toto, we're not in moscow anymore

I didn't think that I was as emotionally attached to Northern Idaho as I thought! I always thought of myself as a City Girl. (as "city" as Boise can get, I suppose) When I moved up to Moscow the summer of 2006, I thought to myself, "How on earth am I supposed to live without a 24-hour Walmart? How can the city just shut down and force you to not have a life after 9 pm?!"
Thus, I dove headfirst into my situation and found that it fit me quite well. It was a challenge, living without Ryan as he was in law school. It was hard to do most everything myself, with handling the finances, taking care of the house and all inside of it, while making sure that the kids are safe going to and from their various activities.

This is what I'll miss most about Moscow:
25- Dental Depot and Dr. Cole--as weird as it is for me to actually miss a dentist, I will miss mine! It was physically 67 steps from my front door. I was always in good hands there.
24- My friends-- I made such wonderful and dear friends that I won't ever be able to replace. We were all poor together and we made due with what we had.
23- Thursday night getaways--Ryan would make sure that he was home and I could run to the gym and Hastings without guilt. (I could make it from my front door to my gym in under 3 minutes...and it was on the OTHER side of town! Not even kidding).
22- The Palouse Mall--it was so small and the deals were always fantastic. I could load up all three kids, go shopping and then back out to the car within 10 minutes if I had to.
21- Moscow Family Medicine/Gritman Medical Center--they were within walking distance and they were always professional and helpful. Definitely recommend having a baby there. If the weather is good and I felt perky, I'd walk to my appointments.
20- Applebee's--the very limited amount of restaurants forced me to start enjoying this place and it has become the center of many fond memories--especially the vans of truthiness after it has closed...
19- Eastside Marketplace--where else can you go that your DMV is half the size of the only movie theater in town? And has an indoor playground where the kids can play and you can paint pottery.
18- My bank, my pharmacies, my routine checkers at Safeway and Rousauer's--they knew my name and always said hi. Seriously, it's Mayberry.
17- Dragging the kids off to law school and praying that we won't get a ticket just to drop Ryan's lunch off to him.
16- Driving downtown several times a day (it's the only way to and from anywhere) and not hitting any red lights. (or if you did, it was maybe a 90-second inconvenience)
15- Christmas lights in the winter--Downtown Moscow is absolutely magical during Christmastime. (but I STILL LOATHE AND DESPISE THE SNOW--all 5 feet we got this last year)
14- The Farmer's Market--we have many fond memories as a family of playing at Friendship Square and carrying our fresh flowers and produce that we bought at the market. There were signs that said that you had to leave your llama home.
13- Driving our "Loop"--we'd go to Pullman for a DQ Dilly bar and then go by the WSU bears, watch the planes come and go at the Moscow/Pullman Airport. (which is the size of a gas station, by the way--very small but busy)
12- Hanging out with the law school study group-- Peppercorns and Eddy the Puppy. Good times.
11- U of I Law school-- always choosing to screw over a class and it being Ryan's, and always having something under construction. At least they've always been consistent!
10- My little house in Moscow--. It didn't have a disposal, air conditioner, dishwasher or ventilation and it was horribly inefficient with the heating...and my heart broke as we drove away. I loved that house and was so in love with it. The natural light was incredible. I loved it. (we were incredibly fortunate with our landlords too, we always appreciated them).
9- How kids could play outside and as long as you had your eye on them, they were safe. There were more dog-people in the town than kid-people; so the parks were hardly ever busy!
8- Rousauer's Doughnuts--better than Krispie Kreme, better than gourmet. The best I've ever had. Delicious.
7- The Rolling Hills and the Palouse--it was "post-card picture perfect" every day. Beautiful.
6- The simplicity of Moscow--you got to one end of town in less than 5 minutes. If you had to go into "town" it was not a stressful thing and most of the time you walked.
5- The aisles of any given grocery store--the organic section was bigger than the dairy section. It was a hoot at first, but then I got used to it. Even shopped in it sometimes.
4- 1 1/2 hours from Hayden--Going up to visit my incredible grandparents was so much fun. We got to visit as often as we could and it was always nice to come away with full tummies!
3- Piano students--I'm going to miss them. They were such a fun challenge and it was so rewarding to see their progress. They were very much apart of my life.
2- My ward--my callings, the fabulous friends that I served with, the tremendous examples that have blessed my life and my heart forever. I cherish you.
The number ONE thing that I will miss about Moscow is:
1- Having Ryan gone all the time. (It's not what you think!) Since he was gone most of the day and some of the night, our hours spent together was very special. We had such quality time together and our marriage flourished and our friendship is healthy. (not that it ever wasn't) But Moscow did something to us that we can't explain. It was a magical and difficult time in our lives, but one that we wouldn't take back.

Moscow has gotten its "organic" meat hooks into my heart, and there it will stay.

Now being back in Boise, I'm suffering from some culture shock...what's with all this traffic?!