WE CHOSE TEXAS!!!

We've been trying to sort out this dispute we hear every year when it gets cold in Texas. Once we start to bemoan the freezing temperatures, we get a swift kidney punch from someone who has lived in a colder place. It is usually accompanied by a snide comment on how "no one here knows how to drive in the ice" or "I don't understand why your whole city shuts down over a few snowflakes." After thinking on this we figured out why are we belly aching over this so-called "Arctic Blast" (by the way, it's 19 degrees in Dallas and 8 degrees warmer in Anchorage as we write this).

Here's the reason we're complaining: because we CHOSE Texas! We don't know where you're from, born, raised or what brought you here, but we CHOSE Texas. We chose Texas because of the spirit of the people: giving, generous, fun, loyal and proud.

We chose Texas because it's an incredible place to raise our daughter-- she will not see a glass ceiling here. In Texas women are Governors, Senators, heads of companies and her mommy and daddy earn THE EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR DOING THE EXACT SAME JOB!

We chose Texas because people who live here are the type of people who get things done. This is not a place where people sit around and complain about how things should be done. People in Texas are doers... they dream BIG and they actually make their dreams come true in a larger-than-life fashion. Take a look at Jerry Jones and his incredible new Cowboys Stadium. How about the crew at the Kimbell Art Museum who brought Texas the only Michelangelo painting in the Western Hemisphere? What about people like Mark Cuban, Ross Perot, and the team of folks creating our amazing Dallas Arts District? These people don't sit around and complain about things... they're not "pundits." They're too busy getting stuff done and sharing their contributions with society. Heck we even drive on several freeways named after Presidents, not just because they were Presidents but because they are from here.

We chose Texas because our dollar stretches farther here. We can afford to own a house in Texas because the home values haven't been grossly overinflated like in some other regions of our fine country.

We chose Texas because the outstanding quality of schools in our very own neighborhoods. We have great educational options all the way from pre-school to college.

We chose Texas because there is no state income tax.

AND... we chose Texas for the glorious 300+ days of sunshine a year that raise our spirits and allow us to walk outside where we interact with our neighbors who are getting their mail, mowing their lawns, taking their kids to the park and walking their dogs. The neighbors who we know by first name... who's kids we watch in a pinch when their sitter is running late... who show up in a moment's notice when we can't seem to catch a bird that flew in our house.

We chose Texas because that nice hot weather warms our bones. We love stepping outside and feeling that nice warm air which is like a hug to your soul.

That is why people in Texas are complaining about this Arctic Blast (yes, put it in caps). Leave us alone with the condescending commentary on how this weather isn't REALLY cold if you've lived somewhere else. We aren't living somewhere else right now. We chose Texas, and dang it, it's cold!!!