What's Cookin' in Texas.

Well Ladies and Gents, things are certainly stepping up around here.


Andrew signed on with a new company yesterday. This company is in the same field Andrew works in and the new office is about 20 minutes north of here. I think I'm pleased with this. It's hard when you have family and friends in the mix and are still missing "home," but isn't home for me really supposed to be the people under this roof, anyway? It would be unfair to say that I can't live anywhere but Maryland, because what I really need in my life is Andrew and our girls. We do miss our family and friends, but they're visitable. This is the point where many people who are reading right now will say to themselves, "We should go visit them!" and I know that their intentions are good. But the fact remains that a mere 1% of the people who say they'll visit will actually show up at our door. When we lived in Western MD, we did the visiting, for the most part. Now that we're in Texas, we'll do roughly 99% of the visiting. That's just the way it goes. That's what makes a relocation hard. Once you're out of the circle of regulars, you really are knocked waaaayyy down the list of "must-do's." I could give you a list of, say, 8 people will are likely to see here in Texas. And I know a lot of people. (Do you know that I had 4 out of town family members at my WEDDING? It's true. Four. I mean, the Davis girls were there. So I had 7. Does anyone really need a whole lot more than a bottle of champagne and the Davis girls?)

My point is, when you move far away, you really do need to MAKE your own life. We're doing a decent job of that, so far. I'm involved with my mom's group at Church and really loving it, Andrew is having a blast with his bike and can't wait to get out to fish. We have Jenny and Paul, who are the world's best neighbors and and most wonderful friends. They were truly a gift from God, living right next door with a cute little girl, always at the ready. I think that that is how you know that things will be okay. Even if it takes awhile to really get settled and figure out your place, God sends you some sign that anywhere can be home with the right attitude.

And Texas? Texas is so...us. We talked at length about moving back to the Midatlantic area. A few nights ago I said, "Well, at least if we move back, we will have had a nice 6 month vacation, right?" And Andrew replied, "Why would you move if where you're living feels like vacation?"

Texas is big, open, breezy, warm, friendly, silly and loyal. It's sort of like a big, huge friend. The people here are just so kind and ready to chat. It's hot and dusty and has fire ants, but no friend is perfect 100% of the time, right? When we landed at DFW after our trip to Port Angeles, we were driving home and I said, "Wow, I feel like I can stretch and spread out again!" The skies here are the bluest I've ever seen and they just go on for miles.
And we can afford Texas. As a one-income family, I'm learning that you have to make sacrifices. It turns out that those sacrifices right now are not financial so much as environmental. We just can't afford the Midatlantic area. Andrew's salary is fine, but we'd really have to pinch pennies and live in a smaller house. For us, Texas holds amazing possibilities where homemaking is concerned. For $200k, we can buy this, or this, or this. We're looking forward to having well over 2k square feet, a little bit of land and a lot of room to play, should we decide to buy next year. It's so important to us that our home be a comfortable, happy retreat. That means a big backyard, lots of room to run indoors and out and a sense of privacy. Texas has that, and we're really looking forward to it. It's easier to be a stay-at-home-mom when you love your home.

The girls really don't know what's going on. They're just happy having food, a family bed and Addy next door. The rest of it is a blur to them! I'm glad we won't be moving again so soon. Lucy and Molly really need a sense of continuity for awhile. We're still working on completing our home furnishings and have lots of little plans for the next few months. Simple things, like redecorating their bedroom and turning it into a purple paradise for Lucy. We anticipate moving them into a shared room at Christmas, so we're slowly working on turning their bedroom into a little girl's dream room. We need to find a very large entertainment center. I need to get off my duff and buy a few more end tables. Or bookshelves. Something. I also need to get a sewing table. I think the family is getting tired of my kitchen counter sewing. So, we have things to keep us busy as we settle in to a more permanent Texan life.

Well, there's a little update for you. I'm going to head to the couch and snuggle up for a 20 minute catnap with my sweet redhead. Perfection!