“I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study, and the passionate possession of all Texans.” - John Steinbeck


THINGS I MISS ABOUT TEXAS :(

1. Mexican Food.

Apparently, my entire life, I have been operating under the false assumption that Mexican food is really spicy and flavorful. But APPARENTLY, this is not Mexican Food, but actually TexMex. My whole life is a lie. My favorite genre of food has always masked itself under a different name!

It's not that Mexican Food in Colorado is atrocious or anything. It's fine. But that's it, just...fine. It's like if your taste buds were at a 10 while experiencing the wonder that is TexMex, then they've suddenly been turned down to a 5.5 or a 6. MOST of the flavors are still there, it's just you really have to search for them. It's just bland. And depressing. I think about Campuzano's and Garcia's A LOT. I went through withdrawls last week when it was like all I was craving and I knew it was an impossibility.

Fair Warning: Anyone who hangs out with me while I'm in Texas during March will probably be eating a looootttt of Mexican food. Be ready haha.

2. The People.

If we haven't had a skype date yet, this needs to change. Miss you guys! ♥

3. The Warmth. 

Even though Colorado has been nice enough to have been having "Spring Like Temperatures" according to the news, it's still cold here haha. It's not bad at all. I don't have to wear a jacket every day and when it is really cold it's usually gone after a few days. But still. My Texas friends are floating the river and wearing shorts. I've been wearing a lot of jeans - and you all know how much I absolutely HATE jeans haha.

4. Good Country Music. 

There are two country radio stations in Colorado Springs. One is decent, the other one sucks, but neither is like really good music. But that's probably because I feel in love with Texas Country while living in San Marcos, and am once again no longer in Texas. I'm seriously starting to believe the whole "Texas is its own country" thing. Words that should mean exactly the same thing .....don't haha.

In addition to that, literally about half of the radio stations in Colorado Springs are either Christian rock or preachers/church sermons. WHYYYYY. I mean, Christian rock is cool and all - but only for church camp or youth group. I'm pretty open about liking all different kinds of music, but I cannot stand to listen to Christian rock. Everything is in G. It all sounds the same. Jesus is my boyfriend. And you can tell within like 2-3 bars of the song if you've landed on a Christian rock station. And there are literally preachers or Christian talk shows on multiple stations and not just on Sundays. I love Jesus & all....but please just no haha. Sam and I seem to always be racing to see who can turn the channel faster. They're like radio land mines.

So to sum up the radio experience, they have Kiss FM, The Beat, Country Suck, Country Decent, random other fuzzy hits station, alternative rock, fuzzy oldies, fuzzy hispanic, and tons and tons of Jesus. I need to download more music to my ipod.

5. DANCING

I feel like half of this is Sam's fault. We all know he doesn't like dancing. But it's also a lack of the awesome people who I used to go dancing with. There's one Country/Western dancing place here, but I've heard mixed reviews on its sketchiness. I'm still 100% willing to try it, so here's hoping for a dance night in the near future! ;)

There is also this gay club called Club Q down the road from my house that I am literally dying to go to. I follow them on facebook and they are always posting about Karaoke nights and Drag queen performances. Seriously? I'm missing out on so much fun. All of my club friends are back in Texas though and we all know that its completely annoying for a straight girl to show up to a gay club unattended. By myself I don't have the magical rainbow keys to the kingdom. Bummer. I'll continue to live vicariously through their facebook posts haha.

THINGS I AM LOVING ABOUT COLORADO 

1. Mountains? 

I put a question mark there because I'm not a big mountain person. What? I know. I'm like not human. They're beautiful and all, I've just never been super impressed by them. I think it's because my subconscious equates them to cold and physical activity. HOWEVER, there has been more than one day when I've been driving or standing out side with Indy and just been like, "Geez, it's beautiful here." and it finally hits me that I live in a place that people choose to vacation. The picture above (& the background of this page) is actually the view out of my bedroom window. No joke. It's completely gorgeous. 

2. The People :) 

I'm loving being so much closer to Sam. It's such a drastic change to go from seeing him every 6-7 weeks (if not more) to literally seeing him every 5 days. It's amazing. 

