Socializing

We've lived in Eureka for over two years now, and I'm happy to report that we've made plenty of friends. Thanks to my job at the library, I have a group of friends to go out on the town with. I've never been a big drinker, (you'll never find a wine refrigerator in my house!) but I enjoy going to bars with friends to visit and hang out.

Since I see so many of the locals at the library and the school, it seems a lot easier to make friends. I recognize most people and am not as shy as I used to be about starting conversations. It seems that living in a small town has made me less introverted. Now if we could only get my husband out of the house more often...

Good times, new friends

Last weekend, we went to a birthday party for a friend of a friend's three-year-old boy. The mother told my friend to invite anyone she knew who had kids to come and just have fun because they were renting a "Moon Walk" (or "Bouncy Castle") and the kids would love it. Well, she was right - we all had a blast. The Moon Walk was big enough even for the adults and we all took turns jumping with the kids. They also had a small kid's pool filled with cold water, so the kids took turns jumping in the castle, then jumping into the pool to cool off.

A great time was had by all. We even made some new friends, which is always good. And for once, almost everyone there was married with kids! So now we have more friends with families. When we finally get a barbecue grill, we are planning to have a big party at our house.

Evaluation time

My husband had a revelation of sorts the other night when we were discussing our current situation and new goals. We like to have these types of big talks every few months to make sure we are on the same page, evaluate our lives, and to brainstorm about new ideas. We have both been feeling a bit "down" lately and weren't sure why since we live exactly where we want to be and are self-employed. We thought we would be happier once we moved here and got out of the "rat race" that is corporate America.

Of course, some of what we've been feeling is just "winter blues" and the weather affects our mood tremendously. But the revelation came when my husband said that maybe we feel bad because everything is so clear now. When you work the 9 to 5 daily grind, your mind is clouded with all these names, numbers, and acronyms that don't really matter in your life. You do the same thing over and over every day and you don't have time or energy to divert from your current mindset. So when you clear your head of all the extras, it becomes really apparent what is missing. For us I think part of it is not having many friends. We've met some really great people and I've met a few ladies I consider good friends, but my husband has been busy working on the internet so much he hasn't had a chance to meet many people. Since we moved away from all our family and friends in Colorado, we are missing connections with people.

We've only been here seven months, so in time we'll meet people. But sometimes it gets a little lonely. It is especially hard in the winter when you can't get out and hike or explore the town which is what we really love to do. Hopefully in the spring when I start showing my paintings in Basin Park and at the Artist Colony we will meet some fellow artists and possibly make some new friends.

Single friends...

Sometimes, I wish my hubby and I could have more "couple" friends. It seems like we always have single male friends who were once in a relationship and have since divorced and we got custody of the guy. Of course, we love all our friends, but it's easier to get together with a couple so no one feels left out of the conversations.

We've tried setting up some of our single friends and that never seems to work out and then you end up with awkward situations at parties. You hear of people hooking up on the internet, but I just don't see how that works. It seems like no one is honest enough online - they always use a fake persona and "build themselves up" so much. Then they are disappointed when they finally meet the other person and find out that they embellished their profile as well!

Making friends

So far, meeting people and making friends has been much easier for me since moving to Eureka Springs. Everyone is so friendly. You could say it is the "Southern Hospitality", but most of the people who live here have relocated from other states. In fact, I have yet to meet someone who is a native Eurekan.

Maybe since most people have moved from somewhere else, and since we all made the choice to live here, we feel more at ease starting conversations with people to find out what made them pick Eureka. That seems to be the question when you first meet someone here. Anyway, I am very happy and have more friends now than I've had since high school.