What I love about being home

I’m “home.”

I love all of it. Most of all I love all the people that love me and my little family. In fact they love us so much that sometimes they even fight over who gets to see us where and when. They all just want to make up for all the missed time this past year and so do we.

Here are some other things I love about being home in America:
PS – In Cambodia, its not called USA or United States, it’s America.  So, I got used to saying it too.

Riding in cars: As opposed to tuk tuks. Kids don’t mind the carseats and I love how fast we get from one place to another. I do feel like the car is going illegally fast most of the time, but that’s just because in tuk tuks we averaged about 15-25mph all the time, mostly because of traffic, and partly because of the motos that pulled the tuk tuks. I haven’t driven a car yet, though. Everyone keeps saying they will let me drive their car, no problem, but when it actually comes down to it, there’s always something that comes up that prevents them from letting me drive.  Hmmm...

Houses:  We lived in an apartment for a year. With other people close by and above and below so I was constantly telling the boys to be quiet at unreasonable times. You know, like 5:45am or something? Well, in houses I don’t have to do that as much! They can play and I don’t have to worry about it so much. If our host gets tired of them, we can just move on to the next place!

TV Commercials:  I know it’s a funny thing to appreciate, but it brings a certain entertainment value that we have missed. In Cambodia many channels didn’t have commercials and when they did, they weren’t in English, so I didn’t know what they were saying. Actually, that was pretty funny, too. Here, though, it’s fun here to see them and see all the new products I’ve missed. Only problem is that everyone we stay with has DVR so they just pass the commercials by!  Haha!

Shopping:  There is so much variety and so much STUFF. I haven’t bought anything, really (see my last post!) but did enjoy my first trip to Target very much. Still haven’t made it to a grocery store yet, which I hear from my expat friends is always quite a culture shock.

Restaurants:  Eating out is awesome. In Cambodia the service is excellent, which is more than I can say for most places here in the US, but they also stand over you and watch you eat in Cambodia, which I don’t miss. Or, they would all gather around the table to play with my kids which I also felt invaded my space at times. It was also sweet at times, too, so I miss that attention the kids got! Anyway, the food is great, the menu selections are great, and the fast food is even good here! These prices, however, I could do without! When our plane landed in LA, I almost skipped lunch when I saw that it would be $10 for just my meal and we used to all be able to eat for $10 at some Cambodian places!

Appliances: Oh, how I missed you, dishwasher. And microwave. And most of all, you, dear clothes dryer. I love you. I must have kissed you 6 times already. Thank you for staying here in most homes of the USA and waiting for me. I don’t ever want to iron again.

Texting:  I love being able to call and text friends or even chat on facebook now that we are in the same time zone! Email me for my new cell number if you are interested!

Toilet Paper: Oh, we had this in Cambodia, too. I carried it in my purse at all times, actually. I had to since many bathrooms simply had a hose next to the toilet with no paper at all. But it was awful 1-ply, thin, fall apart in your hands, paper. As soon as we arrived I was thankful for good toilet paper!

Websites:  Businesses have websites! And usually just one phone number! My friends in Cambodia will understand why this is something to be thankful for! I do miss that in Phnom Penh I could get almost anything delivered though, for free, usually! That is so not the case here.

Air Conditioner:  We have a love/hate relationship, me and the A/C. I love it the first few minutes after coming indoors from the hot Texas sun, but after a year of not good A/C and the hot climate of Cambodia, I find myself freezing most of the time I’m indoors in Texas. I keep thinking I’ll get used to this but it sure hasn’t happened yet!

Playing Outside: As I type this my boys are playing outside at Grandma’s house. They are riding bikes, finding roly-poly bugs, digging in the dirt, and running in grass.  It doesn’t get better than that.  I will be joining them in just a moment!

There is so much I miss about Cambodia already.
                                                        Mostly all the people I love.

But there is so much I missed here in the USA, too.  So much I’m thankful for.
                                                                             Most of all the people I love.





Lots more travel and adventure in the coming weeks.  I’ll update when I can.  I’d love to hear from you.  Call me, email me, comment here, or send up a prayer.  All of it means so much to our family!  Thanks!