Welcome to the TM,
Where are you from in Texas? I, too, am Texan by birth and still have lots of family in East Texas. I have to make a couple of trips a year down there to brush up on my accent, and eat "real" barbeque.
I was born and raised in Ft. Stockton in far West Texas, but I've been gone from there for many years.
I don't think I could live out there any more. I need green things around me.