From Tiny City Lot to 27 Prairie Acres...

I've had a few people ask me how I ended up moving from Ohio to Kansas. The simple story: I met my wonderful husband and we were married a year later. He certainly wasn't moving to Ohio, sooooo I moved to Kansas.

You just know there's a bigger story behind all that, don't you?

I will attempt to summarize this story ... how a city girl with dreams of country living managed to finally find the right guy, who just happened to be living in the country, and so fulfilled two of the city girl's dreams ... the right guy, in the right country place.


Tom and I met on the big ole internet in February 2007. Yep, you got it. On the internet. We are one of those online dating sensations, a real success story.

But I will tell you straight up, there are plenty of nightmares out there in the internet dating world. I'm not going to go into my personal online nightmares (yes, I met more than a few world-class a-holes), but I will say that I had almost given up trying to meet a nice guy via online dating sites.

ALMOST.

Isn't it a good thing I listened to my mother, and checked out an online dating site that catered to the horsey loving folk.

Mom likes to watch Oprah from time to time, and she just happened to watch a segment that was showcasing women entrepreneurs. One of these women had started this dating site for people who loved horses, EquestrianSingles, and since we had a horse when I was a teen, and mom knew I still loved horses and longed to live in the country, she thought maybe, just maybe, it might be worth my time to check this website out.

I didn't even look at the website for a few weeks after mom told me; then finally, one boring snowy Saturday, I looked at some of the profiles that were posted, men and women alike. Researched it, assessed it.

The people on this website (for the most part) appeared more real, more genuine, more down-to-earth. I decided to give it a try. What the heck? It was pretty cheap, so what could it hurt?

For the first two weeks, I received emails from a few interested chaps, but nothing really clicked. Then, an email from Tom on February 11. So, you're wondering... what was his line to me?

Good morning,
I liked your profile and pics. Why does Ohio have to be so far away?
Tom :)

We emailed back and forth for two weeks. It was obvious we were getting along famously, at least via email. So the next test would be a phone conversation.

After two weeks, I decided it was "safe" to give him my phone number. He called me on Sunday morning, while he was driving to a team roping event. We chatted on and on and on and on... until he was at his destination. Then he called me later when he was on his way home. It was obvious that we had nooooo problem talking on the phone. Actually, we seemed to have difficulty shutting our traps and hanging up!

And so it went, for about 6 weeks. Constant emails and phone calls.

Then, finally, at the end of March, he flew to Ohio to meet me. We were both slightly nervous, excited yes, but nervous all the same. Little did we know we had nothing to fear. We hit it off famously when we met face to face and we had the funnest, most wonderful weekend.

From that point on, one of us would fly to spend a few days together; we tried to meet every 4-6 weeks. Needless to say, it started to get expensive, and getting the time off work became difficult as we used up vacation days!

It didn't take us long to realize we really worked well together, we loved each other, and we needed to be together every day, not just once a month or so.

And so in early 2008, I put my lil house in Ohio up for sale .... I flew to Kansas mid-March to marry my sweetie...... and I finally sold my house in late June! We moved my furniture to Kansas on July 4/5, 2008 and I officially became .... Oz Girl!

I'm the luckiest gal in the world. 

I was able to leave a job that was literally sucking my soul from me; it was the most draining, negative and corrosive environment that I've ever known.

Not only was I able to leave that horrible job and stress behind, but I was now able to live in the most beautiful, calm, relaxing and quiet prairie land smack-dab in the middle of the United States. Where, instead of hearing the traffic sounds, I hear nature sounds. Everyday.

The chirp of so many different birds, the chorus of the frogs, the call of the pheasant, the yip of the coyote... our dogs barking and cats meowing, and the horses whinnying.

The whisper of the wind through the trees and the rustle of the prairie grass.

The hum of the tractors as they plow their wheatfields... ok, so that's not nature's sound, but it's still a pleasing sound.

Along with nature's rhapsody, night time brings a visual feast... the bright fireglow of wheat field and pasture burnings, and the clear constellations of stars and a full moon that mesmerizes, without the distraction of glaring city lights.

We both realize that we are living the dream ....  an authentic county life on 27 acres in the middle of vast prairie land.

No neighbors peeking in our windows.

No solicitors knocking on our doors.

We don't hear the sound of cars revving their engines

late at night, or early in the morning. 

And we don't take any of this for granted.

We are thankful every single day for this

little slice of paradise that we call home.

I hope to grow and learn and create a more authentic country version of myself as my time here grows into years.  Plant a small vegetable garden and flowers around our house... learn to ride again; it's been over 30 years since I've ridden horses on a daily basis... have a small flock of chickens and guineas.

But sometimes I hedge against getting more animals, as it translates into more responsibility!

I'll keep everyone "in the news" as we do our country thang.

And if you have a dream to live in the country, then make it happen! Forget all the reasons you "can't"....

If you dream it, then dare to do it!