Happy Place

Hello beautiful people!  Hope you are well and had a fun Halloween.

Day 48.  Little sign of vegetation.  If we don't find water soon, then I don't know what we're going to do.

The first month and a half hasn't been that bad.  There have been times where I felt a little out of my element, but I'm still assimilating.  The hardest part about living here is not that I am in a new country or dealing with the cultural changes because I know in a few more months, these things won't seem as prominent.  The hardest part is wrapping my head around the fact that I won't be going 'home' for awhile.

Not many people will be in my position during life.  Most people will probably grow up near, find a spouse in, and reside close to their hometown.  I was fortunate enough to fall in love with Lee in a place that I also love, however, these loves of mine are faraway from my hometown--3,642 miles away to be exact.  When I visited Europe before, I was always on a timeline and I knew when I'd be returning to Ohio.

This 'timeline' mindset is extremely unhealthy I've found.  When I arrived 48 days ago, my thoughts automatically reverted to a constrained, deadline-oriented manner that had me running from the airport, to the train station, to the taxi queue, and to our new house.  I could only think that my time with Lee needed to be filled with adventures and fun every second of the day and if we moved at anything less than a gallop, we were going to miss something.  But, this was how I had to think when I was here on timed visits.

Now that I literally have the rest of my life to live here with my husband in the country that I fell in love with three years ago, I have been reminding myself that not every day has to be action-packed and that it is acceptable to just enjoy the simple, quiet days at home.  (Very quiet, in fact.  No enlightened me when I got married that I would only see my husband five hours a day and weekends.  That's kind of the pits.)  I still have the urgency to explore every nook and cranny of England, but I have slowed my pace to a trot so as to just tackle one city at a time.  In a study-abroad or holiday mindset, the goal is sometimes to see two cities a week or jam-pack a weekend with as many sights as you can so that when the time comes to jump back on a plane home, you don't feel as though you've missed anything.

My quiet days at home are filled with mini-projects for the house and most recently, Lee and I are compiling an Operation Christmas shoebox to donate at church.  In between the housework and the projects, sometimes I get a little yearning for home and my family.  The other day, for instance, I made a playlist of as many Motown and '50s rock-and-roll songs that I could muster because that's the music my dad always listened to when I was younger.  Or when I'm cooking and I have an affection for a "little spatula" or "my favourite little mixer," I think of my mom and how ridiculous I thought she was when she'd say she 'loved' inanimate cooking objects.  How can you love a kitchen utensil?  I didn't think it was possible, either.  These memories of living at home sometimes make me tear-up a bit, but mostly just take me to a happy place.  It's amazing how much I miss being around people who simply just know me and can converse without any small-talk.

Although it would be nice to visit home where my friends and family are more often, I am becoming happier each day to be here, too.  Not being within 3,642 miles of a Wal-Mart or hearing a Nickelback song is reason enough to find happiness.

Here's the playlist I made for your listening pleasure (Mom, just click on the tan, underlined letters and then click "Play All" when the new window appears):  http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Malt+Shop/62619609

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.