j.ro photography {sweetness + light} » inspired.by.life

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color” Maya Angelou

“Straws” by Tommy Rohlfing

© j.ro photography | muncie, indiana family and kids lifestyle photographer

First, look back to this post.

And this post.

It talks a little of our Thanksgiving travels. More than a month later, it turns out I can’t remember a whole lot more to ramble on about. However, I will say that I put together an Oklahoma book of photos for Mark and Lynne and his parents to remember their home state by. Which is why I couldn’t blog about it before Christmas because I’d be showing all the photos and spoiling the gift. Which is also why I’ve decided that I don’t need to blog every picture because when me or my kids read this years from now, they can just go over and pick up the Oklahoma book and see the historic photos in there. Okay, now run a long now and look at those photos in the book.

That (the book) was refreshing wasn’t it? (Though at the time of this writing, I haven’t actually seen a copy of the book, but I heard it’s fantastic!) Tommy and Louie, that is your daddy’s hometown, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, home of Phillips 66.

and home of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower.

He has a lot of great memories there. Like the time he jumped off Grandma and Grandpa Ro’s deck and broke both his ankles while sticking with the lie for a long time that it was an accident. I mean, sure it was accident that he broke his ankles. But he did not accidentally “fall” off the deck, that’s for sure.

Your Grandma Ro taught many wonderful years at Jane Phillips Elementary School

and your Grandpa Ro, the polymer physicist, has been a loyal employee to Phillips 66.

Your Aunt Lynne had her stint at the 66 Federal Credit Union.

And your daddy has stress-filled stories of working at Braums during softball season and being the only guy fulfilling orders from the back while he was flippin burgers and making shakes — extra thick!

And here I am. Telling a story of Bartlesville through pictures when I said I had nothing more to ramble on about. I guess I just can’t be helped. So now you can look at the Bartlesville book and read about it in the blog book. You just can’t escape ro.fam history!

And here comes some more.

We are now moving onto a couple Melmart Drive house details.

Your Aunt Lynne was a great art director as she helped me with some of the detail shots she wanted to capture and remember about her childhood home.

My personal favorite, and yours when you’ve been there to visit, is the laundry shoot. I always wanted one of these in my house when I was a kid!

Which leads to the awesome dryer which I already mentioned how much I love.

Here’s what Grandma Ro has to say about the history of the dryer:

Dear Jayne,

Tonight I decided to treat myself to a “catching up time” on the rofam blog. As always, you are a wonder and a pleasure to read and the photos—well what can I say—people and places I love are in them, so of course there is nothing better. The woman behind the camera is pretty darn special too! GO! Jayne! Nobody in his/her right mind would want that dryer for anything, except perhaps a photo session!!! You have to push it twice to get everything dry. We’ve tried new elements and they only last for awhile. Just FYI: that washer is 6 months older than Mark. It was our first “luxury purchase”! We bought the washer, which lasted about 20 years and the dryer together before he was born, just after we bought our first house. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We lived in the country (funny how things come full circle) and I loved not having to tote my laundry to the Laundromat in Lafayette every Saturday!

I’m totally content having the photo of the dryer and the story to go with it without the actual dryer sitting in my office. (I mean, I really would have loved that, but your daddy put the nix on it. Boys … they’re so unemotional to things of that nature!)

And the laundry room leads out to the garage where your daddy spent many great hours with your Grandpa Ro woodworking and creating and learning to refine the rough into the lovely.

I’ve been asked so many times how your daddy knows how to fix and create and make a mess of and rebuild and refine everything in our home. And the answer is Grandpa Ro. As you are learning from your own time with daddy in our garage, I have no doubt you’ll be great handymen as well!

Because see those beautiful shelves and cases in the corner there:

That’s the handywork of your Grandpa Ro. Good stuff.

So there you have a small recap of daddy’s childhood home.

Here’s just a few things to remember about the trip there and back.

First off, I love when we get to this sign because it means we’re almost there. But it also means we’re close to Braums in Nowata, which is where we’d usually stop for dinner. Plus, saying Nowata is a lot of fun.

After I took this photo I wanted to take some pictures of the cows that were all gazing at me intensely.

They were definitely wondering what I was up to, but as soon as I got any closer they hurried off. moooooooooooo (we do a lot of “mooing” on our trips out west).

This is also something we love about getting close to Bartlesville:

65 speed limit on a normal city road.

You will also see many o’ oil rigs:

And the rolling plains.

Are you singing the Oklahoma! song yet?

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain
And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain …

Alrighty, and two other things I want you to remember about what a road trip to Oklahoma looks like out your window. And both happen to be billboards.

You’ll see them everywhere. And you’ll joke about them. And you’ll love them.

And then you’ll see this:

And find you’re half way to home. East or West. Whichever direction the road leads.

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We’re only sayin’
You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.