The things I learned on my first year in Houston...

March 15th, 2015. This was the day I officially moved in to Houston, Texas. Where I stepped foot began my road to a better life. Clueless, willing to learn, and willing to change no matter what. My goal at the time is to drive myself away from the bad habits I had while I was living in California. Instead, I gathered a few MORE habits…of course, good habits. That doesn't convert me to an actual Houstonian though. I am still a die-hard Californian at heart.

In one year, I learned the following:

--Whataburger is love, Whataburger is life. I'm sorry, In-N-Out Burger. I cheated on you for Whataburger. I can't help that their $6 Whataburger combo is the best value ever, and not to mention the $8 Patty Melt combo that is super DELICIOUS. It has become a tradition that once a month I will pay a visit to the amazing Whataburger (because visiting every payday is probably a bad idea, even for my health).

--The soda here is called "coke" even if it's not coca-cola. A few times I went to Whataburger at the corner of Westheimer and the SH Tollway, the drive-thru person would always ask me "what kind of coke do you want, ma'am?" and my reaction at first will always be "what?" Texas doesn't call it "soda" here". It's called either "pop" or "coke". No matter the flavor.

--There is a different way to call shopping carts. This one time when I visited Roy, my boyfriend, at the Galveston countryside, we wanted to do some shopping for dinner that afternoon…and we needed a shopping cart. When Roy said, "Hey, do you mind grabbing a buggy?" I was confused. I literally had to ask him what a buggy was. He pointed to the shopping carts. I felt like a derp. So yes, Texas peeps call shopping carts "buggies".

--I've become the biggest snob for Mexican Food. Roy knows that this is one of my biggest flaws. Give me some poorly-cooked Mexican Food and you will never hear the end of me. Take me to a Mexican Restaurant that serves food that they claim that's "authentic" and you will probably see me complain to management. The first thing I would probably say is "That is NOT how I remember it was done." as well as "Abuelita did it better than them." I understand Texas has a different style of Mexican Food, but as a full-blooded Mexican who was raised in a super-duper hardcore Mexican familia, I have gained the ability to tell whether the food is made with authenticity or not.

--Sharpstown is probably the worst neighborhood I've ever been in. Last year when I was in the process of moving to Houston, my two hotel stays were in Sharpstown, and MY GOD that area is poorly taken care of. Sometimes to this day I'm even scared of driving through there because of 1. the streets, and 2. the high crime rate. My alternate routes are the SH tollway, the 59, or Wilcrest Drive.

--Blue Bell is best ice cream. All others are posers. Don't think about giving me Blue Bunny or Dreyers Ice Cream because I will outright reject it. I waited five months for Blue Bell to come back (the recall started right as I moved to Houston). And trust me, it was worth the wait.

--The City of Houston allowed me to revisit my true cultural roots again. I learned a whole lot more about my cultural roots in the outside world than with my family alone. Like…traditions such as Lent, the Day of the Dead, Epiphany, and my way of celebrating Christmas.

--I've learned to love Taco Cabana. The very first order I placed from Taco Cabana was a family sized order of nachos. They were probably the absolute worst nachos I have ever tasted. Second time I ordered from Taco Cabana, breakfast tacos. They made me fall in love with them. I guess it kinda depends on what Taco Cabana you order from. Obviously the first order I placed was from the Taco Cabana on Bellaire Boulevard in Sharpstown. Yeah.

--I'm sorry, I still call highways "freeways", and I put "the" at the beginning. How do I get to Roy's house? I take the 59 up north to the 610, and take the looparound towards the 45 south. This is a habit I will never get over. #californiaproblems

--After six months, I gained a Texas accent. I returned to California last June to visit my parents, and my Texas accent was showing really hard. When I moved to Houston last year, and began to hang out with friends, they were fascinated by my "hardcore valley girl" accent. If you are a non-Texan, you literally have an accent.

--It is proven that everything is bigger in Texas. The buildings, the parks, the BBQ, the food, the fairs, the attractions. The Galleria. What else?

--Don't even bother washing your car once a week, like you usually do. It's pointless. Houston weather is really, really random. There were times that I would wash my car one day, and the next day, BOOM. Random thunderstorm pops out of NOWHERE and car is dirty once again. I have resorted to washing my car every 3 weeks to a month. Because I do not have the time and effort to wash my car after every thunderstorm.

--I don't think I miss the traffic in Cali. Sure Houston's traffic is not THAT bad, well…during rush hour is probably pretty bad, especially on the 610 and the 45. I'm just grateful I don't have to deal with 2-3 hour traffic jams like LA usually has.

--You want cheap rent? Move here. Most apartments are offering between $500 to $800 for a 1 bedroom apartment, probably even cheaper if you get a 2 bedroom at between $700 to $900. However, be careful on which neighborhood you rent at. Some have really bad landlords. Some also have really bad appliances. There's been a lot of apartment fires recently.

I CAN RELATE TO SOMETHING.

Well... freeway at least. Back in Western Australia it was the freeway. Over here in Queensland it's the highway. lol there's so many differences between the two states here, so when it reaches one year for me (in less than a month) imma post a differences blog too from my home state and this state. crazy how we both came from the west of the country we were in. c: