One Year Anniversary of Leaving America....What I Miss...

Today marks the one year anniversary of Paul and I leaving South Carolina to come live in England.

It's been quite an experience, especially for me who has never lived anywhere but South Carolina the entire *Mumble-tee-mumble* years of my life...

I've missed SO many things since moving here.....

... my family and friends. I miss being able to go to their houses and being able to do lunch or dinner with them or just being able to show up and surprise them with a hug and a 5 minute chat if I'm running errands in their neighborhood.
... my car and being able to drive where ever I want-when ever I want.
... Sweet Iced Tea and the Snow Cream Ice treats from the Sno-Hut on Wade Hampton Blvd.
...Real honest to God SHORTENING to make BISCUITS (the AMERICAN scone type ones- not the cookie type ones)
...Pulled Pork or Chicken BBQ with Mustard based sauce. OMG.Nowhere but the South can you find it like it SHOULD be.
...Fast food joints. McD's, Jack-in -the-Box, Burger King, Subway, Zaxbys, Wendy's...take your pick. I miss em all. I also miss chain restaurants like, Cracker Barrel, IHOP and WaffleHouse.
...having a job. Just the routine of getting up, getting dressed and having a schedule to keep while making money.
...having regular days off when Paul and I would sleep all morning, then get up and go for a ride to the mountains or the lake and then come home and watch movies until 3AM and then hop in the car and ride to the local Waffle House for breakfast- or supper...whatever meal we was in the mood for.
...Having a house to ourselves.
...having 7 acres to be able to walk on, or go out back and target practice with the rifle, or shotgun, or the GLOCK....or just to play a game of awesome Lazer Tag.
...being able to walk 50 yerds down to our very own fishing pond for a few hours of relaxing fishing. Even if we didnt CATCH anything, it was awesome to not have to worry about having a fishing license if we wanted to fish.
...WALMART. OMG- I never knew how MUCH I would miss that place. I cannot find anything here in England.....I'm S-L-O-W-L-Y learning hwere to find a few things, but I'm going to die of old age before I find the equivalent of basic things I used in the states. They have so many specialty shops here for things you would think would be in places like the pound shops(The British versions of Dollar General or Freds or the 5 & dime stores) or ASDA(the British version closest to our WALMARTs-only NOT) or Morrisons or Sainsburys, or Tesco(the British version of Bi-Lo or Ingles or Winn-Dixie..only so NOT). Thankfully, both places have ALDI!!!!!
...Guns. OMG...guns.
...Knives- as in my stilletto switchblade. No you can't.
...Pick-up Trucks. I've seen TWO since I've been here. That's it...TWO. They were small ones like Toyota Tundras sized.....Not a single big old honkin' crew cab or doolie or Monster truck. I mean HOW do people MOVE their stuff around here?? Seriously!!!
...Country Music. I brought a lot with me- stored on my computer of course, but then my compter crashed and burned and I lost it All. I'm hoping we remembered to back it up on our hard drive- but I'm not holding my breath. 
...Big houses with lots of room. Add one bedroom to our house back home and thats the average size of houses here....and from what I've seen, there is no such THING as an "open floor plan"... the rooms are TINY compared to rooms back home. That may just be MY perception of it tho.
...seeing luxury cars. Cars are tiny over here too. They have to be to fit in the tiny narrow roads becuase they dont have-
...Big wide roads with plenty of room for a slight error.
...Pine trees. I miss the smell of pines so much. Maybe just because we always lived in the middle of a half dozen stands of pines scattered on the estate.
...The Carolina Blue sky. It's usually gray and overcast here. We do have sunny days too- and the sky is absolutely stunning when we have clear days, but  there's nothing like a Carolina Blue sky with the puffy white clouds floating by.
...service in restaurants. As much as the wait staff stopping every  5 minutes to ask if you needed a drink refill or anything, it was much better than here where you buy *A* drink and dont get free refills and the wait staff just disappears as soon as you're seated. Southern Hospitality- you just cannot beat it.


This is just the major things I miss. There's a lot to be said for things over here too...but I'll cover THAT part of it tomorrow- when it will be the One Year Anniversary of us ARRIVING in England.

There are two sides to every coin.