Listmania

I have decided to make a couple lists: one is of the pros of moving to Illinois, and one is of the cons.

First, the pros...

1. Obviously, our family and friends are there
2. It's not the dirty South- there are less rednecks in IL
3. It's not as hot and way less humid
4. There is the possibility of snow at Christmastime
5. 24 hours pharmacies are impossible to find in MD
6. Affordable real estate
7. IL is the home of such culinary delights as Portillo's and Lou Malnati's
8. The grocery stores have a larger selection (and ground Italian sausage!)
9. You can ride a bike for miles when there are no hills
10. No state inspection, and emission tests are free
11. TV shows start an hour earlier
12. Shopping is way better, I heart the Woodfield area
13. There is a decent selection of colleges- many are not too expensive
14. Traffic doesn't suck as much, and drivers aren't so retarded
15. People move more quickly (in all aspects of public dealings)
16. There is a smaller quantity of skeevy people
17. People keep their dogs on leashes
18. My doctor's office doesn't have to send me somewhere else to have blood drawn
19. MD has bigger bugs
20. We can feed the squirrels again!
21. When it snows, IL has salt and plows ready
22. When you ask for sausage on your pizza, they don't give you breakfast sausage

And what I'll miss about Maryland...
1. My job
2. Trading mountains and forests for vast expanses of flatness
3. Hiking by the Potomac River
4. MD has incredible history, and much older history than IL
5. You can drive 20 minutes and feel like you're in the middle of nowhere
6. There are more knitting shops in MD, and local yarn!
7. The roads are very smooth
8. The winters are mild, and snow will get you sent home early from work :)
9. Finding shark's teeth in the Chesapeake Bay
10. Verizon FiOS TV and Internet isn't available in IL (yet)
11. The sales tax is lower
12. Eating out is cheaper
13. Moving away from everything familiar made me feel awesomely independent

That's what I can think of off the top of my head. I may add to this later.