1. Watching my dad try to read the morning newspaper wearing two pairs of glasses.

Watching my dad squint through two pairs of glasses to read the morning paper that covers every inch of the kitchen table is quite a goofy scene and seeing this when I came home reminded me how much I missed all of my family’s little quirks that can’t be experienced through a phone call.

2. Driving stick shift.

I figured I would miss driving but I would never have guessed how much. Getting back behind the wheel I realized how much I missed the familiar roads, the way my car jerks a bit with every gear switch, and the nervous feeling I get driving stick-shift in stop and go traffic – or on a hill just trying not to stall.

3. Giving my little sister rides.

Who would’ve thought I would miss driving my sister to her friend’s house or home from practice? Or the way she is not afraid to correct you if you mess up a lyric on the radio – which is quite frequently.

4. Constantly being covered in pet hair.

When you live in a household with three dogs and two cats, it is pretty much impossible to not be covered in pet hair 24/7 and as someone who loves wearing black, lint rollers quickly become your best friend. Being able to wear black at school and not have to use a lint roller every five minutes seems unnatural.

5. A reliable room temperature.

Whether my dorm room is freezing cold or hot and stuffy it can never seem to find a happy medium at a comfortable temperature. I crave my room back home and its reliable 68-degree temperature.

6. Silverware.

Being able to open the silverware drawer at home and find it fully stalked is something I never ever dreamed I would care enough about to miss. But when finding a spoon to eat mac and cheese with at night is a regular struggle, having abundant silverware at home seems like a luxury.

7. Good water pressure and reliable water temperature in the shower.

Going back home to shower I was most excited to just not have to wear shoes in the shower. I didn’t even think about the fact that it would not take me a year to rinse the shampoo out of my hair because I will actually have decent water pressure or the fact that I can shower with a consistent hot temperature as opposed to the showers at school that like to change sporadically from ice water to boiling water.

8. Waking my mom up when I come home.

At home, I always had to tell my parents where I was going and when I thought I would be back and then wake them up when I got home. It felt so freeing to start college and escape those responsibilities. Coming home I resumed old habits and I was surprised at how comforting it felt to be accountable to someone.

Going home brings a lot of excitement. Excitement for the big things – the things that you knew you missed and that you could not wait to come back to. But what I learned over break was that the most exciting things to come back to are the things you forgot you left behind.