I grew up in Southern California. I spent the first 24 years of my life as a city girl who had no idea what the country life entailed of. And some people could probably argue that where I live in the Northwest Suburbs of Illinois is not the country. But to me it is. Especially when you go to Walmart and to the left of the store is a corn field, because Illinois is in fact THE CORN STATE. That to me is country.
A few months before I turned 25 I moved to Illinois. It wasn't at all what I had planned for myself and definitely not where I had pictured living at the age of 24. It was definitely a change for me. A HUGE change. Unlike sunny Southern California, you experience all four seasons. The leaves changing to colors I've never seen before in the Fall. The freezing cold Winters. The trees and plants coming alive in the Spring and lots of newly born animals all around. And Summer. My favorite time of year. The corn starts popping up in rows and you can just smell nature in the air. And the stars are so unbelievably clear at night and not hidden by all of the smog that the city life causes.
In the past two years that I have lived in Illinois I have seen some amazingly beautiful places. Places that I would never have known existed if I still lived in California. I've seen mezmerising waterfalls in Illinois. A breathtaking town that is a replica of Ireland (Galena, IL), turquoise beaches along the coast of Lake Michigan, caverns in Arkansas, beautiful canyons in Wisconsin, the Ozarks of Missouri, an Amish town in Michigan and even a tiny part of the hillbilly town of Dubuque, Iowa. I've also seen tons of farmland and beautiful fields full of harvesting crops and even scary Gary, Indiana. You can't say you've seen it all until you've driven through that part of town!
When I tell people that I moved from California to Illinois I get this response: "Why?!" Yes, the Winters might be a lot colder here. But it's a small price you pay for such a beautiful place to live. Even though I do miss California at times and the friends I left behind there when I moved, I LOVE where I live. I love the simpler life you live out here. And if given the chance to move here all over again, I would do it in a heartbeat. I feel I am EXACTLY where I am meant to be.
