North Dakota - the land of no humidity. Bring your lotion!

So I figured it was time to talk about how we ended up in North Dakota, of all the places in the world. My husband, Lawd I love him so much, graduated college with his Bachelor's degree in Marketing in 2008 (this took a total of 13 years). Now, many like to tease him about this and he enjoys making fun of himself as well, but what some forget is that he also has a culinary degree and worked his ass off for that. He tried out the chef thing for a few years, but I think the hours and the labor just weren't as appealing as he thought it was going to be. I could not be happier to have a landman chef living under the same roof as me. He is the best cook and has already taught me so many things about food. He always says, "Michelle, recipes are just guidelines", which is very hard for me! My OCD likes me to follow recipes exactly as they are printed.

So, after he graduated in May of 2008, he knew a couple of guys that had jobs as landmen in Shreveport. He was so ready to quit bartending and get out of Ruston I think this was part of the reason he jumped on the opportunity so quickly. What could be better really? So, we packed what we had in storage, and headed to Shreveport to move in TEMPORARILY at his mom's house...well, a year and a half later we were still in his mom's house. Turns out his little salary, my little income at the Montessori school, and our poor spending/saving habits did not really lead to the picturesque life that we had imagined once we moved to Shreveport. Thank goodness Ms. Jerri never kicked us to the curb!! We invaded her 2 bedroom, 2 bath house and let me tell you that 4 adults, 4 dogs, and 1 cat (RIP Silver, she actually just passed away recently), can get a little awkward sometimes. I am a big believer in "everything happens for a reason" though. I got pregnant with Lila Faye while we were there. It was great to have Ms. Jerri there during all the aches and pains and helping out. She also divorced during that time, and I think that it really helped that we were there to help support her. There were definitely some trying times!

Ok, back on track. So probably in my 7th-8th month of pregnancy, Andy took a new job as a contract employee for a new company. The perks: big raise, flexible hours, and working from home. The downside to this job was no insurance and it was so independent that Andy was really stressed. Since he still did not have a huge amount of experience he worked ALL THE TIME.  Andy is probably the most motivated and ambitious person that I know. He is quite the perfectionist when it comes to work (and dinner, for that matter!). After we had Lila Faye, living at Ms. Jerri's was a little too crowded. With all the baby stuff, Andy working from home, sharing a bedroom, 3 adults, 1 baby, still 4 dogs, and 1 cat, it was time for us to move out. So, Andy found a rent home in the same area that was perfect and livable according to Andy standards. He jumped on it and it was a huge surprise! So we moved in that February 2010.

He stayed with this company until October of 2010. Since he was the last hire at this company, he was the first to be let go since things were slowing down. He made some calls to just about everyone he knew in the business and the only thing he came across was a leasing job with a company out of Oklahoma City. That would have been really nice to be in Oklahoma City however the job was actually in North Dakota. North Dakota. Basically about as far as you can get from the "boot".  We talked it over and discussed the pros and cons and said we'll give it six months.

This is what I will tell you about having your husband working across the country. IT SUCKS. No other way to put it than that. But we did it as long as we could - we Skyped every night, talked and texted as frequently as possible, mailed cards and care packages, and flew him home as much as we could afford. The longest we went without seeing each other was from Christmas 2010 to the end of March 2011. That was really a tough one and I almost cracked during that time. Lila Faye had a stomach virus, then I got the virus, she had a fever virus, etc. Andy was also living in a hotel room this entire time, which he is a touch ADD, so I can't even imagine how crazy he felt when he was stuck in his room from the weather. We did it though and I will say that for some, being apart can really tear a marriage apart. For us, it only made ours stronger. In this type of situation, there are really going to be horrible, dark moments when you will feel insane. But, in our experience, what worked for us is calling the other one, talking out the situation, usually crying on my end, and then laughing about how crazy this life is and that we know it is all going to work out in the end. I can't even begin to tell you how blessed I feel though with the support from our close friends and family we had when Andy was gone. I would have never made it without them! In June of 2011, a townhouse in Dickinson finally opened up, and Andy was able to move in. We packed everything up in my dad's trailer and made the big move the first of August. That seems like forever ago already too!

It is very hard being away from our friends and family in general. It is REALLY hard to keep up with everyone being this far away and there are plenty of times when I feel left out or just wish ANYone would answer the phone (I was having a really tough day back in January and called 5 different people and no one answered - all I wanted was to hear a Southern drawl people!). It is really hard to see fun pictures of friends and family on Facebook and what not that we are missing. I think initially when moving up here I thought that really not that much would change. I would still be able to catch up with my buddies every other day or so. Not the case really...I think it's partly out of sight, out of mind and partly every one's lives are just so busy. What is even harder now too, is trying to make sure to get in time with everyone that was already at a distance from Shreveport. That is really tough! It was crazy when we came in for Christmas and I felt like we didn't have enough time to just relax with everybody.  We made two trips down this past month and they were so wonderful. Between both visits, I think we were able to fit almost everyone in between Magnolia and Baton Rouge. We even had a couple of friends that surprised us and drove to Baton Rouge to see us. That was really fun!

No one can ever replace our friends back home, but I feel so blessed to have met the friends that we have made up here. North Dakotians are kind people and have been so generous to take us in. It's good to know good people. It really does make life a little easier.

When we came back for one of our first visits home, our friend Megan asked if we missed them.  I couldn't believe she asked that! I told her that of course we missed them! It warms my heart so when I finally get to catch up with loved ones on the phone, email, or even just texting every now and again. I love the friends that we have made up here but there is nothing like hearing about what is happening back South. This was probably one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make, but we had to get our family back together. I can tell when Andy is gone how it affects Lila Faye. She really likes us to be together as a unit, that sweet girl (and I do too)!  I think about all of our family and friends all the time and keep everyone in my prayers. I hope others do the same for us! We surely need it!

Stay tuned later for the pros and cons (compared to the South) of North Dakota...pictures are from our drive up here when everything was flooded last summer, visiting Medora, and the Teddy Roosevelt park (Lila Faye loves the "Big Cows!").

This the hotel in Medora Andy lived in for too many months
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Sandbags on the drive up. Literally right outside of the window. It was kind of creepy!

I don't know what kind of caterpillar this is but it was huge! I would love to know if he turns into something else.

I loved this big guy. "Earl".

In this picture, if you look closely, you can see the wild horses in the bottom left.