Williston, ND Inspired Christmas Carols

Christmas carols inspired by Williston, ND.

Do You Hear What I Hear

Said the night wind to the 5th Wheel Trailer,
Do you feel what I feel,
Temps close to -30 degrees Fahrenheit, 
Do you feel what I feel,
A breeze, more like a wind, chilling you in the night,
That will force you to buy booties for your dog,
That will force you to buy booties for your dog.  

Said the tumble weed to those left in Williston,
Do you hear what I hear,
A whole lot of nothing because everyone else in town went home, 
Do you hear what I hear,
A song, a song, blaring from my stereo,
It's too quiet because everyone else has left, 
It's too quiet because everyone else has left. 

Santa Baby 

Santa baby, just slip some ear muffs under the tree for me; 
It's a super tiny tree, Santa baby,

It's camper sized and blinks when it's plugged in.

Santa baby, a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon will do, Chris wants one too,

My Volvo is tiny compared to these trucks, Santa baby,

Maybe then I'll make it down these gravel roads.

Had to climb through my trunk this morning...

Had to crawl in through my trunk this morning.  Just sayin', it's a good thing I drive a hatchback.  

Thanks to the wonderful Williston wind, all of my doors were frozen shut.  Thankfully, after I shoveled the ginormous amount of snow off the back of my car, I was able to lift the hatchback and squirm my way in.  Note:  At this point in time, we do not own a snow shovel.  

I also had my dog with me.  It was a bonding moment actually.  The two of us, climbing through the length of the car, together.  

Her jumping back and forth over the seats with carefree ease, me awkwardly contorting my limbs in order to fit between the top of the head rests and the roof of the car.  It was beautiful.  

Truely.  

How to move to Williston: Part 2: Housing

Housing in Williston, ND          

Like I mentioned in How to Move to Williston: Part 1, don't come out here assuming you'll be gifted a place to live.  So many of the complaints I heard about coming out here is that they ended up living in their car for who knows how long before they finally either left or found really expensive housing.  

(I told myself to make this less snarky, but it may be hard.)

First of all, who moves and doesn't secure a place to live first??? There are 50,000 people in a town that was previously build for 12,000.  Do you really think housing grows on trees, especially here?  If you do, I apologize for not holding in the snarky, but you're wrong.  Ok, snarkyness over, promise.  

I'll give you a little sneak peak into the housing options here, including; 

• Campers and RV's
• Apartments
• Brick and Mortar Houses
• Mobile Homes
• and Resources for each

Thank you Tractor Guy!

Our gravel road was regraded yesterday (regraded?)  and let me tell you, am-a-zing.  We just went from having to treat our drive into town like an obstacle course, to being able to drive in a straight line.  

I want to let tractor guy know how much I appreciate what he's done for the broken spring in my car, and for my dog who gets thrown around like a rag doll.

You have truly made my life better. 

How to move to Williston: Part 1: First of all...

Boomtown sign in the middle of Williston, ND.  

It isn't hard to move to this boomtown.  However, don't just drive out here expecting to get a job your first day and that that job with somehow miraculously result in you having a place to live.  Don't be dumb.

Unless you're moving in with someone who can financially support you for a week or two (because you'll probably have a job by then), than you need to plan ahead and save up.  

Also, if you are considering coming out here, be weary of the many, many YouTube videos out there trying to scare you away.  Most of them were recorded a few years ago and are hardly relevant anymore.  The videos say things to make you think that this place is absolutely horrible, that there are no decent places to eat, that fast food takes an hour, that traffic is awful even at 10:00 at night, that there are no women, and the women that are here get harassed horribly, and so on.  I watched the videos, I know.  

Let's address each rumor, shall we?

The Adventure Begins

Day 4 in Williston. 

          We're alive and well! And Williston is actually a pretty cute little town.  (Click here to check out the city web page.)  It's decently small, about 18,000 people, which is small compared to what we're used to.  So far we've stocked our trailer and unpacked (not exactly organized, but unpacked).  

          Chris started work and loves it so far, and I think I'll try to find a job Monday.  

         Interesting experience... Our first day here, we had a knock on our door with a freelance photographer (with companion) asking if there was a woman living here.  Apparently our two hatchbacks, one with NPR stickers, made her think that there was maybe a woman here.  She was right.  She was doing a freelance project called "Women of Williston" or something and asked if I would answer a few questions about living in Williston.  I laughed and explained that it was literally my first day in Williston and that we had just gotten in the night before.  She ended up getting our story; about why we came out there and what we thought about it all since we seemed to be liberal minded.  She took some photos of me in front of unpacked boxes, and some with me, Chris, and Bella (the pooch).  She took my name and email address.  I guess we'll see what happens with it.