Things I Miss

There are many things I miss since moving across the country. Here's a list of some of the things I miss, big and small:

- Quick access to the freeway. It takes me 20 minutes to get to the freeway on my way to work. This 20 minutes is spent on a 2 lane winding highway. Yes, it's pretty, but it takes a long time to get to the freeway. And then there's the traffic.
- Being close to work. I realize this is a stupid thing to miss, but I miss it. In all my working years, thus far in my life, I have been 10 minutes away from work. 20 at the longest. The last 10 years of work, I was a mere 10 minutes from my job. I didn't know how great that was until I moved away and now have an hour commute. Each way. On a good day. I spend 2 hours, sitting in the car, every day. It's starting to get old and it's only been a month. I know, I'm a wuss.
- Sidewalks. I live in the country now. This apparently means there are no sidewalks. There's also poison ivy. In lots of places. I've learned my lesson the hard way, that if I want to go for a walk at night, I need to wear long pants or tall socks, because when you have to move off to the side of the road - so you aren't hit by a car, you may (in my case I did) brush up against some poison ivy. Lesson learned. Don't go for walks.
- Porches. Porches aren't really a thing out here. At least not front porches. I think most people have a small back porch, but front porches, not so much. I miss sitting with my good friend, on her front porch, sitting and talking. It's just one of those weird New England things that I've noticed. No front porches.
- A garbage disposal. I know, it's a weird thing to miss, but I do. I don't even mind the hand washing of dishes. And I think I'd rather have a garbage disposal installed before we replaced a dishwasher. But apparently they aren't good for the septic. So, at least for now, I need to get used to no garbage disposal.
- No shoulders on the side of the road. See above item. Not only are there no sidewalks, but there's basically no shoulder on these roads. Which makes me slightly terrified to take Ruby out for a ride. Yes, it would be great to ride here, out in the country, with all these trees. But with no shoulder on the road, there's greater fear/risk of me getting hit. I'm sure I'll venture out. At some point.
- Having things close to me. Church is far. Stores are far. I can't take a walk down to the post office on a Saturday, if I don't feel like driving. Well, I guess I could. It would just take me at least an hour to get there. See above, no sidewalks.
- Trax/public transportation. I didn't utilize this as much as I could have, but every once in a while I would take trax to and from work. It picked me up and dropped me off just a block from my house. Again, my work was only 10 minutes away, but this allowed me to get some walking in. That's not an option here. I'd have to drive to some bus/train station. I haven't even tried to figure that out yet.
- Coworkers that I knew and joked around with. Maybe that will come with my new job, but I'd known my other coworkers for years. I had a group that I went to lunch with once a month. It was a nice break from work, to get out of the office. There's nothing close to my new office.
- Walking trails near work. There was a park across the street from work that I would sneak away from my desk and take a walk. It was nice to be outside for a few minutes during the day. Now I just feel like I'm locked up inside. I can't even see a window from my desk and it's slightly depressing.
- The ease of a raising desk. Yes, my desk at work raises and I can stand at work. Which is great because sitting all day and then sitting in the car for another 90 minutes to drive home is annoying. I'm afraid my leg muscles are going to atrophy and I'll get bed sores on the back of my legs. I know, I know, that is extreme and I'm moving every day, so that won't happen, but yes, this is the kind of thing I think about. But my desk at work requires a hand crank to raise the desk. It takes me at least a full minute to raise my desk. It took a second before. I could transition from standing to sitting multiple times a day. Now I make a conscious effort as to whether or not I really want to stand. Or, after standing for a few minutes, do I really want to sit right now? (insert eye roll).
- My running routes and running buddies. I had many different running routes mapped out in Utah. I knew the points I needed to turn around at in order to get a specific mileage in for that day. I have one route mapped out here. I know, I need to venture out, but I miss that from home. I also miss the people I would run with. I would run different routes with different people. I miss being able to sign up for races with friends and know I would have someone there with me.
- My family. Probably the biggest thing I miss is my family. They were all close to me. My brother had just moved back the week before I got married. We were all so close! I didn't realize how much time I spent with my family until I moved away and didn't see them every week. Or multiple times a week, which was the case for me. Little things, like birthdays for nieces and nephews. 4 of them had birthdays this past month and I missed them. All of them. I would have stopped by each of their houses and said happy birthday to them. Luckily there's technology that allows us to send messages and videos, but it's not the same. I miss their cute smiles and the excitement when I would come over. I even miss when they weren't so excited to see me.

I know this paints a picture that I'm hating my life out here. I'm not. These are just the things I've been thinking about lately and missing. It's a big adjustment. I've had many life changes all at once and it's a lot to get used to. I'm trying to tell myself that it will take time and that this is normal, but I don't know what's normal. I don't know if how I'm "dealing" with this situation is good or if I'm not "handling" it well at all. For the most part, I'm doing just fine. However, there's about one day a week that I just feel down. Where I miss all these things terribly and it's just a hard day. Today is one of those days.