Far Far Away

Do you ever get homesick for places you've been in your life? Like the other day I was stepping out of the subway and smelled the yummy sweets baking at the nearby Hot & Crusty (NY bagel chain) and thought, "that smells like the air in Paris, and I miss Paris!" I have been to Paris twice but it is not like I have spent enough time there to really miss it, but I do!

There are a lot of places I find myself getting homesick for. Newport Beach tops the list right now. I have been there more times than I could probably count and I would probably say it is one of my favorite places in the world. I have so many great memories, riding bike or Rollerblading on the boardwalk, shopping at Fashion island, getting seaside donuts when they are fresh at midnight, getting frozen bananas on Balboa after riding the ferry, and if we are lucky, getting to see bio luminescent waves at night

(If you never seen it, it is amazing how the bacteria in the water makes the ocean glow, I got this pic off the internet, but doesn't it look like Rob Theurer?)

I also find myself getting homesick for another place I love, Florence. In college I spent a semester abroad in Firenze and I can't tell you how often I find myself wishing I was there. It is such a romantic and magical and historical place and strikingly beautiful. I was able to spend almost six months there, although you wouldn't know it by my Italian speaking skills, and it is one of my favorite places on this earth. Part of my time there was spent taking some amazing art history courses that took me all around the museums and monuments. I kept detailed notes thinking how one day I would bring my kids back there and tell them all about the amazing art and history of Firenze, well I don't know where those notes have ended up, and I certainly don't remember a lot of what I learned, but I still ache to go back there, hopefully sometime soon!

After we got married and I moved back to Utah while Dan and I finished school, I remember aching for New York! I missed it so much, the culture, the food, the museums, the shopping, I missed just the feeling you get being in New York and being part of New York, which is something you can only really experience living here, something that Dan has also come to appreciate in the six months since we moved back together.

This will sound so random, but I have also had moments where I am homesick for high school. Maybe it is just being at a point where we are accumulating so much responsibility and seriousness in our life, but I'll be honest, sometimes I do miss high school. I really loved my time at Highland and I feel like that was a time in my life where I was really making the best of myself, sure there were things about it that were hard, but I feel like in high school, lots of things made sense. I met so many amazing people through all the activities i was involved in and I really felt like I learned a lot about myself, being who I am.

Occasionally I find myself homesick for Utah, mostly for the mountains. I never really appreciated the Wasatch mountains, or the beauty of the Utah outdoors until I lived away, now I find my self in moments where I just feel like I need to be in the mountains, which is not really an option in the middle of the concrete jungle of NY City! I guess next time I am in Utah I'll have to go on a hike! Anyway, the point of this post is just to say, it is funny how places become part of you, your identity, and how you see the world, and if you have a time, leave a comment about a place that has been important to you.