Why Would You Move to Oklahoma?!

When my family first moved to Oklahoma many of our friends in Virginia would ask questions or say things like "why Oklahoma?", "There isn't even anything to do there!", or my personal favorite "aren't there a lot of cow pastures there?" I personally wasn't quite as anti Oklahoma in terms of activities and cow volume. I was more anti Oklahoma in the sense of why move? What is so special about Oklahoma that I can't have in Virginia? Outside of my wonderful family of course!

When I made my first journey to the Mid West prior to my families relocation, it was my fathers mission to fill my two week visit with all kinds of OKC specific Shenanigans.  These included a variety of things like exploring Bricktown, and taking me to all sorts of local shops and restaurants. My father was basically the ultimate Oklahoma City salesmen.  He brought up literally ever pro he could imagine from food, to cost of living, all the way to the dramatic difference in highway traffic.  

Incredibly long and overly dramatic story short.. It worked!  About seven months later I ended up following my parents to good ole Oklahoma, and discovering all of the okie-isms for myself!

KCH

Kicked To The Curb

Have you ever literally been left on the side of the road? I have. Although, my experience of being "kicked to the curb" wasn't an act of abuse (I suppose that may be up for debate), it was one that left me feeling very lonely and teary eyed. The  photograph to the left is about ten minutes prior to my pathetic exile in a Cici's pizza parking lot.  What a glamorous setting to say goodbyes.

After ten years of living in Northern Virginia, my parents had made the courageous decision to transition my family from our very comfortable routine, to an entirely different way of life in Oklahoma.  Moving to Oklahoma meant huge job transitions for both of my parents, and my little sister, Chloe, becoming the dreaded "new kid" in the middle of the school year. As far as I am concerned, moving to Oklahoma was not even close to an option. I was going to basically continue living in Virginia, graduate from college, and start my adult life there. I was very unaware that this heartbreaking moment was just the beginning of an entirely new way of life.

So, as a girl who is incredibly close with her family, living only two hours away from them was incredibly difficult. You can only imagine how much of a train wreck I was when they decided to add a solid 22 hours to that.  The first time I saw my family in their new home was a little less then two months from their departure.  That was the longest I had ever gone without seeing my family, and getting that good ole fashion lovin in.  Long story short, being reunited with them was one of the most dramatic things I've ever been apart of.  There were heavy amount of ugly crying, and hugs bigger then what I knew could exist.

I had been to Oklahoma City many times before to visit family and what not.  This time it was an entirely different experience.  Since I was completely set on absolutely never moving to Oklahoma, it was my father's mission that in my short two week visit I experience nearly everything OKC has to offer.  We were obviously unable to complete everything, but enough headway was made to start convincing me that a new life in the Mid west might not be such a bad idea. Thus the beginning of my transition from DC to OKC.      

KCH

Moving moving moving.

In my 21 short years of life, I have moved 7 different times. To the average military brat, that number is absolutely nothing. To the average Oklahoman however, big moves typically include moving out of their parents house, and into their college dorm room. Each new transition, whether it be across the country, or to a college campus is uniquely challenging. Now that I am "grown", well grown-ish, the lessons I've learned from my most recent move are seemingly endless!

A year and a half ago, I made a semi drastic move from the fast paced lifestyle of Northern Virginia, to a much more relaxed and simple lifestyle in Oklahoma City (Please note that in my opinion, simplicity is never a bad thing).

As I'm sure you can imagine, the lifestyle in Virginia is quite different from that in Oklahoma.  So, I've dedicated this little blog to telling stories about all of my new Oklahoma specific adventures. From new experience involving food, sports, communication and even traffic, there is a lot of new stories to share! And so let it be known that this little geographic mutt, is transforming into an Okie.  

KCH