I also love the steady stream of houseguests I've had since I moved up here. Since I have two extra bedrooms, we are constantly encouraging people to get away and come stay for the weekend. I've had a couple of cadets and a slew of girlfriends (thanks to Valentine's Day weekend ;) ) and it's been really fun. 

I've also loved just getting to meet all of Sam's friends that he's always talked about. Having 17 of them over her for the Super Bowl was an experience, but definitely a really fun one. How we fit 17 people in my living room, I'll never know. But we did it, and it was cozy haha. Indy loved it too. He passed out so hard after everyone left that he wasn't even snoring. Dead dog syndrome. Phillip picked one person and slept in his lap the whole time though, so she was happy too I guess haha. 

3. My Workout Class. 

 I started training with Joe Martinez at his Women's Bootcamp Fitness Classes and it's been completely awesome. Gyms/trainers in Colorado are generally really expensive (because everyone wants to be fit so they can jack up the prices), but I am definitely getting a great deal and more than my money's worth with Joe's classes. They're just down the street from my house, so I really have no excuse not to go, and I have three sessions a week. You're in group of other women and it's just a really positive atmosphere. It's literally like having your own person trainer without having to pay trainer prices. My jeans are uncomfortably looser and when I wore my slacks last week for an interview, they were not okay at all and I was just hoping that no one would notice how saggy they were haha. But that's a good thing, so I won't complain. Except that probably means I'll need to buy new clothes soon, and help me I'm poor haha. 

4. Being someplace new. 

I always said that I wanted to go out of state for my undergraduate, but because of the major I chose, money, and the fact that I got a full ride to Texas State that didn't end up happening. Not that attending Texas State is something that I'll ever regret! It has literally been the best, most amazing experience of my life to date. San Marcos will always be one of the places that I call home. ♥  

But finally getting out and just getting to experience another part of the country is an amazing experience. I don't think you can fully understand the world around you if you always stay in the same place. If anything, I'm very grateful that Sam is going to make me a military wife so that we have a valid excuse to travel and experience different places in the world around us. Here's to starting with Colorado :) 

THINGS THAT I'M STILL NOT TO SURE ABOUT

1. This whole winter/snow thing. 

I'm not sure I like having four seasons. I was completely okay with having summer, spring-ish summer, fall-ish summer, and a wild card season. Snow is cold & wet & makes people drive stoopid. There is a small hill by my house and I watched like 10+ cars completely fail at trying to get up said hill yesterday in the snow. Trucks and SUVs were like whatevs, I got this, bye. But the little cars? (and why would own a little car without 4 wheel drive in a place where it snows a lot) They were completely hopeless. 

However, my car drives beautifully in the snow. Considering that I drive on the 'end of maintained snow routes' on base every time I take Sam home on Sunday, that is something that I am ever so grateful for. I'm also grateful that I live one turn off of one of the main roads through town, so it's always plowed, sanded/salted, and well driven on. But mostly, I'm grateful for my car. Thank you little baby jesus for my lovely ice blue Jeep Grand Cherokee with All-Wheel drive and snow tires. And thank you mom for remembering that something like All-Wheel drive with snow tires would be necessary. Let's take a moment to admire it's majesty..... 

My car being new and nice does make me really nervous to drive in the snow up here though. Mostly because I'm terrified someone else is going to lose control because they're driving way too fast and slide across the snow and ice into me. I would be highly upset. 

Also, my car doesn't have a name yet, which is pure tragedy. Feel free to offer suggestions. :) 

Indy loves the snow though, so I guess that's definitely a redeeming quality for it. It can keep him entertained for hours on end...of course that means I have to stand outside in the cold with him which he plays in it. But he's happy, so I bundle and deal haha. 

2. It's not Texas. 

I mean, that one's kind of self-explanatory. Most places don't serve sweet tea, and when you order it they look at you like whhatttt? If they do have sweet tea, it's probably made with artificial sweeteners and not sugar. Boo. Headache waiting to happen. 

