Whining and Complaining

     Whaaa Whaaa Whaaa. That's what this post is going to sound like.

     I hate that every single time I go to town, I feel over-dressed. And I don't even dress that nice. I usually get dressed and look in the mirror and tell myself that I look "too fancy". So I change and then when I get to town I am awkwardly out of place. C'mon Williston people... you don't have anything nice in your town, at least dress up for grocery shopping. You will feel happier. Maybe it will help get that scowl off your face.

     Men, wear ear protection at work. Maybe you can't hear how loud you are but I can hear you talking about me. Lower your voice. It's 9 a.m. and I have diapers and a cup of coffee in my cart. I'm probably not even going to blink your way. Scratch that. I'm NOT going to blink at all because my mind is filled with thoughts of you falling straight on your face.

     Williston- clean up your town. It's a dump and it was 3.5 years before the oil got big here. If you own a shop, maybe you should think of investing in painting your sign. I know you can afford it.

First thing you see of Ray. Appealing? 

     Ray- clean up your town. You get oil money for the town, time to fix your roads and make some sidewalks. The town doesn't look like it's been updated in 30-40 years. Surely there is more than enough money to make something nice out of it. The new playground equipment is really nice though and we really enjoy it!

     Yes, my husband works in the oilfield. Yes, we are from the South. Yes, we own a home here. Yes, I stay home with the kids. No, we are not going to stay here.

     Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed my time here so far. Ray is pretty quiet and nobody ever bothers us. I like that I can take the kids out on walks and Jackson can just roam around and only a couple cars will pass us. The spring/summer/fall is awesome, even though those seasons are jammed into 6 months, and sometimes out of order! The opportunities here are worth it.

    

    



    

    

Thanksgiving

     This Thanksgiving I am thankful for a lot. But more than that, I am taking the day to realize what I take for advantage on a daily basis. I have more than most people and my husband gives his all every day. He excels at work and always does more than expected and he does it for our family. He sleeps 4-6 hours a night, for us. He gives up freedom, friendship, time off to relax to make a better life for us and I am sometimes not very understanding. He doesn't have time for hobbies but he always makes time for us. I need to be more thankful on a daily basis and glad I'm reflecting on what I can do to make him feel appreciated. He does everything for us.

     Jackson, one of the most tender-hearted little punks I know. He is always looking for a way to make you proud of him and likes to show off new things he's learned. He loves telling stories and they always make me smile when he just starts a-jabberin' away. His favorite stories recently are his trip on the airplane and when Papa took him to get his hair cut. When he smiles, you can't help but to smile back. When he whines it drives me nuts and I just need to remember that he is still a little boy and not a grown up!

     Caralee, a rowdy little girl. She likes to pretend that SHE is the boss of Jackson. She likes to take his toys just to get a rise out of him and then she drops the toys and takes off laughing. She likes to play dress-up and loves when I paint her toenails. She loves monsters and dinosaurs and makes funny faces all the time. Very outgoing, very fun. I need to do more one-on-one with her.

    The three people that live in my home, Sammy, Jackson and Caralee mean the world to me and I am thankful this Thanksgiving that I realize how selfish I can be when their needs should always go first.

     Oh yeah, turkey is gross.

Vacation Details

     Vacation has been a blast so far. We came down here without any plans. No special days set and it is sooo relaxing.

Butter

      Sammy and I went to eat dinner at a nice restaurant, The Peddler. We waited for about 50 minutes for a table but it was worth it! The first thing I saw when I sat down was a nice big ole bowl of butter. I ended up getting a great salad, bacon wrapped filet mignon and a baked potato (Sammy's sweet potato was better). I could only eat half of my meal because I was drinking so much sweet tea. I thought I was going to be sick afterwards. Great food, great service, great date ;)

          Sammy and I also took a trip (25 minute drive) to the top of Caesar's Head. It was pretty windy and overcast but it was still pretty. We drove over the mountain into Brevard, into Hendersonville to do some shopping. Then I talked him into eating at this little sandwich shop called Mike's on Main. We ate there before we got married, and we discussed moving to North Dakota. It was "sooooooo" romantic. Haha

     I have even had a chance to get a little work out in! Kelly (my younger sister) and I went bike riding. Our total ride was 20 miles. It was a lot of fun and felt awesome out. My butt's pretty sore even though it's a few days later. (Pictures below!!!)

Turn around spot for us! 

Another from along the bike path 

After 10 miles, we turned around and headed back! 

     Oh, the best part.... it was 72 today while the high in North Dakota was 23 and snowy. :) I never want to leave. 

   

Where Did I Go!?

I am on vacation! Enjoying a lot of sweet tea, pretty views, family, Momma's cookin' and friendly southern people everywhere we go!

See y'all when I get back!

MmmMM Yummy Tri-Tip

Why I am cooking in an oven instead of my grill.

