Let it be known that I will choose dogs over diamonds and trucks over trinkets any day, any time, any where.

My first vehicle was a 1995 Ford F150 4 x 4 w/ extended cab and bed.  Complete with the cattle catcher grill, tow hitch extended rear bumper, suped up muffler system, steel lock box and crome rails along the sides of the beds.  My friends, Truck was as handsome as any girl could dream.  Yes, his name was Truck.  Extremely unoriginal and not to be confused with Chuck when said aloud.

Upon moving to Texas right after college, I got Truck.  Just a few months later I got Jackson, my kickass ranch dog who got along swimmingly with Truck.  What can I say, I lived in Texas and worked on a ranch!

I don't think I have a picture of the whole of Truck, so here is the front part, complete with horses in my front yard!

...And here is the back part with my and Truck's best bud, Jackson.

I was just in Texas this past weekend visiting my ridiculously cute 5-week old twin nieces (about whom I’m sure you will never here a peep on this blog…YEAH RIGHT!  If the American Association of Adoring Aunts had a poster girl for what a smitten Aunt looks like, I’m pretty sure I’d be in the top 10 runners up!).  While I was in Texas–aka: Land of Trucks, BBQ, Big Hair, and Thunderstorms–I experienced some pangs of homesickness for Truck.  There I was driving around in my sister’s Honda Element (not a wimpy car by any stretch of the imagination) but I was looking longingly at all the pick-ups around me in the parking lots and on the roads.  I seriously missed my Truck.  I mean, do you realize all the amazing things you can do when you have a truck!?!  Just in case you don’t, I made a list. 

Reasons why I miss Truck:

1.  When there is traffic and you can’t get to your off ramp fast enough, simply make your own off ramp by driving across the median to the access road!

2.  You never have to suffer the blinding glare of headlights in your side & rear view mirrors because, in a truck, you’re taller than everyone else on the road!

3.  When shopping for lumber, yard stuff, or bbq grills,  you never have to wonder, “Will I be able to fit my purchase in my trunk?”

4.  Similarly, when moving, you never have to bribe friends with trucks to help.  YOU are the friend with the truck who can make good on all kinds of offers in return for the use of your truck; this ensures an regular supply of pizza, home made cookies, and back rubs for however long you own said truck.

5.  When the night is clear and the stars are bright, you can drive up to the top of the hill, wrap up in blankets and lie in the bed of your truck to watch the meteor showers without the threat of fire ants or scorpions sabotaging your evening…or your flesh.

6.  If you visit a ranch and you have to drive a mile up the river you don’t have to sweat it because you have over 18″ of clearance between the river and the undercarriage of your truck.

7.  Throw some hay in the back of that sucker and drive around a ranch and you have yourself a really quick and cheap hayride–fun for kids of all ages!

8.  Truck beds are the best place for dogs to ride; they love it the most.

9.  When you hit an armadillo, you barely notice unlike when you are driving in a Honda and you hit an armadillo and it sounds like you just left your engine on the road somewhere back there.

10.  Trucks are just plain hot.  They’re my favorite accessory

Guess you can take the girl outta Texas, but there’s just some Texas you’ll never get outta the girl!