CA vs. TX
I have now lived in the Lone Star State for three years this coming March. It's actually funny to think that I've spent the majority of my marriage in this great state. Before Matt and I met each other we had each separately wanted to live in Texas. When we started dating we had discussed where we'd like to end up once we were married and we both said Texas. Originally we wanted to live in Dallas, but we knew that if the opportunity arose in Texas it really didn't matter where in the state we lived, we just wanted to be here! Fast forward to February of 2007....Matt and I have been married just a little over a year, I have had 2 miscarriages and I am in desperate need of a change! I was out shopping with Kiki in Concord and Matt calls to ask me what I thought about "Schertz, TX". I tell him I have no idea because I don't know where that town is. Well, I came to find out that it was just 20 minutes outside of San Antonio on the northeast side. I thought "Why not? It's Texas and I neeeeed to get out of California!!!" So Matt applied for the job, they called him back for an interview, he flew here for the interview, he heard back and good news, he got the job! We started our move at the end of March of 2007 and were here a few days later....phew!
Anyways, onto what I really was blogging about.... The Golden State vs. The Lone Star State. I'm not going to say that either state is better than the other because there are great things about both states! Do I ever want to live in Cali again? Not really. Let's just say that being in Texas during these times of economic issues has been a real blessing. In fact, it was so good to live here that tons of people from other states migrated to our neck of the woods. I cannot tell you how many ex-Californians I have met in the past year, it's astounding! San Antonio was rated the best place to live and work in the US last year because we didn't feel the effects of the recession. It's like we were in a protective bubble here.
Another reason I love being in Texas rather than California is the housing market. When Matt and I were living in CA it literally felt impossible for us to buy a house or even a tiny condo and still be able to survive! Don't get me wrong, we looked at houses and tried to do the math to see if we could ever afford something and the results of our calculations were just depressing. When we got to TX we thought, why not check out what's out there and see if it's possible. What do we have to lose? Nada! We looked for maybe a month at most and within that month we locked down a great deal on a hugemongous house! We got a 30 year fixed rate mortgage on a 2400 sq foot house with NO MONEY DOWN!!! We got over $10,000.00 knocked off of the price and they threw in a refrigerator, washer/dryer and a $1000.00 gift card to Linens n' Things! Oh and we got the house for just under$150K! That would have never happened for us in CA, not in a million years! The housing market is only getting better here......when the time comes for us to move we don't worry about selling our house because we live in a highly desirable area in San Antonio and we're close to a thriving AFB. For the price we are paying here we would have been able to afford a "condo" in CA. I put condo in quotations because the condo we would have afforded was a remodeled apartment complex that was made into condos......sorry, those are still apartments....you aren't fooling anyone!
Let's see what else is better here??? Lots and lots of things are! Our education, athletics, our government, our freeways, etc. There are too many things to name, but one of the other things that I find to be better here is our commitment to our troops and their families. We are proud of our men and women in the US military. Yes, we have people here who are not in favor of the war that we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they aren't going crazy over protesting it. They protest in their own ways, but they still support our military. The other night Matt and I were at dinner and we noticed a man and his family at another table. Obviously he was a soldier who had returned from fighting because he had severe damage on his head, upper body and his arms from burns. He had an apparatus that he used in lieu of his hands because he had lost both of them. He had military tattoos on the other parts of his arms. Anyway, their waitress came up to them and told them that their meal had been taken care of by another patron in the restaurant. She also said that the person that paid for their meal wanted to thank them for their service and was proud of them. I started to choke up a little because it was amazing that someone would actually be nice enough to recognize a soldier in public. We love our soldiers here!
There are good things about California that I miss very much! I miss my family and friends a lot! I love the people that I've met here and have established relationships with, but I miss my Cali peeps a lot. I miss the mountains and the snow! We don't have that here in TX.....we have everything else, but no mountains! We'd like to think that our wine is good here, but it ain't California wine! There's just something very special about the soil there, it's perfect for winemaking!
All in all there are great things about both states, but I choose to be here! I love Texas and I am a Texan now....I've always wanted to be a Texan and now my wish has come true!
Anyways, onto what I really was blogging about.... The Golden State vs. The Lone Star State. I'm not going to say that either state is better than the other because there are great things about both states! Do I ever want to live in Cali again? Not really. Let's just say that being in Texas during these times of economic issues has been a real blessing. In fact, it was so good to live here that tons of people from other states migrated to our neck of the woods. I cannot tell you how many ex-Californians I have met in the past year, it's astounding! San Antonio was rated the best place to live and work in the US last year because we didn't feel the effects of the recession. It's like we were in a protective bubble here.
Another reason I love being in Texas rather than California is the housing market. When Matt and I were living in CA it literally felt impossible for us to buy a house or even a tiny condo and still be able to survive! Don't get me wrong, we looked at houses and tried to do the math to see if we could ever afford something and the results of our calculations were just depressing. When we got to TX we thought, why not check out what's out there and see if it's possible. What do we have to lose? Nada! We looked for maybe a month at most and within that month we locked down a great deal on a hugemongous house! We got a 30 year fixed rate mortgage on a 2400 sq foot house with NO MONEY DOWN!!! We got over $10,000.00 knocked off of the price and they threw in a refrigerator, washer/dryer and a $1000.00 gift card to Linens n' Things! Oh and we got the house for just under$150K! That would have never happened for us in CA, not in a million years! The housing market is only getting better here......when the time comes for us to move we don't worry about selling our house because we live in a highly desirable area in San Antonio and we're close to a thriving AFB. For the price we are paying here we would have been able to afford a "condo" in CA. I put condo in quotations because the condo we would have afforded was a remodeled apartment complex that was made into condos......sorry, those are still apartments....you aren't fooling anyone!
Let's see what else is better here??? Lots and lots of things are! Our education, athletics, our government, our freeways, etc. There are too many things to name, but one of the other things that I find to be better here is our commitment to our troops and their families. We are proud of our men and women in the US military. Yes, we have people here who are not in favor of the war that we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they aren't going crazy over protesting it. They protest in their own ways, but they still support our military. The other night Matt and I were at dinner and we noticed a man and his family at another table. Obviously he was a soldier who had returned from fighting because he had severe damage on his head, upper body and his arms from burns. He had an apparatus that he used in lieu of his hands because he had lost both of them. He had military tattoos on the other parts of his arms. Anyway, their waitress came up to them and told them that their meal had been taken care of by another patron in the restaurant. She also said that the person that paid for their meal wanted to thank them for their service and was proud of them. I started to choke up a little because it was amazing that someone would actually be nice enough to recognize a soldier in public. We love our soldiers here!
There are good things about California that I miss very much! I miss my family and friends a lot! I love the people that I've met here and have established relationships with, but I miss my Cali peeps a lot. I miss the mountains and the snow! We don't have that here in TX.....we have everything else, but no mountains! We'd like to think that our wine is good here, but it ain't California wine! There's just something very special about the soil there, it's perfect for winemaking!
All in all there are great things about both states, but I choose to be here! I love Texas and I am a Texan now....I've always wanted to be a Texan and now my wish has come true!
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