This is a long overdue post about our move from Texas to South Dakota. I will try to avoid my detail oriented personality and just highlight my most deep impressions of it all.
I love Texas, and I love Kingwood the most! It was a privilege to me to have lived there! And so close to Houston, which I love, as well! It was perfect: to live in "the livable forest" (aka Kingwood famous alternate name) and just drive 35-45min down to Houston for a big city-living feeling. The drives are really no biggie and everybody is used to it.
I am sorta of a big city kinda gal, there is no denying it. I loved Christmas Time when for two years in a row we decided to go for night rides around the gorgeous rich neighborhoods and all their exaggerated Christmas lights displays! To finish off our last year there, we had many Christmas parties and get-together's! I loved Summertime when kids are off school and the rule is to make it memorable! This past summer, kinda knowing it could be my last one in Houston - and I was right, we enjoyed so many free days at various museums. Me solo with the kids and the scourging sun! It was awesome!!! It felt liberating!
And what to say about the neighborhood pools in Kingwood? The kids had a BLAST in that pool! And my beautiful friends? What else to say? They were the best! We were happy and lucky, for sure! If it wasn't for our terrible cases of spring allergies in Kingwood, I would be crying right now! At least there is that to make me believe we could have never, really, lived there forever! But if it wasn't for allergies, I would certainly want to retire there. Or in Florida! Oh well. those beautiful beaches! Dan and I always joke that when we are old - well, not so old, I suppose - we will both work as park staff member at Walt Disney World! Who knows! =) It is a happy magical world, e-ver-y-day!
But back to our two main states!
It is was kinda odd that I didn't cry about our move to South Dakota. I wanted to cry many times. The tears just din't make its way to my eyes, I suppose. But there is this one time, that I actually cried. It was on our second day driving our stuff north. When we crossed the Texas-Oklahoma border.
Dan was driving the truck and the corolla tucked on, I was driving the sienna with both the kids. I had gotten five music CDs for Christmas (Carrie Underwood Greatest Hits - 2 CDs - Adele 21, and 3 albums from Taylor Swift - the homonymous first one, Fearless and 1989). I was listening to these CDs non stop the whole trip. Coincidentally, when we arrived in Oklahoma, the music "Clean", the last one of the 1989 album was almost finishing, and when we left Texas, possibly forever, it hit me! And I finally started crying. And unbelievably enough, Dan can confirm it, as soon as we crossed that border, the outside scenery drastically changed: from a dry winter, but partially sunny, to all gray with every tree, bush or hills, covered in frost! It looked grim.
I texted Dan:
"I cried when we left Texas. It hit me we might never ever come back."
We continued our drive to South Dakota, the scenery becoming colder and whiter by the hour. God really protected us the whole time! It didn't snow not even once when we were on the road and the pavement was ice-free the whole time! Except for a few Waze adventures, always when it was already dark, we had a very peaceful, musically entertaining, kids-cooperating, moving trip.
When we finally arrived in our new neighborhood, what a shock! Everything was so covered in snow! Even the roads were not very cleaned. What a change! I write this and I know it reads banal. But it was so weird, really. My bipolar problem was really bugged by it.
And the snow didn't go away for two other long months! But I got used to it, I gotta admit! Dan helped unpack a lot in the first days when I was totally paralyzed and overwhelmed by everything. ALL the boxes were in the kitchen, even the ones that didn't belong there. I wanted a homemade meal after five days on the road but with that kitchen!!!!!!!
We arrived mid day on December, 31st. We had Domino's pizza for new years supper! Oh well. Saturday, January, 1st, is a Holy Day of obligation and we fortunately made it to the 11am mass at the closest catholic church. They say the "Holy, Holy" on a different punctuation. People don't dress up as fancy as in Houston/Kingwood. Actually, they all dress the same style. They have a jacket/coat room. And welcoming enough (#not), even though people here are known as very happy and friendly, they are not that smiling in snowy/cold weather. Besides, everybody is very busy with their own kids.
We had lunch in the mall, at Applebee's, I ordered from the new menu and the food was great!! Back home Dan magically unpacked a lot of boxes and furnished our kitchen. I did some grocery shopping (Hy-vee is so expensive!!) and I think Dan managed to cook us some dinner, Saturday evening, finally! Our house is very well kept and warm and it is very comforting to be inside in such conditions with a tummy well fed, I must add.
Sunday we went to Mass at the Cathedral and people there fortunately looked more texan to me! The building is so beautiful, the snow is beautiful. The homily was great! Another day of homemade meals! I'm starting to feel happy again! I was finally able to help with the unpacking! Monday came, Dan was off to work, Rebecca was off to school. Just.Like.That.
A little bit more about the snow! I love it! It makes everything prettier and leveled. And the fun we had! I remember hating winter in Texas! It was always so cold, inside our homes and outside! It was always uncomfortable. Not here! So warm and cozy inside, and so fun to go sledding. We played outdoors every weekend until the snow melted! I never had this much fun on winter before!
And then in a warm week in late february or early march, the snow was all gone! Ooookay, I think to myself. Well, I'm sure I will miss the snow but the sledding hills were starting to feel bumpy and icy anyway and it is so cool to see a whole different city without all that snow! It is like living in two different places in a year and, IT SNOWED AGAIN TWO DAYS LATER??? My bipolarity can't help it, it's so weird!
And it was on and off like this for one week. Then we got two weeks of no more snow, some sunny and kinda warm afternoons, and then it snowed again. But this time I was actually craving it! Too bad it didn't last. I would have loved one more sledding adventure!
But snowy weather is also very dangerous for traffic! One time I found myself going somewhere across the city, on a highway, rush time (5pm), a lot of snowfall, and boy, it is really dangerous! Lots of accidents! One was pretty bad. The car really skids, and the only thing you can do about it is to go really slow and pray for other cars passing by not to involve you in a crash. Lesson learned, never go out during a heavy snowfall. Never drive on the highway. Outcome: it took me about one hour and half to leave my house, give up getting to where I should be at half of the way, and come back home. And don't forget my worry-stomach burn pains.
Well, we survived winter. Spring came but no one can tell. It's cold and rainy today. But living up here you get what you get. You have sun, everybody goes out. It is lightly snowing, no reason not to take your kids to school or to skip gym. You get around.
It's being.... interesting!
Looking forward to lots of BBQ in our porch, lots of road trips to Minnesota, to camping adventures, to warmer - but not scalding 100F - weather, to pool season, and to possibly a new baby, by the end of the year!
Yes, we wanted more babies for so long! But the timing and our situation never felt right! Until they did! So we are trying! Let's see if I have good news soon! No need to calculate it, I'll do the math for you. I am hoping to have a baby by mid December! I'm very anxious about it as you can tell. On my first pregnancy I told everybody as soon as I found out. It turned out I had a miscarriage. With the other two pregnancies, only family and close friends knew, or our colleagues who would figure it out by my baby bump (after the first one, baby bumps show much more easily and early on). I rigorously waited the full 12 weeks to public announce it. And this one? I am saying it out there even before I know if I'm actually pregnant. Well, crazier at 30, I suppose.
But seriously, If I have to announce I'm not pregnant yet even though we are trying, or worse, if I have to say I eventually miscarried my baby, it is what it is! We'll get through it. Prayers are always appreciated, of course! I pray for you all too! Really!
xoxo
Gabby
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