2 Months Stateside - What we like/miss

We've been back in the States for 2 months now!  Crazy.  Time has really flown by.  We've celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, moved into our new place, had a baby, have church callings and more.  I kept thinking I'd write this post at 1 month back but it never happened.  So after being her for 2 months I still catch myself either wishing I could trade this life in for my old one or thinking oh, it is so nice to be back.  Here's why:

Why we miss it:
Friends - yeah, I've blogged about this already and it's getting better, but I still miss our friends.  I must say I do love that we can facetime and email and whatnot so it's not too hard to stay in touch, but I would really like to be able to just go hangout...not so feasible.  It's not just me that misses friends either.  I look at Kherington and just feel sad that she don't have any friends.
Walking - I got used to walking everywhere and it was a really good way to get out of the house and do something while still being productive (grocery shopping, banking, visiting friends, park, etc).  It's not that I can't walk here but it seems so much more inconvenient and it's hard to motivate myself to do it.
Simple Life - It was nice to not feel the need to buy things and be happy with what we had. In the States because there is so much access and everything is relatively inexpensive I find myself often times justifying buying things that we want but don't need. All that adds up and ends up hurting the pocket book a little...plus we still really don't have the space to continue to acquire things.
Travel - It is sad to not have a 'next big trip' or even 'next day trip' to look forward to.  Where every weekend is filled with the whole family exploring new sites, food and experiences.
Yard - I loved having a yard.  It made our apartment seem so much larger and it was nice to be able to just open the doors and have the kids run around or get tons of energy out on the trampoline.

What is nice...basically thoughts that have crossed my mind
Laundry - I left my clothes in the washer overnight and they didn't smell like mildew in the morning. Plus after 4 years of hang drying, I now own a dryer and my washer can wash cloths in 45 minutes.  That means in the time it took me to just wash our clothes in Belgium I could have them washed, dried, folded and put away.
Oven - My cookie sheets fit in the oven.  In Belgium I only ever used them to store toffee in while it cooled because they were too big for the oven.
Garbage Disposal - We have one.  No more making sure every crumb is off the plate before washing dishes.
Recycling - No pressure to sort out all the trash.
Costco - I love Costco.  There is one just 15 minutes from my house.  Far enough to keep me from visiting all the time, but close enough to have it be convienet.
Night shopping - I can shop after the kids go to sleep and everything is still open.  Or if I opt to shop during the day, it isn't weird that I have kids with me.
Returns - I can return anything I don't want to keep and it is easy.
Weather - It is January and we can be outside in a light jacket most days (there have been a couple cold ones).  We'll see what I think about the weather come summer.
Play Room - I haven't decided if I like this more than a yard...don't think so...but after having a playroom where all the toys can be instead of out in the main room it would be hard to go back.
Fridge - We have a normal size fridge/freezer.  It actually looks a little empty until right after a Costco run but nice that we always have room to store anything.