Day, 50 (or something like that) Texas in Review

For this blog post I would like to discuss all of the things we have learned from our time in Texas. Its been an interesting couple of months, with some lows and highs, but overall Madelyn and I have had a great adventure. Here are some things we have learned:

Madelyn and I have realized that we look dang good in burnt orange

We have learned when jogging around town lake its better to reserve some of your energy so that you can sprint past the foul smelling bat colony

If you are going to start an adult type buisness, its important to include XXX somewhere in your title. Club Exxxtasy (in Oklahoma) and the Adult Video MegapleXXX (Outskirts of Austin)

If you are planning on moving to Texas get ready to become familiar with H.E.B.

We have come to the realization that none of the streets in Austin make any sense, 2222? 2244? Maybe its a way for the native Austin population to identify the tourists.

When you have a neon sign made that reads "The best Mexican Food in the World", you better be able to back up that claim. Especially when you are naming the resturaunt "Matts", and not something more authentic like "Jose's"

You can get rain checks for items that Walgreens has on sale but is currently out of. The senior population in Austin takes full advantage of this loophole

Texas also weeds out the non-natives by naming their cities and pronouncing them completely different. Gruene, Pflugerville, San Marcos, New Braunfels. If you cannot pronounce these correctly than you must not be from around here

There is no such thing as too big of a Texas Flag

Texans LOVE outlet malls

Standing at the entrances and exits of the freeways may be a good way to make some money

Everything in Texas is actually bigger, this is no myth. Madelyn and I have enjoyed the big cups at restaurants.

The lotto is not a good way to becoming a millionaire

We have learned that if you have lived your life wearing boots everyday, and never owning a pair of tennis shoes, then at the end of your life.................... you will have a lot of stories about boots.

Zebras bite, be aware

Even though smoking is outlawed all over Austin, this does not include concerts outdoors

Mapquest is not always correct

Taco Bueno is NO Bueno

Madelyn and I have had to explain a number of times that we aren't, and don't know any polygamists.

Always check you bed for tiny sharks

Trailer technology has come a long way since the early 80's, double wide is now the standard...... two stories? wrap around porches? I could point you in the direction of some nice dealerships on I-35

The Grassy Knoll is about as exciting as you are imagining

Oklahoma is about as exciting as you are imagining

Madelyn is deathly afraid of Ostriches

People in Utah think there is nothing in Texas, people in Texas think there is nothing in Utah

Cutting down your own Christmas tree is something everyone should do at least once

After living in a new city for two months you are still at least 4 months away from memorizing all of the TV stations

No matter what city you are in, if you are feeling home sick, you can always go to Costco.

Texans will use any drop in temperature as an excuse to wear their favorite sweaters and coats, even though it might only be 60 degrees.

Texans like trucks

When you have a job you have money but no time, when you don't have a job you have time but no money

Day 32, Christmas tree Farming

Winter has finally arrived in Texas and Madelyn and I have had to break out our coats and put away our flip flops. Its been getting below freezing almost every night for the past week, and its kind of nice to have the cold air. It doesn’t feel like Christmas when you are wearing shorts. It feels a little strange to be sitting outside in your summer attire, drinking a cold beverage, and singing the lyrics to “Winter Wonderland”. It just doesn’t feel natural…… There is a song that plays on the radio here that suggests that I could make snow angels in the sand, but I don’t think that would help. I liked the warm weather, but it needs to be cold to get into the Christmas spirit. I don’t know if Madelyn welcomed the cold as much as I did. Here is a picture I snapped of Madelyn sleeping, to anybody who knows Madelyn well, this image should not be surprising…. since I had gotten up, she took the chance to double up the blankets. Madelyn is very resourceful when it comes to keeping warm and sleeping in.

As soon as the cold air arrived I knew the first thing we needed to do was hang up Christmas lights, and I was given the task of decorating the house. I hung about 1500 lights in the front yard, and it looks spectacular. I didn’t go too crazy; I wasn’t about to construct a giant inflatable snow globe that has the nativity scene in it (has anyone else seen these?). That not only seems excessive, but also a little sacrilegious. I’m not a bible expert by any means, but I don’t remember their being snow at the birth of Jesus. I stayed with the traditional decorating of lights. I found that it was easy to hang lights up when you are feeling so “Christmasy”, but I quickly realized that taking them down after the New Year is going to remind me how thankful I am that I don’t have to hear “Jingle Bell Rock” for 365 more days.

To top off our Christmas extravaganza weekend, we went to a Christmas Tree farm to pick out a tree. We arrived at a large field full of pine trees; we hopped on a tractor that dropped us off in the middle of a Christmas Tree Forest with a saw. I know this sounds like the beginning of a really great survival type reality show, but the tractors made regular rounds to pick you back up with the Christmas tree you had chosen. We found a really great tree that appeared to be perfect. It's funny how a tree outside seems like the perfect size, but once its erected in your living room, it seems a lot bigger. The tree must have grown on our way home, that’s the only explanation. Luckily the living room is tall, so it fit. Sometimes it takes the observations of an outsider to remind you how silly you look. In this case, it was the cows next door to the Christmas Tree farm that made me question the sanity of chopping down a tree, putting it in your house, and decorating it with lights. The cows were looking at us, riding a tractor, with a bunch of trees, with a look of absolute confusion. I can't imagine what they thought was actually going on, but I doubt that would ever guess what we were actually going to do with those trees. They would have really thought we were nuts. It reminded me of just how silly some of our holiday traditions are.

Finally on Sunday Madelyn and I got the opportunity to get out of the house, and have a good time. We went and saw one of Madelyn’s favorite bands, Mates of State. They were amazing, and we had a really great time. For those of you who are unfamiliar whit the Mates of State music, you can check their music out at: http://www.myspace.com/matesofstate . They are a two person band, drums and a keyboard. They're a lot of fun.