Neburski

I clearly haven't written in awhile. So much has changed since my last post that I'm not sure where to begin....Let's begin with the obvious, we now live in Nebraska. Stanton, Nebraska to be exact. Jordan took a design engineer position in Norfolk, a city with a population around 24 thousand people. We live in a little town just outside the city that has about 1,500 people. 15 hundred people in relation to Denver is a HUGE difference. We have both wanted to get out of the city for so long and now that we have actually done it, I cannot even begin to describe the changes in day to day life that immediately exist. Jordan is from a small town, even smaller than where we currently live, so he is used to the mannerisms, culture and quirks of small town America much more than I am. I have visited his family often, but there are many new things I am learning by being an actual part of a smaller community. The best part about moving to Nebraska is by far the house that we get to live in on a near 1/2 acre of land. In comparison to our tiny apartment, it is enormous! I am still finding empty cabinets and drawers every day that I thought I had already filled up.

Because I am a lover of lists, the list below is a list of "adjustments" I have found myself going through in the first week of our new adventure. Swapping the big city for a small town and an apartment for a house for the first time is quite a change.

1. YARD WORK. Something I have hardly done in my life up to this point and will likely spend the rest of my existence doing on our property.
2. ENORMOUS BIRDS. Birds in NE are kind of terrifying.
3. GRASS/WEED DUMPS. This means something entirely different in Denver....ha. here in small town America, it is a place to dump your grass clippings, branches, etc where they later burn them in mass piles.
4. GAS STOVES. Gas stoves are exhilarating and scary at the same time.
5. WORK WHISTLES. Small towns have "work whistles" that sound everyday at noon and 5pm, they also double as tornado sirens....don't confuse the two.
6. INDIVIDUAL MAILBOXES. Mail carriers don't take your outgoing mail unless you know that you're supposed to put the little flag up.
7. 1400 FT ABOVE SEA-LEVEL. Baking and running are magnificent at 1400 ft.
8. SILENCE AND DARKNESS. Out here it is like silence and darkness have a presence and when they combine, it makes me feel like a little kid sprinting across the backyard, jumping into the house and slamming the door on the monsters that are surely lurking nearby.
9. BULLETIN BOARDS. Small town bulletin boards are hilarious, especially the one at Emmit's Foodtown, yes that is what our grocery store is called.
10. BLACK HOLES. Yards and garages are like black holes that suck people in and spit them out hours, even days later, only for husbands though.
11. TOWN HALL/THE COURTHOUSE. These are the places where you can get things done in minutes that would have taken hours, if not days in Denver.
12. GOING TO TOWN. Some days you don't work or need to go to the store, so you don't "go to town" (Norfolk) which means you can go an entire 24 hours without being a part of corporate America, Starbucks included. It's weird.
13. BE A WAVER. Everyone waves to each other, whether they know you or not. Avoid the confused stares and be a waver.

Those are only some of the many adjustments I have noticed here in the first week of our new home. I am learning to be a waver who does yard work, out-runs monsters, bakes perfect cookies in a gas oven, uses a mailbox correctly and dismisses work whistles like a pro. I am fitting in already. Who am I kidding? I am POSITIVE that everyone in the entire town knows I came from the city just by watching my reactions to absolutely normal life for them. Whether I fit in or not, I am loving every minute of our new home, besides being far away from family and friends. That is the biggest adjustment of all.