Live As I NOW Know It

HEAR YE HEAR YE! This is the first official blog posting of yours truly! If you've read my 'About Yours Truly' section of the blog and all the important people in my life, and all the things I love....then you are (for the most part) up to speed on the overview of my life. But, just because I'm a teacher, let's do a quick review, shall we? YES! Yes, we shall!

*Insert deep breath here*:  Oooookay, Howdy! (-->best way to start an intro, btw) I'm a perfectly normal 24 year old girl who was Texas born and Texas raised, in the midst of transitioning from a town of 350,523 peeps to a town of a womping 11,693 due to that cRaZy little thing called the love of my fabulous fiancé who "fracs" in the oil biz (or something along those lines). I love my family and friends with all my heart and soul because they are the best people in my life! I love my fightin Texas Aggies always and forever, and I don't care who judges us! My fiancé, Ryan, is my rock and I'm beyond blessed to have him in my life. I love him and love that he is willing to put up with me and all my crazy antics for the rest of my life! I'm a teacher, tippy-toe reacher, and a facebook creeper. Yes, I admit it. Zumba makes me happy AnY tImE oF dAy, which is why I decided to become a licensed instructor (and who doesn't love the opportunity to shake their bootay)! I like blankets, football, baseball, and basketball (in that order), colorful straws, frozen yogurt, drinking only half of a water bottle, the color pink, Elvis Presley, 5hr energy road trips, reality TV drama, and every kissing scene of The Notebook. BadaBingBadaBoom...how do ya like them apples?

Good. Now that that's over with, let's move on to the purpose of this blog. Being new to good ole' Elk City, Oklahoma (oh yea, that's the name of the location of my fresh new life)...anywho, being the new girl in town I'm trying to accomplish a new career opportunity (to be announced), surviving the small town life, and planning a wedding! ALL at the same time! And in regards to the wedding, we have t-minus LESS THAN 8 months people!! Lots to do...especially from 300 miles away! Freak out mode is starting to set in! AHHHH! (*another deep breath*) Okay, we'll just talk more about that as we make progress. :) Deal?

Let's talk LIFE here in Elk City:
-Ryan has been here since the end of February so he's pretty well adjusted to his new life. I, on the other hand, have been "living" here for a total of 16 days now. So I'm still in the 'this-is-just-another-long-vacation-in-the-country-to-do-some-relaxation-before-returning-back-to-my-real-life-in-Allen-Texas' type of mindset. But that's when I have to keep reminding myself...Nope, this is the REAL DEAL KIDDO! ...Take it all in... We are blessed to have found a very nice 3 bedroom duplex, with an awesome backyard for Kami (our black lab) and a mushroom fairy circle that keeps growing in our pretty green front lawn. Apparently there's an elf, or dwarf, fairy, or a strange creepy creature of some kind that's suppose to protect my yard when those fairy circle things pop up, but I've never seen it. I'd rather not to be honest.

Now, out here there are things you have to know about in order to survive:
1) Atwoods is like a holy sanctuary here. Anything you need, want, long for in life...you can find at Atwoods. Ask anyone where you might find ANYTHING, and they'll all give you the same answer. "Atwoods." Or, if you're looking for something to do around here, people will tell you to go to Atwoods.

2) You need boots here. Some real "sh*t kickers" as some refer to em. And not like the cheap-o ones that I have that I probably bought from target or somewhere like that. There are stickers (and not the kind that I used in my classroom) on almost every section of grass in the area and you definitely don't want to be caught in your Dallas, Texas high heels or flip flops walking around here as I have unfortunately had to learn the hard way. Talk about PAIN! Those little suckers will getcha good...and you always manage to drag them into the house where they secretly hide in your carpet ready for their attack on your precious little bare, stubby-toed feet. Not cool. So Ry bought him and myself our first real cowboy boots last week and I am in LOVE! I feel a little more legit now.

3) The flies here are RI-DONKULOUS! Seriously, they're not shy! Not that any fly is...but here, it's like ATTACK OF THE FLIES. They are everywhere! Landing on your food, drinks, head, face, arm, and eyelashes! Swat as you will, but they come back. Those suckers always. come. back! Sometimes even when you kill them, THEY COME BACK...no joke they're mutants, and come back to life and fly away right before you trash them. I think they have 9 lives here in OK. Not sure the solution..except that I carry a fly-swatter, is that how you spell that word, with me into every room like a ninja warrior preparing for a spontaneous attack at any moment. I've learned to always be prepared.

4) You always pray for rain here. As I hear they're doing in Dallas too. But there are signs here...signs from churches, sonic, cowboy cafes, you name it there's a sign wanting you to Pray for Rain. We always get a lot of close calls; you know those clouds that tease you and look all dark and stormy-like. I've started really praying for rain at home though (because yes, those signs do work...I find myself saying a quick prayer every time I see them.) The reason being why I've started praying away from the signs is simple: I don't like watering the yard. That's big kid stuff. Not for me. We have a wannabe rose bush that Ryan says can't stay alive unless I water it every-stinkin-day...I honestly just think it doesn't WANT to stay alive. And far be it for me to force a bush to live that would rather just wilt away. If I was a stinkin' bush living in this ridiculous Oklahoma heat, I would want someone to just pull the plug on me too. Just saying. My opinion.

5) You have to be real creative about things to do here. We ARE on Route 66 and have a pretty neat Route 66 Museum near the house with a cute park by it...but there's only so many days my best, Raven and I can run around that place and snap pictures of us chasing the geese, and cheesing in front of the fake creepy people sitting inside of the cute little Route 66 buildings. Then there's a movie theater here too. Don't get too excited, it's no Cinemark Movies 16. But it's called Flix on 6 and it was an old Chinese restaurant I'm pretty sure. But then you got your cute little downtown area that has some really cute clothing stores and decor/gift shops. I actually really like the downtown strip! But the clothes here are rather expensive. They only sell the real deal fancy stuff here, I guess. All their jeans are no cheaper than $85, which really makes me miss my Macy's and Papaya jeans and cute cheap-o shirts. Then there's 3rd street which is like the newer main road of town which you can also find some interesting country shops/restaurants on. So...while it's no Village at Fairview or Allen Outlets, I should, I'm also praying for this, be able to rid myself of my shopping addiction I inherited in Allen and learn to adjust to life in the country. Hey, at least I have salty frogs! (Read: 'Loves/Obsessions/Etc.' in my tabs to understand the facts of the Salty Frog).

Tomorrow, I'd like to introduce you to and give you the low-down on my little "friend" I call Mary. You'll probably be hearing plenty about her while I'm here so you definitely need to know!

*I Have a Feeling Life is About to Get Interesting*

Thanks for forcing yourself to finish reading my first babbling of a blog entry...it's a work in progress!

XOXO,

Bri