What I like about Texas....so far

Mr. Hunt and I are really liking it here in Texas so far. We haven't had too much time to do much since he is working everyday and we have only been here for two weekends, but there are a few things that I love about Austin so far (or that make me feel "at home" or "normal") Most of these are very silly, but hey, they count right?

• They have Outback Steakhouse here. I was so happy when I saw one, you know I can't live without the cheese fries, even when I'm on a diet. I'm not sure why I would have thought there wasn't an Outback, but I cheered when I saw one, and yes, we already went to eat there. 
• There is an Ikea here! Thank you baby Jesus! To make it even netter, its only 15 minutes from my house. Can I get a wooo woooo?
• You know my obsession for Mexican food right? Well, we ARE in Texas, and there are a TON of Mexican places to eat. Holy YUM! Everywhere you turn, there is a Mexican restaurant. 
• You know I also love hot weather, and Texas has a lot to share already. When I first got here two weeks ago, I kept dressing for the day in jeans and long sleeve shirts which was what I was wearing in Charlotte. Then I would go out to the grocery store, sweat my butt off, and get strange looks from others wearing sun dresses like "why are you wearing that?" 
• I LOVE country music, and again, we ARE in Texas. There is live country music everywhere. Country music just puts a smile on my face, so you could imagine me with a perma-smile 24/7
• Everything is bigger in Texas right? Well order a sweet tea (which I love) and get this

my very own pitcher....ahhhhhh! You wouldn't think this was a big deal, but it is a BIG deal to me.

• Mr. Hunt and I were so sad to leave or family in North and South Carolina, but we do have family here too! Well, they are both in San Antonio, but that's only an hour and a half away. Mr. Hunts Aunt and Uncle live there, and my cousin and her family live there too. So if we are ever feeling like we need a little family time, they are just a short drive away.
• There are animals everywhere. Horses, Cows, Goats, etc. Mr. Hunt and I laugh about it all the time because when we were on our honeymoon we met a couple from Texas. When we drove by some cows on the side of the road I freaked out and said "Baby Cows!!!" I was so excited! The Texas couple didn't seem phased at all. The woman turned to me and said "Its a calf." So now Mr. Hunt and I say that sooner or later we won't be phased by the baby cows, OR the calfs. 
• I'm a stay at home mom. I thought about calling myself a stay at home wife, but I'm a mommy to two fur babies, and they take up most of my time during the day. I love it so far, and so do they. Before when we both worked, I was constantly stressed about our house being dirty, laundry not getting done, who will cook, etc. But now, I do it all and when Mr. Hunt comes home we have "us" time, and the fur babies are so tired. No nagging him to help around the house or anything, and no crazy fur babies that have been couped up in the crate all day. I think he loves it too. Although Ive only been doing this for two weeks and most of the time I'm unpacking boxes. I may get bored being at home all the time in the future and have to get a fun part time job or something, but for now, I'm content. 
• The shopping here is awesome. Besides the Ikea 15 minutes away, I have TWO Super Targets within 5 minutes from my house. Yes, I said two, and they both are SUPER targets! Also, every craft store you can think of is so close too. There is a HUGE mall about 10 minutes away, and there is a HUGE outlet mall about 45 minutes away. I'm in love. 
• Rudy's and Bar-B-Que in general. Just like Mexican food here in Texas, there are a TON of Bar-B-Que places too. We heard that one of the best was a chain called Rudy's. So we went to try it. My first impression was questionable because they are all located in gas stations. hmmmmmm. Well, I was WAY wrong. We went in and said that we had never been there before and right away they all yelled "Welcome to Rudy's" and brought out samples of each meat they offered. What you do it just tell them what meat and how much in weight you want. We both got a half pound of brisket. Then they give you as many pieces of sliced white bread you want. As they say "Bread is complimentary." Then they put it all in a basket with plastic forks and knifes, nations, and sheets of paper. The paper is your plate, they said "we don't like to do dishes." It was a fun experience, and yummy food, so we will be back.

• There is so much to do here. We have already gone downtown to the Farmers Market and walk around downtown. There was a Kite Festival (that we didn't make it to) that seemed fun. There is an open air market with crafts, live music, and shopping here in Cedar Park every Sunday. We haven't made it there yet, but it sounds fun. There was a festival called "Taste of Round Rock" where restaurants in Round Rock (15 minutes from Cedar Park) come and you can sample their food. Mr. Hunt and I went and it was good! You know how much we both love food. It was super crowded and very windy that night, but we enjoyed ourselves and learned of some great restaurants to go to already. They gave us trays to get as much food as we could

And it was located at the local Baseball Field

Like I said, it was SO windy that night, even our grill blew over! It was kind of scary!

There are a ton more things that I find awesome and fun about Texas, this is just a small list. Remember, Ive only been here for two weeks.

Now, there are some things that I'm missing already, but Ill have to make it a fun thing to treat myself to when I got back to North and South Carolina. 

• There is NO BOJANGLES! Oh Please help me!!! Its funny the things you miss when you can't have it, kind of like you always seem to want Chick-fil-a on Sundays. I never really ate Bojangles that much when I lived in Columbia or Charlotte, but their Cajun Fillet Biscuit is the death of me. If I could eat something everyday for breakfast and NOT get fat, it would be that. Now I'm on a mission to find a good spicy chicken biscuit, and NO chick-fil-a's is not the same.
• As much as I was so happy to have that JUG of sweet tea brought to me at the restaurant, the sad news is is that not every restaurant here has sweet tea. I was so confused and taken back when I was told this by a waiter that I was speechless. I'm serious, Mr. Hunt had to order for me, he said "She'll just have water." Then when the waiter walked away, Mr. Hunt picked my jaw up from the floor, wiped my tears, and gave me a hug. JK, it wasn't like that, but I really was shocked! Now I just cross my fingers when I'm craving sweet tea that they have it and then make some of my own for at home. You know whats going to be really bad and a day that will go down in history? When I go to a restaurant and order a sweet tea, they say "we only have unsweet" and then I say "that's OK, Ill have coke instead," and they say "is Pepsi OK?" Please Lord, give me the strength to not rip that waiters head off, it won't be their fault. Maybe I should warn Mr. Hunt.
• Again, with the good (all the Mexican restaurants) there is also some bad. There is NO white queso here. Its yellow? Ive always thought of the yellow queso as the cheap kind. This was actually more devastating than the sweet tea, if you could imagine that. Oh no, what if the whole drink scenario happens at a Mexican restaurant while I'm craving white queso..that would be bad!
• All the roads are toll roads. Well, not all of them, but a lot of them are. We even had to invest already in this thing called the TxTag where we just put money on there and every time we go through the toll it deducts from that amount so that we don't have to carry change around all the time, because who has cash anymore these days? Also, the roads and highways here are weird. I'm just now learning how to drive on them. There are roads called feeders that run along side of the highways and there are weird u-turn things...see? I really don't even know how to explain them...sorry. 
• It seems that Mr. Hunt and I both have allergies since moving here. We have never really been affected by pollen or any type of allergy, but now we do. We both have sore throats....but that's about it, but a sore throat can really ruin your day. I'm not sure what is different here than the east coast specifically, but we did hear on the radio that we are in a high allergy week? Whatever that means. 
• The thing that really stinks the most is not having family here. Ill complain about it until we move back closer one day. There isn't much to say here but that we love our family too much and being far away already stinks.

OK, so that's it right now. If you read till the end of this loooong post..thanks! That means you love me. I really didn't think this post would be so long, I just kept thinking of more and more stuff. 

Love,

Texan