Abilene

So it has taken me a while to like something else. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Sorry. I really do like a lot of things. They just aren't all that interesting.

Now, I am not ever going to agree with Sonny James. Abilene is not the prettiest town I've ever seen. BUT.......It's not that bad. When we lived here 6 years ago we were engaged and working like crazy so we didn't really even do much in the town. I honestly didn't even know that most of it existed. When we found out we were moving here again two years ago I was pretty disappointed. I was not exactly thrilled with leaving the beautiful northwest for the "brown town". So, here are the things that have grown on me the past almost two years to make me include this city on my list of likes.
1) Even though the population is around 120,000 it really seems like a small town. There are enough places to shop (but not too much) and there isn't any traffic. The town is really family friendly with several parks and activities for kids.
2) The churches/ACU. Abilene Christian University plays such a big roll in the town. It is an amazing gathering of talent, knowledge and ideas. We used to look forward to the Lectures at Pepperdine to see a few people speak and now we go to church with them and one is our preacher. Our church is around 1750 in size. That is around the size of the town I grew up in so we have a church that is literally a community. It's amazing to have such a large, great group of people surrounding you. This kind of a tough one to explain but it is just a really great feeling to have a family like this that has similar values.
It's also totally acceptable for someone to be a Christian, which is very different from the northwest. They talk about it on the news, in the paper, etc. It's really been a culture shock.
3)The culture. I love that I can see a man standing outside Joe Allen's BBQ on a Sunday afternoon with a large toothpick hanging out of his mouth and a gigantic cowboy hat, looking like he's eaten there a few too many times. It was one of those "I really live in Texas moments". I like that people wave when they pass me while I'm on a walk, even when they have no idea who I am. I like that there is a pumpjack in the drive-in movie theater. Why not show a couple of double features and pump oil? It's great.
4)It's not always ugly. It's true. There are some pretty parts of town that aren't bad to look at. When I would get a little depressed about living here at first, I would just drive down Elmwood. It's my favorite neighborhood. The houses are beautiful, big and brick. That is something that is different here. Most of the houses are brick. In Oregon brick isn't used much except for the really expensive houses. The people from down here don't really get that but everyone that has been here from Oregon has been amazed by it.
Well, there are a few reasons Abilene isn't that bad. We have grown to really like it here and are a part of a wonderful church family and group of friends. Maybe it's the people that we have met that have started to blur the brown. I don't know but it is going to be a hard place to leave when the time comes.