Of Country Living

My baby boy, so young and already melting hearts.  He was certainly practicing for his early role as a heart-breaker in church today by playing up the grins and giggles, and basically turning grown women into puddles, whenever held.  He's getting a little too good at this ;)

In other news, you know you're living the country life when the County Fair schedule throws you into fits of excitement (a cow-milking demonstration!) and, when perusing the local newspaper (which was purchased for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the coupons) you realize you recognize no less than four people pictured in the pages, two of whom were the front page story (and another front page story advertised a Pool Party for dogs). 

Yes, folks, this is Shawnee, America and as a tax-paying, home-owning citizen, I can truly call this my hometown.  I'm an Oklahoman.  And I only just realized that fact this week.

True, it's a still a little surreal to me when I consider the above facts, but what may be more shocking to others is that, for Oklahoma, Shawnee is nearly a downright thriving metropolis.  I know I was astonished after coming from the suburbs of St. Louis to find that this town, which basically consists of two main streets (and yet FIVE Sonics!  Yes, we're the founding place of said fast food maven) and includes "Cruising the Poo" as an option for Friday night activities, is quite the busy bee when compared to others which can boast a mere stop sign to their name.

But Shawnee residents will not be satisfied simply in claiming three entire exits off of I-40.  Oh no.  Ask any Shawnee dweller and we can tell you about being the birthplace of both the aforementioned popular drive-in restaurant and actor Brad Pitt.  We house two universities and two factories for products sold in stores nation-wide.  We are the hosts of the International Youth Finals Rodeo every July and we even have a sister city in Japan.  And we (yes, we) are downright proud of all of it. 

This, my friends, is Oklahoma.  And, for now at least, it's home.

And I sure can't wait for that county fair!