Tomorrow is my last full day living in Texas. It's bittersweet. Right now, mostly bitter. This is where I spent the better months of my pregnancy. It's where my son was born. It's the only home he's ever known. 10 months in Texas. That's a drop in the bucket, but these were the most transformative, difficult, outstanding 10 months of my life. I did not want to move here, and now a BIG part of me doesn't want to move away. How special to live in and experience a place so different from what I've always known. I'm reminding myself that the feelings of sadness are only because Texas has treated us so well.
I will miss the storms. Ohhh the storms! The warm, humid air, the electricity and booming claps that roll between the buildings and shake the window panes - it makes you feel so alive! My labor began with a massive thunderstorm. They will always remind me of my stormy baby.
I'll miss the warm, pleasant Spring weather. The arboretum. The aquarium. Grapevine - the city where my son was born. The wide open spaces and huge sky. The lake next to our house. The neighborhood pool. The cottonfields, agave plants, wild sunflowers and blue bonnets. The geckos and long-horned cows. The high speed limits and the ability to pump my own gas (SO much more efficient). I'll miss Nebraska Furniture because I spent so much time there waddling around, hugely pregnant. I'll even miss the food, even though I'm not a fan of BBQ or Tex Mex! I'll miss this house... the only home Wesley's known. I'll miss a lot.
And we'll miss the wonderful people we've met. Southern hospitality is alive and well down here.
I won't miss the traffic (though Portland is hardly better), the crazy hot summers, the fire ants, the endless construction, the tolls, or the lack of natural beauty in the DFW area. But all of that was a part of our experience here and I wouldn't change one bit of it!
I can't wait to bring Wesley back and show him where he was born.
Until next time, Texas. Thank you.
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I went through and picked some of my favorite snippets from the last 10 months on my phone and made a gallery here:
