Random musings

A coworker of mine is moving to The Big Apple and made a list of things that she will and will not miss about living in Michigan. That got me thinking about what I would and would not miss about my life here. So I decided to do something that I do best and make a list!

Would miss:

~~ My family
I have always been really close to my family. Even when I went away to school I made the 2 hour drive home almost every weekend. And now that my niece and nephew are at fun ages {almost 4 and 7 going on 16} I would miss the time I get to spend just being silly with them and tucking them in some nights. And the way my niece loves me and my nephew tries to avoid goodnight kisses and then runs after me to kiss me when I walk away. They love me and I love them to the moon and back, because the moon is really far away!

~~ My church
As much as the people there drive me batty sometimes, I love it! I have never found a place where I felt more welcome and at home than The River Church in Holly. Nevermind the shameless plug!

~~ My friends
I have always been a bit of a loner, but I have collected a random assortment of close friends in my travels through life that I love dearly. Some I have known most of my days, and others I have met recently, but all of them are so valuable to me and I don't know what I would do being so far away and having to collect more friends in a new place.

~~ Up North
No matter where you live in Michigan's lower peninsula, there is always an "up north" whether it's Bay City or Mackinac there is a place to escape. Michigan has some of the most beautiful scenes that I have ever seen and I would miss them. From the great lakes we are known for to the quiet country towns that no one  has ever heard of there is somewhere beautiful just a couple hours drive away.

~~ Being able to use my hand to show where I live
I've been made fun of for answer the "Where are you from?" question by holding up my right hand and pointing to a place a little west of my thumb, but it comes in handy and I love it!

~~ Kid Rock
While I am not the biggest fan of his music, it's kind of cool to be able to say that I live in the same city as someone that famous! Sightings of him in my area are so common now that he rarely gets mobbed by fans. It's pretty likely that if you frequent a couple select restaurants/bars that you'll see him quite often.

~~ Driving
If I moved to a big city I think I would lose my mind not being able to drive. Driving is my therapy sometimes. It is only when I get behind the wheel and let the wind play with my hair on a dark country road that I can truly let go and talk things through just me and Jesus!


Would not miss:

~~ Snow
Driving in it, walking in it, looking at it, knowing that it's falling outside. All of the above. I really don't like snow! Spring comes too late and Fall is too short for me to enjoy winter. I would be content to have snow on Christmas day and have it gone by Dec. 26. End of story.

~~ "The Look"
The look is what people give me when I say I'm from Detroit. {I'm not actually from Detroit but if I said I grew up in Davisburg even many people in Oakland County would have no clue where that is!} The look describes their thoughts of "but she looks like a sweet middle class white girl, how can she be from Detroit?" And that look is further heightened when I say I live half way between Detroit and Flint, both cities ranked in the top 10 {maybe even top 5} most dangerous cities in the country! Again I am a classy, small town, white girl who probably wouldn't last one night in the D or flint for that matter.

~~ Ohio
Driving out of Michigan almost always requires a drive through Ohio, a.k.a. the armpit of America! It's a long, boring drive with nothing to look at except "touchdown Jesus" which burned to the ground 2 years ago. I'm not sad it's gone because it was an awkward site, even for Christians, but it at least gave you something to look at and talk about on a boring drive through the armpit of America!

~~ The UP
I am proud to be a born and bred Michigander, but there are just some things I don't understand! One of those is why the UP is even part of Michigan in the first place. It isn't actually connected and it's closer to Canada and Wisconsin than to us. But nevertheless, it is a part of my home state and I have learned to accept it.

~~ The economy
For obvious reasons.