So long, Dallas

I can’t believe that our time here is over.  It truly feels like we just arrived.  Apart from the sweltering summer heat and severe lack of large beautiful trees,  this place has been amazing and one of the top cities on my personal list of approved places to live.  Here’s what I discovered about Dallas and the surrounding Metroplex:

1.) There’s tons to do and see inside the city as well as the other towns around it (hence, the Metroplex).  Dallas alone has countless activities such as social events (concerts and outdoor movies in the park), rodeos, museums, historical sites (JFK shooting and George W. Bush library), various districts (food, art, music), great restaurants, etc.

Concert and outdoor movie in the park

Rodeo

Cattle herd in downtown Fort Worth

2.) It’s conservative, which means that I don’t cringe when I see children walking around for fear that their little eyes or ears might witness something before their time.  (But really, I’m concerned about myself as well, because honestly, I’d rather not see or hear things that aren’t going to add to the enrichment of my life either.)

3.) TEX-MEX!  This place knows how to cook up some awesome Tex-Mex loaded with unnecessary carbs and fats that are totally worth the extra 30 minutes on the treadmill!  San Jose and Monterrey’s ain’t got nothin on this place!

4.) Dallas is quite close to other great cities like Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.  Josh and I never made it to Houston, but it was great to be able to jump in the car for a few hours and hit some major landmarks!

Barton Springs in Austin

The Alamo in San Antonio

5.) Church.  I haven’t written much about the church we attend, but it really has been such a blessing to us!  The first week we attended, the pastor and his wife talked with us for awhile.  The next week, they came up to us and remembered our names and continued to build that relationship.  It seems like everyone there was like that.  Every week, I didn’t have to try too hard to be sociable, because other staff and members would just come up and start a conversation.  It is such a warm place full of people who are loving and welcoming.  Not only that, but I truly witnessed the Church.  People serving one another, loving one another, sacrificing, mentoring, praying, etc.  It was so great to see it, especially in the Bible Belt where it can be hit or miss a lot of times.  So, New Community Church (especially the staff and my Community Group), thank you for your ministry to us and others!  You truly blew me away.

Our Community Group made us “We will miss y’all” cupcakes!

  

I truly love this motley crew!

 

 

6.) Lastly, Dallas (and, from what I’ve seen, Texas in general) happens to be a place where people still know how to be respectful and kind.  I have maybe run into a handful of people who were grumpy or rude, but as a whole, the people here are just plain nice.  I mean, I grew up in the South where people make eye contact and smile and make small talk just to prove they’re not cold, but this is a whole new level…and it seems more genuine (even if it’s not) than good ol’ SC!  Strangers give us services or stuff for free, almost all the men open the door for ladies, and even if you have a difficult issue or complicated situation, people will go out of their way to make sure that it’s resolved.  This is a place wear businessmen and policemen wear their 10 gallon hats and cowboy boots to work, where the cashiers at Wal-mart (even the young ones!) smile and talk to you while at the checkout, and where people make you feel like a respectable human being rather than a nuisance.

A mini-cowboy

Yep, I think it’s safe to say that I’m truly going to miss Texas.  I like that this is the place where I learned that I am more capable than I thought.  I like that this is the place where I finally felt like I was married.  And, I like that it took me being in this place to realize how incredibly blessed I am by my Provider and Defender to have the people and experiences in my life that I do.  Thank you, Dallas.  It’s been great.