Time Flies, Y'all.

On the wall at my work desk I have graphics of the
three states I have lived in. Thus far, anyway.
Oh yeah, and my cat. He has a blog you know—
PawsandConsider.blogspot.com

It's hard for me to wrap my head around it, but this June I will have been a Texan for two whole years!

This realization has me thinking back on my childhood, growing up thinking that where I was would be where I would be for the rest of my life. That is to say, Chicago, and its surrounding area, would always be my home.

That changed a bit when I went to University in Minnesota of all places. The shy homebody of a girl that I was am was suddenly thrust into a new life, 300+ miles away not only from home, but from any familiarity. I did not know the area. I did not know anyone else at the school. I was alone, in a new place.

Looking back, I know this was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I got out of my comfort zone and forced to do new things, meet new people, explore a new area.

After graduation, I moved back home for a couple of months before I decided I wanted to move to that sleepy little Minnesota town. My parents helped me to do just that.

Including my time at school, I spent a total of ten years there. Then I moved again. Not back to the city I grew up in, but again to another state. A state I had only visited once before: Texas.

And now I've been here for two years.

Fifteen years ago I would have laughed if you had told me I'd have lived in three states by the time I was 30.

"Yeah, right! Not me," I would have said.

But here I am, and I couldn't be more glad. I really love Texas, actually, and I think I could stay here for quite a long time, if not forever. I've learned that you never know where life is going to take you, and to just enjoy the ride.

The second beautiful horse shoe I got.

The first beautiful horse shoe I got.

Just in case this "ride" finds me somewhere else down the line, I purchased two wonderful beaded horse shoes from a place called Horse Shoes 4 the Heart. Cathy, the one who hand beads the shoes, is a lovely lady, and part of her proceeds from her store go to different horse rescues month-to-month. How cool! The horse shoes look nice online, but they are stunning in person. Highly recommended; she does an amazing job. Anyway, no matter where I end up in the future, these horse shoes will always take me back to this time I have gotten to spend in Texas. I mean, blinged-out horse shoes... come on!

None of us know for sure what the future holds. When we are young we have one ideal of life, the way we think it should ought to be. The best life that we can imagine. But, when that ideal is thrown upside down, well, that is when we get to really see what is best  for us. How amazing is that? I'm beginning to feel awfully blessed for the things I have experienced in life, and living in three completely different places is certainly one of them.

— E

Gettin' Cultured the Texas Way

Great buckets of milk! I knew it had been some time since I had written, but not quite this long.

Dear oh dear.

Well, being lax in my CYiT updates does not mean things have not been going. For instance, I have found myself enjoying the cultural aspects of the Fort Worth area. And I'm not talking about cowboys or rodeos. No, I mean culture, as in the arts.

Fort Worth is not just all about longhorns and calf roping. No siree bob. In fact, it has its own Cultural District! Art museums, science museums, theaters... it's a paradise for those of us who enjoy such things.

Hailing from Chicago and being surrounded by its amazing museums since birth, I crave viewing some good art or seeing an entertaining play. I am very lucky to live in a city with both art museums and theaters again.

My fella and I have enjoyed time at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (he is a huge science nerd), saw a delightful show at the Casa Mañana Theatre starring the Van Dyke brothers, Dick and Jerry, and viewed an Impressionist exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum.

I may not go to every exhibit or show, but it sure is nice knowing that there are those options so close by.

Nope, Fort Worth is not all about cowboys and rodeos. And, honestly, I'd probably go nuts if it were! Thus far I have seen a wonderful diversity displayed throughout this area, and I am really liking it.

— E

An Ode to Texas Weather

It's November, and the first chills of winter are finally being felt. In Chicago, that means temperatures in the forties. But, here in Texas, that means that weather in the fifties is cold.

Cold? Somehow for me temperatures in the fifties and cold do not correlate. Now, twenties, yes. Anything thirty and below I would consider cold. But, fifties? That is very hard for this midwest girl to comprehend. People walking around in coats and parkas when it is fifty is even more mind boggling. This is sweater weather, no coats needed.

That being said, I LOVE that the winter here typically stays above forty. Heck, when I visited here in February a few years ago it was in the seventies. Seventy, in February! Going back home to freezing weather (for two more months) was very depressing to say the least.

Plus, the fact that snow is pretty rare around here is a wonderful thought. I may miss it around Christmas, but believe me, I won't miss driving around in it or shoveling it. Snow as a novelty? I'll take it!

Yes, autumn in Texas has been very nice, and I sure am looking forward to the winter months. I hope there is at least one time when I get to call home and say, "Snow? Only eight degrees? Well, it's a high of fifty here today..." Ah, yes. That will be fun, indeed.

— E

Moving on with Southern Style

Let me start at the beginning...

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago.  Both of my parents grew up there, and this is where a majority of my extended family lived.  It is an amazing city to grow up in; so many fun museums to go to — especially for field trips! — going downtown to see the department store windows decorated for Christmas, driving down the street in the suburbs and seeing the most beautiful skyline even from twenty miles away.  And, being from the Chicago suburbs, I am pretty much a city girl.

When I was eighteen, and college time rolled around, I ended up going to a university located in south-eastern Minnesota.  Yes, Minnesota and Illinois (Chicago) and just a state away.  Yes, Minnesota and Illinois (Chicago) are both in the Midwest.  Yet, they are worlds apart.  I wasn't 100% prepared for the culture shock of small town Minnesota.  I mean, I was just never exposed to hunting, four-wheelers and tractors growing up.  But, that seemed to be all these people had.  And, yes, I am over-generalizing, but that is how it seemed!

At any rate, I ended up spending a grand total of ten years there... I met a boy, after-all.

Finding work in this small town was surprisingly difficult, at first.  I finally found employment at one of the largest employers in town — lucky me!  Over my five years there I was able to move up in the ranks a bit, ending up in a decent position under a wonderful lady I got to call my boss.  But, the company was eating me alive, and the small town was no longer quaint.  While my beau and I were both working, we never seemed to be able to accumulate enough savings for anything, and we were not bad with money.  We needed to get out.