Austin love.

If I have learned anything in my travels it is that surviving in an unfamiliar environment means finding something to love about where you are, no matter where you are.

For example, Seattle: hated the rain, loved the blackberries, the Olympic Peninsula, and the hippies.

I love donuts. I especially love the donuts of Austin.

I have discovered that eating donuts staves off homesickness. Let's hope that shopping for larger pants staves off homesickness as well.

We have been in Austin for two weeks and I have gone on a non-comprehensive donut bakery tour. Our first stop:

Gourdough's Big. Fat. Donuts. truck:

This donut truck serves some seriously heart-stopping masterpieces. For example, the Fat Elvis - a fresh-fried donut with grilled bananas, honey, and honest-to-goodness whole strips of bacon on top. Or what I ordered, the Sara's Joy - a donut with chocolate and coconut cream filling, sprinkled with coconut, and accompanied by choirs of singing angels. Kind of heavenly.

Next up was Round Rock Donuts. Rumor has it this place was on "Man vs Food."

I think this is why:

I have never been one to make sweeping, hyperbolic declarations. Ever. I would never do that.

But these donuts are the BEST DONUTS IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF DONUTS. 

And not just because there are the size of an innertube. They are everything a donut should be. Warm, soft, fluffy, maybe laced with addictive chemicals. So delicious.

In other news, we have done a little touring of this new city of ours. One of Austin's "things" is food trucks. They are everywhere. And they are kind of like yard sales in their unpredictability. You never know when they're going to be open or if they're going to be any good. But if you see one you have to stop and find out because otherwise the curiosity WILL kill you. 

The following one was not my favorite. You know those yard sales where all they're selling is dusty VHS tapes and mauve yarn? This was the food truck equivalent:

This one isn't a food truck, it's the state capitol building. 
I love the architecture and the fact that it is taller than the United States capitol building. Why, you ask? Because Texas, that's why.

Lastly, I love that our new school is within pleasant walking distance of our new house:

I kinda love this Texas place.

Texas, y'all

About a week ago we loaded all of our worldly possessions into this beast:

And my husband drove it 1200 miles. Twelve hundred long miles across three states, with me following closely behind staring at the butt end of that thing:

After a while it became boring to the point of unflatteringness: 

We listened to three books on CD, sang "There Was a Tree" a few hundred times, and ate a boatload of convenience store candy, until finally we arrived at our new house in Austin, Texas. Tess celebrated our arrival by running in circles around our backyard:

I guess we live in Texas now. 

We have been here almost a week and I haven't even met a real cowboy yet. I'm not sure what that's about, Texas. And this is not like one of our fun-filled, rollercoaster-riding, summer vacation moves. We brought the Lovesac. Crap just got real.

Plus, my kids are going to school here like you do when you're a kid. Here they are on their first morning:

Texas, guys. This is really happening. Oh, and this happened:

It looks like Texas has our number. 

Waffles.