Nick Parsons Project

For those of you who follow us closely, or even those that occasionally stalk us on Facebook, you might have caught wind of the fact that for a couple of years Courtney and I have been eagerly awaiting a good opportunity to leave the state of California for a much slower and hopefully more fulfilling life somewhere else. For the last few years we’ve researched tons of places and always settled back on the fact that we would probably end up in Texas. As it turns out, we were a little off.  

Courtney and I both love the places that we work, and one of the hardest things to deal with when considering a move was going to be leaving our jobs. Court has really excelled in her position as a marketing manager for a local architecture firm, and my employment at the Outdoor Channel has allowed me to constructively channel my obsession of hunting while getting work done. We knew that we couldn’t move unless one of us had a great job lined up, preferably in the field’s we’ve come to love…which is, again, why Texas has always seemed to be a great option for us.

Well, a few weeks ago my Director came to me with an offer. A position had opened up out of state that he wanted me to consider. Before he even told me where it was he said, “It’s only 4 hours from Texas!” Turns out, its in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Now, the only time I’ve ever been through Oklahoma I’ve driven down the I-40, which takes you through endless grasslands with nothing but Oklahoma City to break up the monotony between borders. It’s a pretty state, for about 15 minutes. Then it gets old really quick. I was not very excited, but my Director told me to do some research and see what we thought. Upon looking into Tulsa I was VERY pleasantly surprised. It's not at all like the area of Oklahoma I was familiar with! It’s in the northern part of the state in what the locals call “Green Country.” It’s close to the Ozarks, filled with lakes for me to duck hunt and Courtney to water-ski. There’s green rolling hills, a big metro area (looks like an LA skyline) and some fantastic rural properties that will allow for a much slower pace of life while still being only 25 minutes from the big city. There’s 4 seasons, no smog, and a cost of living that will allow us to work to live, not live to work. I still wasn’t hooked on the idea, but I approached Courtney about it with a “say the word and we won’t even consider it” attitude. She was a little shell-shocked, but took it in stride and we began two weeks of heavy research, talks, prayer and weighing of pros and cons. At the end of the two weeks, we sat on the couch one night and said to each other “What feels right?” We both agreed…we were supposed to go. We gave each other carte blanche to call the whole thing off if anything in the process didn’t feel right, but everything started falling into place. My work was going to assist us with the move, give me a better position, and keep me as a coveted Outdoor Channel employee rather than change my employment status, and all of this they volunteered before I even told them that it was my criteria!

We first told Court’s family, which took it very well. We were able to tell her parents, grandparents and aunts/uncles all at the same time and we were blown away by the amount of support we got. Then we told my family, expecting a huge resistance, but instead got tearful support and affirmations that “this was the time to do it.” We were shocked at how supportive our families were, and it only gave us more assurance that we are making the right decision. We then told some of our closest friends, who were 100% supportive yet still, obviously sad. My next big hurtle was to tell our landlord and request out of our lease. Even he was willing to work with us. Lastly, Court's company was supportive as well, offering references and thanking her for all the work she's accomplished for them.

Every turn we’ve taken we’ve been met with great support, which is a huge sign to us that we’re on the right path. Obviously there are going to be some HUGE challenges. We have no family or friends in the area, we have no home church, we don’t even know what suburb to live in…the list goes on. We’re doing a lot of research, taking a few trips, and piecing our information together day by day. As we get closer to our move date (September 30^th) we’re getting more and more excited. We’re confident we can figure things out and make a great life for ourselves out there. It’s going to be COMPLETELY different than what we’re used to, but in a way, that is SO good. We’ve wanted a change, and boy is it comin'!

So that’s the update from Parsons-land. We’re going to be starting a blog as many of our friends who’ve moved have done, and updating it regularly for all of you to follow along with. We’re also going to be having a going away party that we will send out email and Facebook invitations to.

You’ve all been such a huge part of our lives over the last several years, and while we will be far away, rest assured we’ll be stalking you on Facebook, alerting you when we’re in town, and keeping in touch in any way we can. Thank you all for your friendships, please know that we care about you deeply and that leaving our family and friends is by far the hardest part of this. Can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Nick and Courtney Parsons

PS - Below are some pictures of Tulsa. Some I took, some from online. Hopefully you'll get a little glimpse into where we'll be!

