To Miss...

We've only been here in the south a short time and in some ways we are itching to get back home, but in others we're really going to miss our time here in the south - and not just the weather!   I truly love living here, the people are friendly, military life is pretty good, and well the weather is just amazing.  Even in the dead of summer when it was tipping 120' it was tolerable (we didnt' leave the house too much... but still with AC you can handle any temperature!) 

Weather

Not only will I miss the sunny and bright blue skies coupled with comfy temperatures, but I will really miss the amazing lightening and thunder storms that we were privileged to enjoy much of this summer.   Ace did great with the thunder, we were a bit concerned it would scare him, but he looked forward to it just as much as us.  We enjoyed some great moments of waking up Ace just so he could see an amazing electrical storm in the sky.   We were blessed enough to avoid any true hurricanes making their way into the Gulf while we were here.  There were no crazy evacuations that were required, and for that we are thankful.    We however did get to enjoy and experience Tropical Storm Lee and a taste of a good storm.  Unfortunately I was quasi in the middle of it while driving over the bridge and I was not a fan of that situation!    The storm was powerful and amazing at the amount of rainfall, wind, and storminess there was.

Food! 

Things that I will miss include sweet tea.   It was the one thing that I was seriously craving from the moment I knew we were coming to Biloxi.  I was salivating over it and while I know I can learn to make my own - I cannot order when I go out - and NO McDonald's "sweet tea" is NOT the same thing (gag!)     I will miss food that I cannot have back home:  Cracker Barrel and Chic Fil A.   Honestly I am NOT a fast food chicken fan, but Chic fil A made a yummy exception to that rule - and their lemonade is delicious!  Finally, I will miss the Beau Rivage Champagne Brunch.    It was a fun family outing and a good time to try various foods, chat and enjoy mimosas with the husband (which by the way when I asked what he'd miss when we'd leave he chimed in with "mimosas".)  :)

Military Life

While I will appreciate not having to drive 15mph every day to get back to my house, I will certainly miss military day to day life.   I know that Ace will miss 17:00 every day when the Star Spangled Banner is played.   Every day that we were home he would await that 5pm hour for the notice to sound and for the music to begin.  He learned quickly to stand still and quiet and wait for the song to come on and put his hand over his heart and be respectful.    He rotated between singing it and asking us to sing it.    I will also miss Loving Husband being able to come home for lunch.   He didn't do it all the time but it was a nice luxury for us.  Also his ability to come home pretty early in the day was a great perk to counter his 6:30 start of the work day for him.  

"The music's starting!!"

I will miss our neighbors that we grew the closest too. They are fine folk and it will be sad to leave them. Ace will miss their little boy that he plays with. He loves that our friends have lived so close to us.   I will miss the warm evening walks, the very close playgrounds in every direction, and the ability to have the kids play in the water at any time of the day.

Activities and Surrounds!

I will miss living so close to the ocean. While Biloxi beach is never an ocean we wanted to swim in, it was still a very beautiful piece of scenery to drive by on a regular basis.  I will miss having white sand beaches less than 3 hours away to go to.  I will certainly miss the sun.. I know I already said that... a few times!   I will miss the iconic light house and casinos that we drive by nearly daily.     

Kidwise - I will very much miss the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and Bear Cub Club.  We went almost every week to Bear Cub Club and Ace (and eventually Mae too) had a great time there.     Just last week my neighbor introduced me to Excel by 5 - a great resource for kids that Ace had a lot of fun at - and if only we were here longer I am sure would be come a weekly adventure for us.  

At the Children's Museum

I will miss our church.   We unfortunately didn't discover it until we were more than halfway through with living here, but since we have we've really enjoyed it. Mae stayed a handful of times in the nursery successfully and Ace himself even has learned to adapt well to going to class there.   The people are great and like I said - we will really miss it.

What we missed...

While we did do a lot, there are things that we did not get to for various reasons.   We never took a ship cruise, didn't make anywhere further north to visit various friends and family that are pretty close as compared to where we are typically in the NW.  I never went to the mall, I went to the outlets a few times, but never the mall. I never personally ventured inside a grocery store or the commissary (thank you, Loving Husband!)   I don't leave here with many regrets, only that we didn't have more time with the friends that we made.

Overall, I think we all consider ourselves very blessed to have had this glimpse of another part of the country. Where on banks they quote Isaiah 41:10, where there are commercials dedicated to talking about Jesus, where people are overall relatively hospitable. It's been a lot of fun, albeit a challenge with loneliness for me at times, I am sad that it is drawing to a close.     We met great people and experienced a lot of new things, but now we're looking forward to returning to the NW and the fall like weather! 

After breakfast (hence Mae's new shirt decor) on our final trip to Pensacola

Now the real question... do I have an accent?  ;-)