O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Oklahoma! OK!

For the first time since my mission ended in December '04, I boarded an airplane and flew somewhere. Also for the first time since then, I left the Mountain Time Zone. It was a big week. Thanks to the generosity of my brothers, I was able to pull it all off for less than $250.

So, I was supposed to fly out Tuesday at 6:35 am, but they have this thing called freezing rain in Oklahoma that happens once every winter, and it happened on Tuesday. So, my brother and I woke up early to head to the airport, saw one flight was canceled, got scheduled for another one, and woke up a few hours later. Safely at the airport and through security, I wait only to have this flight canceled, and then another when all flights to OK were canceled for the day. I took my ticket for Wednesday at 6:35, and Judy came and got me, which was fun to spend the day with my family off of work.

Wednesday arrived and we just got me to the airport barely in time to board and I was off. I remembered that last time I flew I thought I should get some Dramamine, but by that time it was too late and the peppermint gum and ginger-ale proved ineffective, so my hopes and dreams of trying to be a missionary on the flight faded away to quiet nausea.

On the ground, the first thing I noticed was the great parking place my plane got as I was outside the airport in less than a minute from deplaning. Then I realized the airport was a whole lot smaller than Salt Lake's. The next thing that caught my eye was the John Deer tractor so diligently working to plow the ice from the roads and parking lots...a JOHN DEER as a snow plow at the airport, I knew I should have worn my Stetson! When my brother got there to pick me up, I noticed how flat it was, but the implications of this flatness would not be realized until I tried to get around on my own.

So, all of the University of Oklahoma was still closed due to the storm, so Wednesday afternoon I took advantage of my brother's connections with some current law students who had gone to BYU for their undergrads too. They were great. Dropped whatever they were doing on their unexpected free day to meet me at Borders and give me the inside scoop about Sooner law. They had lots of good things to say about the school, and not many bad things. The resounding message was that of an accessible faculty and administration that sincerely cared for each student in the school and would stop at nothing to help them succeed.

The next day, my visit to the school proved their point as I met with at least three deans who all took as much time as I wanted to talk to me and answer questions. One even did so unexpectedly during the middle of a meeting. Now, this could raise the concern about them not having anything better to do, but it did not seem so to me. The facilities were all very nice. There was a good mixture of modern style and technology with their rich heritage (Should I go, I will be in their centennial class).

Rent prices in Norman seem to be comparable to Provo, but what we're thinking is the price of housing. We could be in a $100000, 3 bedroom home for less than $600 a month, which we could then stay in, sell, or rent at the end of law school. Awesome!

All in all, OU put up a tough fight for me against other schools that may accept me (I still haven't heard back from any others that are on my first choice list). Even mighty Duke is in danger, should they choose to accept the humble author of this post and not put up a good showing on a visit there.

Now you know why I don't post very often. I'm a novelist that doesn't like writting. I can't do anything short because that just wouldn't do, and I hate writting long things. Anywho, now I ramble.