"Welcome to H-Town..."

For Christmas I gave Trav a Trip to Houston, Texas where he served in the THE mission of the church ( Texas Houston East) he wanted me to add that. I got the plane tickets clear back in October and it was all I could do to keep it a secret.. but I did it! It was so fun to be there with him, to see the love he has for that city and the people he served. I was even more touched to see how these people ADORED him! It was a great trip and a much needed getaway for sure. The plane trips were a litte rough for both of us but we lived through it. If you know Trav and I you know what I am talking about. While in Houston I learned a lot of things so I compiled a list of 10 (its the list person in me I guess.)

1. Even if these people aren't rich temporally they are rich with happiness. The people that we met in Trav's areas were some of the most kind, generous and fun loving people. Everyone we met asked when we were moving down there and made sure we knew that they had a spare room we could live in. I declined but I was touched ha!

2. Gumbo is an aquired taste.. but I loved giving it a try! While staying with the Lucas', a member family Trav was lucky enough to serve with, Monnie taught me to make her famous gumbo. It is quite the task and she even added in shrimp and crab, Trav's favorite! We even had catfish the first night we were there and I loved that! The Lucas' were the most amazing couple and we had a blast hanging out with them for a couple days.

3.Houston is HUGE! I guess I never realized what a big city Travis served in, but I was shocked. I loved downtown and going site seeing and in and out of the underground tunnels. For once in my life I felt like the minority and I loved it! I loved the diversity of Houston.

4. Only Texans can say ya'll the right way. Believe me I tried and was sadly shut down. I fell in love with the accents of the majority of the people. It kinda allowed me to slow down and actually listen to people. I loved the way people described things, I was kinda jealous of their accents to be honest. Some of my favorite words were, fixin, piddlin' and piddle-tootin!

5. Texans LOVE Texas. Never have I been somewhere where the state flag flies higher than the American flag. The shape of Texas is everywhere and nobody is affraid to tell you that Texas could break away from the United States whenever they want!

6. Bluebell Ice cream really is as good as Trav claimed. It has that homemade taste and flavor that I love, too bad it is only a Texan thing. I was also introduced to kolaches, which is kinda like a pig in a blanket but with really soft bread and cheese and I actually preferred ham in mine. Don't worry we are investing in a gym pass this week thanks to our food intake on this trip!

7. The church in Houston is the real thing. The members in Houston are strong, because they have to be. While visiting a ward in Silsbee I noticed the strength and happiness of the members. They went out of their way to introduce themselves to the "missionary's wife", I was amazed. Life is a lot simpler there, we could learn a lot from them.

8.Hurricanes are real, they really do destroy everything in their path. I couldn't believe that these people have evacuated 2 and 3 times in the last 4 years. Some of them coming back to seriously damaged homes and for some nothing. But many of them wouldn't live anywhere else, they LOVE Houston. It is amazing the way people just start over and rebuild, they just make it work.

9. Everyone has at least 2 dogs. I swear dogs are like children over there, nobody has just one dog. Some people treat their dogs like they are people and would probably die for those things. Sometimes it was overwhelming to walk in a house and have 2 or 3 dogs all over you. Travis was used to it from being a missionary but that was something I never got used while we were there. It is kinda funny to look back on now, but at the moment all I wanted to do is wash my hands ha!

10. Houston is also known as "H-Town". I learned that from a friendly, large african american man with a gold front tooth. He said " Where ya'll from?" and when I said Utah he said, " Well ya'll welcome to H-Town, hope ya'll will love the south." I died laughing, he was such a nice guy. He had this huge coat on, the high that day was probably 35 and you would think the people thought that Hell had frozen over. They were freezing their butts off!

We loved our week there! Stay tuned for the picture portion of our trip..