New Life

There is so much to say about my new life here in NW Arkansas. It is beautiful here. I wasn't prepared for how pretty it really is! I was never a big fan of the Utah countryside- brown fields, brown mountains, dust, dirt, tumbleweed, and those stupid big mountains that block my view! (Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder!)  But I love the Arkansas landscape! Everything is green, green, green! Oh how I have missed green trees, green grass, green moss, and just green everywhere! Many flowers are blooming as well, so you also get big bright spots of color mixed in with the green. Right outside my window is a beautiful little seedling tree with beautiful purple buds all over it. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but I love it anyway. Supposedly I'm living in the Ozark Mountains. I guess Utah has rubbed off of me a little bit because I can't see a mountain for the life of me around here. But there are some gorgeous rolling hills. Oh and the lakes! There are lakes everywhere too! I took the dog and drove out to a big lake in the rain yesterday. Why? Because we could. It was just beautiful with heavy trees and woods all around it. It reminded me of Lake Anna back in Virginia. I can't wait to go back out on a pretty day and sit on the shores and read a book! (Pretty much my most favorite activity ever.)

The "little" town I live in isn't so little after all. It has a quaint downtown area with a restaurant row. I tried it out on Friday night with some co-workers and completely fell in love with it. There are plenty of stores and activities going on all around the area. And there is an Ann Taylor Loft about 15 minutes away. Plus several Thai food restaurants and good sushi. Really, what else do you need?

I'm still far from unpacked or settled into my new apartment. I was just too exhausted after my first few days of work, and then decided to just relax all weekend rather than work myself silly. I'm still living out of suitcases, big plastic garbage bags, and boxes. So don't you all rush down here to come visit me, okay? I need a few more days to get settled in!

I get asked a lot if I am still in contact with "Little." The answer is YES! We email each other every day. I miss her a ton! We're hoping to have her come down and spend a long weekend with me this summer. I may not officially be her "Big" anymore, but she'll always be my little girl. 

Silly little sidenote- you may or may not have noticed that I frequently pick song lyrics or a play on some sort of movie quote as my blog post titles. (No one has ever commented on them, so I don't know if anyone has ever noticed that I do that.) Since posting about Arkansas I've come to realize that I only know two songs that involve Arkansas in them, and they are both about Little Rock, so they don't work for me. I can't think of any other movie or TV quotes or songs that incorporate Arkansas. Can you think of any??