Small Town Living- Almost 1 Year!

Grow where your planted


When life hands you lemons throw them right back make lemonade and all that good advice stuff.


Our move to Altus, OK was a big change for our family. We moved from one of the largest cities in the country (San Antonio, TX) to one of the smallest. I went from being a full time working mom to a stay at home mom in a town where the main thing to do with your kiddo is go to the same park everyday. Basically it was a culture shock.


We've been living here almost a year now and I've been reflecting on how things have been going.

A few shocking facts about Altus:

1. We don't have a Starbucks (Gasp!!!)


2. We only have 1 McDonalds (Double Gasp!)


3. Cows and Cotton are main sources of income (oh and the hot dog manufacturing plant)


4. The closest "Mall" is an hour away and you cant barely call it a mall


5. Even people in Oklahoma give us sad faces when we tell them where we live.


But what I've learned so far is that there are opportunities to be found even in a small town like ours if your willing to look. 


1. Hanging out with the Con-Man- we do lots of fun stuff together. It takes some creativity to keep him away from the TV all day but we figure it out and have fun.

Lake Altus at Quartz Mountain

2. Upholstery Class! I searched high and low while living in San Antonio to find somewhere that offered upholstery classes with no luck. Who would have thought I would find a place that offered here in the middle of no where!? Awesome!

3. Time to build a bed (and lots of other cool stuff)! If I were still working full time I don't think I would have been able to devote the time and energy to build Con-Man's big boy bed. If I had it would have taken me twice as long.

4. We've had some amazing travel opportunities through the Air Force. This being a small base we have better chances at Space-A travel than at a larger base. We've been to Seattle and California so far!

Seattle Mt Rainer

California Wine Tasting

5. We've made some really great friends both at our church and through the base. Everyone is super friendly and a lot of the military families are coming from similar situations as we are so we feel like we're in this together.


Even though I thought my life was over when we got our orders for Altus I think I've actually grown a lot- both in learning new skills, becoming closer to my family, and having some great opportunities. 


So I've learned that if it seems like life is throwing you a curve ball the best thing to do is to be positive and take it in stide. You never know what great things are lying a head!