Unexpected Adjustments

It's been right around 5 months now since I moved to my little dream spot in Montana. I moved from a small town in Arizona, and now I live about 6 miles from a town that could be more aptly described as a wide spot in the road.

Being a country girl with an antisocial streak, I was ready for and excited by this big change. It is important to note, however, that this was the first time I had made such a major move as an adult. I was a teenager when we moved from Colorado to Arizona, and I wasn't even in school yet when we moved from New Jersey to Colorado. It occurs to me now that my previous life experience prepared me for some things and left me utterly ignorant about others.

I was used to wildlife. We mainly encountered elk and javelina in our area, plus skunks and the occasional coyote and you would see a fair number of road kills any time you left town. I've hunted and helped butcher animals and so on, but I am astonished at myself for how disturbed I feel by the sheer number of  deer killed on the road. A big blood smear, legs sticking up in the air, off to the side of the road. I realize that the coyotes, buzzards, crows and eagles all have to eat, too, but it really is sad.

No more stilettos. Flats and boots. Aside from the fashion adjustment that was, I have to admit that my legs H.U.R.T. for the first few flat-footed months of my life here. I didn't realize what 40+ hours a week in 4" heels was doing to my Achilles tendon.

We used to come here on vacation. Yes, it was a working vacation, but it was time off from work and a getaway and we loved what were doing here. I thought that living here would ruin that and prepared myself for losing the vacation feel of the place. Counter-intuitive as it sounds, it is actually an adjustment to still feel like I live on vacation. I go to work and clean the house and do the laundry, but for some reason it all feels like a simpler, relaxed, slower, vacation-mode life now. How is this possible?

For me, this might be the biggest adjustment of all: I am minimizing my makeup down to being nearly bare-faced. I have been wearing foundation every. single. day. since forever. 100% of the time. Even camping! Softer water and lower stress here has led to better skin. A little bit of coconut oil and a quick pat with Coty Airspun loose powder is all, now. Mascara for sure, and maybe a bit of eye shadow, or maybe not. WHO is that woman in the mirror??? I've been preaching about living simpler for a while, now even my makeup is getting simpler. Wow.

And the honeymoon with our new home, the time of discoveries and the unfolding of a new life, continues.


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