Hawaii or the Mainland

I miss the mainland.
I miss the excitement of the first snow in the winter.
I miss malls.
I miss my boys, Jon and Daniel.
I miss my parents, sisters, and the rest of my family.
I miss hiking up Table Rock in Medford, OR.
I miss the cheap prices of groceries. Cereal at Safeway costs $6-$7 a box. Milk on sale is $5 plus. Today I paid almost $5 for a bag of Doritos.
I miss the variety of grocery stores.
I miss our horses and bloodhound that we had to sell to move here.
I miss racing the horses down the middle of the river with friends Rich and Karen in Nevada. There's nothing more exhilarating than galloping through the river, water flying everywhere, knowing if you fall off, you'll have a soft landing.
I miss the colors of fall. We only have one season here. Summer.
I miss the beauty of cherry trees blooming in the spring.
I miss seeing the deer grazing in the pasture and beaver swimming in the pond out our kitchen window in Hopewell, OR.
I miss Bethel Church in Medford, OR and the best preacher that I have heard in years, Tim Olson
I miss playing softball.
I miss the beautiful bike rides at the bottom of the Sierra's in Nevada.
I miss watching Randy and the boys having paintball wars with friends Rich and AJ in Carson City, NV.
I miss riding my bike in rural country.
I miss the beautiful green of the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
I miss the feeling of living in civilization.

On the other hand, in Hawaii,
I love the warm weather year round.
I love the flowers that bloom in the middle of winter.
I love having a huge tomato plant that is still vibrant and producing fruit after two years.
I love that I learned to swim.
I love our tradition of swimming in the ocean every Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I love that we have free triathlons and/or biathlons every month.
I love that we can ride our bikes year round without getting cold.
I love that it's still warm out when it rains.
I love the friends that I have made here.
I love the palm trees.
I love the beauty of the ocean.
I love the most amazing sunsets. You've not seen a sunset until you've seen the ones in Hawaii.
I love swimming with the dolphins and sea turtles.
I love seeing all the beautiful fish when we snorkel at snorkel beach.
I love having a free city pool to swim in when the ocean is too choppy or dark for swimming.
I love wearing shorts and slippahs (flip flops) year round.
I love that I don't EVER have to wear coats and long pants. Shorts are so much more comfortable.
I love Hawaii!
I miss the mainland!