Lately, I have been hearing a lot of negative things about living in Rexburg. I have heard complaints about the weather, the parking problems, the drivers, the pedestrians. It has all made me really sad. Let me just say at the outset here, that the reason I called this blog, Tales of a Reluctant Spud, is because I was one of the people who never wanted to live here (or anywhere in Idaho for that matter), but now having lived here for several years, I have learned to love our little Rexburg town and because I have seen so many negative things, I wanted to list 20 things I love about living in Rexburg. Because, it really is an AWESOME place to live!
1. I get the benefits of small(er) town life. It doesn't take me more than 10 minutes to run my kids to any appointment or lesson they have. I don't have to spend my life in the car. If Spudette misses her bus, guess what, the school is a big 3.5 minutes down the road. She could walk there if she missed the bus and still get to school on time.
2. I enjoy a slower pace of life but still get to enjoy some of the most amazing cultural opportunities you could find just about anywhere. Because of BYU-Idaho I have been able to attend amazing concerts where world-class musicians come to teach and perform. I can see art exhibits that are completely inspiring and amazing, I get to see great drama and dance performances as well. Seriously people, Alfie Boe's primere performance in the US was here at BYU-Idaho!!! AND I get to have all of these awesome experiences for about $6/event. Seriously, it ROCKS!!!
3. I get to live in an incredible neighborhood where everyone pretty much knows each other. Neighbors (who are also great friends) watch out for my kids. My kids can play outside unsupervised all summer long. They have great friends and so do I. I know that if I need to I can ask any neighbor to help me with just about anything and they will do it.
4. I can afford to live in a nice house even on a college professor's salary and I don't have to work outside of the home. I know this isn't the case for everyone, but it is for me and I love that I didn't have to have a million dollar mortgage to just have a nice little house to live in.
5. I live within a short drive to some of the most amazing places on the earth. Anyone ever heard of Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, Grand Targhee, Island Park, Jackson Hole. People come to these places from all around the world and they are super duper close to my own little town.
6. Aside from those amazing places, there are incredible places to see and visit that nobody knows about so we get to enjoy amazingly beautiful places that hardly anyone knows about. I live where you can drive a little way and pick your own incredible huckleberries! And I don't have to pay a dime to do it!
7. Ok, there are not a lot of great eating places in Rexburg, but there are a few that are amazing! Original Thai (seriously, there are not very many Thai places this good anywhere), Taqueria el Rancho, Soda Vine, Nielsen's Frozen Custard, Costa Vida ... there are more, but there are my personal favorites.
8. Summers here are amazing. It's not too hot and the evenings are always cool and beautiful!!! It is so beautiful here in the summer. Some people don't even have A/C (I have always insisted on it, but I know I'm spoiled)
9. Winters here are great. OK, I don't love the icy roads in the winter anymore than anyone else, but there are great places to take the kids sledding close by, lots of people have snow machines and on snow days you will see people pulling their kids on sleds behind them down the street. And amazing places to play with snow machines are close by. There is a great little (and cheap) ski resort close and an amazing huge one (Grand Targhee) that is about a 45 minute drive.
10. Another note on winter. I get to wear great sweaters, scarfs and boots and I get to wear them for all the right reasons. I also get to make yummy, hearty soups all winter!
11. Rexburg really is a pretty safe place. A couple of years ago there was a bank robbery pretty close to my house and it was HUGE news for this community. Within 5 minutes I had text messages coming in warning all of us about it and telling us to lock our doors (yes lots of people don't even lock their doors!). There were great police officers in my neighborhood stopping cars to make sure nobody had a passenger they didn't want in their car. They went in and checked a house in our neighborhood when the owner got home and found the front door open to make sure that the fugitive wasn't there, but didn't wreck her house to do so. Police are often in front of the elementary school where my kids attend school in the mornings to make sure people aren't speeding and endangering our kids. I have to be honest, that is really nice.
12. I only live 3 1/2 hours from Salt Lake, which is where I grew up and where my parents and 3 of my siblings still live. I can shop, eat, enjoy all I want and then come home to my great little town. If I want to, I can go to Salt Lake just for the afternoon and come home. It such an easy, quick drive.
13. I love my family doctor here in Rexburg. I love going to one doctor for all of my family and when we need something beyond his abilities, he sends us to a specialist (there are some great specialists here in town and when we don't have one here we can go to Idaho Falls or make that easy drive to Salt Lake). He is willing to work with me on everything and takes great care of us. I seriously love him!!!
14. I love that I live less than 5 minutes from where my husband works. I can very easily go and pick him up and take him to lunch, or if his day is super busy (which happens a lot) I can make a quick, simple lunch and run up to his office and eat with him there, or he can even come home for lunch. I love seeing Dr. Spud during the day. I would live anywhere in the world as long as I can live there with him, but it really is fun that I get to see him during his work day!
15. There is a beautiful temple less than 5 minutes from my house. This is a huge blessing because it means I get to go at least once a week.
16. I live in Potato Land!!! I can get a 50 lb. box of big, beautiful, fresh potatoes for less than $20. I love watching Potato Harvest too. It is super cool.
17. I already said that I love my neighborhood, but in the Rexburg community, there are just a lot of great people. Some of the most faithful, friendly, brilliant people I have ever known live in Rexburg, Idaho. The people in Rexburg are absolutely awesome!
18. Our school district is fantastic. Even though our teachers are not paid even close to enough, they stay here and work so hard to bless the lives of our kids. This district continues to win awards and do amazing things even when the budget has been a huge challenge. Our teachers are so dedicated to their students.
19. If I haven't mentioned it enough, I'll say it again... BYU-Idaho is in Rexburg and it is an amazing University. I am completely amazed and overwhelmed at the faculty at BYU-I. It's hard to overstate this. The faculty is amazing!!!! When the general population (that is, people outside of Rexburg) finally figure out how amazing the professors here are they will be craving attendance at this amazing University! Members of the BYU-Idaho faculty have amazing credentials but they aren't full of theselves - they work so hard to benefit their students, it is stunning. They bend over backwards to bless the lives of their students.
20. Rexburg is always changing. Yes, this is very much a college town and lots of people come and go and there can be challenges with that, but is is really also such a great blessing. We get to know people with new ideas, new skill sets and new talents all the time. Rexburg is growing and it is fun to be a part of a growing community. There are new businesses starting all the time. Some succeed and some fail, but it there is always something changing here. It's great to be a part of that.
Now, it's your turn Rexburgers, what have I missed, what do you love about living in Rexburg?
