Nine days until we strike out for Virginia. Most of you know that I'm more than ready to leave Alabama, but I didn't hate–or even dislike–it here. In fact there are several things I will miss.

So here's my own list of the best things about my 10 months in Prattville (in random order):

• Very little traffic, even during “peak” hours.
• Little Caesar's Hot-n-Ready $5 pepperoni pizza.
• New Air Force friends.
• A nice dog park nearby (but didn't really need it due to fenced yard and lots of walks/jogs).
• Great new writer friends through the wonderful Southern Magic chapter of RWA in Birmingham, my blog, and Twitter.
• Beautiful monthly drive to Birmingham for chapter meetings.
• Eating alligator at a Cajun restaurant.
• Wonderful local swim team with enthusiastic, helpful coaches who helped my boys improve their technique.
• Two trips to the beach: Mobile/Biloxi and Destin.
• Meeting my awesome critique partner and writing friend, Christine. We had fun times at Panera and Barnes & Noble at the Summit in Birmingham.
• Plenty of green landscape. Love, love, love the trees. Even the kudzu is pretty, albeit destructive.
• No waiting at any restaurant on Saturday night during football season, even at the most popular establishments.

There's always something to love about every place we go. I'm sure I missed a few things, but these stuck out for me. Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a place you've lived?

Cooter's Pond in Prattville (yes, really)

Swim meet at Auburn