What I’ve Learned About the Midwest & Nebraska So Far…

Well, we’ve been here in the Midwest for just about 4 months now. Hard to believe. This summer both flew by and dragged on, and now we’re in our home and in our routine and I looked up and almost 4 months have passed since we left San Diego. The other day I got super nostalgic and I was missing San Diego hard. Although I miss California and our friends and community quite fiercely, I have to say Nebraska is growing on me. Here’s what I’ve learned about the Midwest/Nebraska in the past few months in no particular order:

-Nebraska Nice:

Jason would joke about this when we first moved here, and he called it Nebraska Nice. I’m pretty sure this is a thing, and it’s totally true. People I have encountered have been so sweet, gracious, and thoughtful. From the preschool directors to one of our neighbors dropping off a sweet outfit for our baby girl welcoming us to Nebraska, to other neighbors who mowed our lawn for us on more than one occasion before we actually moved in to our home. Maybe it was because they were tired of seeing overgrown lawn, HA! Even the people at the bank are incredibly nice. No one’s in a real hurry here and has all the time in the world it seems to chat you up in line. The other day at the bank, one of the bankers recognized me and wanted to know how our house was coming along because she remembered me from a few visits. Another great example was when we were in Sam’s Club a few weeks ago shopping and getting a membership. I was still in line so the fam went to load up in the car. I was leaving with an overloaded cart and a baby in a baby carrier trying to get across the parking lot when a lady came by driving a bit too fast, but she stopped and waved me to cross. As I was crossing, the tomatoes in my cart fell out and the container opened up and tomatoes rolled across the parking lot. I figured they were a lost cause. I saw my husband meeting me to help me and next thing I know, the lady has stopped her car, gotten out, and collected all of my fallen tomatoes. I couldn’t believe it! As I thanked her profusely, she goes, “Well, you had a baby!” WHAAAAAT?!?! They are so nice here. Nebraska Nice. ;)

-Nebraskans love their UNL Cornhuskers:

Every house we looked at had Nebraska Red in it somewhere, including ours. And most had basements decked out with UNL memorabilia. If you are out and about on a Saturday, at least 25% of people you see are wearing Husker gear. For no real reason except they love them some Huskers. GBR!!! {Otherwise known as GO BIG RED. I had to ask my friend, Kathryn what exactly that meant…}

-Front Door Hangers–

So many people have these on their front door. I guess with storm doors, a phenomenon I was unfamiliar with until we moved here, it’s hard to fit a wreath on the door, so they go with door hangers. You can find monogram ones and ones for every season or occasion. Now I want one for our front door but our porch is lacking curb appeal at the moment, so when I spruce that all up for fall, I’ll be on the lookout for one and share what I’m talking about for you westerners! ;)

-Little Fencing:

In California, people are very determined to claim their property lines. It’s super rare for you to be in the suburbs without a fence. I am still getting used to the idea that my kids can run through a few backyards to get to their neighborhood friend’s yard, and that I’m pretty sure my neighbor behind us can see directly into our house and what we are watching on tv at night! I wish we had a fence just for corralling kids and our dog. We went with Invisible Fence for our dog, but apparently it’s not a good idea to get a few extra collars for your kiddos…
-It’s Not as Cheap as You Would Think:

This is not Waco Texas people. Nothing against Waco, but we are not on the set of Fixer Upper. Don’t get me wrong there are some options that are very affordable, but they would need a TON of work. Prices range quite high here, however pricing is much less comparable to California.
-Basement Lingo:

I’ve learned what defines a walkout vs. daylight basement: Walk out is just that, you can walk out of it. Daylight is that you have windows but don’t have access out through a door. A confirming bedroom in the basement versus a non conforming bedroom means that you have a window in the bedroom where one could get out if needed in a fire. I wanted a walkout or daylight basement when we were looking. I didn’t get either :( It’s on my list to add windows to at least the bedroom downstairs. In about 2035 we should get to it.

