Getting Settled

Sorry for the lag in updates. We are finally in our house and have been working out all the bugs (literally and figuratively). Our main computer crashed and it took a while to get the internet set up as well. We haven't had much free time in the last few weeks. Moving, unpacking, finding our way around, cleaning, etc. has been life for us lately. We are still unpacking and are trying to find our new normal. Here's an update for our families, our Colorado friends, and everyone who's been praying, supporting, and helping us through this huge life change. Thanks everyone! We couldn't have done it without you! Well, we could have - it just would have taken much longer, been more expensive, been more difficult, been lonelier, and stunk more. :)

The pets were also worn out from our long trip

Our house is slowly becoming home. The renovations that were supposed to have taken place prior to our arrival hadn't when we got here, so we were originally very disappointed. Our landlord was true to his word, however, and took care of all he said he was going to. The house had been unoccupied and had fallen into major disrepair. They worked here every day before we got here and for about 2 weeks after we arrived fixing water problems, broken things, etc. Our biggest suprise was those that had already inhabited our house! Being from dry, non-buggy Colorado has made us both intolerant and squeamish about bugs. We found some in the house and decided they had to go. We had to learn about bug bombs and how to prevent further invaders. As we talk to people here, that seems to be something the natives know as a maintenance sort of thing. Weird. Anyway, now that that situation is under control, we are much more comfortable! We are now working on maintaining a bug-free house and trying to grow grass and other stuff in the yard. The neighborhood kids did inform us that this house is haunted. They unwound a wonderfully creative story of how a roofer died when he fell through the roof and how he wanders around because of some unresolved roofing issue. They say you can still hear him up there hammering...

One major difference here is in the people. They are very friendly and will just walk up and talk to you! We have met many of our neighbors already, as well as people at stores, restaurants, church, etc. In a restaurant one afternoon, about 10 people came over to see Bruce while we were eating! He was a great conversation starter in Colorado, but these Texans will spoil him rotten! They will walk up and tell you their life stories anyway, let alone when they have Bruce as an excuse. "Oh, he's so cute! You know, I have 4 grandkids. One is 2 and we just had her birthday party last week...." The kids next door come and talk to us whenever we are our in the yard. They even knocked on the door one day and asked Jerret to come outside and watch their skateboard tricks. We should have no trouble finding friends here.

Willow and some of her friends

And Jerret's friend... (TX kitties love their vitamin J too!)

Another major difference is in how they talk, of course. That does tend to be a dead give away that we aren't from around here. One of the chihuahuas in our neighborhood (more on that later) is named Sweet Pea. But we say it weird. Everyone else calls her "Sweight Pay". I don't think she will answer to our version because it sounds so different. We also learned that Y'all's is the possesive form of y'all. Example: "Ar basketball wint into y'all's backyard. Kin Ah go git it?"

Big TX truck (vs. tiny Colorado car - yes, my windshield's still cracked. I'll get around to it.)

They refer to these as "mountains". Weird.

We left a place that had interesting wildlife in the yard daily and came to another place that, well, has interesting wildlife in the yard daily. There were deer and elk in Colorado and there are cats and chihuahuas here. I know. We keep asking everyone why there are so many chihuahuas and they act like they've never thought of that before. We must be the first to notice or something. Some people have other types of dogs, but most have at least 1 chihuahua. Yeah, we don't get it either. These dogs and cats do belong to people, but they just don't live inside. Their owners let them out in the morning (if they haven't been out all night) and they just run the neighborhood all day. The cats and chihuahuas play and chase things. They come into our yard and meet Willow (who must look nothing like a dog since she's not chihuahua-ish at all). She has made friends with some, but others are cautious. She must not look or sound like she's from around here just like us! There are 2 chihuahuas in particular that are the most amusing. They wander far down the street and then come back carrying trash in their mouths. They bring it to their front yard and eat it or share it or fight over it. Sometimes a cat will catch something and Sweet Pea will take it away and lick it to death. Yep. Just like the nature channel.

The food is another large difference. Although we have found some awesome Mexican restaurants (don't worry, Mom, we'll take you), they don't really seem to believe in healthy food. They have lots of fast food and bar-b-q and doughnuts. Dairy Queen is as common as Starbucks is in Colorado. They do not have a natural foods section in every grocery store. Their only health food store is about as big as our bathroom. Rural Texas seems to be not buying into the health craze that the rest of the world is. Thank goodness for online shopping!

Throughout all of our adaptations, Bruce is doing very well! He is now 6 months old and already has a Texan accent (just kidding). Many new foods have been added to his diet and he is growing like a weed. He seems rather unaffected by the move and is back to his normal, smiley self!



Excited about lunch!

Bruce's first lesson in electrical wiring

We did find time recently for some recreation. We visited Lake Mineral Wells, which is very pretty. The following are some pictures of our time there.

Looking for frogs and stuff

Bruce showing off his mosquito bites (oops)

A cardinal

Some of you have indicated your curiosity about our happenings. Now that we're pretty much settled, I will try to be better about updates and pictures. We hope you're all doing well! Drop us a line with an update about you guys too. We haven't been in contact with a lot of you through this process and we miss you!

Jerret and Nathan doing something important (or hiding from the camera, I'm not sure which)