Looking Back, Looking Forward

We are headed back to Texas today (I've scheduled this to post today, as I'm sure I won't have time to log on before our flight). In honor of our flight home, I thought I'd share a quick list of things I'll miss about the Netherlands and things I'm looking forward to in Texas. Of course there are things I can't wait to get away from here and things I'm dreading a bit about going home, but I thought I'd keep the list positive for now. Of course, neither list is all inclusive, as I keep thinking of more items to add, but as I mentioned before, blogs can't always be perfect, or they'd never get published (at least in my world). So here are my lists, in no particular order:

Things I'll Miss About The Netherlands

• Hearing church bells ring throughout the day
• Old buildings everywhere (i.e. a sense of history)
• Good public transportation that can get you almost anywhere
• Bike lanes and the bicycle culture (including seeing every segment of the population on a bike)
• Low crime rates
• Belgian beer
• Great park system and seeing people actively using all parks
• All the green (grass, trees, flowers, vines, bushes) everywhere
• Availability of amazing cheese and dairy products
• Seeing dogs in restaurants and shops
• Our neighborhood restaurant (Buurten), which has good service and quality food
• Markets (weekly markets and specialty ones -- such as boekenmarkten)
• Random festivals (which seem to happen almost every week and/or weekend in Utrecht)
• Weather cool enough for running in the summer
• Free time for sightseeing
• Museums
• Ease of traveling around Europe

I'm going to miss this!

Things I'm Looking Forward To In Texas

• Marla and Elbow (our puppy dogs!)
• Seeing friends and family
• Our comfortable king size bed
• Our sectional couch (where Mr. Traveler, the dogs, and I can all sit at once)
• Starting school
• House hunting (although it makes me a little nervous, as well)
• Having a job (even if it is just teaching one section of English composition)
• Driving my car again (sometimes it's nice to be in control of your own transportation)
• High quality beef (I haven't adjusted to Netherlands beef at all)
• Mexican food and BBQ
• Large aisles at stores (like Target or the grocery store)
• Lower prices
• Having a dryer (and not having to hang up socks and underwear)
• Having a working dishwasher (and not having to hand wash utensils)
• No language barrier (people here speak English, but you don't really fit in until you learn Dutch)
• Being warm (although I'll probably get tired of 100F heat pretty fast)
• Disc golf courses everywhere

Can't wait to see these guys!

Like I said, these lists are in no way complete, but hopefully they give you a little glimpse of my feelings on returning to Texas (and on leaving Utrecht). I'll have to look back in a few months and see how the lists compare with my current outlook.