1. My family. I love my family to death. I consider us close, and it's fun watching my brothers grow up. They are so funny. I can always count on Jacob saying something funny. For example, tonight, on my mom's birthday, he asked her if she knew she was old. Tactless, but funny. We'll forgive him, he's 10! My mom and dad are the greatest, and my two sisters--real and adopted--are fun to be around (and soon they will both be mama's!) We all get more kooky as we get older :)
2. I have never adjusted to the dry air of the West. I was born to live in humidity. Even though its sticky and wet, my skin and hair breathe better here. I didn't understand why people bought gobs of lotion until I moved to Utah.
3. I REALLY like the weather. It's in this perfect part of the East Coast, where the hurricanes stay to the south, and the heavy snow stays to the north. There are four distinct seasons. It is wonderfully hot in the summer, colorful and leafy in the fall, cold and wet in the winter, and rainy in the spring. I MUST live somewhere with seasons!
4. Our neighbors aren't breathing on us. Compared to other homes out our way, we live closer to our neighbors. However, we still have three acres to roam (or mow, if you look at it like my dad does). It takes a bit longer to get to church and school and grocery shopping, which is sometimes inconvenient, but its not a whole ordeal to pack up and run errands. I love having space, having a huge backyard, and now having to see what the neighbors are doing when I'm outside.
5. Being near the ocean. Holy cow, I miss it. It's so cliche now, but there really is nothing like listening to those waves crashing, protecting your fries from the seagulls, or trying to ignore the rowdy people at the umbrella next to yours. The ocean is beautiful, the sunsets over the ocean are beautiful, the wild horses roaming Assateague Island are beautiful, as are the old lighthouses, blue herons, and salt marshes. Plus, I know all the best places to park for free in the summer ;)
6. Chik-fil-a. Can we say heavenly chicken breakfast biscuits??!! It sounded a bit gross at first, but I got over that quick. The best breakfast item ever created. I also go back for their waffle fries, chicken sandwiches, and yummy, yummy lemonade. There is no Chik-fil-a to be found in Boise. I did, however, go out of my way to go to the one in Layton, UT if I was ever driving from Salt Lake to Provo. Definitely worth the extra gas mileage.Like I said, things, though, change everytime I come back. A lot of things are for the better, like the addition of Kohl's, Old Navy, Chili's, and the new Wawa gas station (although I think the QT's in Oklahoma finally beat out Wawa for best gas station ever). Here are some things that have changed for me:
1. Compared to other places I've lived, the schools are terribly underfunded. As a teenager, I would have loved to go to a big, safe high school that offered classes like drafting or ballroom dance or a full-blown orchestra, like Todd did. My brothers are lucky enough to go to some of the better schools. Now that I can look back at my high school experience, I know that I could have had it worse, but I also could have had it better. Some of my high school teachers weren't very good, and there was too much politicking and crony-ism in a school as small as mine was. I'm grateful to be working in Boise, though, because the schools there are great, and education is important to the state's leaders. I talked to a man from San Diego on the plane who moved his family to Boise because of the great reputation of the schools.
2. Salisbury isn't the safest place anymore. We moved from our Homer Street address because the homes were turning into rentals, which in turn drew drug dealers. I hear this is a huge problem now, because the population is more transient, and more, um, "criminal." It's sad to see this in a small town of 50,000 people. Many are moving out into the suburbs. There are places that aren't safe to be in at night. C'mon, this is Salisbury, not Philly.
3. I just have to gripe about the three cars that I saw blatantly run stop signs, one of them which caused us to throw on our brakes. Most of them pulled that thing where they just follow the car ahead of them right on out, or what we refer to as the "California stop." I think it took me a lot longer than two days to see that many people run stop signs in Sacramento!
4. Oh, the country accents. Granted, I had a bit of one when I came to Provo, so I can't gripe too much, but the accent just sounds a bit...uneducated. I'll stop it at that.
As you can see, the things I like about being home outweigh those that bug me. I have loved growing up here, and I'm grateful from what I learned by living here. Sometimes, though, I can't believe I made it out of this place with my morals intact! It is a really hard place to grow up LDS, but on the other hand, I think it strengthened my faith.
I have really grown to love living in the West. There are certain places I would prefer over others, for example, Boise over Rexburg (the weather there KILLS me!), but in general, I have come to call Idaho home (and Utah at one point, well, Oklahoma and California too. I AM a gypsy!). After living out here, where our LDS friends are few and far between, it has been an awesome respite to be surrounded by good LDS people on every side. In addition, I think the people out here, LDS and non-LDS are friendlier and happier, healthier and more family-oriented. Todd and I have been exposed to some great opportunities and experiences being west of the Mississippi (Yosemite, the Redwoods, Big Jud's hamburgers, Yellowstone, BYU, skiing, nearby LDS temples, Cheesecake Factory!, the Oklahoma Aquarium, San Francisco, etc.) and we hope to continue having these experiences and loving life wherever we are!
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