Home Sweet Hoyleton: Proximity



Something I love about Hoyleton is how close everything is. Now, you may say, "But Katie, Target is 35 minutes away!" Yes, Target and many things are 35-45 minutes away, but that says me money. Haha. Everything we need is within an hour of Hoyleton because we live about an hour from St. Louis. I love how close everything is when you put it into perspective and where we used to live.

I love that we live close to St. Louis. I spent a good deal of my life living in St. Louis and was born in the suburbs. I am a St. Louis girl at heart, so being close to my favorite city is a huge plus. I have family and friends in St. Louis that I get to see on a regular basis now. We were able to go on a short Labor Day vacation with family friends because we are close now. I love that we can go to a Cardinals game any time. Nate has a clergy pass that gives him two free tickets to any non-cubs, non-opening day, regular season game. It's pretty awesome. We already have plans for several games this coming summer. I love that I can take the kids to the awesome attractions that St. Louis offers for children such as the Zoo, Science Center, Magic House, sporting events and all other kinds of things.


Zoe at the Magic House


Nate and I on a Cardinals game date.

One of the greatest things about being close to St. Louis is being so close to St. Louis Children's Hospital. When we were in Texas we had to travel 3.5 hours to Zoe's urologist and now we only have to go one hour. Also, I was so glad that Zoe was able to have surgery at St. Louis Children's because our experience was fantastic.

What I really love when it comes to proximity and Hoyleton is the proximity to my friends. If we want to take Zoe to the park and get some friends to take along, our friends, the Kasten's live on our way as we walk to the park. It is not a hassle to plan a walk or park play-date at the last minute because there is no getting in the car and driving somewhere. We walk out the door and there are our friends. I love that if it is getting late or you aren't able to go out of the house it is easy and quick to borrow something from someone. I have needed so many things and its so easy to just call my neighbor instead of running out to get things. For instance, a few weeks ago, Zach had a fever and I couldn't seem to find any infant's ibuprofen in our house, so I called up a friend and had it in less than 10 minutes. That is less time than it would have been for me to run to the Walmart around the corner in McAllen. Either I or someone else has borrowed these things over the past year: an onion, loaf pan, flavor injector, corn starch, ice and I am sure there are other things. Even though the store is 15 minutes away, you usually don't have to go in an emergency because someone is happy to share what you need.

My friend Esther called me yesterday wondering if I had some paper plates and forks to send with my husband for the Elder's meeting because she had made them a cheesecake. She was busy running her son to extracurriculars yesterday and didn't have time to get those things to send with the cheesecake. I was happy to send along those things that I already had in my house. I think the proximity helps us all put less pressure on ourselves. We don't have to let other things suffer and run late to everything because we had to run to the store for something like paper plates. We aren't afraid to ask our friends to help us out in our time of need because we have been in the same boat and they would do the same for us. The fact I know I can lean on my neighbors from time to time helps me not to stress out quite as much.

Our proximity to the church is amazing, in that we live next door. Some pastor's families don't like this because it makes you open for people to drop in or look into your windows and know what you're doing all the time. I personally don't care if people know my business, I'm an open book for the most part so that part doesn't bother me at all. I love that I don't have to get the kids in the car to go to church or school. I love that Nate can spend more time at home before meetings at night because he just has to walk next door. It's also very convenient for when I hold parties for the kids at the school. I don't have to load up everything in my car and drive it there. I also can run home and grab anything I have forgotten.

So, even though we live in a tiny town in rural Southern Illinois, there really isn't a problem with things being 15 plus minutes away. We have St. Louis, a church, a restaurant (and bar) and each other. No problems here.

That's all for now. God is good.