You know you live in Louisiana....

1. When a student stops class to announce how many weeks, days, hours, and minutes until the first LSU game. 

2. When you notice a crawfish crawling down the sidewalk at your school.

3. When you confess you didn't know it was a crawfish (you just called it a "critter") and your coworkers are shocked to discover you didn't know what a crawfish looked like. They also inform you that crawfish have a tendency to dig mounds in your yard. 

4. When you fervently pray for the Lord to keep hurricanes away!

5. When someone you meet for the first time asks you, "Who's your mama?" to determine if they know your family.

6. When almost every student and coworker scowls at the Texas A&M lanyard you wear around your neck.

7. When you know you can drive to Destin, Florida in five hours and Disney World in ten! 

8. When you start to love the slower pace of life, commitment to family, and love for community that is infectious.

9. When you read off a list of student names and you cannot pronounce a single one. They are all of French origin, yet not pronounced the way the French would. 

10. When your husband itches to go off-shore fishing every single weekend and, provided the weather is good, he can!

11. When you will, without a doubt, run into someone you know wherever you go. You might be thirty miles from your home all the way across town...you will run into someone.

12. When you run into whomever you know and you don't just say "hi;" you have a thirty minute conversation...minimum.

13. When you can drive to New Orleans and choose from some of the best, oldest, and most world-renowned restaurants to eat at. 

14. When one of your favorite views is the Crescent City Connection Bridge in New Orleans all lit up at night.

15. When you can discuss both your health and last week's college football game with your doctor and when their nurses often become your BFFs (not really, but you get the point--very friendly!)

I have always heard that it takes a good three years to really feel settled in a place. We are a few months into our third year, and I can honestly say that I am beginning to love this place more and more.