Homesickness

I was born, raised, attended college, and worked my first "big girl" job all in the same town. In high school, all of my friends were trying desperately to get out of dodge - and they did. (Attending University of Richmond, William and Mary - they were smarties - University of Ohio, University of Central Florida, and Texas Christian University.) 

I love Lynchburg. Lucky for me, the town grew up as I did, and has so much more to offer now than it did in 2006. Downtown is getting better and better every day, the young professionals group in town is thriving, and I took for granted how cheap the cost of living was. The longest amount of time I spent away from home was the summer I worked for Appalachia Service Project and spent 12 weeks in Tennessee. And I had been OK with that.

When my husband and I got engaged, I knew we'd most likely go to Ft. Campbell after his training was done at Ft. Benning. I was excited to get out of town - spread my wings a little bit. Make another home. But, there are times where I get homesick. This week it happened when I spoke to my Dad on the phone about the church's week long mission trip with Appalachia Service Project. (This was our 10th year going - I'm so proud of them!) 

Hearing about the youth (now college students) who went, the adults I pestered for years who finally went, the jobs, the experience, the love of Christ they witnessed in the mountains - it made me miss home. A lot. But, never one to rest on my laurels, I got to work combating this homesickness! So here are some tricks to try when you're missing home.

1. Make your family's go to dinner - for us, it's Spaghetti Pie. Layer a mixture of cream cheese and sour cream on top of 1 lb of cooked noodles and under some spaghetti sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese. Bake until the cheese melts and enjoy this comfort dish. Healthy? No. Helpful? Yes.

2. Watch a favorite movie - I grew up loving The Little Mermaid (and have the collection to prove it...) and putting it on in the background never fails to lift my spirits some.

3. Look through old pictures - Facebook has made this one so easy, browsing online for those awful photos you usually save for Throw Back Thursday (like the ones of us in bath tubs with various relatives), but if you have some hard copies laying around, those are always nice to reminisce over. 

4. Throw on a comfort outfit - Dads are notorious for perfectly wearing down t-shirts, and every time I go home now, I tend to snag another one from his dresser. I try to stick to old Jimmy Buffet tour shirts (my favorite is one from `94), but throw them on with a comfy pair of pajama shorts and I'm good to go.

5. When all else fails - call you Mom. I probably speak to my Mom every other day - if not every day - and just hearing her voice can help me de-stress (most of the time...) and catch up on all the good gossip.

What do you do when you're feeling homesick?