Living in Florida ☀️ 9 Things I Like, 2 Things I Don’t

https://MamaNatural.com 🔅 We moved from Chicago to Destin Florida a year and a half ago. How’s that for a big change?

By now we’ve had plenty of time to settle in and get adjusted. So the big question is, do we like it? Are we happy we made the move?

In this post and video I’ll share 9 things I like about living in Florida, plus 2 things that I don’t.

The number one reason why we left Chicago and moved to Florida was the weather, so let’s start with that.

1. Weather
Back in Chicago, our daughter was born during one of the coldest winters on record. She hardly left the house during the first four months of her life. And I’m sure that every parent out there knows how hard it is to be cooped up with stir crazy kids.

After that winter, my husband and I were like, we gotta get out of here.

And let me just say that Florida has delivered.

We live up in the panhandle where it’s a bit cooler, but still… 60 degrees and sunny in January is a revelation.

And it’s little things too, like being able to sit outside in the morning with your tea. Or stepping outside to walk around the block and take a phone call. Pretty amazing.

But more than the warm temps is the SUNSHINE.

Psychologically, this makes such a difference. You could say that I’m solar energized… HAHA! Cheerful, hopeful, feeling like you’ve actually woken up in the morning. Even when I’m just driving around to the kids gymnastics or the grocery store, I look up at the big bright blue sky and I’m just like “Thank you God!”

2. Beauty
Going hand in hand with the weather is the state’s beauty. Where we live is covered in pine forests and palmetto palms. Wild fowers. Deer moss. Coastal dune lakes. Wild blackberries and rosemary. Magnolia trees. It really is a diverse and breathtaking state.

3. Taxes

Okay, this is a grownup concern, but it’s a big one. There is no state tax in Florida. In Illinois it is 3.75%. In California it can go up to 13%! You save ALL of that by living in the sunshine state.

Might not sound like a big deal, but that is your grocery bill right there. Or college savings.

The sales tax is also lower here, and property tax is about HALF of what it is in Chicago.

It just costs less to do things from getting your license plate to registering a business. So that’s been a nice perk.

4. The beach
I’m putting this in its own category because woah. We live up at the top of the Gulf of Mexico, and I gotta say these are the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen in my life.

White sands. Clear, emerald and aqua green waters. Not much seaweed or rocks or shells to dodge as you wade through water.

Speaking of which, the gulf is so nice and warm. The coldest the water gets is about 70 degrees which is about as warm as some water gets up in the Midwest. In the summer, the temp can get up to 88 degrees! Pretty freaking amazing, I gotta say.

Just walking along the beach barefoot does amazing things to your psyche....



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Genevieve Howland, aka Mama Natural
Bestselling author of The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth ➡️ https://amzn.to/2Pf6Pfe
Co-Founder of https://www.mamanatural.com

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