the house that built me


This is the house I grew up in, the house I have called "home" for years.

For those that don't know, my parents are in the process of moving to Kentucky. My dad has been there since February for work, but my mom stuck around to get the house sold, etc. As of today, the house is no longer ours.

I feel like I've had the same conversation 100 times. "How are you doing with the whole thing? Are you sad? Is it hard?" I've answered everyone the same way: Its weird. Its weird to think that "home" is no longer 160 Fawn Hollow Drive, Argyle, Texas. But, its true what they say, home is where the heart is. Now, home is several places to me: OKC, Denton/Dallas, Stillwater and Kentucky. Its where the people I care about are.

The hardest part of this whole ordeal was walking out of my room and leaving the house for the last time, knowing I'll never be back. I felt like Andy in Toy Story when they load up the car and say, "bye, house!" The emotions and feelings it creates are hard to explain, so I'll let my friend Miranda say what I cannot.


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I'm an Okie.

I've lived in Oklahoma for five years now. Four of those glorious years were spent at Oklahoma State University, where I was considered an "out of state student." I was a Texan...one of many. An obnoxious, "my state is better than your state," blue bonnet loving, Texas flag hanging, "I can handle hotter foods than you," "our beer has more alcohol than yours," Alamo promoting, Pat Green singing, Texan. What can I say? The stars at night, are big and bright (sorry).

Well, I've been in Oklahoma as a working resident for a whole year now.....I guess that means I should change my license before I get pulled over....again. After a year of putting it off, I decided it was finally time. Getting a sideways license AND an Oklahoma license in one day? It was a big change.

Side note: An Okla. license has your weight on it (I subtracted 5 pounds - don't judge, you would have done the same. I'm gonna lose that weight soon anyways, right?!)
One would assume the process of changing your license to a different state may be slightly difficult. You'd guess three, maybe four hours tops, at the DMV, right? Wrong.

I woke up at my usual time, ate a scrumptious breakfast of bacon and eggs, curled my hair and headed down to the DMV. I arrived sometime between 9:15 and 9:30 (I was supposed to be at work by 1 p.m. - I had plenty of time). My phone had around 65% battery - it'd last. Wrong again.

Six hours later (yes, you read that right, SIX!) I was finally out of there and headed to the Tag Agency (yes, Texans, in Oklahoma you have to go to two separate locations - weird, I know - and they print the license for you on the spot).  You may be picturing me impatiently fidgeting, my restless leg syndrome kicking in with the occasional huffs and puffs as I waited those painful six hours. Normally, you wouldn't be too far off, but somehow, thank you Jesus, I managed to stay cool, calm and collected. I was really thankful that I had eaten that hearty breakfast because there was no way I was leaving to go get lunch.

The DMV was full of really classy people (sarcasm). One lady had black, rotting teeth. Another smelled like garlic (I guess she wanted to keep the vamps away). There was a white trash three-year-old boy who was jumping off the chairs and hissing at me while crawling around on the floor (he was the type of attention whore child that was probably really sticky with a lot of ear wax...gross). I was about to slap him upside the head; lucky for him, his mother, who resembled Mama June, couldn't handle the long wait. They left just in the nick of time.



The sista across from me, we'll call her Sweet Brown, was smart enough to bring the iPad she bought with her welfare checks (I wish I had thought the bring mine....it sure would have helped pass the time when my phone died). However, Sweet Brown forgot her headphones. The entire room was stuck listening to some ghetto version of "Row row row your hoe" and a Madea movie.




Last but not least: creeper guy. He started getting super chatty with me around noon (keep in mind that chatty = incoherent, incessant mumbling). Topics of conversation include, but are not limited to: the probability we'd get struck by lightening, the Kentucky Derby, asking what a magazine was, the increase of the number of people living in Edmond, FarmVille friends and a very strange form of randomly laughing to himself. My normal tactics of ignoring while appearing to text didn't stand a chance. He just kept mumbling.


For any of you needing to make a trip to the DMV soon, try out this brand new service they offer: appointments. They're worth it, trust me. I wasn't aware they existed until two hours into the day or else I would have taken full advantage of them. But, if you are a poor soul who gets stuck waiting all day, bring hand sanitizer, headphones, snacks, a book, an iPad, a phone charger....something! And make sure you pee before hand (they don't have a bathroom).

Now, I'm officially an Okie. Although the DMV gives a terrible impression of Oklahoma, I'm still glad I can officially call this state home.
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I scream, you scream...

We all scream for ice cream!

You know that noise kids make when they hear the ice cream truck? That's the noise I make when I hear the ice cream truck. In the summer of 1997, I was completely satisfied eating the always refreshing bomb pop or the Mario popsicle with a bubble gum nose (now-a-days Mario has been replaced by Sponge Bob Square Pants). Times have changed, my friends.



Hi, hello, delicious. My taste buds will never be the same....ever. Allow me to introduce you to the best ice cream truck this side of the Mississippi: Roxy's Ice Cream Social.

The food truck epidemic is hitting Oklahoma City hard...in a good way. Think: the launch of the first iPhone or waterproof mascara. Food trucks are becoming the "cool thing" in cities nationwide, and OKC's lineup is top notch: Taste of Soul Egg Rolls, TOS Chicken and Waffles, Wild Al's, The Crepe Brewers, Moto Chef, Heo's Kitchen, Big Truck Tacos, Roxy's Ice Cream and more.

This past weekend, Better Block OKC transformed the Farmer's Market District. Better Block is: "a community revitalization project that temporarily demonstrates how to improve a street with pedestrian and public infrastructure mixed with art, culture, pop-up business and street life." Basically, they put on a little festival to bring people in to the area. Things like this are why I love OKC.

After sampling some delicious, all-natural products from Urban Agrarian, I snagged cinnamon cream honey that is to die for and a tube of Cassidy's Concoctions 100% Natural Immunity Boost chap stick. I'm pretty picky when it comes to chap stick, and folks, this one is a winner (and to top it off, it tastes like Chai Tea Lattes... A+ for Cassidy!).

Ok, ok. Back to the ice cream. Cole and I hit up Better Block around lunch time, so naturally we were hungry. Food trucks to the rescue! Cole got a Mediterranean crepe from The Crepe Brewers, but my inner-fat kid took over. I had ice cream for lunch. Go ahead and make your Pillsbury Dough Boy jokes - it was worth every single calorie. It was literally the best thing I have ever eaten. Peaches and Creme, made with fresh, Oklahoma peaches from Urban Agrarian. It was just so.....peachy! Holy smokes, Batman, I was in heaven. It was so good that we had to track down Roxy's via Twitter the following day to get more (the salted caramel was pretty darn tasty, too, just sayin'). Sorry Blue Bell, there's a new sheriff in town. 

As any 20-something, social media butterfly would do, I had to Instagram my happiness. I also tweeted, "It's never too cold for the best ice cream to ever touch my lips! Thanks, @roxysokc #peachykeen"

(yes, it was freezing cold outside, in MAY! I'm not OK with this.)

Roxy's re-tweeted me.  Just another reason I love supporting local businesses and calling OKC home. Customer satisfaction through social media? Its the second fastest way to win my heart (next to my taste buds, of course) - Roxy's, FTW.

Now if it would only warm up so I can enjoy my ice cream without goosebumps!
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