No Whataburger. No Mexican Food. No Chicken Express. Excuse me while I curl up and cry. What am I supposed to eat then? At least they have Texas Roadhouse, which people are always really surprised to find we also have back in Texas haha. 

When someone finds out your from Texas, they have one of two reactions: 

- Oh my god! Me too! Let's talk about how awesome Texas is. 

- Oh. I guess we can still be friends. OR! You're from Texas? Why don't you have an accent? 

-____- Rude. Texas = Awesome. See the first interaction haha. I guess Texans have a reputation for thinking Texas is better than everything else. And let me just say that I am completely guilty of this, but I'm nowhere near as bad as some people I know. I think Texas is supremely stupid about a number of things (namely, it's extremely conservative views) and I definitely don't think that it's a perfect utopia.....but I do think its pretty dang close. ;) Let me defend Texans for a second though and try to shed some light on this situation. Like I said earlier, I really do think that Texas is practically it's own country. Texas is incredibly huge and as a result a large number of different subcultures exist within the larger Texan culture as a whole.Things that we take for granted as being completely normal - even differences between us - are not AT ALL the same when you get outside of the state. But it seems that the differences are not so extreme between the other states. We, as Texans, seem to be the odd ones out. And most of us are 100% okay with that, so I don't forsee any changes in the near future. Texas will remain that popular kid that no one really likes. Ride on, Texas. Ride on. 

While I am continually asked why I don't have an accent, I have also been informed that there are particular words/phrases in my vocabulary that are a dead give away. 

1. Ma'am. I caught on to this one while I was still in Texas though. I was brought up that everyone who was preforming a service for you, in a position of authority, or just merely your elder was a sir or ma'am. Call customer service? "Thank you ma'am, have a nice day". At a restaurant, "Can I get you anything else?" - "No ma'am, thank you." At the airport, "Are you checking any other bags?" - "No ma'am, thank you for your help." But the thing is ... PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THIS. Whhhattttt??? I've had people flat out tell me to stop calling them ma'am, and not in a nice way. I get really weird looks when I use it out in public, but the BEST part is getting the question, "Are you MILITARY or are you from TEXAS?" Sam and I get this all the time. To which we proudly answer both. :)
2. The number 10. Which I say ten, and everyone I know says ten, but is apparently supposed to be pronounced 'TEHN'. Teh-nnnn. My whole life is a lie. 
3. Calling Indy 'Sugar' or telling him to 'Cut his sh**' when he's being bad. Okay, yeah. I guess I can see how those are kind of a dead give away haha. 

4. and finally, DEMOGRAPHICS 

Let's start with some basic facts. Demographically speaking, this is what Texas looks like: 

• 70.4% White
• 11.8% Black 
• 37.6 % Hispanic or Latino 

Dallas looks like: 

• 50.7% White
• 25% Black 
• 42.4% Hispanic or Latino 

(It is important to note that these numbers don't add up to 100 because I didn't include the specifics for Asian americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, or people who identify as biracial because I don't need to be super specific to make this point - and also because 'Hispanic/Latino' is an ethnicity and not a race, so people in that category also belong to either White, Black, or another race.) 

Now, here's what Colorado looks like: 

• 88.3% White 
• 4.3 % Black 
• 20.9% Hispanic or Latino 

and Colorado Springs looks like: 

• 78.8% White
• 6.3% Black 
• 16.1% Hispanic or Latino

Those are huge differences. And as someone who moved from one to the other, let me just say that they are very, very apparent. I went from a place where for a while I was the only 'white' roommate (and loving it), and working for the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs on a college campus that fully embraces diversity of all kinds to a place where almost all of my daily interactions are with white people. It's weird. 

I am a firm believer in Gordon Allport's Contact Theory, but after having lived in Colorado for about 2 months I don't know how anyone could ever doubt is validity. Contact theory is essentially the theory that states that interpersonal contact is one of the most effective ways to improve prejudices between majority and minority groups. Here are interactions I've had/things people have said to me since I moved to Colorado. 

• I was explaining to someone that I was disappointed that CSU Pueblo didn't have a masters program that would fit me, because I thought I would really like the atmosphere of the campus. 
• Person: Oh, well that's a good thing. You don't want to go there.
• Me: Why? 
• Person: There are a lot of black people there. 

