Oklahoma Beauty

After living in Oklahoma now for 7 months I have come to find the beauty in the wide open spaces -kind of like the Dixie Chicks song. Once you see the vast open-ness like there is here in Oklahoma, 'wide open spaces' takes on a whole new meaning. It was absolutely crazy to me the first months being here knowing we could drive and see for miles and miles. We could see a big thunderstorm building up in Kansas. The "rivers" are dried up sandy areas and the "lakes" are all man-made reservoirs that are few and far between and also very dry.  Everything was brown and dead. We moved here and I thought we found the most boring, ugliest state. And in many ways, that might be partially true. Compared to other states and mostly our beloved Michigan, Oklahoma pales in comparison. BUT that doesn't mean there aren't beautiful things here.

We've seemed to have quite a decent amount of rain in the past few weeks and things have really come to life. Flowers are blooming, trees are filling out and things have turned green - mostly. But the most amazing beauty I've seen here so far have been the expansive canola fields. Don't ask me what the fields actually are or what they are for. I can only assume canola oil...but I won't lie, I haven't researched it. All I know is that they are this vibrant yellow plants that take over fields and mixed in with the growing bright green fields, make this flat landscape come alive and look beautiful. The flat-ness has its advantages when you can see yellow fields for miles and miles. It really is breathtaking.

And because I love taking pictures, I had to put Evelyn in a cute little outfit and let her go play in the flowers! We had a great time playing and I got some great pictures.

One of the best parts of this Oklahoma landscape are the sunsets. Because of the flat-ness its like the sun is setting over the open water every night. There have been so many nights that I stop in my tracks and watch the sun peek out from the clouds on its way down past the horizon. Mixed with a  few trees here and there, and those oil horses, it makes for a peaceful ending to the day. I haven't been able to capture a sunset and do it justice, but trust me - its perfect. 

This landscape here in Oklahoma is vastly different than Michigan, but I am enjoying it while we are here. Michigan's lush land and variety of landscapes can't be topped in my book, but Oklahoma has made a dent and I've found calm and comfort in the open spaces. I still can't believe we live in such a wide open state in a completely different part of the country than what we knew, but I am glad to get the chance to know this part of the country. 

America really is beautiful from sea to shining sea. 

Breaking Radio Silence

I'm not sure how these past few months have passed so quickly, but they have. And we have had so many wonderful things happen. Evelyn has been growing and learning so fast that sometimes we can't quite wrap our minds around all the new things she says and does.

Jordan has stayed busy with training and is now T-6 complete, meaning he is just over half way done with training! He will move onto the next phase of training when he will fly the T-1 which is the trainer for all cargo & refueling planes. People always told us that this year will go by fast, and its hard to believe it when some days seem to drag on, but the weeks go by quick and here we are almost halfway done!

Evelyn has transitioned well into her toddler bed and she is in full-blown toddler stage! We experienced our first toddler meltdown in public last week. It was over a swing. To be fair to her, it was approaching lunch & nap time. But it was pretty epic. A lady sitting on a bench near the scene pointed out how strong willed she was, I just smiled and nodded. Knowing full well she gets her strong willed-ness from me I can only hope that my strong willed brain can help her overcome the frustrations that come with this trait. Or we'll just clash a lot. Either way these toddler mood swings, attitudes and daily adventures will make for good days and bad days, but they will all be worth it. Right? 

With my time off of working as a nurse this year I've learned a lot about myself, my career and my family values. I learned how precious this time I have home with Evelyn & our new baby girl is irreplaceable. I always hear people talk about missing the years when their kids were little and not in school and how precious those memories are to them. I honestly never took those words to heart because isn't every phase special when raising children? But these last few months with Evelyn learning and changing while challenging me daily, I have never believed those words more. She is funny, sassy and smart and I can't imagine missing this time because I am too focused on my career. 

Not too long ago I had plans of applying for graduate school while here in Oklahoma and starting once we moved back to Michigan. But as our time here rolled on and we had a good six weeks of colds, little sleep and daily challenges, I felt un-settled about that decision. Going to school at this time in our lives means that I would be distracted for at least the first 18 months of our new baby girl's life, and that made me incredibly sad. After talking with a great friend and colleague, I realized that I can go to school anytime, and that I needed to be there for my family. The nature of Jordan's career is one that takes him away from us, and this means that I have to maintain as much stability and normalcy as possible for our children. I will be going back to the workforce while our kids our young, but just maybe in a different way than I had planned. 

Some of my friends in Enid! 

These next two years still include a lot of training and changes for Jordan's career. We decided to go down this path and focus on his career to open more doors and opportunities for him and I would never change our decision. I love where his career has taken us so far, and I'm excited for where it will take us in the future. For now, we are going to fully enjoy this stage of life that we are in and take advantage of all the fun, giggles & adventures we have in store. 

Easter 2015