, as well as the scattering of grape vineyards, wasn't unheard of or unusual.

To my young eyes - we lived in no-man's land.  The land of corn and small town living.

As I was growing up, much of the 'industry' in that area was changing and dying out leaving what looked - to my eyes - a shell of a town.

We didn't have any malls - only a couple small 'plazas' -- as they were known as back then; our restaurant options were limited to mostly 'mom and pop' type establishments (none of the big chains a bigger city boasts - outside of the fast food variety anyway); and entertainment was scarce - a movie theater, bowling, and a skating rink were the 'hangouts' in my day.

Or so my immature, young mind thought at the time.

I mean.... you did had to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get to a mall, after all.

It wasn't my dream.  (Once I realized I'd never have that horse, at any rate.)

Once I hit the teen years, I THOUGHT I wanted to land in a big city -- at least a 'bigger city' than where I was from -- escape 'small town USA' at all costs.

I went off to college (to yet another small, rural town - ironically) and continued that mindset.  I'd graduate and become a well known speech-language pathologist and live somewhere 'happenin'!

In actuality, I got married about the same time I graduated with my Master's Degree and started my first job in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Our first apartment was in a 'bigger' city, but not a BIG city by any stretch.  Not compared to the likes of New York or Chicago anyhoo. 

Cincinnati seemed so much more hip than my hometown, however, so suburbia felt like a step in the right direction to the 'big city feel' I had thought I desired.

It did have a plethora of restaurants (chains included); a myriad of malls all within a 15-20 minute drive; lots of entertainment venues.

Quite the change from where I lived as a child.

Eventually, with my new computer engineer hubby by my side, I assumed we'd make our way to a big city -- or at the very least, an area of Cincinnati known to be even more hip and trendy.

Time marched on.

We started our family.

I no longer dreamed of becoming some well known, hot shot speech pathologist -- instead -- I wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom.

So.... I did just that.

Then.... the big city idea began to fade.

A new dream began to take form.

I now wanted land.

Land and a space fit for kids to play.

A more small town feel to raise our precious bundles.

What irony.  As a child I wanted out of small town life, then as I began to raise my own children that same 'feel' from which I wanted to escape had appeal - a draw.

It was years - many years - of living in suburbia before my heart really turned toward the 'ranch type' dream I eventually grabbed onto.

Don't get me wrong, suburban life had it's benefits and we greatly enjoyed our time there, but my heart was being pulled in a new direction.

A lot transpired that landed us in the mountains of Wyoming, living in a rather remote town on 3 acres of land.

By remote I mean the population boasts a whopping 270 people - and that, I believe, is stretching it.

Our current neck of the woods is significantly 'smaller' than the small town where I was raised.  To get to a mall we have to travel close to 2 hours.  Just to go to the grocery store is a 30-40 minute drive.  We have a few restaurants in our town but all are independently owned.  NO chains or franchises here.  Heck, we don't even have a stop light in our truly quaint town and only a small 'general store' with 2 gas pumps in the whole place.  There's no plazas, movie theater, or skating rink - unless you count a frozen lake or pond as an ice rink in the mountains.  Instead of corn when you drive around, we see huge ranches of cattle and horses.  It's not suburbia and definitely not a big city.

Small town living...  our mountain home epitomizes that phrase.

Which is now appealing rather than appalling to me.

Once I had my space, my desire to have animals (beyond a dog and cat) began to take root.

Our egg laying hens in their run.

Like.....  farm animals.

How the tides had turned.

From the somewhat 'farm' girl who wanted to be a city slicker back to a true country gal.

Raising chickens for eggs; rabbits for meat; dogs just for fun and protection; a cat to keep mice out of the house; and a strong desire for dairy goats to have our own milk.  (And yes, a horse - maybe even a cow and a pig - would still be nice.)

Boy howdy have things come full circle and then some.


Since I never got that horse as a child, I tried everything in my power to come across as a more sophisticated 'city kid' rather than 'as-close-to-a-farm-kid-you-could-get-without-the-farm, kid'.

The younger chickens enjoying sprouted grains we grew
mason jars as a 4H project.

Ironic, that now, as an adult - it's my dream to be a country farm chick.   Raising various animals to live semi-self sustainably; mucking out chicken coops and rabbit hutches; processing said animals; being willing and prepared to milk goats; simply enjoying the mountains and space rather than itching from boredom from lack of 'entertainment'; dreading when we have to go to the 'big city' for any purpose what-so-ever.

My cousin hit the nail on the head.

Just a couple baby bunnies from one of the litters
our rabbits have had.

Who'da thunk it when we were young that we'd be where we are right now?

Not me!

Yet, I'm thrilled my dreams took this turn.

I'm blessed by the fact I listened to God's tug on my heart over 4 years ago.

Allowing that country girl I fought to hide - that had been living dormant for so many years while I tried to be 'city savvy' in suburbia - to surface and thrive.