Missing Minnesota

I am missing Minnesota. Quite a lot, actually. It's getting worse and worse as the minutes pass me by this morning. Particularly Minnesota Christmas.

The MOA

I miss walking in The MOA at 6:24 AM every morning and being awed by the thousands of strands of lights dangling so delicately from the ceiling. I miss gazing at them and being mesmerized each day. I miss those moments before the hustle and bustle started at The Mall. Just me and the lights. Every thing was dark except for the little lights. That was the only time of day one could experience such a scene in The Mall.

I miss Black Friday with Matt at 4 AM and shopping in our dorky red matching T-shirts after work.

I miss walking around and shopping in my favorite mall. I miss my favorite stores that only The MOA has! There was something so special about me living so far away from the fam, and getting them presents from THE MALL OF AMERICA!

I miss the enormous Christmas tree on the East side. I loved resting my arms on the railings of level 2 and watching whatever was taking place around the tree that day in the rotunda.

I miss those gigantic red Christmas ball things that were always placed on the lawn on the West side. I miss the gigantic wreaths hung all over the place.

OK. I am starting to cry, so I'm moving on.

Starbucks

I miss my MOA Starbucks. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy at my VA store, but there's something so unbelievably special to me about my MOA II Starbucks. I miss my friends there. I miss our old crew. I miss how horribly stressful and busy it was, but we all did it together. We bonded. We were a little Starbucks MOA II family because no one else could understand how hard it was to work there, but we did. And we conquered every day. Together.

I miss walking in the day of the roll out to a Christmas Wonderland. The red cups, the new signs, the Holiday drinks, all the new retail that I wanted to buy, the ornaments, the mugs, the tumblers, Christmas blend, the Christmas music playing (I like the sleigh ride!!), and how excited I got just stepping into my store. I miss my MOA II people so much.

Great. Crying again.

Our Apartment

I miss Swz, a lot. I miss going for our FIRST Peppermint Mocha of the season, after having waited an ENTIRE YEAR to indulge. I even miss the stupid Chinese food that Swz and Boogz ordered WITH our PM's. Even though I was ticked because I said Chinese food was NOT Christmasy!

I miss our decorating night. I miss Boogz making fun of our millions of decorations. I miss her complaining about watching Home Alone on VHS. I miss our 2 little tree's. I miss Swz almost burning our apartment down by catching my (used-to-be-beautiful) tree on fire.

I miss my Christmas dishes and mugs. I miss my Christmas tablecloth and Christmas candles.

I miss exchanging presents with Boogs and Swz. I miss stockings with Swz. I miss watching "A Boyfriend for Christmas" on VHS, even though to this day, it's the most boring movie on earth, especially since it was fuzzy and there was a buzzing the entire 2 hours. I miss trying on my Puma outfit and dancing around, thus acquiring the nickname "Pumzy".

I miss the gazillions of left overs and amazing cookies that Mama and Grandmama Swz would always send over.

I miss the Holidazzle parade. Once with the Chapmans and the kids almost died of frost bite. And again with Boogz and Swz watching from inside The News Room. (Boogz? Be caught outside in an uncomfortable condition??!) I sat at dinner partly in fear because I knew I was so poor I could not afford one darn thing on the menu. Then God prompted Swz to pay the bill. I will never forget that.

The GC

I miss my GC community all the time. Every week. I miss walking into the room and feeling instantly part of the family. I miss knowing deep down inside that my presence in that place was wanted, needed.

I miss leading the children's Christmas program. (Even though I know it wasn't the most spectacular, and I KNOW Gretchen will BLOW that program out of the water this year!) I miss them ringing their bells. I miss Ronsi's bells going flying across the room and the horrified look on her face. I miss Tori knowing EVERY word and being so proud to sing the loudest.

I miss Eric leading Christmas songs with 19 disclaimers per song. I miss Gretchen's sugar cookies. I miss Jamie's sweet potato casserole.

I miss my GC family.

HOME

I've been mulling this all over in my mind for quite awhile. And I realized as I was drying my hair this morning that I miss my HOME. I miss my own home. I had a friend ask me the other night if I felt like I could come back to my current house and just unwind. I do feel at home here, I do feel at rest here, but what it comes down to is, it's not my own.

I miss my home. MN was my own. God established me there. My own home, my own church family, my own friends, and I miss it so much. (Yep, crying again.)

Thank you God for some of the most difficult and yet some of the best years of my life in my beloved Minnesota, my own home.

I love you all.

Enjoy Minnesota Christmas just a little bit more for me.