Don't Cry for me Oklahoma

Well, here's the big surprise. We live in Utah now. What?! Yep, you read that right. Morgan had a job offer that we couldn't turn down and OU is letting him finish his final semester in Utah. We had non-refundable tickets for our Christmas Vacation and decided that we might as well just pack everything up and move when we flew out then. We hired a moving service (so worth it when you have little kids and are moving halfway across the country) and our stuff arrived shortly after we did. You didn't see anything about this on the blog because we kept it as a Christmas surprise for my parents and boy were they surprised. It's been a really hard secret to keep. We're so glad to be "home" but we are really going to miss Oklahoma (I never thought I would say that either). Anyway, there are a few things that I learned here in Oklahoma that I don't want to forget, so this is my Ode to Oklahoma post. (*Disclaimer -- this post is still slightly unfinished, but seeing as how we don't have the internet for a while longer, it will have to wait...and then we'll post the rest as well as our wonderful Christmas and unpacking adventures oh yeah, and pictures too :)



Lessons I learned in Oklahoma:

1) There are genuinely good people everywhere you go. That is one thing that I will truly miss about Oklahoma-the people and not just the great friends that we made and were sad to leave behind, but just random people that you might see at the grocery store or the waiting room while your car is being worked on. People aren't afraid to say hi or strike up a conversation with a total stranger - this doesn't happen often in Utah and one of my goals now that I'm back is to try and be a friendlier person because I know I'm just as guilty and shy as the rest to say hi or talk to complete strangers.



2) The Lord watches out for all His children. So, maybe I already knew this before I came here, but Oklahoma has strengthened my testimony in this truth. Being in Oklahoma forced our small growing family to rely more on the Lord and each other and recognize the tender mercies we experience on a daily basis. In the last 18 months we have made a lot of "big" decisions and our lives changed with the addition of another baby...sometimes I think we were still getting used to the first one :) and as it has gone by both Morgan and I can truly see where the Lord has guided us, even if we failed to recognize it at the time. *We never got sucked out of our homes by a tornado--that we were grateful for each and every day...although when you talk to an Okie, tornadoes to them are like snow to Utahns and not a huge deal.



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