This blog thing

As my user name says, I’m a Yankee living in Texas. I grew up in Massachusetts and spent the majority of my formative years there, left and went to college in Virginia, moved to France after graduation, moved back to Virginia after a year (was only a yearlong gig anyway), and then moved here to Texas after 3 years in Northern Virginia. So this is my perspective on life in Texas and the major differences. (Lots of things really are bigger here!) I love Texas and don’t want to live anywhere else. (Other than Europe.)
We originally moved down here due to Northern Virginia being crazy-expensive and just being tired of the whole scene there. That still stands true. (We being me and my boyfriend, hereafter known as The Boy.) He’s a native Texan and just couldn’t get used to the crazy go-go-go pace and the yuppies and the general attitudes of the area. I don’t think DC was the best introduction to Northern ways as it’s its own beast but that’s the way it worked.
He moved from the countryside to the city of Alexandria, VA. A huge change. An even bigger change was realizing that our dinky little 700 square foot apartment that didn’t even have washer and dryer hookups was costing us $900 a month, and that was considered a rather good deal. The snow helped to soften the blow as he really does like the cold, strange for someone who comes from a place known for the 100 degree days during the spring, summer, and parts of the fall. He found a job working for people who has spent time in Texas (one of them was actually a Texan) and that helped things. Plus the restaurant served (and still does) really good food. (Fireflies)
But all that just wasn’t enough. I was bored at my job (receptionist at a law firm- any other job doing more work involved a pay cut- yeah haven’t figured that one out yet but that’s DC for ya.) and his job was ok but we never knew how much his tips were going to be. It was hard to save as everything was just so expensive. So one day, after looking for houses in the NoVa area and being mind boggled by the outrageous prices, I decided to look at houses in San Antonio. And I was stunned at the price difference. They cost two-thirds less and had the same amenities. So I decided that we would move to Texas.
The Boy was stunned at this revelation, as it had come from me, Ms. Die Hard Yankee. But I was tired of the cold, tired of my job, and tired of struggling. I didn’t want to move back to Massachusetts so Texas sounded good. And we had a place to stay in Texas- his parents’ house. They weren’t living there as their job forced them to be on location a lot. So we could live rent free for a while as long as we kept up the house. Not a bad deal. So we moved. And thus began my life in Texas.
I love it here. I’m making a bit less but have a better job. Our apartment/townhouse (it’s a fourplex) is bigger, has a yard, and is much cheaper than our VA place. Our expenses are less and we’ve actually been able to save money. We should have done this ages ago. I love this place.
Gym Stats: Some weights- arms, legs, 35-40 minutes on the elliptical
Food: 2 packets of instant oatmeal, leftovers from dinner last night- brats and mac and cheese, homemade tacos for dinner. Maybe a Skinny Cow for dessert.