For years now I dreamt of moving back home to Arkansas and not only starting life over but living my remaining days in a place so full of greenery and nature and peace, that I could just barely stand it. And once we moved to Arkansas in November 2017 we found ourselves in Blytheville, in an urban area, at my Mom's house during our transition!
We had a few bumps along the way, we were in an urban hilly area in Pocahontas for about 4 months. We had planned to purchase that house because we just couldn't find anything else to buy in the hill land, in the area that I love where most of my family lives. It's very rural, full of farmers and country people and old Fords and more cows than you can count. But due to its size, there just isn't ever hardly anything for sale. And most land you could find would be an acre here or there or...200 acres! The home for sale were either way too much or not on enough land, there was always something that wasn't working out. And when it comes to accomplishing life goals, I can be semi-inpatient...especially when I'm currently sitting in a situation I'm unhappy with and wanting to get out of.
Well the way the cards fell; my marriage fell apart and right at the same time as that was happening we were sitting on the brink of financial ruin, unable to find a solution to hardly any of our problems, be that together or us apart. Then one day I heard about a rental house a friend had in that perfect small town where I wanted to raise my boys, in the right school district and it sat on 2 acres with 12 behind I could also lease. We went to see it and I fell in love. At the time I wasn't even thinking about it being a house for us, we weren't considering moving. As a few weeks went by, the idea of this home came up again and I strongly considered it. I talked to the owner and we made some plans. Within a couple of weeks we were moving. The move alone would save us about $1200/mth and that was the break we needed. It also put me 4 miles from most of my family and the boys in the school I moved them here for. So in many ways it was a win win.
But what really pressed upon my soul that I want to share in this post...is the people! The people came out of everywhere to welcome me, help me and maybe to them they were just saying hi but for me it was something I needed. It was almost like a confirmation in my soul that I had made the right choice. People stopped by to bring us veggies from their garden, they stopped by randomly to say hi, they helped us move, they helped me fix things! There for the first 2 weeks they were random people, family and friends, stopping by my house daily! It was absolutely refreshing! Put that on top of being blessed with a gorgeous eastern view of the sun rise every morning, surrounded by so many huge OLD oak trees (my favorite), the home feeling safe and cozy and I was and still am on cloud 9 and feeling beyond blessed.
The situations or circumstances that lead us to this place were anything other than beautiful and grand and they sure didn't involve great choices...mistakes were made, feelings were hurt, lives were changed...but here we are. And when you get to a beautiful place in life it's important to acknowledge everything it took to get here. The nights I sat and cried feeling hopeless and confused, not knowing how I was going to save my family. The days spent worrying about how I was going to pay this or that bill, longing for my life in the country. It all lead me down this path that lead me to this beautiful little home in the country side, rolling hills of pasture, neighbors with chickens and gardens and a beautiful spot to call my own until life takes me in another direction again.
Xoxo,
Elizabeth
#lifelongdream #goals #mistakes #thecountrylife #myfuturefarm #our2acres #arkansasozarks