-______________-

I'm sorry, what? Did you really just say that? 

• "Racism doesn't exist anymore. Minorities are just holding on to the past." ............................................ I just......... I can't......even.....If I were to try to explain all the reasons why this statement is just wrong, it would take like 6 blog posts. Instead, watch this video.

• "I don't understand affirmative action. I mean, that's not equal rights. That's giving them special treatment. I have to work for what I get, why do they just get stuff handed to them?" Alright, ok. I'm big enough to admit that I thought this in high school too, but I'm also proud to say that I've learned better. It ties into so many things, like the historical context mentioned above and a number of other equally important factors. I'm again not going to attempt to explain this in the length of a post (that's already really long), so if you're really industrious and have 7 minutes, watch this awesome video that really hits in on the head: 

OR IF YOU LIKE RAP & MACKLEMORE LIKE I DO ♥ 

• AND FINALLY, the weird, rude looks and just blatant stares that Sam & I get when going about as a couple in Colorado Springs. I'm actually proud of this one. It's that whole contact theory thing.  It's obvious that the fact that we're an interracial couple is outside of the norm for this area of the United States, but I'd like to think that every positive interaction that people who aren't used it have with me and Sam works towards changing their mind. I think it's kind of funny, because I know I'm not the only one who's noticed this because when Sam and I do encounter other interracial couples around town, 99% of the time they will find a reason to strike up a conversation with us. Like we automatically have something in common. That never happened in Texas, but there are a lot more interracial couples in Texas. 

But, if anything, all of these interactions have made me that much more excited about starting in the field of Social Work/Social Justice in the Colorado Springs area. If we only ever talk to people who agree with us, we aren't really getting out message out there and educating others, are we? Let's be clear that I do not, under any circumstances, think that Texas doesn't need help in these areas as well (see above statement about hyper-conservative views being a big flaw) but I do think that Colorado isn't as comfortable as a whole with racial minorities as Texas is.  

So....in conclusion, I miss Texas, but Colorado is definitely growing on me. :) I'm really really excited about actually getting started on this new chapter of my life! 

Love & Miss y'all! 

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul is unawakened." - Anatole France 

I think it must be pretty obvious at this point that this post is going to be about Indy & Phillip. If it's not...well, guess what!? This post is going to be about Indy & Phillip. I'm going to get it all of the cute pics/vids and stories that I've accumulated out of the way in one post so they don't bog down other ones haha. Skip if you prefer, I won't be offended, however a lot of cuteness is yet to come! ;) 

Let's start with Phillip. THIS IS PHILLIP! :) 

Now I'm sure everyone's next question is, why the crap did you name your girl cat Phillip. You can all thank Sam for that. See Sam's favorite TV shows are Spongebob & Fairly Odd Parents (if you know me, then you know that me watching these with him is solid proof of my undying love haha). We were struggling to decide on a name for her, because we wanted to try and name her a variation on 'cowboy' so that we would have Cowboys & Indians (totes presh right?) but that's way harder than it sounds. We had looked at literally every other language that was recognizable & pronounceable and nothing was going to work. So Sam got frustrated and decided to call her Phillip, because of this scene right here: 

More precisely, he would call her like this: 

....and she started answering to it. So now her name is Phillip. 

She's the exact same age as Indy and we adopted her from Petsmart :) A lot of you are probably surprised that my facebook didn't explode with kitten excitement when we adopted her, because I'm me and yay kitties, but there's a method to the madness. I wanted her to have a name before she became FBO...and then we didn't know if we were going to be able to keep her. 

