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. 

Another new life

This post was written the day we found out we are expecting baby #2! 

So today - September 19, 2014, we found out we are expecting our second little baby.

I'm a little - well, a lot - suprised! Thank God for Jordan being over the moon excited!

I've been feeling nauseous off and on since we've been in Oklahoma. I blamed it on the heat and the change in weather, allergies & just being in a new place. But this morning I was feeling good, went to take a bit of cheese that Evelyn was having, and I almost gagged on it. And I just thought....hmmm....lets just take that one test I have in the house. I don't usually just have pregnancy tests laying around. We weren't TRYING to get pregnant, so it wasn't like I was checking to see if we were pregnant every month. I'm not even sure why I had one in our cabinet actually.

Regardless, took the test and before the test was even done, there were two lines. I was SO SHOCKED! I mean, I didn't take that test expecting a positive result, I just figured I was being a silly girl. But nope. The positive line was almost darker than the control line, so I mean we.are.pregnant!

Then the panic set in. OMG we are in Oklahoma. OMG Jordan is in training. OMG we will have 2 kids under 2. OMG. OMG. OMG!

Jordan was of course at work and wasn't able to talk. I had to wait until he got home to tell him. When he got home he saw the positive test and was BEYOND excited! It took him about 30 seconds to think, OMG, and then he was pumped. He went back to work this afternoon and told everybody he saw that we were pregnant.

Its just so weird to think that this baby won't be born at a hospital I know like the back of my hand. I won't know all the doctors and nurses like I did at Bronson. We won't have all of our friends and family around. I have to let go of that, and know that this baby is meant to be. To get pregnant when we weren't trying is a blessing that we embrace and even though I am still shaking as I write this, we are so lucky to have this baby!

Another Move Down

Soon after we moved down to Enid and into our rental, we soon realized that living off base wasn't for us. All of our Air Force friends live on base, and Jordan and I both found ourselves driving to base multiple times a day for work, events & playdates. We contacted the housing office and we found out a house could be ours in the beginning of November. We didn't have to talk long to decide we had to take this chance to live on base. It wouldn't be easy leaving our great neighbors next door, but the base is just across the little town and we would still see each other. So our decision was made and almost as soon as we had everything un-packed, we had to pack it all back up to get ready for our next move. Three moves in four months makes for a lot of boxes and a lot of stress of not feeling like we have a real home!

So finally the time came a couple weeks back to sign on our new house! We signed our papers during the week, and had a few days to set up internet & slowly move a few things over. Over the weekend we go Jordan's classmates to help us move! Thank GOD for them! We had coffee & donuts in the morning & pizza in the evening, and they moved our stuff. We could not have done it without them. We had great help at the old house and even more help at the new house. 

We still have some settling to do in this new house. Going through our office stuff, organizing all our clothes, breaking down boxes in the garage, and hanging our decorations. Doesn't sound like to much, does it?

Our new house! 

It has been so wonderful being on base. We are close to our friends (minus or super neighbors we met at our first rental, but we still see them!), Jordan is super close to work and can sleep longer in the mornings, & we are right in the center of it all. When we found out we would be coming to UPT we really hoped to live on base. Some people would never live on base because of the 'restrictions' but we wanted to submerse ourselves in the Air Force life. We aren't in active duty, so we don't get the opportunities to move to new places and life Air Force all the time. This training is a short 14 months, and then we head back to our "real lives" as I like to call it. So knowing that this is not forever and we get to go back home to our family and the beautiful state of Michigan, we wanted to take full advantage of all the Air Force has to offer. Some in the active duty world may think we're crazy, but I think its a fun adventure.

For our active duty friends, I realize this is not necessarily an adventure for you, and its your real life. The ones who choose to sacrifice and serve through active duty, I tip my hat to you. It can be a difficult lifestyle and I applaud you for your choice. I like to say that we get the best of both worlds, as we straddle the civilian/military life. I feel so grateful for this life we get to live and all the opportunities that have came our way. We are enjoying being in Enid & we are taking advantage of all Vance AFB, Enid & Oklahoma have to offer.

Things in OK

I have the urge to give a little update today, so here it goes for all who are curious!

We have met some of the most amazing people since we've been here. It was easy for Jordan to meet people while he was at school, but for me I was a bit worried about meeting people in those first few days. Much to our surprise, we have FABULOUS neighbors! Evelyn and I were outside playing on the front patio and our neighbors walked by with their little girl who is the same age as Evelyn! It has been such a blessing to have them right next door. The nights when Evelyn is ansy, we can head on over and the girls can play for a bit. 

It has been so good for Evelyn to be around more kids her age down here. She is a little timid in social situations when there are a lot of kids (definitely more like her dad!) but she has slowly been getting better and more adventurous. We have been busy with hanging out with our friends and doing play-date activities. Enid surprisingly has a large number of stay-at-home moms and has quite a few {good} resources for us. Local churches have MOPS groups, our pilot group has a large mom group, & there are a ton of parks around! Our days are for now are filled with two naps for Evelyn (still!!!!), parks, homemade dinners & playing with our friends.

Somedays, well honestly most days, I miss working. But these days spending time with our ever-changing Evelyn have been priceless. I will head back into the workplace soon enough and I have to remind myself of that and to enjoy the time I have at home with our sweet girl.

We have been so blessed by everyone we have met so far, and can't wait to continue to meet new people and have new experiences in Oklahoma. I still can't always believe that we live in Oklahoma and are so far away from home. But what they say is true, "home is where the Air Force takes you!" 

An Okie from Enid

We have been in Oklahoma for almost 3 weeks now. It sort of seems like we have been here for a long time already. We have met great people so far and are so excited to meet more!

Our girls "enjoying" our 14 hour car ride

Our ride was pretty uneventful. We started our journey on a Sunday, which made the traffic & ride super easy. We had perfect weather both days and it was a pretty easy ride! We were lucky to have our good friend Kevin ride down with us, so we could have an extra body to help with the baby & dog in the Explorer. The first day we made it all the way to Joplin, MO, about 5 miles from the Oklahoma border. We headed to Oklahoma City (OKC) the next day to drop Kevin off at the airport. We stayed in OKC that night, and headed to Enid the following morning. We got the keys to our house around 930 that morning, and we had the rest of the day to explore our new town!

Gateway to the West 

Oklahoma State Line!

We ended up getting a house off base because our house on base fell through. Basically, the people who live in the house we were getting had their orders extended and weren't leaving. The housing lady just offered her last house up to another family and there were literally no houses available for us. This happened about a week before we were leaving! Needless to say, we were panicked. But by God's grace, this house fell into our laps. Even with the unexpected expenses of renting off base (higher rent, security deposit, water, trash, etc), we are lucky to have found this house - with more space (by 300 sq.ft) to enhance our adventure out here in Enid.

Our home! 

One of the first things we did was change our license plates. So we really look like Okie's now. Except when we open our mouths and talk. It's pretty obvious we aren't from Oklahoma!

Happy girl!

Route 66 in Miami, OK 

...Wide open spaces...

Celebrating making it to our house! 

Just a few shots of our adventure down here, more updates & pictures to come of our stay down here in Oklahoma!