Five things I miss about the south

I fully intended to provide a vacation update, complete with pictures last night. However, we got home later than I anticipated and hooking up the camera to download the pictures seemed like too daunting a task at 12:30, so I decided to go to bed. Thus, you get a quick posting of a few things I was reminded of that I miss about the south...and I will post the vacation update either later today or tomorrow.

In no particular order:

1. Family. It was great to get to see our families and spend time with them. It is hard to be the only family members outside of a 3 hour radius and miss important and fun family events. We always love the opportunity to spend time with those we love.

2. Friends. We have wonderful friends in Alabama. That is not to say that we don't have wonderful friends in Indianapolis...we absolutely do. It is just that we get to spend lots of time with our friends in Indy and not so much time with our friends in Alabama. It is great we when get to see them and share fun times.

3. Sweet tea. There is a distinction to be made between "sweet tea" and "sweetened tea." The latter is what you get when a server brings you iced tea in a glass and you dump in some sugar/sweetner, stir it around and watch it settle on the bottom of your glass. The former is a lovely, syrupy sweet southern nectar the likes of which I haven't been able to find up here.

4. Smocking. For those of you not from the south, you can click here to find out more. I love it for children. Every time Carter wears something smocked up here, people think I am dressing him like a girl. Let me be clear, smocked outfits are truly universal--boys and girls alike look precious in smocked outfits.

5. Ma'am and Sir. We had a babysitter for Carter while we were there. A sweet girl who was in the youth group when we worked with the youth at Canterbury. I asked a question and she responded with, "Yes, Ma'am." I almost told her that I wasn't a Ma'am, but I know if I had been her age, I would have said "yes, ma'am" to someone 12 years my senior as well. So, I accepted it...appreciated it, even. I know in the midwest that it isn't the norm...and that is okay. But, it is, in my mind, synonymous with good manners (this doesn't mean that I think people have bad manners if they don't say it...just that I always feel like they do if they do say it). I hope that Nick and I are diligent enough to make sure Carter responds with "ma'am" and sir." (nevermind that his favorite word right now is "yea")

The list is not exhaustive, but it was a few things that I was thinking about as we drove home last night. There are many wonderful things about Indiana that I love as well...but that is for another day {post}.

I promise...pictures to come soon for those of you who prefer the visually enhanced posts!