A Few Things I Miss

In general, I have loved my time here in Bedford. I LOVE living in England!!! But as the time nears for me to leave, I have mixed feelings. I'm sad to leave, but I'm also looking forward to going home. I know once I board that airplane that's America-bound I will be balling like a baby and counting down the days until I return to England. So, to help ease the pain of my departure I decided to compile a list of things I miss from home. Things that I should be enjoying by the end of next week (or shortly thereafter).

1.) MY CAR!!! God only knows how much I miss my car! Although Bedford is a small town it's still a pain to have to walk everywhere. Especially to the store. I can't wait to get my car back and load it down with groceries. Granted, I'll need money first, so I may not have a shopping spree for a few more months. But at least I'll have my car! And hopefully can scrounge up some money for gasoline...

2.) A tumble drier. I don't particularly mind having to air dry my clothes. It's times like today that I wish I had a tumble drier. Wait, let me specify that: It's times like today that I wish I had a hot-air tumble drier.
My hosts, Dave and Hannah, inherited a tumble drier from some friends but it's a cold-air drier. What idiot invited that, I don't know. I stuck two shirts - only TWO shirts - in it for two-and-a-half hours and the darn things were still damp! I then spent fifteen minutes drying one of the shirts with my hairdryer. That's right folks, I used my hairdryer to dry a shirt so I can wear it tonight because this country starts to get pretty darn cold come September.
This last bit leads me to reason number three...

3.) A more extensive wardrobe and not having to live out of a suitcase. Like any girl, I like clothes. Now, I try to keep a level head and not to get too obsessed. However, when I came to Bedford, I only planned on coming for seven weeks. And since I knew most of my time would be spent in a homeless shelter I didn't bring the greatest of clothes. But seven weeks turned into three months (that's a quarter of a year!) and I found myself sorely missing all the clothes I have back home. I somehow convinced my mom to send me a package and she included some nice summer clothes, which I desperately needed since people don't have air conditioners here (another thing I miss but am not desperate for since it's cold now). It's amazing how much variety four extra articles of clothing can add! But summer here lasted a whole three weeks and it's progressively getting colder. So that only leaves me with the two long-sleeved tops I so desperately tried to dry today.

4.) Mexican food. Sure, I can make it (and have made it numerous times) but it's just not the same. Besides, what I make isn't as good as it should be because they only have Old El Paso ingredients. Yuck! I don't even use Old El Paso back home! I miss being able to go into a taqueria and ordering whatever I fancy, especially menudo. Mmm...menudo...I think I know what my first Texas meal will be.

5.) Bar-b-que. That's going to be my second Texas meal.

6.) My family, especially Nathan, Daniel, and Abigail (my nephews and niece). I can't wait to see those little monkeys! And I love that they're still too young to realize that I've been out of the country, therefore I don't feel obligated to bring them back anything beyond candy. (I know that sounds cheap, but if you saw my bank account statement than you'd understand where I'm coming from - I haven't worked in four months!)

7.) Coffee shops that are open late into the night. They have nice cafes here, but everything seems to close by five. Seriously. The town just dies. Of course the pubs are still open, but you can't go to a pub with a friend and chat and read and drink coffee. You go to pubs to laugh and drink and be stupid. (But I'm sure the pubs will be something I miss when I'm back home.)

8.) Education. This is the first time in six years I'm not being challenged to think. Granted, I'm not going back to university once this trip is over, but it's still something from back home that I miss.

9.) My church. Another sad one because I'm moving to Houston when I get back to Texas, so my church will no longer be my church. I'll need to find a new church. *sigh* But I miss going to church and meeting up with my friends and worshipping together.

10.) Having my own space. I love where I'm staying. Dave and Hannah are amazing and so much fun AND a huge blessing since they're not charging me anything to live with them! And even though I feel comfortable with them (Dave is literally like one of my brothers) I am still aware that it's their home and I worry about being in their way. They say it's rubbish and I know they mean it. But still. I miss having my apartment and my room decorated my way. Hmm..that's something I may not even have back home because I still don't know where I'm living. Praise the Lord!

Anywho, sorry this has turned into such a long post. I just need to pump myself up about going home in six days. Yay, home!