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Forgotten Small Towns in South Texas

November 25, 2017 by Jillian 10 Comments

A year ago today I moved from Beaumont, Texas to the southernmost tip of the Lone Star state in a region called the Lower Rio Grande Valley. About a couple weeks into the new move, my friend asked me to tag-along with him when he went location scouting to some of the nearby small towns. He was trying to get a film produced in the area, and found a local retired teacher to give him a tour. Since I had my Nikon, my friend asked if I would take photos of the locations on the tour.

I remember I had to wake up super early, which made me really grumpy. Plus, it was cloudy and humid outside. But I love small towns, so I was excited to see what the day had in store for us. The teacher giving us the tour knew the history of each town we visited, and since he grew up in the area, he knew most of the local families that had lived there for generations.

We met up with the teacher, climbed into his pick up truck, and set off on a maze of small towns in the Rio Grande Valley. We mainly focused on the towns of Delmita, McCook, and San Isidro, but saw a lot of cool places in between. Many of these towns were so tiny that you’d miss them if you blinked. Some felt like ghost towns. Others were a mixture of historic and modern. But all the towns contained beautiful, old, abandoned buildings. Here are my favorite photos from our tour!

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Yaqui Animal Rescue

October 11, 2017 by Jillian Leave a Comment

I first heard about Yaqui Animal Rescue while walking through one of the buildings on my university’s campus. I noticed handmade signs directing people where they could drop off donations for the group. I soon found an event that Yaqui was having near campus and decided to go check it out. After meeting lots of cute dogs at this event, I learned that the group rescues all kinds of animals: horses, donkeys, bunnies, cat, pigs, chickens, geese, and more! When they invited me to visit the ranch, I immediately said yes!

The Yaqui ranch is located in Sullivan City, a small town in South Texas. The founder of Yaqui, Sonia Venecia, purchased the property in 2004 for the sole purpose of using it as a no-kill shelter for animals in need. It once belonged to her grandparents and was a working ranch. Sonia decided to name her new rescue group after her grandmother’s ancestors, the Yaqui Indians.

I brought my camera along to observe life at the Yaqui ranch. It’s pretty much an animal lover’s dream. For me, there’s nothing better than being able to watch animals be animals without the threat of harm or exploitation. I wish all animals could have such a peaceful experience on this planet.

Check out the photos from my recent visits to this awesome rescue ranch, plus a short video (directly below) detailing daily life for the beautiful creatures that reside at Yaqui Animal Rescue.

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Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

August 12, 2017 by Jillian

There is so much to see and do at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Texas! If you’re in the Rio Grande Valley or traveling through, come check out the 2,088 acre refuge in the town of Alamo. There’s 14 miles of trails, tons of species of birds, a rope bridge, tree tower, observation decks, visitor’s center, nature tram, and historic cemetery. See my favorite photos below from my past two adventures at the refuge, including how I conquered my fear of heights and also thought I got locked inside the refuge at night!

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Fridarific! Handcrafted Items at FridaFest

July 9, 2017 by Jillian Leave a Comment

When I found out that Edinburg – the town I live near in South Texas – was going to have a FridaFest, I immediately went into celebratory dance mode 💃 I LOVE Frida Kahlo and I have a feeling that I will end up being a lot like her – living somewhere warm in a bright blue house with lots of animals, an artsy husband, and wearing colorful clothing and woven braids in my hair not caring what anyone thinks. I’m totally okay with that 👍

Locals artists and vendors in the Rio Grande Valley were out in full force this past Saturday to celebrate the life and work of this very talented and interesting woman. Of course, of the three days a year the Valley actually gets rain, this had to be one of them ☔️ Luckily, it didn’t scare anyone inside and I actually remembered to bring my umbrella for the first time in my life. I basically stepped into my second version of heaven (the first version is me being surrounded by every animal that ever lived 🐯); everywhere I looked there were colorful items dedicated to Frida.

My second favorite thing about FridaFest is that it supported local businesses and artists, and enabled them to share their talents. Here are some of the cool items I came across before the weather prevented me from snapping more photos!

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The Taste of Injustice

May 24, 2017 by Jillian Leave a Comment

I recently went back to school to finish my undergraduate studies as a 29 year old sophomore. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, in fact, I was somewhat dreading it. I was worried that as a full time student, my free time would be nonexistent and I would be struggling to pursue any outside projects. But actually, the opposite happened. Being in school made me more proactive to work on my passion projects, and what I was learning in my classes directly affected those same projects and made them, like, 100% better. With my first semester complete, and a 4.0 GPA under my belt, I’m officially a junior woo hoo!

Going to school in a South Texas town right next to the Mexico border has certainly immersed me in a whole new culture and I’m learning more about how my beliefs and passions for animal rights and veganism parallel some of the same issues occurring in the lives of immigrants and Mexican workers. For me, it really reinforces my belief that humans will continue to struggle with peace and kindness until they can extend the same courtesy to animals. We forget how much we mirror our animal counterparts and that if we want respect and compassion, we should first be able to give it out regardless of species.

I made a 2 and a half minute video for one of my classes titled The Taste of Injustice. The main purpose of the video is to get people thinking outside of the box. The more connections we can make between humans and animals, different cultures and races, the struggles of various peoples and animals, then the more we begin to see that we all want the same thing – to be free to be ourselves.

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