     First of all, it's stinkin' cold outside. I hate cold. I hate snow. I hate winter. Ok.... got that out of the way. I'm not big on cooking in an oven. I prefer the grill, because there is minimal clean up and grill food just taste soooo yummy. But, I decided to try Tri-Tip in the oven. My first time was okay so I'm hoping this one turned out as awesome if I had cooked it on the grill.

     This is NOT a very good example of how a good cut of Tri-Tip would look. But when you're in the middle of the boom around a bunch of Southern hungry men, they take all of the good meat. I had slim pickins' with this one. It was one of two. I usually get it from our local butcher but for some reason just forgot. So what you should be looking for is a Tri-Tip with a bunch of marbled fat. One side should have a THICK layer of fat (1/4"- 1/2"). This one pretty much had all the fat skinned off.

      Most important step: Make sure Tri-Tip is at ROOM TEMPERATURE before cooking. Let sit for 2-3 hours with rub.

     

     Next, season that thing, really season it! Dry rubs only. Mine is a sprinkle of Himalyan Pink Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Paprika, Parsley and a Steak Rub (I use Famous Dave's). Apply liberally onto both sides and rub into the meat.

     Get a skillet and heat some olive oil along with a tablespoon of bacon grease. When sizzling, put the meat in. Brown on both sides for 3 minutes.

     In a pre-heated 350 degree oven, move the skillet to the oven, tri-tip fat-side up. Cook for 23 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 125 degrees. This will produce a medium and medium-rare Tri-Tip. The small side will be cooked more than the thick part!

 

     Cover with tinfoil for 5 minutes after removing from oven.

     Slice with the grain and serve it and chow down on this yummy heaven food.

 

Directions:

 1. Take room temperature tri-tip and apply rub.
     Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Parsley and Steak Rub
2. Heat olive oil/1 Tbs. bacon grease in skillet on stove over med-high heat
3. Brown Tri-Tip on both sides (3 minutes each side)
4. Put in a pre-heated 350 degree oven, fat side up, for 23 minutes.
5. When meat thermometer reads 125 degrees, remove from oven and cover with tinfoil for 5 minutes.
6. Slice and ENJOY!

I am a fake Southerner

Greenville, South Carolina. Home.

     The highlighted red is the county I am from. I am convinced it is the best county in South Carolina and in any state. It is in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The people are warm, friendly and inviting. There is an abundance of fried foods, sweet tea and Baptist Churches. The people talk slow but that's just fine because I listen slow. You talk to any older person and they'll want to sit down with you and tell you their life story. High school football takes top priority during the season and people attend the games long after they've graduated. College football is the big thing. Clemson vs. Gamecocks. Right now I live in a divided house in that aspect ; )

     So the truth is.... I wasn't even born in the South. Neither was my dad and my mom barely was. My dad was born in Rock Springs, WY grew up in Alaska and moved to South Carolina to attend one of the biggest christian schools in the country, Bob Jones. My mom was born and raised in Virginia. My parents met at a college in Virginia they were both attending. Dropped out, got married and moved back to South Carolina.

     My dad did/does construction so they moved around a lot following work (similar to people in the oilfield). Had my brother Kurt in Greenville, SC. Moved to Texas where they had my brother Karl. Then they had me.... in New York. Yep, I'm technically a Yank. When I was 6 months old they moved back to Greenville though and had my younger siblings, Kelton and Kelly. They have been living on the same property for 22 years now.

     My Grandpa on my dad's side is from North Dakota along with his 15 other brothers and sisters. He grew up here. My Grandma is from South Dakota. They ended up traveling all around after they got married to follow the work. They have been living in South Carolina for a really long time though.

     Both my grandparents on my mom's side are from Virginia. Still live there now.

My ancestors. Haha

     So, you see. I have North Dakota blood. I am Norwegian. My ancestors did not fight in the Civil War and nobody in my family has a Confederate Flag flying from their porch. I am a regular North Dakota local. Sammy is born, raised in South Carolina as well as his family and ancestors.

     I wil always consider myself a Southerner though. I may not technically be one, I may not have any ties to Southern heritage but those are the people that I love and the people I want my children to be raised with. I want them to learn the Southern history and respect and love it like Sammy and I do.  Even though they are "North Dakotans" born and so far raised here.... they will grow up with Southern ways. 

Potash

Potash

     Potash is used for many different reasons but the main one being fertilizer. On August 13, 2010 a permit was issued to Dakota Salts LLC. They will be doing one test well in Lignite, North Dakota. They are actually bringing the rig up from Mexico because there is such a shortage on availabe rigs right now.This is the first well looking for potash in 30 years. The company is also using grant money to see if once the potash is removed, the mines can be used to hold compressed air from wind farms.

     The drilling process will be similar to what they do when drilling for oil in ND. They will drill horizontally into the potash formation, take waste oil-field water, the water will bring the potash to the surface where it will be removed. Then it will be put on a train and sent West.

