Retail Therapy

I find that I've been particularly homesick the past few weeks; I think it's because everyone is planning their summer vacations home and we're still months away from going south so it's tough. It happened around Christmas too, since we weren't planning on going home for the holidays, and it was hard to see everyone around us leaving. I know we were home not too long ago, but it didn't feel like very long - especially when you've got people going home for 4-8 weeks!!

I don't deal with homesickness well, I'm afraid. I find myself calling home less often because I miss everyone too much when we hang up. It's like the more I miss home, the more I withdraw. I won't lie and say that moving away is easy, because it's not. Especially if you've got a close circle of loved ones at home - I will say that having a strong support circle at home, and the circle we've made here, has helped immensely. It doesn't make the homesickness go away, but it's nice to know that the ones at home are waiting for you, and the ones here know exactly what you're going through. Comfort in empathy!

I've also been doing a lot of shopping recently and that seems to be helping a lot, much to my husband's chagrin, ha! There are a lot of things that I'm waiting for through the post office, but the newest fun past time we've acquainted ourselves with are house sales! A lot of people, teachers in particular, move at the end of the school year, so they sell a bunch of things so they don't have to ship them home. Moving sales are a great way to 1) get rid of things before you leave and 2) get some amazing deals on things you didn't even know you needed/wanted! Plus, it's a different place to shop other than the Northern - so something new is always exciting/welcome here! I've been able to pick up a few goodies for dirt cheap, but I've also learned that you have to be quick before someone else scoops it up before you!

All this to say - it's not always easy, and it's not always sunshine and rainbows...but as long as you have people who love you (and a credit card, ha!), you're going to be a-ok.

-L