I love coming home… a lot.  This year, I haven’t been able to come home nearly as much as I would like, so this is only my second time home (the first was Labor Day weekend, and now it is Fall Break).  But every time I come home, I do the same things, and the routine comforts me in a way.  The routine changes slightly, depending on the time of the year and what I need to do, but these 5 things are the constants for every visit of mine.

1. The food. Eating at home is basically the best of both worlds, home cooking and going out to eat.  There are several places that we always MUST visit, like Bobe’s Pizza, our favorite Amish restaurant, the BBQ place in town, or Sweet Stuff Cafe, so basically I could eat out for every meal, and be perfectly content.  But, since my dad is a farmer, and we always have a pretty impressive stash of beef, I love having a good steak dinner or my dad’s famous Sunday lunch complete with pot roast and homemade mashed potatoes.
2. The drive. If you have never driven to southern Indiana, you should.  Basically, as soon as you get south of Indianapolis, the landscape turns into beautiful rolling hills with tons of trees…which makes for an absolutely perfect drive on a fall day.  My drive home yesterday would have only been better if I could control the weather since driving on a sunny day is so much more pleasant than driving in constant rain for 2.5 hours. 
   
3. My couch. Last night I sat down on my couch around 9:30 p.m., and did not leave it until 4:00 p.m. today.  Of course I left to eat and to grab a few other things, but other than that….my couch and I have been the best of friends.  It is the perfect place to sleep, watch TV, or write blogs, so really, what else do I need on Fall Break??  If only my parents wouldn’t mind if I took this couch with me wherever I go… then I would basically be set for life.
4. Seeing my dogs. I have two dogs, Sophie and Stella, who I do not see nearly enough.  Stella is a spunky (spunky is an understatement) lab mix, and Sophie is a calm and poised Great Pyrenees.  I love them both…especially when they greet me as soon as I pull in the driveway.  Unfortunately, Stella’s outrageousness makes playing with them for any length of time completely exhausting… and then I feel bad for Sophie because Stella is a complete attention hog.
5. Doing my laundry. The one thing that I like the least about college is doing laundry, or paying to do my own laundry.  So I usually bring it home with me….which makes for entirely too much work on the weekend…but at least I don’t have use all of my quarters to pay for it.