...to Texas?
A year ago a friend moved down to Dallas. She and I knew each other back in Kent, we were baptized together in fact. She was a Senior in high school while I was a lowly seventh grader, so her gracious friendship toward me is still remembered. She was the first of the Pacific NW friends-turned-Texas Resident.
Christie & Calia--the cool September day we were baptized in Lake Retreat, WA. (not a warm lake)
Then, you might remember this post a few months ago. I found Kaitlin randomly while I was visiting a church service...turned out to be her church. We had breakfast together and talked about hanging out more...and by the next time we got together, Kayla had found us on facebook. She and Kaitlin and I went to SPU together, lived in the same dorm, and share other random connections. And then, icing on the cake: Michelle was here for 2 months for job training, so we had some good reunion time.
Calia, Kaitlin, Kayla, and Michelle @ Amigos in Dallas.
But the latest, and the biggest surprise so far...2 weeks ago another friend, Camille, found me on facebook, and it was a friend from the good ol' high school days at Kent-Meridian. We ended up having lunch and hanging out yesterday and catching up the past 10 years. (yep...ten year reunion was last September, and we haven't talked since graduation). Loads of fun, we've got more plans to play (read: sew aprons) again soon, and over lunch we shared stories of being homesick for the PacNW (especially now that the weather here is so nasty and over 100 degrees for 2 weeks so far).
She's been here for nearly 8 years, and I've only been here 2.5 years, however that could have been 2.5 years where each of us would have had another friend in Texas, and we live about 15-20 minutes away from each other. She's new on facebook, which is why we found each other so late. But, in our conversation yesterday, we realized that we have a mutual friend who at least somewhere in the back of his mind knew that both of us live in this area, and could have pointed that out to one of us and saved us those 2.5 years worth of missed friendship-hanging out time! I won't name him, since some of you loyal blog readers might know who this friend is, but his initials are: I(an) S(hafer). (couldn't resist--sorry).
Anyway, this year has been interesting and good, I feel like I finally have my first Texas friend, but I am also extremely surprised with how many people I know from home have surfaced down here in the Texas scene. What is it about Texas? Why does it seem to be sucking in pacific northwesterners? Recent conversations about this have confirmed that it might not have much of a draw, but for some: the job market, for others: school, and for still others, a significant other...the cheaper cost of living, better housing market are a couple of reasons people have stayed.
So, Here's my question to the blog readers: What would it take for you to move to Texas? What would be the draw? What would make you consider it? I'm just curious about how many of you would move here, and for what reasons, under what circumstances? Post your answers in the comments...I have a theory, which I might share at a later date--after some postings prove me correct or wrong. Perhaps this will turn into a more interesting research topic, but for now it's just plain fun curiosity!
