From Ohio to Iowa - The Big Move

So a little backstory on the reason we moved in the first place. We have known for years that my husband's career was going to take off eventually and the potential for relocation was likely, however, we had no idea that the once in a lifetime opportunity we would pray for all these years would land us in the great midwestern state of Iowa.

When it finally came time to make a decision I answered my husband with the most logical answer of course . . . ABSOLUTELY NOT! It took a couple jokes about moving out of state and "what ifs" to convince my family that this decision would be so beneficial to our future together. If you know me personally then you know that I would probably have be voted in school for "most likely to never leave their home town, but here we are.

When we took our first drive here as a family of three it was quite the experience. I have been in plenty of care rides in my lifetime over eight hours at a time but this specific time was different. This time we weren't coming back home to Ohio after a small vacation. I have never been farther than Indiana prior to this but all I can say about the scenery is that it does not change eight hours west so there was nothing entertaining about the drive other than Iowa 80, The World's Largest Truck Stop (great bagel shop by the way). We moved into our little studio extended stay hotel room in June and that was an experience all on it's own.

Hotel Life

We had a storage unit to house 90% of our belongings while we lived out of a suitcaiuse and a few plastic totes those first couple months. I was not quite loving the idea of being away from my comfort back home so I was not even close to thinking about getting a new job. After a few days went by we started to get a routine down which included Hunter going to work at the break of dawn, me sleeping in until 8 am, cleaning the hotel room and playing on my phone all day and then bombarding my husband as soon as he walked though the door that evening. We would typically order out or drive and snag some food just to get out of the room but rarely was I interested in cooking in our mini kitchen. We would end the night with a little dog walk at sunset and sit at the table working on a lego set of some sort. Despite living in a brand new town next to college town Iowa City and a very large mall, I was too stuck in my head, too scared of the real world to leave the hotel room while my husband was out, so I never really did. Eventually I would end up packing the dog up and riding along with my husband to work. Yes, you read that right... we went to work WITH my husband. Just me and my best dog girl playing catch in the warehouse, taking short walks around the area, cleaning up his office and the occasional floor naps next to the dog bed. Things were rough.

Our New Home

After two months went by we were finally ready to move into our townhouse in the little town of Tiffin. This town was practically brand new where most of the businesses weren't on the map at all yet. There is a small portion of older homes in the area but everything from the schools, shops, sidewalks to houses were all newly built. Our townhouse was absolutely perfect other than a few minor inconveniences (I will get to that later on). We rented a wonderful 1700 square foot townhouse with a large updated kitchen, a full dining room to house my brand new extra large farmhouse table, a spacious living room with 18 ft ceilings, a cozy fireplace, and so much more. The downsides to having such a large place for only two people and a dog definitely outweighs the pros. Cleaning this place is a week long process. We have a bathroom downstairs and two upstairs. We have an office/workout room that rarely gets used and a guest bedroom that has welcomed ONE guest since we moved in. The concrete floors go on for days and days and by the time you move to the upstairs to clean, the downstairs somehow needs cleaned again! We have a decent patio out back but our neighbors have a couple unfriendly dogs that are left out on a lead along with days worth of #2 piling up not to mention we only get about 20 minutes of sunshine on a sliver of our patio right before sunset so we rarely go outside anymore.

How is Iowa different

1. Iowa Nice : People are so friendly here and I was not expecting it. Of course we get the occasianal grumps at the grocery store but for the most part people smile, waitresses don't seem to hate their lives, people are open about everything and willing to conversate and always lend a helping hand when needed.

2. Rural Iowa : I haven't explored too much of Iowa but Eastern Iowa has beautiful rolling hills but ask any of the locals and they claim it is flat. Every single backroad is stone. You Learn really quick what roads to avoid if you just got a car wash or don't feel like drifting the entire way home.

3. Cars : Speaking of car wash, Everyone has a car wash membership (probably because of the stone roads) and all the cars are clean! People here are NOT good at driving. I can not even begin to explain how many bad drivers a day I witness between cutting people off, pulling out in front of poeple, not going the speed limit, etc. We are only one town away from the University of Iowa so that could also play a huge part.

4. College town : Living next to the Universisty of Iowa has been an experience on it's own. I'm sure all college towns are similar but it is absolutely new to me. Grocery stores are PACKED, gas stations are PACKED, the mall is PACKED. Yes, everything is brand new, everything is clean and the stores are amazing but go anywhere on the weekend and prepare to stand in line at Target for ten minutes. I have defiantly lost my love for shopping since moving here.

5. Entertainment : There is not much going on here to be honest and if there is, it is most likely word of mouth and not advertised. If you are into walking or biking then Eastern Iowa is for you! They have spent MONEY on the public trails which you can find in every town in the area. They have separate trails for walkers and bikes throughout the woods and scenic routes.

6. Dog friendly : Iowa is such a dog freindly place, especially here in Eastern Iowa. They have plenty of dog friendly restaurants, dog stores, washes, resorts, parks, etc. We boarded Koda at Paws & Pints in Des Moines where there was a full bar and restaurant inside for pet owners and dogs to enjoy. The hotel portion for her was unlike any place I have even stayed.

7. Weather : We have had more tornado touchdowns and storms here in one year than I have had my entire life in Ohio, including one in March!

8. Football : If you think the Ohio State vs Michigan rivalry is bad, wear any college other than Hawkeyes here and you get a genuine snarl. They don't have an NFL team here so it is not uncommon to see almost every passing person with Hawkeye gear on. They advise people NOT to leave their house on game dates especially Iowa State Vs Hawkeyes unless you want to add an extra thirty minutes to your drive.

9. Travel : We have a been to a few different places here in the area including Amana Colonies, an adorable little Dutch town similar to Frankenmuth Michigan but with less tourists. They have a Christmas, Leather and General store, boutiques, bakeries and fudge shops, local history museums and amazing confort food. There aren't many museums or zoos here from what we have learned.

10. Other: They call corn hole "bags" and you catch a lot of people with a Wisconsin acccent. The main grocery stores are HyVee which typically has a starbucks and a Wahlburger restaurant inside or a little Fareway. The gas stations are typically Caseys and Kum and Go and usually have the best breakfast pizzas around. There are some fancy car washes on almost every corner and stores like Hobby Lobby and Dollar General barely exist here to them!