I still love America

I know I haven't written much in a while, but what can I say? Life's been busy throwing unexpected curve balls my way. I thought I'd pick back up where I left off and join the millions who are probably voicing their opinions about November 4th, 2008 on their own blogs today.

I just want you all to know how much I love America. Every time I cross the border from British Columbia down into Washington and see Old Glory flying high above the gas stations and farm houses, I feel like I'm back home. Technically, I'm still about 3,000 miles from my real home in NC, but it feels like home nonetheless.

Even though we're living abroad, Brian and I were responsible citizens of the USA and cast our ballots for this November election about a month ago. What a night. I was sitting at home on the couch by myself (Brian was in North Van for soccer practice) when they officially announced that the projected president-elect is Barack Obama. (Now that I've included his name in my blog, I wonder if I'll get any Google hits...) I'm not going to make any projections or assumptions, I just want you to know that I still love America.

So here are some things that I love about America:

• Cheaper gas. Over the summer we were paying the equivalent of over $5.50/gallon up here.
  
• Parking spaces that are big enough for me to get out of my car comfortably without doing the weird, side bend thing with my body.
• There's a larger variety of things to choose from and they're cheaper! That includes, but is not limited to: lots of flavors of pop tarts, coke, hershey's kisses, m&m's, and other junk foods and many many kinds of cereal.
• Cereal is less than $7.00 for a small box. A gallon of milk costs less than a gallon of gas.
• The iTunes store has so many more TV shows and songs to choose from.
• The post office is open and mail runs on Saturdays. The mail actually makes it to its destination and often in a timely manner.
• Houses that are about my age still look like they're in good condition. Here, a house that was built in the 80's doesn't seem kept-up and is bound to be bull-dozed within the next 18 months.
• I can park my car on the street without worrying about someone breaking in to steal whatever I happen to have lying in the back seat, including a bag of trash.
• Starbucks is cheaper.
• Books and magazines are cheaper.
• Jeans are cheaper.
• Shoes are cheaper.
• Pretty much everything at WalMart is cheaper.
• Chick-fil-a.
• Wallgreens.
  
• Cheerwine.
  
• There exist strip malls which generally include at least one of the following stores, sometimes all: Target, Michael's, Toys R Us, Old Navy, and some sort of sporting goods store and book store. And those strip malls are kept nice and clean. Here's one near my house in Greensboro, NC.
  
• So many people that I love and have had to leave behind.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I've felt the distance so much more lately and it makes my heart heavy. If you're reading this from the US and you're part of our friends or family, know that we love you and we miss you every day. It's not always easy being so far. But this is our life for now.