How DID I Decrease My Stress by 75%?

Well, I'm glad you asked. (Does this sound like an infomercial? I always wanted to be in one of those. Sometimes I pull a "Truman Show" on Geoff and advertise the olive oil I'm cooking with to him, just for fun. I know. Nerd, huh? But it's fun.)

You: Prone-Girl, seriously. How did you decrease your stress by 75%?

Me: I moved. Away from the city. Into a small little town. Yes I know it's not for everyone. Even now I'm thinking about Costco, Gene Juarez Day Spa, excellent shopping, and of course, family, that I am missing by living where I am. But check out the difference in these pictures:

This is I-5, just north of Seattle. This is an average heavy-traffic flow. The cars are all moving, I assume, at about 25 mph, so it's not what I'd call a traffic jam...because at least they're moving.

And though I miss this blanket of trees that accompanies the Interstate on both sides...

This is what our commute looks like when we're going to the bigger city for shopping:

Nice, huh? (No, I didn't mean the picture quality is nice; I mean the lack of cars is nice. Plus the girls like to see the horses and cows out the window. They roll down their windows and say, "Moo-Neigh", which is a simultaneous "hello" to both the cow and horse.)

And this sign is on the telephone polls that run along an adjacent street to our previous address:

...Classy neighborhood. Not only do we have prostitution (and drug dealing apparently, though I never saw this), there are a few adult movie and adult themed stores to visit just one block down.

But in our new neighborhood, it is heaven on earth. Just a few blocks up the street from us is this:

And it just doesn't get better than that.


To learn about the above building and others like it, click here.