Joy In: Texas

I have found myself in a few situations lately in which I have felt the need to explain why people from Texas....are so proud to be from Texas. Living in Virginia and doing this whole Marine wife thing has given me the opportunity to meet people who come from all over the country, and I'm loving it. While no one has just come out and asked, "Why are you people the way that you are?", I do understand why it might take some explanation. I could ramble on ad nauseum about all the things that make Texas great, but I've decided to narrow it down to a top ten list (and this is just my personal list...feel free to comment and add on!).

In the words of my brilliant oldest sister, Jennifer, when asked why she lives in Georgia, but keeps her Texas address, "we keep it so that if/when Texas secedes from the Union, they'll let us back in before they close the gate." So, without further ado,

10. The Music. This would actually rate much higher up on my list of things I love about Texas, but I wanted to go ahead and provide the context for the music that you are hopefully hearing as you read this (hours. I spent hours trying to get this to work). There are several songs I would have added to this play list, but could not because they weren't in the database of the program I was using (read: Robert Earl Keen x 10). This is the music I listen to on the highest volume my ears will allow while I am cooking dinner, cleaning my house, what have you. The sound of Texas country music is unique--I love the fact that it's not necessary to have an incredible voice to be a fantastic and appreciated songwriter in this particular genre of music (again Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker, you get the idea...). This music is what puts a smile on my face on the days I miss home the most. (Note...one song I really wanted but they didn't have was The Mountains of Nuevo Leon by Paul Eason. Look it up, you won't be sorry.)

9. Fort Worth. This is where I was born and raised, and it truly is a great place to grow up. Someone told me once that, "Fort Worth is just a small town masquerading as a big city;" I think that's a perfect description. It is home to over half a million people, but socially, you still get some of the intimacy and coziness of the smaller towns. It presents a fascinating mix of culture with the Stock Yards, the museums, downtown, etc. I mean, they do a cattle drive every afternoon at 4:00; where else can you get that?

 

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8.The Size. It's a big state where we have big hair and it's perfectly acceptable...which is good when your hair is like mine and can expand up to five times its normal volume when humidity strikes. You could fit the state of Rhode Island into Texas over 250 times. El Paso is the half-way point between Dallas and Los Angeles. And you still have three states left in your trip after that. 

7. The Culture. I mentioned the culture of Fort Worth earlier, but I would like to discuss the culture of the whole state. We had a discussion in a class I took in college re: whether or not Texas is more of a southern state or more of a western state. My professor eventually offered the point that it's partly both. The half of Texas east of I-35 is more southern, the half west of I-35 is more western. Which makes total sense because Fort Worth is "Where the West begins..." (That really is the motto...I wouldn't make that up.) This little factoid about our state is one of my favorites because I, personally, identify heavily with both cultures...and we all know Jill loves a place where she doesn't have to choose...

6. The Food. I come from a place where they do not, in fact, use nacho cheese as the filling for cheese enchiladas. And it's heaven. I think my cholesterol must start having anxiety attacks when I head home because I have a bad habit of taking on the "binge on good Mexican food while I can" mentality. We have a love/hate relationship, my cholesterol and I.

5. Football. You know the book/movie Friday Night Lights? That was about the high school my mom graduated from in Odessa. Some might call it an unhealthy obsession, our love for football...we just call it being passionate. Watching the Aggies play football is one of my truly joyful moments...even when we don't quite "show up" to play. I'm realistically passionate, ok?

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4. The People. I'm not in complete denial and think that everyone you meet in Texas is going to be the nicest person you'll ever meet. In your whole life. Just like anywhere else, there are very nice people and very not nice people. I just think the nice people are an extra special kind of nice and hospitable. I may be biased, though.

3. The Geography. You want to live in a hilly place? We have hilly. You like lots of trees? We can do lots of trees. Big cities? We've got them. Tiny Towns? Those too. Wide open spaces? We have them too. You can live on the coast, you can live where it snows...we have most of it taken care of, minus the mountains, I guess, but we're right next door to them!

2. A&M. I promise I'll be brief. This place, just as the place where anyone went to college, holds happy memory after happy memory for me. I followed my dad, two sisters, and two brothers-in-law there and managed to pull a husband out of it too. I love College Station and A&M; I love the atmosphere, the people, the traditions, the values. I'm in withdrawals from this place and I can't wait to go visit.

1. Mom and Dad. Family is what makes a place home for anyone, I think, but this truly is my favorite thing about Texas. I have one sister still there and another who will make it back before me, but my parents and our house in Fort Worth are the main part of why I love where I'm from so much. My parents did such a great job of making it not just a place to live, but a place where we know we can find comfort, love, laughter, and support.

Again, this is just my personal list of things I miss about Texas. I'm leaning that it's not so much the place, but the people and the memories that make it home, and I'm working on creating that kind of place wherever we are, but there are some things about Texas that make all the other things perfect. Now that I have made myself sufficiently homesick, I'm going to sit on my couch and read the cookbooks that showed up on my porch this morning! (Thanks, Mom!)

Happy Thursday!