I've been in Washington for just about a year now, and, while I'm incredibly grateful for the beauty that surrounds me every day up here - I think it's time to celebrate the things I miss as well. After all, if they weren't worth missing, I wouldn't have feelings about them, right? Right.
So here goes!
Things I miss -
Celebrating Holidays - Being in a military household, we never count on being able to celebrate holidays together. When I can, I celebrate with my family, but most holidays we just don't celebrate. Valentine's day? He had duty. I got him a card and a few special little surprises that week, but we didn't do anything to mark the occasion. (Poor guy - when he's home he's too tired to think, much less plan and enjoy an evening together.) We've sort of fallen into the rythm of not celebrating holidays. It's just easier than dealing with being disappointed whenever the calendar doesn't line up. But sometimes, I miss it.
Random Coffee and Dinners with friends and family - About once a month or so, we're able to do dinner with some of the friends from My Sailor's boat, but I have yet to make any that really invite me out and most of the folks I've met through theater are too busy to hang out. I so miss being able to call my family, or Boxer Girl, or some of my other friends for coffee/tea, hot tub time, or dinners out. In the year or so I've been here, I've yet to really forge and deep friendships. Work keeps me busy and kids keep other women busy. For the most part, that's life! Friendships take time and ebb and flow with the tide. I'm so grateful I learned the value of solitude. It's where I can be most creative and most free. Sometimes longing is good for artistic personalities. Ya know..."the need to express to communicate" and all that.
Driving to Disneyland on a bad day - I loved being able to drive to Disneyland when I had a bad day and spend some solo time, or spend some time with friends who were working up there. Research trips always gave me a good excuse, but most of the time, I just enjoyed the atmosphere and occasionally, some company. It was always a pleasure to drop in on Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, or Fantasmic, or ElecTronica when I needed to escape for a while. Strolling around Disneyland after dark with a warm cinnamon tea latte in my hands still sounds like a perfect way to spend the evening, even if I'm flying solo.
Adventures - When I first moved up here, I was rarely at home. I spent as much time as possible out on adventures in parks, at new diners, etc. Lately, that's changed (though I'm sure it'll come back around). With the prospect of buying a house, I've been working at least 10 hours of overtime every week since I've been back from the trip in an effort to have 2 months of mortgage payments saved up before the loan closes. My Sailor doesn't get overtime - so it's up to me. Which doesn't account for a whole lot of down time during normal operating hours. I so miss hiking, walking, driving, exploring... but I'm sure I'll get back to that someday soon.
But...
All that said, it's beautiful up here. I enjoy the small-town feel of the cities, at least on this, the Western side of the Sound. I love that there are mountains everywhere I look - majestic, dangerous, looming their protective peaks over the landscape like colossal guardians. Up here I can also afford to live on the coast! On one side of me, is the Sinclair Inlet (or Liberty Bay once the house purchase goes through) and on the other is the Pacific Ocean, the same ocean that touches the shores of my home state, California. Rainbows are not rarities up here and the air is cleaner and crisper than the dry desert air in the city I grew up in.
The more time goes by, the more Washington feels like home, despite the rain. I've always been more of a rural girl, so it's a good fit for me, even though I frequently dream of my family at night (something that never happened at home when I saw them more often).
So here goes!
Things I miss -
Celebrating Holidays - Being in a military household, we never count on being able to celebrate holidays together. When I can, I celebrate with my family, but most holidays we just don't celebrate. Valentine's day? He had duty. I got him a card and a few special little surprises that week, but we didn't do anything to mark the occasion. (Poor guy - when he's home he's too tired to think, much less plan and enjoy an evening together.) We've sort of fallen into the rythm of not celebrating holidays. It's just easier than dealing with being disappointed whenever the calendar doesn't line up. But sometimes, I miss it.
Random Coffee and Dinners with friends and family - About once a month or so, we're able to do dinner with some of the friends from My Sailor's boat, but I have yet to make any that really invite me out and most of the folks I've met through theater are too busy to hang out. I so miss being able to call my family, or Boxer Girl, or some of my other friends for coffee/tea, hot tub time, or dinners out. In the year or so I've been here, I've yet to really forge and deep friendships. Work keeps me busy and kids keep other women busy. For the most part, that's life! Friendships take time and ebb and flow with the tide. I'm so grateful I learned the value of solitude. It's where I can be most creative and most free. Sometimes longing is good for artistic personalities. Ya know..."the need to express to communicate" and all that.
Driving to Disneyland on a bad day - I loved being able to drive to Disneyland when I had a bad day and spend some solo time, or spend some time with friends who were working up there. Research trips always gave me a good excuse, but most of the time, I just enjoyed the atmosphere and occasionally, some company. It was always a pleasure to drop in on Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, or Fantasmic, or ElecTronica when I needed to escape for a while. Strolling around Disneyland after dark with a warm cinnamon tea latte in my hands still sounds like a perfect way to spend the evening, even if I'm flying solo.
Adventures - When I first moved up here, I was rarely at home. I spent as much time as possible out on adventures in parks, at new diners, etc. Lately, that's changed (though I'm sure it'll come back around). With the prospect of buying a house, I've been working at least 10 hours of overtime every week since I've been back from the trip in an effort to have 2 months of mortgage payments saved up before the loan closes. My Sailor doesn't get overtime - so it's up to me. Which doesn't account for a whole lot of down time during normal operating hours. I so miss hiking, walking, driving, exploring... but I'm sure I'll get back to that someday soon.
But...
All that said, it's beautiful up here. I enjoy the small-town feel of the cities, at least on this, the Western side of the Sound. I love that there are mountains everywhere I look - majestic, dangerous, looming their protective peaks over the landscape like colossal guardians. Up here I can also afford to live on the coast! On one side of me, is the Sinclair Inlet (or Liberty Bay once the house purchase goes through) and on the other is the Pacific Ocean, the same ocean that touches the shores of my home state, California. Rainbows are not rarities up here and the air is cleaner and crisper than the dry desert air in the city I grew up in.
The more time goes by, the more Washington feels like home, despite the rain. I've always been more of a rural girl, so it's a good fit for me, even though I frequently dream of my family at night (something that never happened at home when I saw them more often).
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Yep, it's certainly okay to miss things. While I've been in AZ almost as long as I lived in WA there are still many things I miss about WA.
ReplyDeleteThe lakes, the Puget Sound, the rivers, the Cascades, driving to Eastern Washington, the rain (yep, the rain), the green everywhere.
But the desert is beautiful too and it's a lot more affordable for me to live here than it was in WA so I can make do :)!