1. Parking. We've been here about one month — though, granted, I spent two weeks of that month in Florida. But still. I haven't paid for parking ONE TIME since we've been here. And, as far as I can tell, I never will. There are no meters. There are no ramps. There are no paid surface lots. Just an endless free parking nirvana.
2. ... Which is good, because the groceries here are so much more expensive! You always hear that it's less expensive to live in a small town, but whoa. We'll be investing our parking ramp savings in jugs of milk and jars of yogurt.
3. Travel time. OK, yes, it's a 10-minute or more drive every time I run to the coffee shop or Target. And I'm doing that on the regs. So we're still getting the miles in. But traveling to see family? What fresh new world is THIS?! Last Sunday, I drove to Thief River Falls to drop Christian off at his car and Bergen off at the airport. There, the boys played a game of pool at my parents'. Bergen showered before I drove him to his flight. Went downtown to do some holiday shopping with my mom. Came back and hung with my parents at the house for an hour or so. And then drove back to Bemidji, where I arrived in time to eat lunch. And here's a true fact about THAT: All of that took less time than it would've taken to drive from Rochester to Thief River.
4. OK, I lied. I'm listing four things instead of three. But this one's kind of a cheater, because I'm only including it because it goes with the pics I want to post: Bemidji has Paul and Babe! Check my iPhoto app, and you'll find no fewer than 100 Paul and Babe pics in there, dating back to when the kids were toddlers, no doubt. But it's kind of cool to drive by them on the (almost) daily — especially now that they're surrounded by holiday cheer.
2. ... Which is good, because the groceries here are so much more expensive! You always hear that it's less expensive to live in a small town, but whoa. We'll be investing our parking ramp savings in jugs of milk and jars of yogurt.
3. Travel time. OK, yes, it's a 10-minute or more drive every time I run to the coffee shop or Target. And I'm doing that on the regs. So we're still getting the miles in. But traveling to see family? What fresh new world is THIS?! Last Sunday, I drove to Thief River Falls to drop Christian off at his car and Bergen off at the airport. There, the boys played a game of pool at my parents'. Bergen showered before I drove him to his flight. Went downtown to do some holiday shopping with my mom. Came back and hung with my parents at the house for an hour or so. And then drove back to Bemidji, where I arrived in time to eat lunch. And here's a true fact about THAT: All of that took less time than it would've taken to drive from Rochester to Thief River.
4. OK, I lied. I'm listing four things instead of three. But this one's kind of a cheater, because I'm only including it because it goes with the pics I want to post: Bemidji has Paul and Babe! Check my iPhoto app, and you'll find no fewer than 100 Paul and Babe pics in there, dating back to when the kids were toddlers, no doubt. But it's kind of cool to drive by them on the (almost) daily — especially now that they're surrounded by holiday cheer.