I’ve realized lately that no matter how much you may resist it – where you live affects who you are. I was raised in Lawrenceville, Ga (outside of Atlanta…to people from around here anywhere semi-near Atlanta is considered “Atlanta”) and while it wasn’t a city-city, it was MUCH more city-like than where I am now! We have only three McDonald’s here. And one Zaxbys. And no Olive Gardens. Our mall has Old Navy and New York and Co and American Eagle…and that’s about it. Most people here LOVE some Belk’s. Our nearest outlet mall literally has 10 stores and the only ones worth shopping in are Polo, Gap, and Carter’s. It’s small town life people!!!
Zach and I may not be country folk: no hunting, no fishing, no farming, no overalls, no southern drawl (okay – not much of one, you may think we sound southern but I promise you we’re nothing compared to everyone else around here!). But we do LIVE in the country. We pass tractors driving on the road on a daily basis. Kye can point out cows and horses from the car window on every trip. We drive down dirt roads often. Zach’s family “shucks” corn, “puts up” peas, and “cans” pickles (all terms I didn’t know until I moved here).
While I may tease and joke, I do appreciate this small town life. I’ve come to accept it as my home and when we travel and people ask where we’re from I will now say “Valdosta” instead of “he’s from Valdosta, I’m from outside Atlanta.” Mom moving here has made me appreciate this town from a new perspective. She LOVES all the things that make it country and southern and cutesy. She points them out to me all the time!
A few Sundays ago on the way to church Mom pointed out several hay bails (another term I didn’t know pre-Valdosta life!) in someones yard right across from our neighborhood entrance (our neighborhood location is pretty much in the country…I mean they just caught two black bears in our neighborhood last week!). She really wanted to hop out and get some pictures so on the way home we did just that 🙂 I will never turn down any photo taking opportunity!!!
Aren’t they HUGE?
Gramma and Kye
It’s SO funny that we’re in a mega country setting and Zach’s dressed so modern and metro!
My turn 😉
We have a REALLY cool old barn surrounded by beautiful trees (it’s actually wear we did Kye’s 6 month photo shoot…in the red chair!) and I want to take Kye out there for some pictures sometime before the grass gets too long. He’s from the country so why not embrace it? You won’t be seeing him wearing any overalls or having tractor themed bedrooms or wearing “pilgrim clothes” like many of the other kids around here, but I think some barn pictures would be cute 🙂
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I'm definitely used to the small town life 🙂 When I moved to Statesboro I thought it was the big city!Love the hay bale pictures 🙂
I feel the same way! I grew up in DeKalb County and moved to Augusta, GA once we married. I was soooo homesick our first year of marriage. It's no comparison to Atlanta, but I do appreciate the cost of living and no traffic. It's a wonderful place to raise a family. I still say "He's from Augusta and I am from Atlanta", hopefully I will get over that soon. LOL!
Lol, I love this post. What is so funny is Valdosta is considered a "bigger city" to me! Cairo has just a few places to eat…no sit down chain restaurants and no where to shop! I used to say I would never settle here but with a husband who is a "country boy" (hunter/fisher…no overalls thank goodness) and my family, I'm settled. I'm just glad that it only takes me 40 minutes to get to Tallahassee! I'm also grateful that my best friend Brian lives in Atlanta b/c man I love the ATL!!! ;o)
Ha ha, this is funny because 'being country' is such a relative term! We live in the country, for sure, but there are towns nearby that are far more 'country' and 'rural' than us. Our only chain restaurant is Applebee's and we have just one each of McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King 🙂 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canandaigua_%28city%29,_New_York)I like the second picture up from the bottom of you and the hay bales…I like a little off-centered-ness!So, I usually read from my phone or iPod and can't stand typing more than a text on them so I had a few comments that I needed to 'catch up' on: *I like your Picasa photo editor better than the Lightroom *Funny that Kye & Lily were born on the same date and we both have Memorial Day weekend wedding anniversaries! *So glad that your ultrasound went well. I too drank the 'required' amount of water, just about burst getting to the appointment and then the ultrasound tech said my bladder was TOO full to get a good look so could I 'let a little out'? I could have kissed her!
We took a lot of our maternity pictures in your neighborhood…around the park and at that barn!
Are those pictures of EMILY in SUNGLASSES? Say what?? 😉