                               

Click here to download:

gotta-get-movin-on-jAjmwzicfmeBwmgDfwpl.zip (3374 KB)

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05 Suffocating.mp3 (9874 KB)

Little bit of goodness from the new Blake Shelton album for ya......

-n

Our typical hunting property here in California is the Colorado River zone. No monster buck or big toms, but the upland and waterfowling is great. Th only problem is, because its a river, the water level rises and falls by some 5-15 feet every few hours. This is especially challenging when it comes to erecting a working duck blind. Most previous attempts have ended in them being washed away or not being able to get to them due to water level. This is especially humiliating when you work for the Outdoor Channel, where EVERYONE wants to know how your hunt went, and most are expecting pictures, frozen cuts or jerky. Problem solved. I give you our new portable duck blind. 1 Satuday, $120 in parts and 1 case of beer (or more?) later, she's done. Here's the process:

Started out with10ft. pieces of 1.25" PVC. Was gonna go for 1.5" or even 2" but we wanted it light and portable.

Measured and made the cuts.

ALOT of cuts

Martin and I laid the basic framework, making sure the dimensions would accomodate 2 chairs, a gun rack, a cooler, a heater, and a dog

After framing popped up, we quickly realized that our inital design needed some modifying. It wasn't stable enough

Cross-beam added and all heights set. Low enough to see the decoys in the water, but tall enough to not catch us or a muzzle when swinging with a fly-over

Even though most of the blind is covered in Max4 burlap and Realtree APG windblocker, we decided to paint the PVC just in case. Ducks can spot ANYTHING out of place, and the last thing we wanted to do was spook em before they can even hear our hail calls.

Finish painted product. Now to make a Bass Pro Shops trip to get the burlap. Should take 30 mins (read: 4-7 hours, it is the greatest store on earth)

Burlap dimensions are perfect. 95% visibilty from inside and 90% coverage from outside. Completely conceiled. Now the walls.

Windblocker added. This is the finished product. It's 4 feet deep, 6 feet long, 7 feet high, and wieghs in at just under 40 pounds.

Now to see if we achieved portability. Done. Fits into an old Quik Shade bag with wheels and sets up in under 15 mins.  Holes can be cut to modify it into a turkey blind, deer blind, or even snow geese blind. Similar DIY models online started at 300 bucks. Think we achieved perfection.

Can't wait to whack em this season! Been a wet year, so they should be pretty thick. We'll post pictures of opener in October.

Critics argue that Arizona's new immigration law unfairly singles out immigrants and makes them carry their immigrant ID with them at all times. They say that it will lead to racial profiling. Well, first off, that doesn't even make sense, since you can't profile "illegal." You can't be prejudiced against "illegal." Plain foolishness. Well, liberals are jumping on the bandwagon here (all the way to Pres. Obama) and claiming this bill is a gross representation of how the Federal government want's immigrants treated. Really? 'Cause the federal law seems pretty clear to me......

§ 1304. Forms for registration and fingerprinting
(e) Personal possession of registration or receipt card; penalties

Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

So either the liberals (and Pres. Obama) don't know the federal law, or they are too lazy to change it. I'm thinking it might be both. Either way, keep it up Arizona!

So, me being me, the city was getting to me and I needed some space to breathe, which is why we headed out (very last minute) to the river this weekend. Haven't been able to relax like that in a LONG time. No watches, no schedules, nothing.

Did some badly-needed yard work, which oddly enough, I find very relaxing:

Spent some quality time with a line in the water. Meet Roger the Bass. He tripped and fell on my hook:

Hung out with my amazing wifey:

Enjoyed some amazingly beautiful sunsets:

And caught up on some much needed reading. Yes, I did finish an entire Faulkner book in one weekend. Productive, in my mind:

It's funny. Most people that I know say that I "get away" alot. But, for me, I can't get away enough. The city tends to choke the life out of me. Can't wait til this is the norm. But for now, these little doeses of real-ness are very much what the doctor ordered.

-n