My List of Thirty-Four

So, I'm experiencing bloggers block at the moment and haven't been able to think of anything to blog about for the past couple of days. BUT, I came across a bright pink piece of paper today that I thought might be of some interest.

As I am mentally preparing myself for the adventure that is the Peace Corps, I'm finding myself drawing on a lot of the feelings and experiences from my year in France. During that year, whenever I found myself missing something about home I added it to an ongoing list, on a bright pink sheet of paper, entitled "The Things I Love About California". I figured, that when I returned to California I could look back on this list and be reminded of all of the things that make this place "home". Of course, I don't think I've looked at it since I got back, and instead flipped it over and started a list on the back side of all of the things I missed about France. (Not exactly the point of the list).

BUT, as I'm preparing myself for the imminent struggles I will be facing between now and November 2010, I've finally revisited this list of things that I once missed about California. Here's what I found myself missing while living in Southern France over two years ago:

1. My friends and family
2. Cheesecake
3. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
4. REAL deli sandwiches
5. Knowing where to shop
6. American boys
7. Smiling at strangers
8. Chevy's fajitas
9. Margaritas
10. My bed
11. Long, hot showers
12. Boys in baseball caps
13. Driving (w/ music)
14. Sports games (namely The Giants)
15. Laundry in my house, for FREE
16. Understanding strangers' conversations
17. American movies w/o subtitles
18. Movies immediately after release
19. Television
20. Radio
21. Courses in English
22. Receiving mail (as in the postal service actually gets the mail to you)
23. Warm chocolate chip cookies
24. Internet in my bedroom
25. Peanut butter
26. Cheddar cheese
27. Not having to walk up a mountain to get home
28. American gossip magazines
29. Fahrenheit
30. Thanksgiving
31. Having clean, intact clothes (no stains, holes, tears, fading or shrinkage)
32. No time change
33. Whole Foods
34. Trader Joes

And, that was my extensive list. As I typed it out, I realized I was reading this list for the first time in over a year and most of the items on this list have a story behind them. I'm also realizing that almost none of these things are exclusive to California.

And, this little list may have just done the trick. I can already think of a handful of experiences that I could blog about including the time we were all forced to de-board our overnight train at 3am, in the middle of nowhere in the Czech Republic, in the snow, watching as our train then chugged away down the tracks. Ahh, the memories... :)