Texas: the Good, the Bad, and the just plain Strange

Casey and I decided we would move to Houston, Texas despite the fact that neither of us had ever been there. My closest connection to the state was that my grandfather is from Southeast Texas and my dad was also nearly born there. I say nearly because my grandmother despises this part of the country so much that she preferred to drive thousands of miles at 8 months pregnant than give birth and raise a child in [insert colorful name here]. This is a brave move for anyone, even with today's modern conveniences, and I can't even imagine making this trek in 1951.

Much to her dismay, I would be making the exact same drive in reverse in 2008. Every time Houston was brought up I would hear about one or more (and frequently all) of the following:

• oppressive heat
• ants that will eat anything that is not kept in your oven for safety
• cockroaches big enough to pick a fight with your cat
• moldy shoes (or anything else made of leather)

Needless to say, none of my grandmother's past experiences in Southeast Texas were even remotely comforting. Everyone else was just about at excited as she was that we were moving to this land of milk and honey mold and roaches. But, I had a great job with an organization that is the best at what they do and Casey was up for an adventure. Plus, the cost of living is very reasonable for a large city and you can usually find it on a "best" list of cities for young professionals or places to start a career.

I moved first, leaving Oregon in February and arriving in Houston in March. My mom accompanied me on  the 2,500 mile drive that went something like this:

There were a lot of CD mixes and reading of the AAA guides for the region we were passing through. The most painful part of the drive was undoubtedly everything between Phoenix and San Antonio. One of the only highlights of this leg of the trip is how fast you can legally pass through it.

We arrived in Houston less than a week before I would start work with everything I had in the back of my car and no apartment to put it in. Let me tell you - when moving to a city you know nothing about and having to find a place to live in a matter of days, my mother is the one to take with you. She had lists of apartments, lists of apartment locators, a city map with plotted points of recent criminal activity to avoid, and an abundance of energy to sift through it all.

By the end of the week, we ended up with a great little apartment minutes from my work and across the street from Target (score!) and some fierce furniture assembly skills. Casey took a much faster route to Houston, hopping on an airplane in May, departing and arriving all in the same month (no fun!). Although we have had our ups and downs with this city, Houston has been good to us and we've had lots of great experiences here.

I wanted to end this blog with one of my favorite Texas phenomenons - the residents' obsession with its shape. I first noticed this on my second day in the state. On our way to Houston, my mom and I stayed at a HoJo in West Texas, and upon arriving in the breakfast area, we saw this masterpiece:

Little did I know that this would be the first of many Texas-shaped discoveries. Here are a couple more for your viewing pleasure:


For more Texas masterpieces, check out Texas-Shaped Things!