The shelter we got her from fixed her before they put her up for adoption but she was really really young - only 3 months! She had a little bit of swelling on her stomach around her incision but everyone told me it was normal, and even though I was super skeptical we went ahead and adopted her and I just made an appointment with the vet to get her sutures taken out and let them look at it. We took her, and found out that she had a hernia and would need an $800 operation. Um, no. Help me, I'm poor. The vet told me to call the adoption agency because it should technically be their responsibility since it was a preexisting condition, and they then contacted the local SPCA who said they would take care of the surgery. So I woke up at the crack of dawn one morning to drive her to the far side of the Springs and drop her off, and then picked her up that evening only to find out that she hadn't had surgery because she didn't actually have a hernia. -_________- It was just a sack of 'fibrous tissue' that would probably always be there but was in no way harmful to her. The next morning, I woke up and the knot was completely gone. -_________-  Moral of the story, sometimes vets are dumb, better safe than sorry, and yay I have a healthy kitty. 

So here is Phillip, making her internet debut. 

Here she is meeting Indy for the first time. 

 Don't be deceived. They aren't necessarily cuddling in these pictures - he very well might be biting her head. This is a frequent occurrence. 

Phillip does like Indy, but she is very selective about her playtime with him. Mostly because he's a mega douche and does stuff like this to her when left unattended for .5 seconds. 

Or eat through the box/house we made her so that the hole went from being Phillip-sized to Half-Of-Indy-Sized...

So other than having to be continually on guard for her life, Phillip lives a pretty chill cat life. 

She likes to watch TV...

...Nap...

...Sprawl/Lounge...

& sleep ridiculously close to my face while purring unnecessarily loud. 

I learned my lesson about trying to throw her off the bed though, because the first week she was here I tried and ended up with this...

You win, Phillip. You win. 

And now, Indy. This is Indy. :) 

Indy got his name (also from Sam) from our Highschool Mascot, the Waxahachie Indians. We also liked the fact that both Texas and Waxahachie were Native American words so that also tied his name back to Texas. I personally like to think of his name as a pop culture reference...you know...Indiana Jones? He went by Indy and his 'name' was Indiana, but you find out in the third one from his father that that's not his real name at all and that he named himself after the dog. Eh? Eh???? It's probably just me, and that's perfectly ok haha. 

Sometimes, Indy is ridiculously cute. 

THOSE BLUE EYES ♥  

That one's especially cute because it's after his first professional bath. But don't be fooled! He looks peaceful now, but Indy hates baths. We thought that maybe he would like them better if we got in the tub with him, because he's ALWAYS putting the entire upper half of his body in the bath/shower with me....NOPE. Still hates them. Exhibit A. 

(Sam is wearing a swimsuit in this.) 

I would say, on Indy's hierarchy of love, that bathing is probably at the very bottom. It's alongside vacuums, not getting to eat Phillip, not being allowed to go see every single person who crosses his line of site, and men wearing hoodies. 

That being said, Indy's hierarchy of love is VERY clearly defined. 

1. Snow.

2. Snow. 

3. Snow. 

No, but really. 

He even likes watching it fall. 

4. Food. All kinds of food. Dog food. Cat Food. Cat Poop. People food (including chips, coffee, sweet tea, bread, nuts, pizza, bagels, pickles, chicken, anything else he steals and dashes away with). AND PEANUT BUTTER - his totes fav. 

5. Eating Phillip. 

6. Chewing everything. Carpet. Wooden things. His toys. Stuffed animals (even ones that aren't his). Kitchen chairs. He doesn't discriminate. 

7. People. Namely, me and Sam. However, any and all of these things will immediately lose their pleasurability if he or I are not in the room - he is noooot having it. But he ignores us when we're there and has no interest in interacting with us except for the occasional chew and needing things haha. 

Every once in a blue moon, Indy likes to cuddle... 

...but its only when he's bored or annoyed that we're not being more active. See? He even looks huffy in the picture. 

But Indy's biggest flaw is that he's so freakin' cute and has been his whole life...and he knows it. I mean, seriously... 

So basically, I love them both even when they are jerks and I hate them. Indy is a jerk more often than Philip, but he doesn't sleep on my face to it balances out. Be prepared for future posts to be filled with their exploits and adventures. 

Love y'all! :)

"Wheresoever you go, go with all of your heart." - Confucious

So......this blog is a long time coming isn't it? But if we pretend like I didn't say I was going to start one the second week after I moved here....it's new and exciting! So let's just start from there :)

Henceforth, this shall be a blog about all of the fantastic, not-so-fantastic, and incredibly mundane things that I do in the beautiful state of Colorado. Also about my dog. Because, let's be honest, his exploits are much more interesting and entertaining than mine currently are. And he's totes cuter. Look at those eyes.

