Things to know before moving to the country

Back when my husband and I decided to pack up and move to the country I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I grew up on my grandparent’s ranch as a child but I never lived there and I was a kid, I didn’t pay attention to anything besides playing in mud and running around like a crazy person.

So now that I have lived in the country for 3 years I realized there are a few things I wish I would have known ahead of time. I can’t say that if I had thought about these things they would have changed my mind about moving out to the country. But it would have been nice if someone would have given me a little heads up.

1. Leaving the house is a mission

When I have to go into town I usually have to go to several stores so that I can maximize the trip and save gas. But going to several stores really isn’t all that fun. I usually have a kid or two with me and I always feel rushed. Not to mention I will have the back seat of my truck stuffed! With gas at $4 a gallon and my truck getting an impressive 14 mpg it just kills me to go into town. (fyi…most recently I filled up for $4.45 a gallon!?!?)

I had no idea I would spend so much on gas when we moved out to the country. Before, I Lived 3 blocks from the grocery store and was able to walk there and pick up things for dinner. Now I have to vigilantly plan my meals because I can’t just run to the store to pick up a can of tomatoes if I need them.

Now let’s talk about visiting friends and family. My parents now live an hour away from me. It costs me $25 to go and visit them… before I lived 2 blocks from them. I could throw a couple of beers in my bag and walk over and enjoy the evening with them. Now it’s not so easy. And all my friends live at least 20 minutes from me so every visit has to be planned before I could just pack up the stroller and walk on over on a whim.

Some days it feels like I am stuck on a deserted island… If you are barely getting to know me you will find that at times I can be a little dramatic! 🙂

2. You can never escape the dust

Let me say that again. You will NEVER EVER escape the crazy obscene amount of dust there is in the country. My house got dusty when I lived in town but not on the same level as it does now. No matter how hard you try you cannot escape from the dirt. We have planted grass and laid rock in our driveways and nothing helps. We may have minimized the amount of dust but we sure didn’t get rid of it. I had no idea how dusty my house would be. From the outside to the inside it seems like there is always a thick film of dust covering every square inch. I’m not even going to tell you about my base boards by my front door!

Don’t even try to open your windows and doors on a nice day unless you are prepared to be able write your name on your coffee table with your finger.

If you have animals or kids then you are in a bigger world of hurt. They will be full of dirt or mud and just run through your house without even thinking twice about it.

3. Pest control service is a must

From spiders to ants, nothing is off-limits. We maybe lived in our house for a month before I had to hire a pest control service.  I was finding ants everywhere. They were in the kitchen, they were in our closets, they were everywhere! You could sweep off the cob webs and they would be up again the next day. I don’t do well with bugs. They creep me out.  Pest control services don’t solve all the problems, but without them I don’t know what I would do. There are a lot of other little bugs we have come across but I don’t know their names and to be honest I don’t want to even think about them, they give me the heebie-jeebies.

4. Beware of critters

We have dealt with our fair share of mice. They are another one of those things that creep me out. I don’t know how I ever had a pet rat as a child. That is just weird! Besides just being creepy they tear up anything and everything that is paper, they leave a huge mess. And that mess is stinky because they leave their droppings everywhere! Oh good it’s so gross. You want to know what is even grosser??? Having to poison them because I could never find another way to get rid of them. Poisoning them isn’t what’s gross. What’s gross is you know that they are dead when you have this rancid smell and you have to trace down the dead body… Is that too much information for you all? We got these things you plug into your outlets that put off this noise. Since poisoning the mice and putting up those noise makers I haven’t had another mice problem.

There are other creatures to keep your eye on. Frogs like to cling on to our front door and their little droppings get stuck to the door. Just what everyone wants, frog poop on their door!

Coyotes LOVE to harass my chickens. We have our fair share of run ins with them. My husband loves it because he is a hunter so he gets his guns out and goes out for a late night adventure.

Don’t forget about the wild cats, rabbits, squirrels, wild dogs, possums, foxes, Lizards, and hawks. All these animals keep our life in the country exciting. There is never a dull day!

These are not reasons to make you avoid living in the country just things to be aware of ahead of time. Some surprises are not so fun and let me tell you these surprises were not all that fun for me!

I’d love to her what some of you wish you had known before moving to the country!

❤ Sarah