16 Signs You Were Born and Raised in New Mexico

3. You’re obsessed with green chile.

It seems only people born and raised in New Mexico are wholeheartedly devoted to this chile. Is New Mexico really the only state where Domino’s has green chiles as a pizza topping? Why don’t all Italian restaurants have green chile chicken alfredo?

4. You respect archaeological sites.

Whether you have an ancestral connection to these sites or not, you value the lives and stories that archaeological sites represent. If you have the opportunity to preserve a 12,000+ year old legacy, why wouldn’t you try?

5. The winds of spring result in you not doing your hair for three months. </h2<

6. Your go-to dessert is sopaipillas and honey.

You also wouldn’t pass up a sopaipilla stuffed with shredded beef, lettuce, beans, and cheese. Let’s face it, sopaipillas make your day no matter how you spin it.

7. You need open landscapes.

Whether you love or hate our desert environment, all New Mexicans value their space. We are a society of land lovers.

8. You might not ever wear it, but, male or female, you know you own turquoise jewelry.

9. You’re used to stray dogs at gas stations.

It doesn’t matter what region of New Mexico you are in, if you’re at rural gas station there will be a dog at your truck the second you park. You definitely know someone who started a road trip pet-less and came home with a rez dog.

10. You were in 4-H in high school.

It seemed everyone you knew had a pig, steer, cow, rabbit, goat, or sheep at the county fair every August. If you are female and straight, you sure did appreciate those Wrangler-wearing cowboys.

11. You’ve been in four states at once at the Four Corners Monument.

12. You know how to two-step.

…and your momma was your first partner. All New Mexican guys know how to twirl a girl around, but it’s the ladies who own the floor during the line dances. Copperhead Road, anyone?

13. You’ve seen sheep in pickups your whole life.

Unfortunately, you’ve also spent unnaturally large chunks of your life waiting for sheep or cattle to cross the road.

14. You’ve sledded the white dunes at White Sands National Monument.

15. You’ve been to the world’s largest Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM.

October means Balloon Fiesta time for New Mexicans! Who doesn’t love getting up before dawn, fighting for a parking spot off I-25, waiting for 500 differently shaped and colored hot air balloons to dot the horizon, and eventually make emergency landings in random parking lots across Burque?

16. Every August during monsoon season you are either ecstatic, or freaking out, because any kind of precipitation is an unnatural phenomenon to you.