A few things I miss about Texas

I was born and raised in Texas. When I lived there, I would kind of get annoyed by the hyper Texas pride that exuded from some. However, now that I live in Georgia, I get it.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I've compiled a list of a few of the things I miss about Texas (aside from family and friends, which is obvious).

If you've never been to Texas, fix that mistake ASAP. Check out some things on my list while you're out there.

Whataburger
Every time I take a trip home, I try to eat at least one meal at Whataburger. Thus far, no fast food chain in Georgia has replaced what I've found in Whataburger's taquitos, onion rings and spicy ketchup -- and I doubt any other place will.
Whataburger is open 24/7. It's a good destination for when you're drunk and need a place to go when A) You're hungry for some greasy food and B) You want staff that are used to dealing with middle-of-the-night drunkards. Check out the Cheeseburger Josh video. The employees aren't even fazed.
If I remember correctly, there's a stray Whataburger in Florida near the planned community of Seaside. Maybe if I get homesick enough one day, it will be road trip time ...

The Alamo Drafthouse
The Drafthouse is a chain of movie theaters that originated in Austin and have spread to other major Texas cities, and even some cities outside of Texas (but not Atlanta, unfortunately).
One of the Austin locations was the first dine-in theater I went to (an still the best of its kind I've experienced). My boyfriend, Josh, and I frequent the Richardson Alamo Drafthouse whenever I'm in town.
I don't know where to begin to explain the awesomeness of the Alamo Drafthouse. They always have cool events going on -- Like "Hopped Up Cinema," in which a movie is screened and a local brewery comes out and gives samples of its beer, including a special brew just for the event. The above picture is from when Josh and I went to a Hopped Up Cinema event to watch Nacho Libre.
I saw The Big Lebowski at the Ritz Alamo Drafthouse and got to sip on a White Russian.
I saw Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the Cedar Park Alamo Drafthouse -- And yes, the movie was crappy, but my surroundings were awesome so it almost didn't even matter.
I have too many good memories at the Alamo Drafthouse to even count. No other movie-going experience comes close to what they have to offer.

Short winters
Some people complain that Texas doesn't always have four pronounced seasons. I don't mind this. In fact, I prefer it. Winter isn't exactly my thing. It's not Texas's thing, either.
I don't know if it's just been a weird year for Georgia, but winter seemed to just hang on for WAY too long. I was SO glad when it was finally warm enough to wear shorts and flip flops.
In Texas, winter stays around for about as long as I can tolerate it. Then, it's spring for five minutes, and BAM! Summer!

Knowing what the hell is going on with local politics
I wouldn't necessarily call myself a political aficionado (though I tried to go down that path in college), but I felt like in Texas, I had a pretty good handle on what was going on in local government. I knew who represented me on the state and local level. In fact, there was a good chance I had met said representative, either through my work as a newspaper reporter (I met Rep. Larry Phillips, Rep. Ralph Hall and Rep. John Ratcliffe, among others) or through my political activism in college.
Well, just about all of that political knowledge is useless where I'm living now. A couple weeks ago I was on the phone with Josh talking about local elections, and I realized that I had NO idea what the hell was going on politically in my immediate area. I looked up who represents me in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and Georgia Legislature.
Off the top of my head, I can only remember Governor Nathan Deal and Rep. John Lewis.
I need to hurry up and register to vote in this area. My recently deceased Grandpa Smajstrla, God bless his soul, was very passionate about voter participation, and I've decided that I need to vote if for no other reason than to honor his memory. ... But, I understand the importance of being knowledgeable of local government and even participating in it. SO, I have some learning to do.
Is there a Georgia version of the Texas Tribune? Because that would be handy.

The Dallas Comedy House
A little over a year ago I signed up for an improv class at the Dallas Comedy House, and my life was transformed -- Seriously. I never thought improv comedy would be something I could do, much less do well at. The lessons I learned from improv will likely be the subject of a future post.
For several months, I traveled down to Dallas from Sherman or McKinney to study improv. In any given class, I could be crawling around on the ground as a raccoon, or pretending to be a Juggalo. Twice, I performed in front of an audience and actually incited a few laughs from the crowd (getting a room full of people to laugh is intoxicating). It was great.
When I couldn't take classes because of my work schedule, I interned at the DCH for about two months. I missed performing, but watching so many comedy shows for free was amazing.
I tried taking an improv class here in Atlanta, and while I had fun, it just wasn't the same. Maybe I'm biased, but the Dallas Comedy House is special. The people, the style of comedy, everything. It's one of the main things I miss about Texas, and the Dallas area specifically.

Another average Joe in Texas.

The normalcy of wearing cowboy garb around
Sam Elliott could walk down the street and no one would bat an eye. ... Ok, the *actual* Sam Elliott would turn a few heads. But if any average Joe wears a cowboy hat, boots, spurs, or any combination of western wear, no one's going to stare or think you're on your way to a costume party.

Oh God, I'm gonna go cry now ...