Most of our blog followers already know this, but we MOVED! :) Travis was promoted in October to a new, larger "continental" region within ADM, and with the promotion received a desk at Archer Daniel's Midland's corporate headquarters in Decatur, Illinois. We chose to make the little "bedroom community" of Argenta, Illinois, our physical home.
Travis's new position is Director of Health of Ag Services for North America. He was contacted about the position in October. His mentor and the former Director of Health and Ag Services for North America, Matt, was called back to active duty with the Navy. Only a couple of weeks notice were given to Matt, and thus to Travis, so Travis started his new job working nationally out of his regional Kansas office in Hutchinson. Travis's boss is sensitive to our family wanting to be together, especially around the holidays, so he encouraged Travis to stay and work in Kansas until we could move together as a family. Work did take Travis away on travel during those first 3 months of his job, but we got to spend Christmas together and most of the time before we all moved to Illinois in late January.
Leaving Kansas was predictably bittersweet. We knew our rented farmhouse arrangement with Travis's cousin Stacy and her husband Jeff on their farm was temporary when we moved in during October 2009. We had no idea our already-good friendships with them would blossom even more, or how soon our great time being neighbors would come to an end. I still miss my daily chats with either Stacy or Jeff's mom, Sheryl, and we all (especially the kids and Jillian) miss Raegan. Raegan and Jillian were two little peas in a pod, went to preschool together, and were best-friend second cousins! Having family and friendship in the same state, let alone right next door, is priceless.
God transplanted us into a gem of a neighborhood called Hickory Hills here in the little "bedroom community" of Argenta, IL. Hickory Hills is a quiet and peaceful little huddle of houses planted literally in the middle of wooded areas and corn fields. Argenta is a village of around 900, and our little Hickory Hills is even further removed from the "population," located about a mile north of town. We love our physical home and spread of yard, but our neighbors are what make the neighborhood so special.
Eleven children can be found playing in my yard or house on any given day after school. We are motivated to finish homeschool by about three o'clock on school days, because as soon as the bus comes down the street, the kids' little friends come knocking on our door. We LOVE it! Maddie has connected with Erin and Abbi, both girls around her age. Justis and Dawson play with Grant, Christian, Austin, Alexander and Evan. Jillian usually tags along with Maddie, Erin & Abbi to do girl things. They have made a fort in the "woods" on the property behind our house, ride bikes up and down the street, or go from backyard to backyard playing games. The boys like to come in and play with Travis's large boxes of Legos that he saved from his childhood.
Travis and I personally have a commonality with many of our neighbors, because Travis works for ADM. At least 6 people I can think of off the top of my head in our neighborhood work for ADM, as well. I can easily relate to many of the women on the block who work for ADM or whose husbands work for ADM. We also relate to our neighbors because many of them are parents of young children, as we are. Spontaneous weekend backyard barbecues are so much fun! My sweet neighbor Emily kindly invited me to a book club with she and two other neighbor ladies, and I LOVE the time I have at our monthly book club meetings. I have also enjoyed reading books I never would have otherwise.
I am happy that we are homeowners again. Renting was perfect for the season in Kansas, but having enough room and a yard that is my responsibility blesses me. We have a large guest room for family and friends who come to visit. I have a master bathroom and closet again (yay!), and a big ol' basement I can send the kids down to when we all need some time apart and the weather is cold or rainy.
The full potential of our yard has yet to be fully realized, but I am LOVING working to get it there. The property is about 1 acre, with two decorative ponds (with fish) and a large variety of trees and plants. Travis has yet to get the pond up and running, and I have yet to get all of the many beds weeded and under control. Illinois must be fertile, because the weeds and non-weeds alike grow BIG. Neighbors say it seems you can literally watch and hear the corn grow on warm muggy summer days. Round-Up, our little John Deere trailer and our new Hustler mower have made working our yard into submission possible. :)
Illinois weather has left much to be desired for me. We were completely snowed in for two days immediately after we moved in. We watched as all the neighbors fired up their snow blowers and I remember thinking, "Why do I want to live in a climate where I need to own a snowblower!?" Our new friends insisted that the blizzard(s) were not common for Illinois, yet there was snow on the ground for more than a solid month between the time we moved in and the snow finally melted. I also thought spring would never come. Now that it has been nice a few weeks, I am thinking my flowers might never bloom. I think living with Illinois weather will be a good exercise in being patient for my favorite season...SUMMER!! I am secretly keeping my fingers crossed that ADM's CEO will decide to move corporate headquarters to somewhere warm and sunny. Like FLORIDA!! On the other hand, that would mean moving again. NO!!
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