     The studies done show that there is approximately $10 trillion recoverable potash resources just in North Dakota. Their plan is to have four potash processing plants in four different counties, Divide, Burke, Bottineu and Renville. There will be a pipeline carrying the potash to these plants. Each plant will need approximately 100 employees. Each plant will produce approximately 2 billion tons of potash.
     The hole left behind after getting the potash out of the ground will be about 150 feet tall by 300 feet wide and 2 miles long. They are wanting to connect these caverns to the wind generators to hold the excess compressed air produced. They are also thinking these caverns could hold natural gas.
     Interesting.

What I Do

My job.

     My job is pretty simple. Try to raise the kids into decent people that will have good work ethic and make sure Sammy has something to eat and wear every day. Oh, and not lose my mind in the process, which is something I struggle with by lunchtime every day.
    

    

Discovering oil

First discovery of oil in ND in 1951. Tioga, North Dakota

     Between 1924-1950 there were 23 attempts to find oil in North Dakota after a study showed that the Williston Basin was of a sedimentary nature.  In August 1950 they started to drill a well on a farm belonging to Clarence Iverson, south of Tioga. On January 4, 1951 they finally recovered a pint of oil. A snowstorm forced them to shut down and they didn't start drilling the well again until April 4, 1951. The day marks the beginning of an oil boom. In 45 days there were thirty million acres leased out to oil companies in North Dakota.

     My Grandpa actually worked during this oil boom on the rigs. Now here we are, 60 years later, part of another boom. I think it's pretty neat that when my kids tell people where they were born they will have a story to tell. They better appreciate it all or I'm going to wring their stinkin' necks. I love being part of the boom here. If the kids were a little bit older I'd love to get a job right in the middle of it.

     The majority of the people that are here for the boom are decent nice people, here for the same reasons we are. I've been reading comments on news pages and blogs about how horrible we are. How the raping, beatings, murders are what we are bringing in. I don't know if I've heard about a rape the entire time I've been here (and I read the news almost daily). Beatings.... yea, a few bar fights but that happened before the boom. As for murders, I can recall one in Minot, ND. A Texas man killed another Texas man. There have been other murders but not by people from the oilfield. I have never felt threatened or scared by the men here. I've never had anybody follow or stalk me or try to attack me. I don't think I know anybody who has felt that way. If you have, feel free to correct me.

*I know these posts are a little negative but I'm tired of faking being positive all the time.

     

The Truth.

     I understand why there is such a divide between locals vs. out-of-staters. I was little but I remember when Hispanics starting coming into South Carolina for good jobs. I remember hearing people say mean things and blaming the Hispanics for everything that happened. Now, I understand how the Hispanics felt.

      Tioga Fire Chief said "whoever gets in a vehicle in northwest North Dakota is risking their own lives with all the truck traffic and irresponsible out-of-state drivers." I know this is a small quote that may not seem that big. But when faced with people that think this way everyday.... it gets tiring. When we moved here I would smile at strangers, help people with their groceries, wave at people in the neighborhood and try new playgroups/places to try to make friends. After three years of every conversation starting with a dissapointed "oooohhhhh you must be here from the oilfield, you're not from around here", I'm tired of it. I'm tired of faking my smile just hoping that somebody will chat with me and give me a chance to be their friend. I used to go to playgroups where the other moms would just sit in circles and I would be the only person outside of their group. Sometimes, I would say "Hi, How are you?" but most of the time the women would just look at me. They wouldn't even respond. I didn't even know people could be that rude.....

     Do we look like we would go to playgroup to terrorize, infiltrate and ruin the lives of the local mom's??!



      Do we look like we are up to no good? No. We are here to provide for our two kids. We are here because there are no jobs/opportunities anywhere else. We moved away from all our friends/family and the only homes we both knew for our entire lives to better ourselves. Give us a little credit. How can you not have a little respect for people that drop their whole lives to start somewhere else? Why wouldn't you want to reach out to them and make them feel welcomed and comfortable. We are here to stay for now, being mean is not going to make us leave. It's just going to make you hate your neighbors for no reason other than us being from the South.

     The first real friends I had started from a group I found on facebook "Oilfield Wives Williston, ND". It was just starting up and was a group of women who have moved into the Williston area from other states. It was a great way to meet people who felt just like I did. Alone and with no friends, super bored.

     Not every local North Dakotan is how I described. I know one who is an awesome girl and a good friend who I enjoy hanging out with.

Boring introduction!

Rig at the 13 mile corner, North of Williston, ND

     This is why we are here. Living in a tiny old house in Ray, North Dakota. We moved here from upstate South Carolina in August 2008. We drove straight up (32 hours) three days after our wedding. There were no good jobs in South Carolina and we had heard that it was starting to pick up in North Dakota. Sammy had been doing construction for 10 years and had no work. In less than a week, he had a job as a worm on a Nabors drilling rig. He walked in and was hired on the spot with no experience. After a month he realized that there were other jobs that had more potential. That's when he got into Wireline. It slowed down and people started getting laid off. It was slow for about eight months and he got laid off in the seventh month but got a job within the month with another Wireline company. He ended up working his way up from Operator to Engineer and just in the past two months was hired as a Completions Consulant with Decca Consulting who contracts through Hess. I'm pretty proud of him! ;)