this is water

I feel like to appropriately tell this story I have to start with a preface.

Midland isn't like anything you could imagine. It is an oil town, and up until recently it was a small town. However with advances in technology, oil companies saw $$$ out here, and people began to migrate here for jobs because it's a very high paying industry. There's no way that this town could accommodate to the growing population in a timely manner, and subsequently there were a lot of economic woes to follow because of overcrowding. Unfortunately, because no one wants to (can afford to) live here unless they're in the oil industry, other industries suffer. For example, I had a broken stove for over a month because the property management where I live can't find maintenance workers. No one cares. Want to go out to eat? Be prepared to endure a long wait (2 hours on a weekend), and also be prepared for sub par customer service. No one cares. In a rush at the grocery store? Don't be, because there are only 3 (stores) and 150,000 people who are also in a hurry, and we're all just going to have to wait. The icing on the shit cake is that it's really ugly and boring here. The land is just flat dirt, there's no real grass, no trees, just mesquite bushes, the water smells like rotten eggs, and the air smells like hydrogen sulfide. It's boring because no one wants to be here long (we're all here to make a quick buck, and then go) so people don't really invest in starting new businesses. There are movie theaters, a bowling alley, and a mall that literally has a ROSS in it (LOL).

I think I've painted a good enough picture. It's the ugly step child of Texas. This isn't a post about how much I hate where I live. I've been here for 7 months, and it took me 6 of them to stop being angry that I ended up here. Everyone that knows me has told me to just shut the fuck up or move at some point during the last 6 months, and I've thought about it, (moving, not shutting the fuck up.) In October I came really close to enrolling in grad school, just for a reason to leave. I spent a lot of sleepless nites thinking about how much I missed my old home, and how I'd give up the money and opportunity to just go back to living somewhere that made me happy, because isn't that what life is all about? But there was a nagging question in the back of my mind; what kind of example would I be setting for my daughter if I quit something just because it was hard?

Life isn't just about being happy. I've learned this through years of depression. Life is about cycles; good and bad, and lessons, and endurance, and seriously, someone just life hire me as a life coach already.

When I started thinking about what I could learn in my time here, I felt a shift and I wasn't angry anymore. I'm trying to learn patience, most of all, but I'm also realizing that all situations come with advantages and disadvantages, and someday I'm going to miss right now, regardless of how hard it feels right now. I'm learning to appreciate things for what they are. (Despite my 3am twitter rants about waking up to the smell of hydrogen sulfide!)

I watched this video the other day and it was a much needed reminder that we have the ability to make a choice about how we react to life. I wanted to post it here, because I know we all reach a point in life when things get tough, and we forget what is important.

Happy Wednesday, friends. Today I'm choosing to be happy. I hope you will too. :)

west Texas

I'm officially a west Texan. I think I could write an entire book on the disasters that have taken place since I moved here, but I don't want to be a negative Nancy, so I'll share with you a few of the funnier ones, because laughing is good, n'est-ce pas?

- I went to the grocery store and I asked a worker, in the bakery department, where the pita bread was, and this mother fucker shrugged at me. I'm like "You don't know? You work here, yes?" to which he reposefully replied "Yep." right before smiling and walking off.

- The cable guy came to install my cable/internet, and he asked me to help him. I'm laughing out loud while typing this, because it was a lot more insane than it actually sounds. Like he literally needed help. "Here hold this. Push this button when I say so." And I had to pay for $100 for the installation. That I had to help with.

- I've made a friend here. She's 65, and she uses words like 'kinfolk' and 'yonder,' and we share a liking for unsweet tea. I just love her.

- I get ogled often, because there are a lot of men here who act like dogs. My favorite instance so far happened in line at a convenience store, when a guy started singing to me.

- I wanted to order a pizza the other day, but couldn't because the place I was going to order from closes at 9:40pm. WTF? Random.


And because blog posts without pictures are no fun, here's a photo of Midland, from space that Alexander Gerst posted on twitter the other day. The squares are oil/gas drill pads.

And for more fun, here's a google map of where I'm at. I feel like crying every time I look at it. I'm in the middle of nowhere!

au contraire

Sometimes I do silly things right before finals, like drive 5 hours just to hang out with my guy for a few days, for no reason other than I missed him. :)

So, naturally, on Saturday, Emma & I took a very impromptu trip to see Bryan, and can we just talk about Midland for a minute?

-There is a very distinct population of crazy people there. Some of them hang out outside of Bryan's hotel room every day! Some of them might even work at the hotel, because only a crazy person would steal your change and leave you 4 Bud Lights in return, right? (let's get real. the joke is on whoever did this, because 4 beers do not = a handful of change, even if they are shitty beers!)

-I experienced my first real dust storm. I had no idea those were even a thing. Sand grit in your mouth is disgusting.

-The local economy there is really weird. Most of the labor force is made up of skilled workers, due to oil & gas related jobs, and there aren't enough unskilled workers, so basically customer service everywhere you go is kinda blah, and the wait is ridiculous. I mean, we waited an hour for THREE MILKSHAKES. This is a real problem, and I am obviously going to have to learn patience.. or never eat out. I'm not sure yet. Also related: everywhere there is hiring. Everywhere.

- Sundays. So most places are closed on Sundays. The natural grocery store, restaurants, gyms, etc. I get that this is the South, but gah, people want to do things on Sundays. At least I do!


Anyway - Countdown til I move is 33 days! haha I can't wait.