I Live in Texas

Shocking, I know!

(P.S. if this is new information to you...then we clearly haven't talked in a while.  lol)

I have been a resident of the great state of Texas for over four years now.  I like it, but I sort of feel like it's just like any other place.  I am sure there are Texans dying in streets as I type that "Texas is just like any other place."  They would probably argue that there is no better place in the world.  Yes, "the world."    But really Texans aren't that dramatic most of the time, and neither is the Lone Star state itself.

Most of the time I just live in a city much like any other city of 100,000 people.  There are restaurants and movie theaters and a library.  Outside of the smorgasbord of businesses, apartment buildings, and neighborhoods, the landscape is nothing special.  Not particularly hilly, or flat for that matter.  Neither overly green or solely brown.  It just is what it is.  A city.  And only once every few weeks or months do I see a person dressed up in a full getup of cowboy boots, jeans, plaid shirt, and cowboy hat.  I think only once since I have lived here did I have a conversation with anyone (who was dead serious I might add) about Texas succeeding from the rest of the country.  I also don't see all that many trucks with gun racks and a gun hanging there as they tool through town.  When I talk to people, they talk much like I do.  I hardly detect an accent, and when I do, I notice that most other people notice it too because it is out of the ordinary.

And maybe that is because I live in a city and not in the country.

And then eeeeeeeeevery now and then I get reminded that I do in fact live in Texas.  The gun-shooting, Jesus-loving, truck-driving, Levi-wearing, Republican-voting state of Texas.

It was announced the other day in church that there would be a "gun shooting" activity in our ward.  We were told "bring your guns 'cause we're goin' shootin'."  It was just for target practice out on someone's property.  It was the first time it occurred to me that I might be in the minority when it comes to gun ownership in my ward.

Then there was the time I went to church with someone (non-LDS) and everyone wore Levi's to church.  Not jeans, but Levi's.  Now that doesn't mean that everyone wore Levi brand jeans, it just means they had on denim.  And denim to these particular people is ALWAYS called "Levi's."

There is also the fact that it is November 11th and I used the air conditioning in my car today.  Yep, sure did.

Or there are the moments when I am stopped at a light behind a truck and it says "Texas Edition" under the model name.  What does that even mean?  I mean, what about Texas means that this truck needs to be different?  I have yet to understand this one.

Also, if there is a flag pole with an American flag anywhere, you can bet your life there will be a Texas flag flying right next to it.  I have yet to see an exception to this.  True story.

Anyways.  I live in Texas and as it turns out, it is just like any other place.  :)