Is This Happiness???

“The part of my life, this part right here.  This is called happiness.”

Well it is October 15, 2021 and the weather here is getting colder earlier each day.  We are ready for winter, I think.  Although I have yet to know how the cold weather will affect my joints, Brett and I have gotten fleeces, gloves, hats, wool socks, long underwear, waterproof coats and clothes, everything we could possibly need for winter and we are hoping for lots of snow!!  Since we have had a monsoon for the past two months the mountains are green and thriving with wildflowers everywhere. When we first got here in April everything was brown and dry but now it is beautiful!  A little rain goes a long way and the creek on our property has finally been flowing instead of dry.  The forest, even where the wildfires have damaged the land, is full of life and the trees are actually changing colors!

Brett and I go on off-roading adventures a couple of times a week in our 1994 Land Cruiser, which glides over the road and gravel like it is nothing.  When we first started doing this I was incredibly anxious, basically white-knuckling it the entire way.  Now that we have been here 6 months I am a pro, completely indifferent to the steep drops on either side of the road and the height of the road.  The dogs are convinced that they are in heaven and we take them almost everywhere we go.  They have no hangups like their mother and are happy to go on any adventure.  We know the land here and appreciate it everyday.  We try to eat outside as much as possible and love to watch the sunsets.  The land here is beautiful, a steep hill with a ravine where the creek flows occasionally, a fire pit with many seats and numerous trees that make you feel as though you are hidden away in a forest.  I never understood when others talked about peace in a blessed place and I am so happy to have finally found it.

Is everyday perfect?  Of course not but we are slowly making friends, meeting our neighbors and getting comfortable in our new environment.  We know the noises of everyday life here and appreciate the silence. Living on Trail Lake in Fort Worth there was a lot of highway noise and over the years it just became background noise along with the train, sirens, motorcycles and our neighbors.   When we first moved here the silence kind of freaked me out, the only sound is the occasional car on our dirt road, our neighbors’ roosters and the wind blowing through the trees.  But honestly, at this point I cannot imagine how I lived with all that noise in the city.  I never imagined that life in the mountains would be so rewarding and that I would ever find it to be incredibly beneficial to my state of mind.  My phone doesn’t get phone calls and I am good with that since I now live in a perpetual state of no stress.  Our Cruiser has a screen that tells you your average miles per hour and ours is 23.4, that is not even possible in DFW!  Even less possible for Brett since he drives like a madman but lately he has been shouting at the cars he thinks are going too fast on our dirt road which I find to be pretty hilarious!

Happiness is defined as an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment and fulfillment.  I have been searching for happiness for years and years and I think I may have finally found it!  Our 20 year wedding anniversary is coming up in November and we have never been closer or more on the same page.  I fought this move for years, terrified of leaving the city so imagine my surprise at finding happiness in an unexpected place!  After the heartbreaking months with Ray Anne in Oklahoma in early 2021 we were pretty broken, especially Brett who was always so strong for her that he needed to heal.  6 months later we are finally feeling whole again and we are so lucky that we were able to have this time to concentrate on ourselves with no distractions and if it wasn’t for our families support this would have been impossible.  So thank you Rob and Chase for your love and support and thanks Mom and Dad for cheering us on.  We are so lucky to have wonderful families!  We are so excited for our first winter in Ruidoso as a family of 6 (2 dogs, 2 covid kitties)!  Fingers crossed we don’t freeze to death!

A lot of times when I feel a need to write it is because I am unhappy or upset about something.  I have not written a blog post in a few months because I have been trying to concentrate on positive things and feeling good again, on changing our outlook on life and how we feel on a day-to-day basis.  Life is short and I feel it now, especially being 45, why waste the precious time we have on unhappiness and despair?  I hope that everyone can find the peace and happiness we have found in their own Shangri-la.  Love and contentment for you my friends, don’t despair, you just have to find your way and sometimes happiness appears in the most unlikely places.  Hope is an amazing thing! Take chances and don’t be afraid to change everything, you are stronger than you think. I took a chance and moved to a town for love and found happiness. Wow 😊