That time I was called 'Sugar Lips' aka our time in Texas

Hey, y’all, Kindra here!

Yep, we’ve been in Texas for about a week now, and needless to say, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

I first understood that things were slightly different in TX vs CA when we stopped at our first gas station just outside of Austin, and a trucker next to me said, “Hey, I see you have California plates! You’re a long way from home, sugar lips.” ..........Having never been called sugar lips in my life before, and with Austin in the bathroom, I had no social preparation for this moment whatsoever, and mainly attempted to not laugh at him. *successfully* We continued to sense only slight differences as we journeyed deeper into the heart of Tx. Like when we how the majority of people crowding the local bars had hats that could fit a small animal underneath matching their jean belt buckle, or how we saw more Christian religious signs than we had in our entire life during the drive from El Paso to Austin, including my personal favorite: ‘Vote God’s Values: Pro Traditional Marriage, Pro Israel, Pro Life. Do your candidates match God’s values?” Yeeeeeeeeeeah, pretty sure that sign couldn’t have been put up anywhere in California. Anywhere. Ever.

During our stay in Texas, we have been to most of the major cities, starting in El Paso, then Austin, Houston, Dallas and Arlington, visiting friends and family on the way.

After our visit with the Dagens in El Paso,  we got to explore Austin with a best friend from college, Caroline, and her awesome boyfriend Dan, along with one of Austin teammates from Turkey, Rachel. We got to stay at Caroline’s parents house, complete with our own bedroom and bathroom- which, needless to say, coming directly from tent camping at Carlsbad Caverns, was quite the luxury. After visiting the beautiful state capital building (where we learned that Texas has the right to secede from the US anytime they like with no ramifications, which by that point did not surprise us one bit), UT campus, and having coffee at Mozart’s Cafe by Lake Austin, we felt pretty familiar with the city, and were understanding why people were raving about Austin so much. After we went out to get drinks, see live music and played oversized games like Jenga, the understanding was complete. *As a side note, the whole joke of Austin’s name being the same as Austin the city has been pretty fun to milk, from the ‘Keep Austin Weird’ movement to people saying ‘Austin is so great!’*

rockin the gigantic Jenga with Caroline and Dan

wonderful local coffee shop by Lake Austin

Hanging with Rachel at Lake Austin

by the infamous 'Hi, How Are You' frog downtown

With the Texan air permeating our nostrils more and more, and having the new fear/understanding/shock that tons of people here really DO carry loaded guns on themselves ALL the time, we headed out to Houston to stay with the Messarra’s, other teammates of Austin’s from Turkey. After having an amazing Turkish meal in the city where Austin dressed up as a Turkish man for Halloween and we were serenaded by a local singer, we thankfully got to play in their pool-really not sure how it’s 75/80 F with significant humidity in November, and how it’s possible to survive in the summer, but apparently it happens all the time. Not only did we get to fulfill on our Spades fix for the year, but Nate, a professional wedding etc. photographer,  took the time to show Austin the ropes of photography, since we’re considering buying a nicer camera for our world trip just around the corner. And, just for kicks, we took the hour drive down to poke our toes in the warm, beautiful Gulf of Mexico before we left, and visited the COOLEST Trader Joes ever! It's in a converted old movie theater, and every part of the store has some part of old Hollywood glamour attached to it, with advertisements for products all shown on converted old classic movie posters, such as "Scone with the Wind" on the Gone with the Wind movie poster, with a subtitle "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a jam." Good stuff.

The Messarra's showcase the infamous 'Turkim', a stuffed M&M that has been around the world through various teammates from Turkey, that we will now bring with us for part of our travels

They also had a Jaws movie poster that said 'Joes' instead =)

From Houston, we hit the road yet again to Dallas, making a special stop on the way to have a delightful lunch with some family friends, Harold and Lisa, then continued to stay with good friends from college, Cory and Jessica. (And their adorable year old dog, Kahlua, who we both fell absolutely in LOOVE with!) We had a blast in Dallas-going to the local Farmer’s Market, checking out the new park in the middle of downtown providing free games/books/newspapers, countless Hearts games, and incredible Texan/Southern home/buffet style cooking Celebration. Seriously, if you're in Dallas, go, it's amazing local, fresh, and a great deal to boot.

Playing Batche ball at the awesome park downtown

Finally, feeling thoroughly Tex-ified, we got to meet up with my stepbrother Will and his girlfriend Denissa, stepsister Danielle, and meet my adorable nephew Nathan and niece Emma for the first time! We had so much fun getting breakfast then heading to a local park, where we had a playground themed obstacle course, which, incidentally, I won by 1 second =) 

The whole gang, L-R: Emma, Danielle, me, Austin, Nathan, Will, Denissa

having lots of fun at the park

We have had such an amazing time in Texas, and have so enjoyed re connecting and spending time with family and friends along the way. We already finding ourselves heading to Arkansas to visit  some Turkish friends. Am I going to incorporate “y’all”
 into my daily vocabulary? Perhaps...it is pretty convenient to only say 1 word instead of 2. I guess that’s for me to know and you to find out.