Texas Lover

You all (or "y'all" as we like to say here) know that I LOVE Texas! When we moved here and I realized how much I love it, and how I feel so at home here I told Cory I needed one of those bumper stickers that says "I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as soon as I could!". Anyway, it has been a fabulous place to raise Cam, the church is really strong here (as are lots of churches and that is a good thing!) the people are down to earth and genuine. Sports are a big deal here, the warm climate is agreeable to me, the cost of living is great compared to most places. There are lots of trees and it is fairly tropical. I could go on and on about the different things I love about Texas!

The difficult things about Texas are - the high cost of auto insurance. We were quite surprised by this fact moving here from LA - but yes it is higher here. Traffic - again, we moved here from LA - I didn't think anyone could tell me anything about traffic that I didn't already know. Well Houston sucks for traffic! At least in LA there are several freeways that you can employ to get somewhere - here not so much - so you are forced to endure the traffic. Bugs! There are bugs the like I never even imagined - some I can't even identify! (fire ants and cock roaches are two of the worst!). Hurricanes - we have been here for a couple and they are very unsettling to say the least. But, the thing that is bothering me most at this time of year is the pollen. This is NOT the place to live if you have any allergies - the mold can be awful with all of the humidity and springtime brings horrible pollen and all kinds of junk for our lungs to deal with, not to mention our nasal passages.

This is one of the two big oak trees we have in our yard (messy, disgusting trees!) in the spring they dump all kinds of crap ALL over the yard - oh yeah, in the fall too.

This is a shot of our recently planted garden - which sits directly under said tree - you can see my plight!

This is a shot of our back patio where the gold dust gathers.

The curb out front where the other oak tree is. Pine dust and oak leaves combine to make a disgusting stew of allergy nightmare!

And now this other crap is falling from the oak trees - furry stuff which comes in on every one's shoes and all over the cat!

Some fire ants making their way to the surface on the patio - ooooh I despise these creatures!

But the temperature is fantastic and the humidity is low, it feels fabulous to be outside and the azaleas are beautiful as always!

And although you can't see them very well my front flowers are lovely. I guess we have to take the bad with the good.