Life in a small town
Before moving to Dickinson we lived in Denver. Denver had it all. When we decided to move to small town USA I was prepared for a life of doom. When people would ask how I felt I would say, “It’s going to be a BIG adjustment”, which actually meant, “I’m dreading it”. If it wouldn’t have been for the change of getting to be a stay at home mom and see my husband most nights, I never would have done it.
When I googled, “Dickinson, ND”, the first line I read was, “North Dakota is the least visited state in the Union, likely due to it’s NO major tourist attractions!”.
When I told my friend Rach (who lived in North Dakota when she was little) I was considering Dickinson she told me, “You’ll make the best friends of your life”, and “You’ll find a great church and really grow your faith”. I thought, “Yeah Right Rach, no way”.
In Denver I got used to having 4 awesome malls to shop at, all with amazing play areas for the kiddos. The zoo, aquarium, or botanic gardens to visit. Chick-fil-a, Chipotle, Sonic, and Starbucks to frequent. Hope Depot, Lowes and TARGET. Lastly, we had a billion churches to choose from, all with awesome bands, captivating pastors, and a million organized small groups.
- Here in Dickinson there is 1 mall, and it’s pretty pathetic, with no play area. The upside of this is that I don’t go shopping for entertainment which has been good for our budget! We also have become frequent guests of the community center play area, where I’ve met TONS of great woman, who have become friends, women I never met at any mall play area!
- There’s no zoo, aquarium, or botanic garden, which means for entertainment we go to parks, find fun things to do at home, and get together with friends. Terrible huh?
- There’s none of my favorite foods, which I won’t say is an awesome thing, but it also means we aren’t eating over-sized foil wrapped burritos or drinking $5 coffees. Now when we do go to the city, those things really are a special treat.
- There’s no big-box store other than Wal-Mart, which means I go to Ace hardware where someone with a smile and tons of knowledge helps me every time, and offers to special order the item I can’t find! I’ve also got Amazon Prime, which means items are on my doorstep two days from ordering them, without dragging two whining fussy kids to the store!
- As for the churches here… I was ready for traditional, boring, organ music, and Christians who didn’t really know their stuff. Well they showed me. All we had to try was one church. On our first Sunday here. The congregation was on fire. My faith was challenged. I’ve met ladies who know the word and the Lord more than I knew was possible. I can’t quite say any of that about our relationships with churches in Denver.
So… I’m sure you get where I’m going. What I thought was moving into a life of doom, was actually the best possible move for our family. Rach, you were right!
We were in the same situation in Wisconsin. Very small town. Closest mall, Target or zoo was an hour away. Moving to Sioux Falls has been great because it’s a big city but small town feel. Everyone is so nice and we love our church. I have to admit, I really like living by a Target again. We still don’t go there much but when we do, it’s always fun. 🙂
Excited to see you sometime soon!