Things I miss about Texas

So I honestly never thought I' be writing this post.

I spent three months (of summer) in San Antonio, TX and that was more than enough for me! by the end I could not wait to get the heck out of there and back where it was "normal" (my normal, obviously) 

But now that I am happily situated in glorious California again all of the more trumatiac aspects of being in TX have slowly moved to the back of my mind and I am able to look back at my time there with a bit (albeit a tiny bit) of nostalga.  Which is fortunate since its highly likely we'll end up back there (I don't want to talk about it...)

Truthfully though we did have a lot of fun in TX.  

so without further adieu,  things I miss about Texas:

Blue Bell dutch chocolate ice cream. Oh em gee it is seriously heaven in your mouth!!!! they need to start selling it everywhere asap! I can't even get over how delicious it was!

Fresh made tortillas from HEB.  So HEB was like the only grocery store, period, but they had these amazing fresh made flour tortillas in the bakery section (you could legit see them being made on the machine) that were literally the best tortillas I have ever had! I've tried a bunch of mexican stores around here but they only have corn...bleck!

Cracker Barrel!!! specifically their hash brown casserole! most delicious thing ever! I've tried to make it myself (google Cracker Barrel hash brown casserole recipe) and it's good but not exactly the same.  And I know Cracker Barrel is not specific to TX but there are zero in CA! the closest one to us now is in Yuma, Arizona which is basically 3 hours away in the middle of nowhere.  Luckily hub's best friend is about the be stationed at the Marine base there and we can go visit him (and more importantly, get some hash brown casserole!)

Freddy's frozen custard! SO much better than ice cream! there is one in CA but it's 2 or so hours away and not on the way to anywhere we would be going, except maybe Vegas.

Jimmy Johns! gosh I miss that #2! so fresh and delicious, I could eat it every day.  Again, there is one in CA but It is also in the middle of nowhere and not on our way to anywhere we'd be going.

Hobby Lobby! Seriously the best craft store ever! Though I am happy to report that these are popping up in CA!!! so exciting!

So that's my list.  Yes I do realize that pretty much everything I miss involves food... does that really surprise anyone?

a few comments on a comment

so I got a comment on my 2nd texas tidbits post that wasn't exactly mean by any means, mostly I just felt like the commenter was misunderstanding where I was coming from.  normally I would just address this person directly but

1. they don't have a google account

and 2. I thought other people could be misunderstanding me too, so I thought I'd explain

first off here's the comment:

"First of all, Austin is the shit! You must visit Austin to keep your sanity. San Antonio drivers are the rudest in TX and California's drivers are WAY worse than them! Seriously. And what's so wrong with state pride? If your state was the best shape, you'd sport it to. Haha & lastly, we are the friendliest, most genuine people you will ever meet. Open your mind and give Texans a chance. It could be worse, you could live in Houston! Haha"

so first of all I never said any of the observations were bad (except the driving...the driving is bad!)

these are simply observations of things that are different

and I may use the words "weird" or "hilarious" but to me those aren't necessarily bad things...they are just so completely different than what I'm used to in CA

to say I have a closed mind is utterly ridiculous!  I have a completely open mind about the situation. I never once said I didn't like texas i moved here willingly and happily (granted it was cause hubs is here...but what I mean is I didn't dread moving here or anything...except for the packing and driving...obviously) , in fact, I wouldn't mind staying here for a while if that was in the cards, but it's not

and if you clicked on the little label and read my first texas tidbits post you would see that I said they were the nicest people I've ever met, and actually in the second post I said how could people be so nice in person and so rude on the road? I gave full credit to their niceness thankyouverymuch

and yes, they are the worst/rudest driver I have ever encountered...trust me, I have driven all over california and the only place scarier is san francisco.  but that's because of the hills and people drive REALLY fast...but they still know how to drive

like I said, the people here either don't know how to drive or would actually like to get into an accident...like I have legitimate reason to fear being in an accident every. single. day.

...this isn't just me being paranoid...which, no lie, I am...a lot. no! this is some driver doing something to cause me to have to hit my brakes, swerve over, or seriously think that they will hit me

anyway, clearly my "texas tidbits" are more "san antonio tidbits" cause thats the only place I've been besides el paso (it was night and we drove straight through) and the middle of nowhere nothingness that is in between the two, but obviously texas tidbits sounds much cooler.  maybe the drivers in every other part of texas aren't horrendous...who knows? I sure don't

also some of my observations are not solely about texas...you have to remember, I was born and raised in california and most of my experiences have been there. yes I have traveled to other states/countries but you really don't get to experience what it's like to actually live in those places when you're only there a short time. some things I am experiencing are the south in general, some are just states outside of california

I'm just documenting the things I discover that are different (good, bad, or otherwise) from what I'm used to and if someone moved from TX to CA I would expect them to find some things strange (well, I might not have before...but I would now lol!)

I know most of you think the tidbits are funny (including some readers from texas)...and thats exactly what they are supposed to be! I never meant for it to seem like I'm putting texas down (except the driving...it really is that bad lol!) cause I really do like it here! it's fun, it's interesting, and it's an adventure...it's just not california

and no matter where we move california will always be my home

good, bad, or otherwise :)

texas tidbits: month one

taco cabana is yummy fast mexican food, open 24 hours, and has scrummy margaritas! what more could you ask for really!

Grocery stores don’t sell liquor which is beyond lame, but you know what’s even more lame??? Liquor store are open from like 8am-9pm most days and CLOSED on Sundays!!! I mean really??? And it’s not like I’m a boozer or anything, even a mormon friend of mine thought that was crazy!

The people here are seriously the worst/rudest drivers I’ve ever encountered in my life and I’m from California for crying out loud! How people can be so nice in person ans so rude on the road is beyond me

Seriously though, it’s like everyone wants to get in an accident

The Alamo is smaller then I expected…though I’ve only seen the outside

The riverwalk is really cool but so hard to find cause is curves all through downtown and is a level below street level so you can’t see it while driving.  We drove around forever looking for it until we finally just parked and started walking

Seriously almost every business logo, advertisement, freeway overpass, everything has either some version of the texas flag or the actual state of texas on it…it’s pretty hilarious

I’ve only seen one hippie

I’m pretty sure H-E-B is the only grocery store here

at the movie theater they have those big plastic barrels of giant pickles that you can get at the fair

Mall cops wear park ranger looking hats…no lie

texas tidbits: week one

so i've decided to periodically post my observations about texas (good and bad) 

from now on though it probably won't be weekly, maybe monthly...if i remember lol!

anywho...

the streets here are cuh-razy!!! they curve and come/change out of nowhere! and freeway entrances are way bizarre! and you can't read the street sigh until you get right at the intersection! my GPS is my best friend for sure!

whataburger is neither amazing nor like in-n-out (course i personally don't think in-n-out is all that amazing either)

i could eat jimmy johns every day and never get tired of it!!!

blue bell ice cream is the best ever! seriously so amazing!

humidity is the devil. end of story.

the freeway access roads make it so nice to get out of freeway traffic and still get to where you're going

the thrift stores are bigger...but grimier...but slightly cheaper 

and finally, the people are seriously SO nice! i've had better conversations with perfect strangers here than some people i've known for years in cali