Missing.

You know, I've always been a pretty independent girl.  I moved to Provo right after I graduated from high school, without a single hint of anxiety or fear. I like to do things my way, and I'm really not good at taking correction or advice. I've never been good at it. So, I thought that when I came to Ecuador I would be fine without the things I'm familiar with.  I never thought I'd be the one in the group to be homesick.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Ecuador. I love it so much that I felt the need to make that word a larger font size. My life is completely changed and I know I will miss it so much as soon as I'm home. I love my babies more than I love my Moshi pillow. A bold statement, for those of you who are unfamiliar with my relationship with my Moshi. 

Despite all of that, I feel the need to tell you what I miss, just so those things know that there is missing going on in their behalf. Everyone likes to hear that they're missed. I do, at least.

• My family. I miss them the very most. 
• My friends. I miss them the next very most. Because they're there for me when my family is far away.  
• I never thought I'd say it but...Tucanos. But just the garlic sirloin. 
• Cafe Rio Pork Salad. Yum. 
• My cell phone.
• Strawberries. Can't eat those here...They would make me barf barf barf. TMI? I'm sorry. 
• Being able to flush my toilet paper down the toilet. Gross. I know, I know...TMI again.
• Chocolate that isn't too waxy. More specifically, downing a Symphony bar in one minute flat with Jessie and Peri. 
• BYU. The Library. Studying. The Wilk. Running into people I love. Being able to contribute to "Overheard @ BYU." Football games. My Bookstore Buddies. 
• Fall colors.
• J-dawgs and Fro-Yo. They're right next to each other. It's convenient, ok?
• Living on the same block as my sister.
• The ability to communicate. That's kind of nice. 
• Gummy bears!! 
• 2am runs to Wendy's for a Frosty and Dollar Menu Fries. 

Now, to prove to you that I love this place, I want to update my list of things I love about Ecuador. I posted a few bullet points about this beautiful country a few weeks ago, but the longer I'm here, the more I see that I absolutely love and will definitely miss. 

• My babies, of course. 
• The clouds. In any form, they are positively breath taking. At night, the clouds come down to us, and I can barely see the house across the street. It's magical. 
• Mindo. A jungle paradise.
• Not having my cell phone. That also has its perks.
• The colors in the city. You can paint your house purple, blue, pink, green...It's cool. 
• The hills. 
• Papallacta...natural hot springs in the middle of the jungle. So relaxing.
• Mom...don't read this one. Riding in the back of the truck because it's totally legal. 
• Hearing planes pass over my house every 5 minutes. Used to hate it, now it puts me to sleep.
• Likely being the only Americans who will attend the Jonas Brothers/Demi Lovato concert in one week. 
• Llapingachos. I will try to replicate, and it will not work. 
• Peach juice boxes. 
• The Panecillo at night. I love looking up at this statue of an angel during night shift, and I feel safe, like she's the angel sent to watch over my babies and me.