50 Things I've Learned While Living In Dallas

1. I like living in the country
2. Chick-fil-a is the best-run fast food restaurant I've ever been too.
3. I thoroughly enjoy administrative and organizational jobs
4. You can live small after having children.
5. I like green ice cream. Green tea. Pistachio. My favs. 
6. Pick a mechanic you trust and then always, always take your car only to him.
7. If you don't know how to fix cars, don't buy a really old used car.
8. Austin rocks. Best city in Texas.
9. You can find community in a big church.
10. Don't bother insuring a very old car outside of the minimum required. Not worth it.
11. There are communities of refugees in most American cities. You just have to find them.
12. Dallas is not a good city in which to have to rely on public transportation, unless you work downtown.
13. Blue Bell ice cream is the best ice cream... ever.

14. How to pay for a baby: Save up all of your deductible, no matter how high, and then a couple extra thousand.
15. In fact, when comparing salaries for possible jobs, subtract your deductible, because it's very possible you'll pay it out every year.
16. Mediterranean food is the most vege packed and delicious type of cuisine that Isaac and I can agree on.
17. It pays to stick it through the hard stages at a job. You may end up loving it... and there's more upward mobility than you realize.
18. Suffering and difficulty is normative. I should not be surprised by or resentful of it.
19. If you get in a wreck, always have your car towed to the mechanic you trust, not to the closest spot.
20. Never go to the emergency room unless you are dying.
21. On a high deductible plan, even standard doctors visits and regular immunizations are expensive. 
22. The teens of wealthy families are just as broken, if not more, than those of the poor.
23. An authentic community takes time, sacrifice, commitment, and work. It's worth it.
24. Marriages can go from functioning well to disaster very quickly. PS - not speaking of my own marriage!
25. People change. It's incredible to watch. But then, some people don't change.
26. Vietnamese food rocks. Tip - everyone loves pho, but a grilled pork bahn mi is the real winner.
27. Mums are the most ridiculous high school prom tradition ever.
28. Turning 30 isn't bad at all.
29. I love and resonate with Philip Yancey, Larry Crabb, and Tim Keller.
30. Suffering is normative. The key is how we respond to the suffering we all encounter.
31. The evangelical world is still pretty uncomfortable with working moms and stay-at-home dads.
32. Having kids changes a marriage.
33. Dallas is a city of suburbs, which sucks at first glance. In the middle of the burbs and strip malls are communities from around the world. You just have to look.
34. Tacos are not what you grew up with at Taco Bell. Tacos for breakfast, tacos with lime and onion and cilantro, tacos with all sorts of hipster toppings... tacos are where it's at.
35. It is not impolite in Dallas to bluntly ask people for funding and to ask them again... and again.
36. Green tea leaves are best on the second and third brewing.
37. Most things I worry about in my kids are stages. It will pass.
38. In every stage, engage with the struggles your kid is having.
39. If you are uncomfortable with something, it is YOUR responsibility to engage it towards change. You cannot wait and hope for others to realize your discomfort and come to you about it. This is true in work, marriage, and community.
40. Lots of people actually are very interested in faith and would like to discuss it.
41.Always call your insurance immediately after being in a wreck and before leaving the scene. Do not assume the other person will own responsibility, even if they say they will.
42. Pay the ticket. It's more expensive to pay for going to court to fight a ticket than it is just to pay it.
43. Texas has no income tax. This is amazing and wonderful and genius.
44. Birth is hard, yes, but recovery from birth is longer and messy and sometimes equally traumatic
45. Be daring. Sometimes you might regret it, but sometimes you might love it (like when I chopped off all my hair and got a pixie cut)
46.  Cynicism may be cool, but it doesn't help the problems.
47. My role in this life, my vocation, my calling, is to participate with the rest of the Church in God's mission in the world, calling all things back to Himself.
48. Urgent care centers like Carenow are probably the way to go when uninsured or on a high deductible plan.
49. Teenagers are just as cutting to adults as they are to each other. Be the adult and don't take it personally.
50. Yes, people really do care that much about their guns.

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