I’m showing up a week early for this linky-party! Next week while we’re on vacation I’m going to take a much needed blog vacation so I’ll miss this Show and Tell Tuesday with Andrea. I thought I’d go ahead and share about my hometown a bit early.
First of all, I lived my first six years of life in a small town in Missouri. Oran, for all you local Missouri girls. 🙂 Then my mom got remarried and we moved to an even tinier country town (Zalma) just about thirty minutes away. I spent the rest of my childhood days in Zalma.
There are so many pros/cons to city or country life, but I’m gonna share my favorite things about growing up in a small town:
*Big sense of community-for sporting events or when someone is sick, people show up. There’s a community vibe that runs deep and there’s nothing like how a small town can come together for their people.
*No cliques or groups-my class in school was small enough (12 my senior year) that we were ALL friends. There were definitely the people who had more in common but no one was ever excluded. We were kind of a misfit group but we were the freshman (or sophomores and so on). We stuck together.
*Outside Space-when I was a kid, my brother and I could roam and roam. My kids here in the suburbs can only go to the fence. ha!
I’ve shared these pictures before, but I wanted you to see them again. My hometown, Zalma, Missouri…
The sign telling you you’ve entered Zalma.
Some things have definitely changed since I’ve moved and this school sign is one of them. When I was there, we had to put those plastic letters up on the school sign.
This is the high school.
Gym and music room are in the middle of the high school and elementary.
And this is the elementary.
There’s a river that runs through town and when I was a senior we left school early to swim in the Mill Dam. Looking at that water I kept wondering, “what we were thinking”?? ha! It was so brown!!
This is the downtown area…if you wanna call it that. There’s a Post Office, Volunteer Fire Dept., and a Masonic Lodge. Back in the day, we had a town anniversary or something like that. We only had them a couple years, but I remember lots of people hanging out on this street and a parade!
This was a store when I was growing up. I remember in elementary school getting to walk to this grocery store and get a soda. It was SO MUCH FUN! Now that I think about it…that’s kind of a long walk for little kids, but we made it with sodas at the finish line. haha!
And…the one lane bridge that goes out of town. This bridge is kind of long and it’s one lane. If someone else gets there first, you’re supposed to wait. I remember the first time Tab went to Zalma with me. These bridges freaked him out.
Some past Show-and Tells:
Don’t forget Shay and I have a BIG GIVEAWAY going down RIGHT NOW!
A $250 Nordstrom gift card for you and THREE more for your friends!! EEK! Head over to Instagram to comment and tag three friends.
You can find Shay on Instagram here (@mixandmatchmama) and me on Instagram here(@slaughteren).
Winner will be announced on Friday!
Hope you guys enjoyed my little hometown tour! If you’re from the country or grew up there, what was your favorite part?? Thanks for stopping by today!
Wow your hometown is so tiny!! I'm sure moving away to college was such a change of pace. Have a great day!!
Lauren
http://www.postgradinprogress.blogspot.com
Yes!!! I was in shock for the first couple months! Haha!
Oh my goodness! I love the pictures of Zalma!! I'm unsure about swimming in that water…but I love the pictures ;).
I always forget that you are from such a small town! But after seeing that picture of your high school, I will always remember!!!!! 🙂 Fun post!
Zalma is just so cute–I always love hearing about it!! It may have been small, but I seems awesome and produced one of my very favorite people!! 🙂 xo
LOL…I seriously opened this and had a slight panic attack thinking I scheduled mine for the wrong week! I come from a small town but not this small. Always fun to remember where we came from.
Love a small town…and wow 12 in your graduating class! I think back to when I was a kid and how we would walk and rode our bikes everywhere, no cell phones, our parents never really knew where we were but they never worried about our safety. I wish things were like that nowadays and my kids could enjoy that freedom of childhood. Great post!
It sounds almost like the kids in your class would become like extended family! Something so neat about that small town vibe! Thank you for sharing!
Aw, what a fun post and a cute little hometown! I don't know if you've posted this before but it would be interesting to read how your life ended up taking you from Zalma, MO to TX!
Gina || On the Daily Express
I love small towns! I graduated in a class of 16 and our small North Missouri town has 171 people. I moved away to college but came back. Love it here!
I feel like this could be the place for a horror movie to take place! Haha
I'm from a small town too and your pics make me miss home! Nashville and my little country town in Alabama are worlds apart. We had several one lane bridges and a K-12 school. The saying "If you don't know where you are, someone else does" rings true for my little town. I couldn't stop at a gas station without someone telling me they know my mom, dad, brother, sister, etc.
That's so crazy how small your town was. I remember my mom letting us walk to the Stop 'n Go and get a soda and candy. It was at least a mile walk, but we snuck through the golf course. I would never let me kids wander that far now being a parent…but times are so different now…it's sad. I graduated with 36 kids in my class…we were all really close too. Have fun on your vacation next week!
Love
http://www.rsrue.blogspot.com
What a cute little town! I live in a medium sized city, but we have some tiny towns in surrounding areas that only have one school like yours. One of my friends was from there and she always loved it!
Lindsay
Lindsay's Sweet World
I grew up in a small town (approximately 500 ppl) in WI. If you look at the shape of WI, it is the shape of a mitten, my tiny town was located on the 'thumb' of the mitten it is technically a peninsula. Sorry for the random geography lesson! It was a great place to grow up as we were surrounded by water so great beaches, some have called it the 'Cape Cod' of the Midwest which might be a stretch 🙂 The best part thoguh was as you mentioned, the sense of community. People really pitched in and helped each other out. I live in Milwaukee now and have wonderful neighbors and a great church community as well but I DO miss small town life 🙂 Liz familyoffoley.wordpress.com
Fun little town roundup!
I grew up in Wimberley in the Hill Country surrounded by natural water. If I couldn't see my feet, I didn't swim in it! The scenery of the river is beautiful, but I'm a pool girl at heart! #Concrete&Chlorine