Gratitude Entry #2 - Austin

:::part of the Gratitude Series--for info on the series click here:::

I grew up in a very, very small town. As in, two stop lights (I think there may be a couple more down towards the "new" Wal-Mart now).

In high school, no one was encouraged to go to college anywhere other than Lamar, Sam Houston or SFA. Not that those aren't great schools...but there are many, many more universities in Texas, the nation, the world. I followed suit and applied only to Sam Houston (though I did get out of the box enough to visit then Southwest Texas University in San Marcos...but it was terrifying to think of being that far from home with no friends).

By October of my freshman year I knew that Huntsville was NOT the place for me, and started making arrangements to transfer to A&M or UT-Austin. Thankfully, the Lord had plans for me to land in Austin.

(Photo found on a Google search for "Austin city scape" at www.fazzino.com/mixed-media-original-art-paintings.htm)

Upon my first visit to the UT campus I fell in love with this city. The greenbelts. The drive on Loop 360 (which, like Loop 1 is not in fact a loop). The Capitol. The skyline (which is now ever changing). The lake(s). The UT campus itself.

The longer I have lived in Austin the more I love it. At it's heart, Austin really is a small town. You can get anywhere in the city within 30 minutes and there is nothing you can't do here.

I love the trails around Lady Bird Lake & the greenbelts. I love swimming at Barton Springs and hanging out in Zilker Park. I love seeing the Zilker Tree from Mopac. I love eating shrimp at the Boathouse Grill on Lake Travis. I love sharing date nights at Romeo's on Barton Springs Blvd. I love driving around at Christmas and seeing all the random trees decorated in memory of loved ones.  I love the night life and live music. I love trivia nights and strolling around the Capitol or campus at midnight. I love watching fireworks at Mount Bonnell.  I love wondering if I will run into someone famous at Book People or ACL.

I love how Austin is a melting pot for so many cultures. I love that people move to Austin just to move to Austin. Not for a job or a school. No, they find a job or a school after deciding they want to move to Austin.

People who think Austin is full of liberal hippies make me sad. I have never heard people be as judgmental about a city or its citizens the way I have heard people (typically very conservative, uniformed & small minded people - and mind you, I'm pretty conservative) talk about Austin and Austinites. Get to know us. Get to know our town. See the beauty God has given us through nature, art, music and education. Meet people who love Jesus, love this city, love the nations and are impacting the world for good in this "small town".

Thank you Lord for bringing me to Austin. I hope you let me stay here for a long while.

There is much, much more I am thankful for about Austin...and you will be introduced to them in later posts all their own. But I have Austin to thank for many of them...my friends, my church, my husband....we've got 28 more weeks of Gratitude. Hang in there with me :-)