<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2011/03/tulsa-boomeranger-by-fiddlepit-lauren-mckinney/lauren_brain/" rel="attachment wp-att-7239"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/lauren_brain-500x389.png" alt="Lauren&#039;s Brain Fiddlepit" title="Lauren&#039;s Brain Fiddlepit" width="500" height="389" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-7239" /></a>

<em>Today a guest blogger is camping out here with us at TDT - meet <a href="http://fiddlepit.wordpress.com/">Lauren McKinney, the blogger behind the hilarious Fiddlepit</a>. She moved back to Tulsa from Texas not long ago, and I thought it'd be fun to ask her to write about it. Turns out, I was right. See below.</em>

Recently, I was able to add a new accomplishment to my list: Tulsa Boomeranger. And I put it right between Middle School Graduate and World’s 2nd Fastest In-Car Burrito Eater on my resume. 

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A Tulsa Boomeranger is pretty much exactly what you think it is - someone who lived in Tulsa, moved someplace else and then returned to T-Town.

After growing up in Tulsa and going to college in the Oklahoma City area, I felt ready for a change of scenery. I was 22 and engaged. Eric, my husband-to-be, had just been offered a job in Dallas. Nervous and excited, we decided to make the move to the Lone Star state. After our wedding and moving in to our first apartment, we enjoyed exploring all that Big D had to offer.

Of course, we came back to Oklahoma a few times each year for graduations, weddings, and the holidays. I loved coming back to Tulsa, and those weekend trips made me realize that I truly missed it. After moving away, I really started to appreciate the natural beauty and unique spirit of my hometown.

I had Tulsa on my mind.

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2011/03/tulsa-boomeranger-by-fiddlepit-lauren-mckinney/lauren_brain/" rel="attachment wp-att-7239"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/lauren_brain-500x389.png" alt="Lauren&#039;s Brain Fiddlepit" title="Lauren&#039;s Brain Fiddlepit" width="500" height="389" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-7239" /></a>

Being an extremely sentimental person, I’m sure my love for Tulsa had everything to do with it, being the hilly backdrop for my very own nostalgic Wonder Years-esque coming of age experience. I know I’m absolutely biased. 

For my husband, the pragmatic, number-crunching type, returning to Tulsa made sense for entirely different reasons: Favorable economic climate, proximity to family members, and affordable home prices.

So, after nearly four years in Texas (most of which were spent sitting in traffic), the shine had worn off a bit. Together, Eric and I decided we were ready to come home. After all, the things we did in Dallas (going to the museum, eating tacos, painting pictures of tacos, begging museums to display said paintings of tacos) were all things we could do just as well in Tulsa. 

I landed a new job. We packed our stuff. We moved eight weeks ago.

Since our return, we’ve had a fantastic time getting reacquainted with Tulsa. We’ve noticed that the city truly has changed (and is still changing) for the better. It’s exciting to see neighborhoods being revitalized and local businesses blossoming. New life is being breathed into the place that we already loved so much. 

However, as much as I love the new things to do, my favorite thing about moving back has been the people. Everyone is so durn polite! I’ve heard more please's and thank you's than I'm used to, and I don’t see agitated drivers giving each other the finger every 90 seconds like I did in Dallas. There is a genuine kindness that you can sense within most Tulsans, along with good-natured Oklahoma wit and a pride that comes sans arrogance.

We couldn’t be happier here. We’re home.

Yesterday, I got an email from my Dallas pal Catherine. She caught me up on what’s new in her world, and she closed her message with this: "Take care, and come back when you get tired of the low cost of living and all those friendly people.”

Don’t hold your breath, Cath. The grass really is greener in Green Country.