• Home
  • About
  • Connect
  • Press/Media

The Pinke Post

  • Life in North Dakota
  • Recipes
  • Small Town Living
  • Women In Ag

Posted By Katie On May 7, 2011 10 Comments

Work Mom Travel to the Center of North America

Filed Under: Family Values, Life in North Dakota, Motivated Moms Tagged With: North Dakota, prairie, prairie life, rural life, working mom 10 Comments

I have a fantastic business career. It has energizes me. It fuels me. It connects me.
But on a Friday afternoon when I am sitting on the floor of an airport starring down at not one or two but three boarding passes to get me to the center of North America, work travel wipes me out. There is no glory in work mom travel, especially not to the center of North America.




(Thank you to my friend Liz at Two Maids a Milking who was traveling on the first flight leg with me for photographing me…from the floor of the airport.) 

Fast forward a few hours later, work mom travel on a Friday night brings reflection in a lonely hub airport. Why am I traveling to the center of North America?
Simply put, I live there and not because I have to or not because I had nowhere else to go.
Yes, my husband and I chose to live and raise our family in the center of North America on the North Dakota prairie. We could have lived in the suburbs of a major city and continued on his rat race of a successful corporate career. It had big bonuses. Big benefits. Big travel. The highest of business highs and the lowest of business lows. It seemed safe. It was comfortable.
But we recognized and decided together the best place for our family was on the prairie, in the center of North America, far from the corporate rat race.  We jumped off the corporate wheel. Thankfully, my employer agreed to take the jump with us, letting me keep me job and work from home on the prairie. It results in my work mom travel which I do as fast as I can and otherwise spend my days at home on the prairie.

It is tranquil. It is peaceful.

The other relatively unknown secrets about the center of North America on North Dakota prairie?
We have the lowest unemployment in the nation, a flush of money in our state budget…as in over $1 billion surplus of money with a booming energy, agriculture and manufacturing economy.
It is good for business and good for families.

My work mom travel trade off is that my husband gets to work alongside his dad in a family owned business on the prairie every day.
There is more control of our future and the ability to impact change than there would have ever been on the corporate wheel, no matter how high my husband would have climbed.

Another huge reward for living in the center of North America on the prairie is the safe and unique environment it is to raise our kids.
The community cares.
Last Thursday night our son fell hard while running the hurdles at a track meet in a nearby town. There were scrapes, bruises and blood. The next day I had seven people ask me between the gas station and the grocery store how he was doing. His ego was squashed. His confidence shaken but our son was just fine. The community cared enough to ask. It would not be that way at a gas station or a grocery store in the suburbs or in the city because the patrons wouldn’t know our son. They would not have known about the track meet.
It keeps me grounded and loving the prairie when I see how much the people of the prairie care for community, for our family and for our business.

Despite my work mom travel, puddle jumping flights on a Friday night, trekking 100 miles across prairie highway and country roads, there is no place I would rather be heading than to the center of North America to the North Dakota prairie. Late tonight, my husband will be waiting up for me to arrive safely home. I will sneak into my kids’ rooms and give them tight hugs while they are fast asleep. They’ll awake me early with endless energy and I will feel work mom peace on the prairie.

Where do you head to find tranquility and peace?

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Print
Previous Post: « Why Jump the Corporate Wheel
Next Post: Video of Mother’s Day Piano Recital »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lana says

    May 7, 2011 at 1:22 am

    I would love to be sitting atop a mountain overlooking Crested Butte, CO, but since that isn’t going to happen, I love being out here in the sun room. The girls keep drifting in as it gets closer to bedtime. Love the country for the same reasons as you, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, even if I do long for Chinese take-out every now and then! 😉

    Reply
  2. Lana says

    May 7, 2011 at 1:22 am

    I would love to be sitting atop a mountain overlooking Crested Butte, CO, but since that isn’t going to happen, I love being out here in the sun room. The girls keep drifting in as it gets closer to bedtime. Love the country for the same reasons as you, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, even if I do long for Chinese take-out every now and then! 😉

    Reply
  3. Sarah says

    May 7, 2011 at 1:57 am

    Great post. Love small town hospitality. I prefer being home for peace and tranquility. Probably with an alcoholic beverage and my laptop, movie, or book.

    Reply
  4. Sarah says

    May 7, 2011 at 1:57 am

    Great post. Love small town hospitality. I prefer being home for peace and tranquility. Probably with an alcoholic beverage and my laptop, movie, or book.

    Reply
  5. Aimee @ everydayepistle.com says

    May 7, 2011 at 3:19 am

    Katie, I’m sharing this with Jeff tomorrow as he’s already in bed tonight (where I should be too, but I’m online instead). Your love of place and work and family show through in your post and in your full and energizing life. God bless your employer for cooperating. God bless you for having the courage to pursue these loves…

    Reply
  6. Aimee @ everydayepistle.com says

    May 7, 2011 at 3:19 am

    Katie, I’m sharing this with Jeff tomorrow as he’s already in bed tonight (where I should be too, but I’m online instead). Your love of place and work and family show through in your post and in your full and energizing life. God bless your employer for cooperating. God bless you for having the courage to pursue these loves…

    Reply
  7. texwisgirl says

    May 7, 2011 at 3:51 am

    that’s really sweet. enjoy your weekend with your kids and hubby. and happy, happy mother’s day…

    Reply
  8. Lisa @ Two Bears Farm says

    May 7, 2011 at 11:49 am

    That’s great that you are able to balance both so well and live where you want!

    Reply
  9. ~Kim at Golden Pines~ says

    May 7, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    I’m like you, living in the city was who I thought I was, until I moved to the country. Where I live I’ve found that same peace in myself and a new love for the life that surrounds me. I love waving at my neighbors when they go past on a tractor, and buying their produce at the farm stands. It all gives me the energy to return each day to that ‘rate race!’

    Enjoy your weekend!!

    Reply
  10. My two acres says

    May 9, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    My favorite place growing up on the farm was a big rock nestled in a clump of trees in the pasture overlooking the coulee on my mom and dad’s farm. What an awesome place. I figured out a lot on that rock. I love our home and our yard and puttering in our flower and vegetable gardens, but that rock will always be my favorite place in the world.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to the Prairie…

I am a mom of three kids and a wife to Nathan. Together we live on the North Dakota prairie, 97 miles from a Starbuck's. I share about family, food, farming and the prairie that I love. I used to commute 98 miles one-way to work but it required too much coffee. So now I am home, consulting, speaking, writing and primarily, juggling family life.
See more of our life on the prairie... Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

Stay in Touch…

Get the news from the prairie delivered directly to your inbox when it's hot off the press!

from my kitchen. . .

My Challenges Of Learning To Pickle

How to catch, clean & grill fresh fish

Hunk of Meat Monday: Traditional Meatballs Recipe

farm life

Favorite Farm Girls

  • Beyer Beware
  • GOODEness Gracious
  • The Wife of a Dairyman
  • Fresh from the Farm

Griggs Dakota

Visit our 5th generation family farm...

Latest Recipes

How To Make Snowman Sundaes

Real Farmwives & Friends: My Favorite Christmas Entertaining Recipes

Rhubarb Sauce Recipe

More Posts from this Category

Life on the Prairie…

More Posts from this Category

Women in Agriculture

Ladies Night on a North Dakota farm

Sarah Nasello’s Party on the Prairie Giveaway

Debbie Lyons-Blythe of Kids, Cows and Grass & The Need For Organ Donors

More Posts from this Category

Footer

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2025 ·Captivating Theme ·Custom Designed by Design Chicky· Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.