I think I’m living in the perfect situation.

I don’t stay in a place long enough to get sick of it. Well, kind of. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little over school during finals week. But, I can miss home and miss school just enough. In high school I wanted to get far away from my hometown and I naively looked at schools hours and hours away.

Now that I’m gone, I see the small charms of my hometown that, maybe, make people want to settle down and stay here for longer than a Christmas break.

I like how after the first snow, I can walk down my road and see the trees and mailboxes glittering around me. How the houses don’t seem so cramped, but more cocooned by the snow. It isn’t brown and gross from cars, school buses, and people sloshing through it—it feels quieter, more surreal.

I like how there are just enough trees down Main Street that they all can have individual Christmas lights strung on them. When I’m sitting at the stop light and can see the tunnel of lights that eloquently line the sidewalks all the way down the street.

I like how it looks sitting in the Diner during a snow storm. Even if it’s dark and scary, the same-old warm glow makes the outside seem a little more distant. It’s repetitive, it’s familiar, and I’m oddly okay with it.

I hate how I know everyone in the grocery store. But, I kind of love it too. It’s nice to see familiar faces that are excited to see you again. Grocery stores are like high school cafeterias. You see people you don’t want to see, but you also see those who you wouldn’t see anywhere else. Sometimes that’s a good thing.

I like the consistency. Especially when I’ve been surrounded by so many unknowns, it’s not the worst thing in the world to know that the mailman always comes around 1pm and the elementary school gets out at 3:30pm. It’s suburban simplicity at its finest.

I like how I can go to the movies for five dollars and meet up at the same coffee shop I’ve gone to since my friends and I could drive. I like how it’s old and homey and I know everything on the menu.

Moving away for unexpected opportunities and uncertainties brings you outside your comfort zone. We grow and learn more when we are far away from our little bubbles than we could have ever imagined. But, the ability to take a break is unique. We get to live in two places at once. Experience both sides of the spectrum. Have a home base. In hindsight, it's not too bad.