Texas Top Ten

Things I've loved about being back in Texas:

1.  The Drawl:  manifesting itself in the numbers 3 (th-ree) and 6 (si-ix).

2.  The Friendliness:  manifesting at the McDonald's drive through with "Ya'll come back now!"

3.  Texas History Week:  Elliott's school spent an entire week studying Texas!  Yes folks, we start 'em young, teaching Texas pride!  He even reminded his parents of a fact we'd forgotten, that Tejas is a Native American word.  Everyday school children say the Texas Pledge, right after the Pledge of Allegiance. 

4.  The scenery:    Wildflowers and bluebonnets are starting to appear.  I love the big skies and seeing the horizon. 

5.  The climate:  I should clarify this and say I've enjoyed the "Winter" and Spring temps.  My kids are currently at a Splash Pad as I type this. 

6.  The signs: I'm sure you've seen the famous "Don't mess with Texas" anti-littering signs but at the salon this week I saw a sign hanging by the mirror that said, "The higher the hair, the closer to God."

7.  The eats: One of the best dinners known to man is at Babe's in Roanoke, TX. All they serve is fried chicken or chicken fried steak. The chicken fried steak is so good, I've never even tried the fried chicken in 12 years of eating there, but I hear it's just as good. They also serve family style sides of biscuits, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, and GRAVY that will make you consider licking the bowl, but you don't, because it's family style. 

8.  The public schools:  It was a rough adjustment for Elliott (and for me) because the school day here starts earlier, is longer, and there is only one 15 minute recess (as opposed to Utah's three 15 minute recesses!).  When he arrived, he was thrown right into a geometry unit where he was expected to know how many vertices were in a rectangle, or a pyramid.  And then they started fractions!  First grade people!  When I've said, "First grade is no joke here, " people have replied, "Oh kindergarten is no joke here.  First grade is what second grade used to be."   The expectations are higher here.  Nightly flash cards are not merely a suggestion here, they are a ritual. 

And I can say after teaching music in North Carolina and Utah, band in Texas is still leap years ahead.  When I point out a technical or musical issue that junior high kids are having, they can actually fix it because they have such a good foundation.  They are so well supported with high quality band directors and financially (with multiple band directors and/or funds to have experts like yours truly to run extra coachings) in their public music education that they could play circles around the other students I've had!  It really is so rewarding to teach music here.  The kids really get it, and usually reply to me with "Yes ma'am" to boot!

9.  The faith:    You can't hardly talk to people without hearing a faith based statement like, "It's all going to work out."  or "That was a God thing."  or "Things happen for a reason."  Last month, our street had a chili cook off and the neighbor who said the prayer to bless the food prayed, "We are so thankful that we live on a street of people who have faith in God and we appreciate the Savior's sacrifice on the cross for us."  It honestly brought tears to my eyes, to have a large number of different denominations represented and to feel such unity and love with all these neighbors I'd met only 5 minutes before, but had such a common ground with. 

10.  The people:  Anyone can tell you what makes Texas special is its people.  My in laws are fortunate to live on a street where everyone knows everyone and is friendly and at the end of the street is the cul de sac, a gathering place for moms to gab while their kids ride their bikes around and around the planter in the middle.  It's a place where the retired couple comes out of their house with their chiuaua to check the mail and Lily exclaims, "It's Schnitzel!" and rushes over to pet the tiny dog, making the couple feel a valued part of the cul de sac.  It's a place I head to when I need some more brown sugar because I've just run out.  It's a place where as I headed towards the trail head at the cul de sac on my 29th Birthday morning run, I was greeted and genuinely wished a Happy Birthday by moms and daughters and friends, in their bathrobes, sitting in their camp chairs, with a Bible on their lap.  It's a street where neighbors ask when my husband's next audition is so they can pray for him.  It's a street so close, it's been referred to as the cult de sac! 

We feel truly blessed to have this time back in the Lone Star State.  God Bless Texas!