Anyway, in case you haven't heard, in May, Mark got a job offer in Austin! They originally wanted him to start June 6 (haha, no way!) and we managed to get them to push back his start date to July 11th. We went apartment hunting over Memorial Day weekend and found a great two-bedroom apartment to live in. It's about 1.3 miles from Mark's work, about a mile and a half to the gym, and about 2 miles to go to Mark's work via the gym. Score! It's also a mile from the mall and across the street from the backside of Wal-Mart. Could life get any better? Maybe only if Costco were next to the mall. ;)
After going to James' wedding in Rhode Island last month, I've decided I could never live out East. It never really occurred to me before that there could be a place I wouldn't enjoy living. But I guess I truly am a Westerner. Out East, it's too flat and there's too much traffic and the people are rude and the culture is different and they don't drink tap water ... but their accents are awesome! There's a lot of neat history. It's a fine place for a vacation. But I no longer wish to live in Boston or Baltimore or Washington, DC. I like it here, with the mountains and the wide open spaces and the genuinely friendly and easy-going people (who may or may not drive like retards, but hey!) and the non-accents. I was once told that people from Colorado don't have identifiable accents and that tends to be what the national newscasters sound like. SWEET.
But when we were in Austin, there were some definite accents going on. It's not as bad as what I hear out of people from eastern Texas ... I guess it's because they're close to Louisiana and Mississippi and those other Southern places where they've got REAL strong Southern accents. So cute, but ... yikes! What if my kids grow up with Southern accents?! Would that be better than a Utah Valley accent? Anyway. I've been having Carmen practice saying "y'all" and I've been trying to get myself to replace "you guys" with "y'all" in my head so I sound less out of place. ;)
We also almost moved to Austin instead of Seattle when I was a junior in high school. How different life might've been ...
A few things that make me really excited about moving to Austin:
-I've always been a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl. Now I will never feel under dressed around my friends! But I wear flip-flops, not cowboy boots ... hopefully that will be okay. ;)
-I love the genuinely friendly "I just met you but we're gonna be real friendly and pretend we're already friends" attitude everyone has. It's like I'm surrounded by a bunch of people a bit like me!
-I can finally admit I like some country music without shame!!
Mom and Dad like to tell the following story:
When my little brother Logan was a baby, he would turn the radio knob until it was just off a rock station and you could hear the beat through the static. When I was a baby, I'd always turn the knob to country. My parents were convinced I was either a) not theirs, or b) genetically mutated. My self-proclaimed childhood theme song was "She's A Wild One" by Faith Hill ... you know, the one that goes, When she was 3 years old on her daddy's knee/He said, You can be anything you wanna be/She's a wild one runnin' free.
-I still think the accents are adorable.
-FRONTAGE ROADS
Things that scare me:
-I keep feeling like we're going to end up staying and my kids will grow up Texan.
-It's far away from my family (in Seattle). It's far away from EVERYTHING.
-I grew up in Phoenix, where it is also hot ... but dry. Will I be able to handle the humidity? The epic hair battle continues.
Speaking of hair, I've been growing it out for a while and now it's about halfway down my back! I love it!!
Kamis's hair is totally sexy.
ReplyDeleteCarmen as a Texan fills me with excitement and... apprehension?
Kamis no longer has to pretend she doesn't like country music, now I have to pretend that I do!
I've been saying y'all off and on since my mission. I'm going to really enjoy that transition.