I Miss Home

Yesterday was a bad day.

It was one of those "I really miss Utah" days.

I don't have a lot of bad days.  I actually have surprised myself at how much easier I've transitioned than I thought I would.  Not that it's been easy, but it definitely hasn't been as hard as I first imagined.  I know I owe all of that to my Heavenly Father.  I prayed, and asked that He would help me, would help my family...and He has.  Everyday.  

Sometimes, I feel like I'm a 7th grader all over again.  In a brand new place, trying to figure out my class schedule, how to work a locker, which group of friends I belong in...and sometimes, it's just overwhelming.  I don't want to be the little girl lost in the hallways.  I want to look and feel like I belong.  I want to be the one that everyone looks at and thinks, "I want to be her friend".

Does that make sense?  

We've been here a month.  Which kinda seems crazy.  I've woken up a month full of times in a place that is very far away from where I called home my entire life.  There are certain things that I've grown to love.  There are certain things that I don't think I'll ever love.  And there are a lot of things that I miss. 

Some of the things that I absolutely love...

1.  The accent of the locals.  I absolutely love it.  

2.  It is soooooo green here.  I can't get over how beautiful it is.  

3.  It rains...a lot...and not wimpy rain.  Torrential downpour rain that soaks everything right down to the roots.  I love it!

4.  For the most part, everyone has such good manners.  It's nice to hear people say "excuse me", and "thank you".  

5.  Gas is way cheaper here.  It's $3.25 at the gas station by our house.  

6.  The nightly croaking frogs, and fireflies.

7.  The rabbits and squirrels that live in our yard.

8.  Southern food.  Everything really tastes and cooks better in the south.

9.  I love it when someone calls me sweetie, darlin', or honey.  It makes me smile :)

10.  Our house.  It's come together quite nicely, and I love how comfortable and "homey" it feels.

Some of the things that I'm not quite as fond of...

1.  The bugs.  There are a lot of bugs.  Big bugs.  Bugs I've never seen before.  Bugs that are really quite scary looking.  I hate them.  Except for the butterflies.  The butterflies are AMAZING.  

2.  The 2,000 miles that lie inbetween Utah, and where we live.

3.  Money.  Or the lack of it.  I was really quite spoiled before.  Not being able to spend money is something that I'm trying to get use to.

4.  The humidity.  Someday's it's really not bad, but the days that it's bad...it's really bad.  The other day, my weather forecast app informed me that it was 84 degrees outside, with a 96% humidity.

5.  Food is a lot more expensive.  We don't have sales tax...but apples run close to $2.00 a pound.  Milk is $3.50 a gallon.  And they don't have Grandma Sycamore's bread.  Or any kind of farm bread for that matter.  

Some of the things that I miss, a lot...

1.  My mom and dad.  I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

2.  Our friends.

3.  Money...and being able to spend it :)

4.  My job.  I didn't work a lot, only about five days a month, but I really miss the people that I worked with, and my patients.

5.  Quilted Bear.  Or, more importantly, Hungry Bear.  

6.  Driving on the freeway and having mountains surrounding me.  Big mountains.  Real mountains.

7.  Having six temples that I could attend within 40 minutes of leaving my house.  

8.  Family dinners.

9.  Utah's clean air act.  Everyone here smokes.  In class today, Tim found out that Kentucky has the highest rate of smokers in the nation, 30% of the people who live here smoke...and they smoke everywhere.  

10.  The convenience of having everything close.  Especially a Target.  I really miss Target.

Like I said, yesterday was a bad day.

Today was better.

I'm sure tomorrow will be too :)