registered texan over here, y’all!
i for some reason am having a hard time accepting that i’m 75% a registered texan. i spent entirely too long yesterday getting my car registered in texas and getting very official texan plates! please don’t tell the ‘officials’ that i’m a few days past the ’30 days to register your car’ deadline. shhh. i have to finish off the other 25% by standing at the line in the DMV for my license (eek)!
it was somewhat traumatic for me to remove our oregon plates because that is where 4 amazing years of our lives were spent. the trauma didn’t so much come from the fact that the metal plates were 105 degrees, it was where i got my masters in social work, where ravery and i truly learned the value of each and every dollar, the city that helped our relationship grow leaps and bounds. this is also the city that encouraged intense recycling, weirdness and amazing food/coffee. goodbye fun oregon plates…i will most likely hide you somewhere in my closet where my husband won’t find you and call out my hoarding tendencies.
now that i’m thinking about it, i experienced this same sense of sadness and intensity when i changed my colorado plates to oregon plates and look at all the fun things i’ve listed that oregon brought us (i could create a 39042 long list). so here’s what i’ve enjoyed about texas so far: the fact that we are near family, the sun, some of the friendliest people, the sunsets, that my curls like the humidity (the rest of me doesn’t), and my access to amazing tex-mex food. OH and the ability to start our own business (more on that tomorrow).
have you ever moved to a new state? it’s kind of a big deal to get everything switched over there and as you can tell…i’ve procrastinated it until essentially the last minute. thanks overwhelming anxiety and denial. however, i was extremely relieved when i walked into car registration place and they had this handy booklet (ignore the my husband’s crumpled white shirt in the background…unpacking suitcases is one of my least favorite things from our weekend trip):
i’m not making this book up. this was sitting there and it was actually really helpful AND pretty funny. the first sentence in the book reads “if you stand six-foot-five, ride a big white horse, and can wrestle a tornado to the ground, congratulations!-you’ve just been named a member in good standing of the hearty, resourceful and friendly people the world refers to as texans, and we’re proud to have you among us. however, should you fail to meet any of the above qualifications, be not concerned. Simply perform the simple tasks outlined on the following pages…”
this was hilarious to read until the 7th time i read it in my 2 hour line…less funny but still…you should see it! i think i may send it to one lucky commenter because i just need someone else to appreciate the hilarity of the little book! after completing (and hoping that i had brought all the right documents because wooowheee some people were getting mad), they give you this sticker:
the “put texas in your corner” is asking you to put your vehicle registration on the corner windshield of your car because they don’t have little stickers that go on the plate. it may also be a movie reference.
once the lady handed this to me, i looked at her and said “is this for real?! you all have stickers?!” and she said “first of all, start saying ‘y’all’ and yes, of course we do.” there are obviously a lot of things i still have to learn about being a registered texan.
the other exciting thing that happened yesterday…my husband came running home after a very short walk with the dogs and was cradling this little frog! he ran all the way home just to show me and yes, we both got overly excited for too long. have you ever seen such a teeny, tiny, baby frog!? i haven’t. my father-in-law held up a penny for reference.
here’s another one of the 30 pictures i took. look at those little froggie legs! i’m telling you…things that are supposed to be bigger and then are super small or miniaturized…i love. this falls beautifully into this category.
that’s another thing i like about texas-the different wildlife (and that our skin is no longer the color of skim milk). so here’s to us being 75% registered texans for the next few weeks and stay tuned for tomorrow when i reveal why we shall only be here a few more weeks (unless you follow me on Twitter or we are facebook friends…then you already know some of it)!
i really am going to send someone the hilarious booklet and a ‘registered texan’ sticker so leave a comment below and a lucky winner will get a little texan care package from me, a registered texan (and the department of motor vehicles)!
the new wifestyle: change can be healthy, it’s all about perspective.
questions (feel free to answer any/all or leave a comment)
1) have you ever lived in other states (or countries) other than where you were born? how was the adjustment?
2) what’s a neat animal/living thing that your state has?
3) do you put bumper stickers on your car?
Vivien
August 29, 2013 at 5:44 pm
hey chelsea! just wanted to say when I looked at your Oregon plates, the last three letters almost looked like the end of “Texan!” (okay, minus the letter a). So, maybe a little foreshadowing to where you are now? 🙂
1) My parents made that decision for us, I was so young I just accepted that as a fact and went along for the ride…and here I am 🙂
2) I have no clue…all sorts of bears and cougars? And racoons though I doubt that is unique…
3) Nope. I’m very commitment-phobe and minimalist that way…also part of the reason why I have no tattoos.
chelsea
August 30, 2013 at 9:33 am
whoa. mind blown over here vivien-you are right about the end of my oregon plates! now i need to go dissect my new plates and see what that may foreshadow. there are bears there?! i am going to keep my eyes out for that in january-amazing! i feel you on the whole “committing” to stickers on the cars….however i somehow am not when it comes to tattoos because i am prepared to say “well, that’s who i was then and that’s a part of me know” if for some reason i ever freak out about my tattoos-ha!
chelsea
August 31, 2013 at 11:14 am
VIVIEN!!! you are the lucky winner from my http://www.random.org test! send me an email chelsea@thenewwifestyle.com with your address and a little texan care package will make it’s way to canada! 🙂
Heather Hawkins
August 29, 2013 at 5:46 pm
1) I have lived too many places in too short of a time. I think the hardest adjusting I’ve ever done is REadjusting to the city I grew up in. Its the fact that little minor things have changed. Things you KNOW are always there…aren’t. A place you KNOW where to get coffee….now sucks. Ouch.
2) I don’t think there is anything that interesting in Missouri but Nick hadn’t really ever seen a squirrel in person so that made him very happy!
