First, I was going through some recipes I brought from the States, and I'm not able to use most of them because of 1) lack of available ingredients (frozen shredded hash browns, canned pumpkin, pre-made pie crust, Cool Whip, taco seasoning, etc.) or 2) lack of proper kitchen appliances and/or some other essential item (blender, food processor, 9 1/2 x 13 baking pan, jelly roll pan [which I actually don't think it would fit in our oven, to be honest], etc.).
Then, I broke a cereal/soup bowl while doing the dishes last night, which puts us down to only three bowls. Sigh... I already had to ask our neighbor to borrow bowls when we had company before. I thought we should at least get our grand total up to six like the rest of our dishes, so I looked online for a replacement for the one I broke along with two more. It turns out that they weren't too expensive to replace (about 3 GBP each) despite being vintage, but the shipping cost about the same as all three bowls. Grrr... Oh well. At least they're kinda cute... very Anthropologie-esque.
Anyway, the point of this post is that while possessions do not bring ultimate happiness and simplicity is freedom and I don't need lots of things to practice hospitality and blah blah blah, today I'm finding it frustrating to go without items that I already have... in Atlanta. I have perfectly good dishes at home with place settings for 12 for every day (the whites from World Market) or for special occasions (Grandma Bonnie's china). I have muffin tins and pie platters and a cake stand/punch bowl and Le Creuset baking dishes (the latter as a wedding gift from Mrs. Camell, which make me want to kiss her every time I use them).
And while I'm at it, we have a large dining room table gifted to us from my church family in Bakersfield that would comfortably seat eight. We have a beautiful deck with a grill. We have the most scrumptious bed and heavy - and heavenly - down comforter (which Nathan does not miss at all... he's quite happy with our "summer weight duvet"). And there's the porch swing Nathan got me for my 27th birthday.
And, and, and...
And it's someone else's turn to enjoy our fantastic newlywed nest, and it's our turn to serve the Lord and work and study in England, so there's no point in fantasizing about having our English friends over for dinner to Elmwood Circle on a gorgeous spring Atlanta day when I would serve chicken enchiladas and black bean soup with cilantro and lime and cheese and sour cream and lots of avocado and then finish the meal with some chocolate chip cookies and milk on the deck while the fireflies buzz around, although I've been doing a lot of that lately.
Another sigh... I've been lingering over the post with pictures of our Atlanta house way too long. Is it a sin to covet your own stuff?
N. B. We are confident that we are supposed to be here. We absolutely love the North Barn, our neighbors, our town, our church, our friends, etc. I'm just whining. Thanks for listening.
UPDATE: On a very related note, I read this post by Amberly that totally hit me between the eyes today. Thanks girl!
5 comments:
I can relate. I coveted my own stuff when we were in Vancouver. It's hard. Hugs.
I'll bring you taco seasoning and whatever else your heart desires (as long as I can fit it in my suitcase and Nathan doesn't complain that I packed too much)! You'll just have to wait 6 months... come on time, FLY!!!!! LOVE YOU!
I completely understand...whine all you need! We moved to Durham 3 months after we were married and I have wedding presents sitting in storage that have never even been unboxed. I have never used my china or my table linens or really anything and we have been married almost 5 years! One day when we are done with this crazy wonderful nomadic life it will be like getting married all over again when the presents come out of storage.
If it helps you can sometimes find canned pumpkin in the market, at the big Sainsburys (not online) and at the Waitrose in Newcastle. I don't know if you like to make cornbread but I do! I had a horrible time finding cornmeal and ended up buying maize meal from the big Sainsburys. Looked and tasted the exact same! And I use this recipe to make my own taco seasoning -http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Taco-Seasoning-I/Detail.aspx.
I still have days when I feel like you are describing but I can promise they are far less often than they used to be.
Thanks for the encouragement ladies. Amy, I'll make a list for you. :) Amberly, thanks for the shopping tips! I was definitely lamenting over the lack of corn meal when gazing at my cornbread recipe yesterday.
bah! sooo how i felt on the boat! i pretty much wanted everything that we couldn't/didn't have. however, the one thing that i couldn't get at home that i found on the boat was a new appreciation and thankfulness for every small comfort and convenience awaiting us back in the states. it's funny how something as simple as fresh strawberries or a clean dish towel or that *one* ingredient can bring you to your knees in gratitude. that doesn't mean that it's easy to live without in the meantime, but at least you can know that great things are there for you when you return - even if they were always yours to begin with! :)
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