In general, Colorado has been pretty good to me since we made the great move, but I guess I should start at the beginning! After graduation and way too many horribly sad "see you laters",  after all of the holiday festivities and family events, after driving to Ft. Worth on the icy night of death and watching the Falcons play in the Armed Forces Bowl, and after some anticipated, but still frustrating,  underestimation of how big a Uhaul it would take to hold all of Ellen's crap, Sam, Mom, Doug & I left Waxahachie, TX on December 30th to start our mid-winter trek to Colorado.

Mom, Doug, & Indy were in my awesome new car and Sam was behind the wheel of the Uhaul. I was coloring.  We had our choice between two routes, and an executive decision was made that Oklahoma was much safer than the mountains - which is probably completely true when attempting to navigate a uhaul - unless an unanticipated ice-pocolypse occurs. GUESS WHAT HAPPENED -_- I'll explain in photos - they're worth 1000 words. 

Texas Panhandle...... 

...and then OKLAHOMA -_- 

(notice how in this picture...you can't tell what's road and what's not) 

On the plus side, Indy's first snow prints! 

But all's well that ends well, and we arrived in Colorado Springs safely on New Years eve and now we have a great traveling story to tell people. I mean 15+ hours would have been really boring if it was completely uneventful. Coloring can only help so much. 

My new apartment/townhome is lovely and everything that I had hoped it would be. There was some major landlord drama when I first moved in, but after I wrote him a strongly worded, but ever so polite letter and sent it certified mail to his bossy self he seemed to see things more my way. I don't think that replacing the broken mailbox lock or asking him to put weather stripping on the inch wide gap underneath the front door that was letting out the heat and letting in snow and cold air is too unreasonable, but I think he considered it kin to an act of congress (which is an even more appropriate analogy than usual considering how much congress sucks right now). 

Yes, that is my car that can be seen through the gap. 

However, door & mailbox issues fixed and set aside, I really do love my new place. There reason I am not including any pictures is because .... I haven't finished unpacking. Anyone who ever saw my room at Copper Beech will understand that this is not unusual for me. I just .... want to take it out of the box and put it exactly where it is supposed to go and then never move it, and apparently that is an unreasonable unpacking assumption haha. So the perfectionist inside of me (which, let's be honest, is like the dormant dragon right beneath the surface of my personality) just leaves the boxes there, until I have innumerable hours during which I can do it all in one sitting. Which is like never. Except when Sam is home to watch Indy and he is the antithesis of helpful when it comes to unpacking. I forsee many partially unpacked houses in our future as a military family haha. REGARDLESS, I made some pretty good strides last weekend and Sam and I actually put up pictures frames and wall decorations in the living room, so have faith. Pictures of the finished product are not too far in the future. 

Let's see...other important things to note....

1. We have a cat. Her name is Phillip. Yes, I did say her. More to come on her in the future haha. 

2. I have a bartending license! Wait, what? I know some of you are probably completely dumfounded since I'm not very secretive about my disdain for alcohol and the fact that I never drink - but think about it for a second. I memorize things ridiculously easy and can hold a lengthy conversation with a brick wall. Perfect side job? Bartending. Makes since, right? 

I am still pursuing other, degree relevant, careers of course. I actually have an application out to a job thats on base (perfect!) which would literally be the most ideal situation. But I've run into a lot of roadblocks hunting in the social services field because A. I'm not currently enrolled in a masters program and B. I'm not 21 yet. Who would have thought graduating early would be the opposite of encouraging to potential employers/volunteer supervisors. So I have applications and feelers out there, but I am definitely not above like working at Old Navy and Bartending until I start grad school this summer. Experience is definitely nice, but money is money. 

3. My address is: 

2293 Golden Gate Grv 

Colorado Springs, Co 80918

if anyone decides they want to send me mail or something. :) 

Alright, I'll end this one here. Love & miss y'all!