3) NO! They bother me. I like it when others have them. I do not like it on mine. Maybe because my feelings and thoughts on things are very mercurial.
chelsea
August 30, 2013 at 9:37 am
ohhh interesting heather-i have yet to REadjust to the city i grew up in but i know that will be craaaazy. that will also be intense to know certain things should be there and they aren’t. don’t even get my started and crappy coffee. gr.
that’s so cool that nick got excited about a squirrel! back in colorado ravery totally freaked out when he saw a real life prairie dog. i’m with you on liking bumper stickers on other cars.
Claire Bickel
August 29, 2013 at 5:55 pm
1. Lifelong Washingtonian, however I did study abroad and have not only memorized my Danish-equivalent to a social security number, but also kept my card just in case I ever found myself legally residing there again. They have free healthcare!
2. Sasquatch?
3. Nope. I did manage to put a window cling on backward once. I figured I should stay away from the permanent things after that incident.
chelsea
August 30, 2013 at 9:41 am
haha claire-i quite literally laughed out loud with your comment of ‘sasquach’ well done! and wow! you are impressive with memorizing the danish SSN and i’m glad you’ve kept it because who knows what the future brings-especially with free heath care. and those dang window clings can be tricky…. 🙂
Janae
August 29, 2013 at 8:24 pm
1. I lived in Colorado for 26 long years until about 4 months ago we moved to Alabama! I am the ultimate procrastinator and still haven’t registered our car or got an Alabama drivers’ license…whoops! I started crying the other day just thinking about punching a whole and forever giving away my CO ID 🙁 makes me so sad. I love it here, though. We are adjusting nicely. It’s a big cultural change. Moving from the fittest state to a state that has a HUGE amount of obese people has been a struggle for us; we are very active people. I miss seeing everyone ride their bikes to work, jog, or do anything fitness related. On the other hand people are so friendly that’s it’s been really easy to make friends. Everyone is very community-oriented.
2. I swear it rains dead armadillos on the side of the road here. I never see live ones, but almost every time I drive I see a dead one. I bet in Texas you’ll see lots too!
3. No bumper stickers!
chelsea
August 30, 2013 at 9:48 am
thanks for your comment janae and look at us moving from colorado and living it up in the south (and procrastinating changing our documents). i absolutely know what you mean about living in a place where fitness isn’t near the top priority (and then of course everything is delicious fried and buttered). i miss seeing people be active too but at least they are super friendly!
and YES, aren’t armadillos insane?!?! i have yet to see any living ones either but they are some of the creepiest dead things ever. ever.
david1levy
August 30, 2013 at 6:45 am
😀 I get tickled at the idea of the two of you fawning over that tiny frog!
1) have you ever lived in other states (or countries) other than where you were born? how was the adjustment?
Born on Long Island and have since lived in Virginia, Illinois (Chicago!), and now Ohio. The adjustments were never that difficult. Like you, however, I had to learn to say y’all when I moved to the south. I still say it, but with a mid-western accent!
2) what’s a neat animal/living thing that your state has?
I don’t know, but we have a terrific zoo! I don’t know if that counts. How about this?: There’s a wooded patch behind my house and once in a while, at night, I hear the sounds of two cats fighting! So: cats!
3) do you put bumper stickers on your car?
I do not. I always think about the next owner (if there is one) and the difficulty in getting them off. Funny that none of the commenters, so far, apply bumper stickers. Hm.
chelsea
August 30, 2013 at 6:26 pm
i’m just saying david…if you would have seen this little baby frog you too would have started googling “how to raise a tiny baby frog” too 🙂 sounds like you have some fun experiences in different cities and maybe i need to work on saying “y’all” with a coloradan accent (we apparently don’t pronounce our t’s).
i really like zoos so next time we are there i must make time to check it out. i will also accept cats fighting as your answer for neat animals.
everyone is bumper sticker freeeeee!
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Paula Howley
August 30, 2013 at 2:07 pm
That frog was ADORABLE!!!!! Meaghan would LOVE one of those. Very cool- totally worth documenting. Congrats on being’ a Texan Chels. My guess is you’re going to have the opportunity to live in quite a few states. You know, I have always said y’all and I have NO IDEA where it came from. I mean, I grew up across the river from Detroit for cryin’ out loud.
1) have you ever lived in other states (or countries) other than where you were born? how was the adjustment?
I’ve moved across country a few times. My first big move was from industrialized Windsor, Ontario to Vancouver 20 years ago. Major adjustment but I was primarily urban then so not as much as it could have been.
then I moved from beautiful Vancouver to the vast wasteland that is known as Winninpeg- where it is so cold you have to plug your damned car into the wall every night. Another major adjustment. (fyi to redeem Winnipeg, they have an amazing thriving arts community underneath the 10 feet of snow)
My biggest adjustment was when I left the city of Windsor for the last time 11 years ago and moved to the teeny tiny town of Egmont, population 150. Serious adjustment.
2) what’s a neat animal/living thing that your state has?
Hmmmm. We have tons of cool animals- we see lots of dolphins here and the Orcas are making a comeback!
3) do you put bumper stickers on your car?
I want to put a bumper sticker of my new business on my car but I’m kind of a crazy driver so maybe I’m best left anonymous…..
chelsea
August 30, 2013 at 6:30 pm
isn’t that funny how sometimes we just say certain words and we have no idea where they came from? i’m glad you liked the frog, i wish i could bring one for meaghan! and whoa, talk about adjustments! i didn’t realize you had lived in some pretty diverse cities (and 10 feet of snow is never a good thing). crazy to think about a town with 150 people- i have a hard time even imagining it!
orcas!!!!! you win. probably.
good call on the driving also being representative of your business….