Los Wells: West Plains

Did I ever mention we moved here on a facebook message Stephen got from an old buddy from college? When you think about it that way it seems pretty insane. So as we are leaving Kansas after dropping off Stephen's dad from the airport, it finally sinks in that this isn't just a long road trip or vacation. We actually have moved away from Utah to this random small town in the middle of Missouri, where we know no one and have no clue what awaits us there. I kind of start losing my cool. Did I also mention we didn't really have an official home yet? We had talked to a ton of landlords, found one that seemed to work but didn't want to pay for anything without seeing it so we were driving straight to the place and hoping it would be home. Well it all sounded well planned in Utah, but as we are driving into West Plains, it's pitch dark, we are exhausted from 5 hours of driving and have a stomach bug, oh yeah and a i'vereachedmylimit toddler, it seemed pretty stupid. So we start freaking out. What if we hate this place? Our GPS can't find it how in the world are we gonna get there? Isabella just pooped her pants, Crap! Literally. We say a prayer and regroup. Stephen calls the landlord, I change Bella and we come up with a code phrase. We love code phrases. We agree that if we don't like the place we will say "hey we need to run to Walmart and buy peanut butter" give us a break we were exhausted and our bowls were about to explode so it seemed sensible at the time.

By a miracle of life we find this place. And the nicest man I have ever met greets us. As soon as the door opens and I see the place I look at Stephen and say "I never want to buy peanut butter again in my life." What a place! It was built only 2 years ago and looks like no one has ever lived in it. It is by far the best place we have ever lived at, heck I've never lived in such a nice place my whole life!

West Plains is pretty cool in some ways and not so cool in other ways. Walmart is pretty much our shopping place for everything. I mean EVERYTHING. I'm still not sure how everyone makes a living out here since there are like 3 stores including Walmart. Drug dealers? let's hope not. Well you know at least we will save ALOT of money cause there is nowhere to spend it? half laugh half cry

On the other hand it is refreshing how chill and slow paced life is here. No one is worried about fashion or having the latest technology or upgrades. One of the reason's I hadn't blogged yet is I wanted to take a break and just relax for a bit. It remind me a ton of Tatumbla (where I grew up). Everyone is extremely nice and friendly. The cashier at Walmart almost hugged us after we paid. As you are driving it looks like people are flipping you off but they are actually waving.

During the weekend Stephen's friend, A. Jones was here for the holidays and we had a chance to hang out with him. We ended up going to a ranch his dad and a friend own and had a blast. Isabella got to ride a horse with me and loved it. Being the not animal lover that I am you would be surprised to know that I've ridden horses quit a few times before. Not a ton but sometimes my mom would rent horses from local farmers and we would spend a few hours riding. The ranch was amazing and got me really excited to live here.

I'm not gonna lie it's gonna take some getting used to after living in Salt Lake and having so many options of stuff to do and everything was conveniently close, especially the temple (the closest one here is 3 hours away) but it just feels right, like we are supposed to be here for a reason.

our backyard view (i can't believe i have a backyard!)

this is our house, we live in a duplex so we have neighbors but I have never seen them so it feels like it's just us here. It's a pretty chil neighborhood with four houses about 2 miles of town.