I just realized that I'm going to have to change my blog a little bit...and very soon. Not the "Southern Comfort" part, but the "A southern gal living in Seattle" part. I'm leaving in July.
What should I change that part to? I'm open to any and all suggestions. Please leave them in a comment below. I'm thinking maybe Jason Aldean's song "She's Country"...the part where he sings, She's a Ragin' Cajun, juicy Georgia Peach with a thick southern drawl and sexy swingin' walk. Or..Bon Jovi's Who says you can't go home?
I've been thinking so much about our almost 4 years in Washington state. I was so in love with this place when we first moved here. I was told I'd change my mind after one winter...I did not. I complain about certain aspects of it, but my love for this part of the country has not changed. Washington will always have a piece of my heart. I got homesick for the southeast at the 3 year point. I think every southern girl eventually misses the south.
Things I will miss about Washington and the northwest
*Clean air. The Washington "smell" can't be beat! Clean, wet, refreshing, crisp.
*Evergreens and just how green it is here (No, I'm not talking about "green" as in recycling....but I will talk about that below...I mean, all the moss and because of all the rain...stuff is green).
*Seattle.
*Great coffee...and everywhere.
*Fresh fish.
*Fresh produce.
*The flowers.
*No state income tax. Don't let this fool you though....the sales taxes and all the other taxes blow!
*The friends I've made here. I love you guys! Come visit me!
*The "live and let live" mentality. This is only 50% good though, as I've learned through the years.
*Mountains. It is incredibly beautiful here.
*Snowboarding.
*Cannon Beach, Oregon. My favorite beach.
*All the asian food.
*The great grocery stores. They make the ones down south make you want to puke. I don't know how I'm supposed to get used to southern grocery stores again.
*How you can stick something in the ground and it will grow....huge. Volcanic soil...nuff said.
*So much to do...parks, sports, natural beauty, etc.
*Clean public restrooms!
*Proximity to Canada. Colin and I have a mutual love of Canada.
*Individuality and originality is huge up here and appreciated. People are open-minded.
*Gorgeous summers.
What I Will NOT miss
*The bipolar weather. I'm not kidding...it is bipolar. Hot one day, snowing the next. Rain one minute...sun the next minute. And one should NEVER, EVER have to turn their heat on in May!
*The drivers. They cannot drive here.
*It was hard, very hard, to make the local friends I made up here. It took 3 years to make local friends. The "Seattle Freeze" is real.
*Condition of the roads.
*Kids don't go to school here. They do, but their hours are weird and I don't really get it.
*Expensive. Not as expensive as California but close. Gas is bad. Sales tax is over 9%, real estate prices are ludicrous, etc. Taxes, taxes, taxes!
*Forget about having a yard unless you're a millionaire. Actually, forget about even having a decent and nicely sized home at all unless you make at least 100 grand a year. Ha!
*Homes built are crappy. They are pretty much made of cardboard, very cheaply, and with a 500,000 dollar price....for crap. And small. And no yard. They cannot build proper houses.
*Back to the "green" thing. These people are recycling fanatics. If you don't put your Coke can in the right bin (and there are about 5 different bins, so it get's very confusing for little southern gal here) you will get yelled at! They take being "green" to a whole other level and it's not pleasant. I'm all for saving the planet but lighten up!
*They refuse to properly de-ice the roads when it does snow. This creates disasters everywhere. They are too "green" to use de-icer because it hurts the environment....but cars crashing into each other is a lesser priority than the environment. *rolls eyes*
*No AC. I am not kidding. It normally doesn't get hot enough for AC to be needed. Now...in my 4 years, normally has not been the norm. We've needed it! Every summer! It sucks. There is no escape...unless you're a millionaire and actually have installed central AC in your home. Malls and movie theaters have it...but still, not having it in the home just isn't right. As any good southern lady knows, an hour in the south without AC is like a lifetime in hell. Well....northwest, you need AC! We get heatwaves up here that are awful.
LOL but seriously, this place is great. Every place has it's good and bad points.
I will miss the great northwest. My next post will be about what I miss about the south and don't miss. Til then, friends.
