Happy to Be Here

What happens when someone from a northern city's suburbs packs up and moves to the rural south? For Karen Bellenir, the transition involved finding her place in the life of a small town, making connections, growing new roots, and learning about the culture and the environment.

PreludeWhy Farmville (August 2009)

Happy New Year!
A To-Do List for the New Year (January 2010)
A New List for a New Year (January 2011)
Dietary Resolutions (January 2012)
Do Over (January 2014)
What a Colorful World (January 2016)

Winter Lingers
Bidding Winter Adieu (March 2010)
The Quiet Month (January 2013)
Got Milk? Got Bread? (February 2013)
A Few of My Favorite Things (December 2014)
Snowflakes and Snowfalls (January 2015)

Settled in New Surroundings
Count Me In (April 2010)
Degrees of Separation (August 2010)
Landing in Farmville (July 2014)
For Auld Lange Syne (February 2015)
Collecting Art (October 2015)

Meeting New People
Another Road to Farmville (October 2010)
A Piece of Heaven (May 2012)
A Dream Fulfilled (September 2014)
Newly Planted (May 2015)

Currently Reading
Check It Out (October 2009)
Curling Up with a Good Book (February 2011)
Read Anything Good Lately? (February 2012)
Farmville's Literary Landscape (February 2014)
Winter Reading Recommendations (February 2016)

Feathered Friends
For the Birds (February 2010)
Humming Along (July 2010)
The Sounds of Morning (May 2013)
I'm a Birdwatcher (June 2014)
Rooting for the Ravens (April 2016)

Four-Legged Fauna
Why Did the Turtle Cross the Road? (May 2011)
Mooooving Along (October 2012)
On the Nature of Mice (June 2013)
Baffled (October 2013)
Lying Down on the Job (March 2015)

Going Buggy
Flutter By (April 2012)
Beloved Bees (March 2016)
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bug (June 2016)

Caring for the Yard and the World
Snake in the Grass (September 2010)
A Field of Trees (March 2011)
Harvest Time (September 2011)
Getting the Worm (June 2015)
Be a Superhero (July 2015)

Around Town
Happy Trails to You (June 2010)
What's On TV Tonight? (April 2011)
Not "Nothing to Do" (October 2011)
For the First Time (March 2012)
My Journey of a Thousand Miles (May 2014)
Into the Future (May 2016)

Discovering Connections
Better Education (November 2011)
Has It Been Such a Long Time? (August 2013)
Learning the Lingo (April 2014)
Urban vs. Rural Living (October 2014)
Farmville, That's Where I Live (August 2015)

The Stars Above
Natural Treasures in the Sky Overhead (September 2009)
A Different Kind of History (May 2010)
Once in a Blue Moon (August 2012)
Hope Rewarded (November 2014)

Sharing the Night Sky
Starry, Starry Night... Or Not (July 2011)
The Comets Are Coming (March 2013)
Plan B (March 2014)
Finding North (April 2015)
A Blood-Red Super Harvest Moon (September 2015)

Summers and Vacations
It's Good to Be Back Home Again (June 2012)
Seeing Stars (July 2012)
In a Hurry (April 2013)
I'd Rather Be (July 2013)
Going Down (August 2014)
Summertime Tasks (July 2016)

In God's Hands
Not the End (June 2011)
The Churches of Farmville (August 2011)
Beside Still Water (September 2012)

Colder Days and Warmer Hearts
Falling in Love with Fall (November 2009)
Worth Getting Up For (November 2010)
Applesauce! (November 2012)
The Seasonal Clock Strikes Autumn (September 2013)
Kids These Days (November 2013)

Christmas Time
Traditions Worth Keeping (December 2009)
Reflections (December 2010)
Such a Small Thing (December 2011)
At the Calendar's End (December 2012)
Sending Seasonal Greetings (December 2013)
The Star of Bethlehem (December 2015)

Postlude
Still Happy, Grateful Too (November 2015)