Texas, I Do Love You

(music, while you read this post)

I realized that as much as I talk about California I'm kind of making it seem as though I hate Texas. This is not the case though. I love Texas. I'm proud to have been born and raised a Texan. A Tejana, through and through. I have my own pair of cowboy boots that I wear daily. As much as I'd like to become a vegetarian, I love meat too much. Sorry folks, I just can't quit it. "Y'all" is very much a part of my every day vocabulary. Sometimes my sentences are a mix of English and Spanish: "Andale! mija, lets go!" I firmly believe in addressing my elders with a "ma'am" or "sir". And yes, my accent can get pretty thick. When people ask where I'm from, I proudly name Texas as my state. Because, honestly, I feel like my state is the best one to grow up in. I'm truly proud of where I come from. 

I love our flat lands, and rolling hills.I think we have some of the best sunsets and sunrises than anywhere else.  I absolutely love the wide open spaces! I love our gun laws, and big trucks. I really do. I love how we all come together to support each other in the small communities just as well as statewide. I love that we are all pretty friendly. We're always waving at one another, regardless of whether or not we actually know each other. I like that in many places, your neighbor is a good mile away from you. As my brother once said "If I want to pee off the back porch, I can, and no one will ever see!" Ha! I like how our summers get hot and there are Popsicle's being eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love that it's fully acceptable to have your kids running through the water sprinklers in your front yard in their undies during the summer.  I like that you'll see many of us cooking out on the grill even during the winter. And lets not forget that no one does BBQ like us either. You haven't lived, if you haven't had some good ole Texas BBQ!  

This is also where my family resides. As many of you know I come from a big family, and an even bigger "adopted" family. Anyone who walks through our doors, is instantly considered a member. We have many cook outs, and family dinners year round. We all live so close by that we don't go a whole week without seeing each other. We constantly invite others to join us, and we get to just sit around talking; laughing. We do a lot of things together too. Whether it's going to the grocery store or to the movies. Some of the best times I've had have been sitting in the car taking a "road trip" to shop at Lowe's with my entire family. And when I was first told "it takes a village to raise I child" I was really skeptical of it's meaning. But, now I know the truth of it. My village is my family, and they have helped us out so much! Emery is being introduced to many great things and cultures because of who we surround her with. And even though we may not have the reputation for it there really is a lot of diversity here too. I couldn't be happier about Emery getting the chance to grow among the same places and people that I did.

Texas is and will always be my home. I'm proud to say that it's shaped who I've become. So yes, my heart will always be here with the family and community that raised me. This doesn't mean that I'll always live here. It doesn't mean that I'm any less of a Texan for wanting to go explore other places. Or for wanting to live somewhere else. Some people will never leave their hometowns, and that's okay. Other's do, and that's okay too. But no matter where I go, I will always take Texas with me. It'll be in my words, and my drawl. It'll be in the way I choose to eat my steak with my hands rather than a fork and knife. It'll be in the sweet tea I choose to keep brewed. It'll be in that song I play so often by a little band from Texas that I adore. It'll be in the photographs I place throughout my house of the family I love so much. It'll be in the stories I tell of "back home" with new friends we meet. It'll be in my outlook of the world, and the respect I show to others. Because Texas is and will always be, in me. 

"You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl."