From Utah Valley to the Stix of Oklahoma

Like I mentioned before, there are more dissimilarities between Utah Valley and Duncan, Oklahoma than there are similarities, which I didn't expect.  When I first heard that we were moving to Duncan, Oklahoma, I thought that the town would be a little smaller, the people would talk a little differently, and there would be a few more cows than I was used to.  I was wrong.  Orem, Utah has four times the population of Duncan, which I knew before moving, but I didn't understand what it would be like to live in a town of that size.  I expected there to just be less people, but as it turns out, there is less of everything (besides cows and farmland).  There isn't much to do here. I am sorry to say that the most popular recreational activity for the population of Duncan, is hanging out at Walmart.  They even have benches in the aisles so that when loiterers get worn out they can rest.  It is quite different from Utah Valley.  But luckily, Duncan does one thing really really well: they have amazing sno cone shops. Back home, we had lots of little sno shacks, but they only served the standard flavors--lime, tiger's blood, cherry, etc., but here, they have every flavor you can think of, and they serve it with a sour gummy worm on top. Right after we moved here, our step brother took my little sister and I to get sno cones.  Of course, we were expecting to get our favorite standard flavors, but when we got there they had a sign the size of a billboard listing all of the options.  I ended up getting pina colada flavored, and Libby got peach daiquiri, while our step brother and his girlfriend got flavors called Duncan Demon and Big Booty (I have no idea what these flavors taste like).  It was definitely a pleasant surprise.  As for talking differently, only about half of the people here have an accent.  I definitely hear "y'all" and southern drawls a lot more than I used to, but not nearly as much as I did when we took a trip to Arkansas for a family reunion (more to come about this adventure in a future blog post).  The people here are very friendly--the rumor about southern hospitality is true.  The rumor about the heat and humidity in southern Oklahoma is also true.  It is far from uncommon to have temperatures as high as 110 and 90% humidity.  Those are the days when I am eternally grateful for my pool.  Overall, Oklahoma is so very different from Utah, but it is an exciting adventure everyday. :)             

Two Cats and Three City Girls

I never thought I would be a blogger. In fact, I had never even considered it until about 24 hours ago when my sister (also my best friend, partner in crime, and current roommate) showed me that she had made a blog.  That was all the prompting I needed.  Now we are both bloggers.

I grew up happily in Utah Valley.  I lived in a perfect neighborhood, going to the perfect school, with the perfect friends.  I largely spent my time watching black and white movies, eating frozen yogurt, getting in water fights, and racing boats down the river. It was wonderful. Then a little over a year ago my mom met Mr. Right. Unfortunately, Mr. Right lived halfway across the country in a tiny town in Oklahoma called Duncan.  And so, right after I graduated from high school this spring, we moved all of our belongings, two cats, and three city girls, to Duncan, Oklahoma. Duncan is very different from Utah Valley in so many ways, but I will save that for another blog post.  I had never dreamed I would find myself living in southern Oklahoma, just as I never pictured myself blogging.  So now I find myself doing both of the unthinkable--sitting in a tiny town in southern Oklahoma and writing a blog post.