-We Are Not on 5 Acres:

There are plenty of places with land for days, but we are not one of them. There are actual neighborhoods and sidewalks in Nebraska and it’s not all just corn fields. {Although a lot of it is ;) }

-Scooters vs. Starbucks:

There is a drive through Starbucks pretty close to us. I have been there a total of maybe 2 times. There are also lots of drive through Scooters, which is the local, and I’d say preferred coffee chain here, and we tend to do Scooters more often. Although I love my Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks.

-Traffic {Or Lack there of}:

There is no traffic here. You can run into some delays when you’re on a road that is doing major road repairs. I laugh every time the “Traffic Update” comes on the radio. Literally there is NOTHING to report. Maybe a little accident or the list of road closures or repairs going on that day. But on a 2 lane highway {which I never really use unless I’m going out of town} I have never encountered traffic. In San Diego, I had to get on the freeway to go anywhere, and time my errands around traffic.

-Corn-fed Beef Instead of Grass-fed Beef:

Over last summer’s road trip, I asked about the negativity surrounding corn being the number one ingredient in dog food, etc., stating that it was advertised as a bad thing. The Nebraskans I told this to looked at me like I had 2 heads. No, they hadn’t encountered that, and had I eaten corn-fed beef? Yes, I have, but in California, the good for you and good tasting beef is “Grass-fed” and that’s all you find really. Then we had corn-fed beef during our visit last summer and it definitely tastes better. One Nebraskan said that they must keep the good stuff here and send the rest to California!

-Lots of Kids in a Family Is Not Uncommon:

Four kids here is certainly not uncommon and at church there are definitely large families. In our San Diego community, 4 kids was definitely not common!

-Each town is their own distinct town:

The towns don’t run together here. You leave one town, drive through miles of corn and soy fields and then get to the next town.

-Weather can change drastically throughout the day:

I guess there’s a saying “If you don’t like the weather in Nebraska, wait 15 minutes.” It’s pretty true at least in the Spring and Summer. The first 2 weeks we were all here, we experienced more weather than we had the last 5 years in San Diego: Flash floods, tornado warnings, it was crazy!

-Where You go to Church {If You’re Catholic} is Basically Assigned:

We are Catholic and I guess here for Catholics it’s like schools…You go to your neighborhood church. And hope you like it ;)

-Frogs/Toads Are as Common as Lizards Were in California:

You may not be thinking that’s that notable, but if you live with two little boys, who have been known to take home lizards in their pockets and backpacks, you notice these kinds of things. And there are more bugs, but the bug situation is not too terrible, really.

-People Actually Park Inside Their Garages:

In our California neighborhoods, I’d say about 60%, maybe, parked in their garages. Here, we are still working on getting our garage organized as we want it and so now only one car is in the garage. I feel like we’re the only people with a car parked in our driveway on our block. Dad, if you’re reading this, we will do our best to get that second car in there before you visit again!
-4th of July is a big deal:

They still sell fireworks here. Legally. Like on every corner. My physical therapist said that one of her patients said their neighborhood put on a $12,000 fireworks show. That’s in a little neighborhood development. The fireworks went off in someone’s driveway. All $12,000 of them.
-Mowing Lawns is Done on the Regular:

People mow their lawns All.The.Time. around here. And there are all kinds of mowers. I once saw a guy in our neighborhood on a mower that resembled a Segway. Like a Segway mower. Didn’t know those existed until I moved here.

-Drive Throughs of All Kinds:

Pharmacy, dry-cleaners, food, the bank. It’s a great thing to have access to with little ones in the car.

-Football is like Christmas:

I had heard it’s kind of a big thing around here, but we went to the first game last weekend and it was so fun! They LOVE their football here. And the fans are incredible. We weren’t in the student section, but there were no belligerent drunks or obnoxious fans. There was booing at bad calls, but nothing derogatory yelled. There may have been somewhere in the stadium, but I didn’t encounter it once. It was pretty impressive!

So that’s my take on the Midwest and Nebraska so far!

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