Places I have lived

I have a hard time answering when people ask me where I am from. Like many people in modern-day America I have lived in many different places in my lifetime. My friends were surprised that I had moved around so much when my parents were not in the military. I sometimes wish that we had been able to stay in one place and truly set down deep roots in a community. Then I think about all the wonderful people that I would have missed meeting if we had stayed in one place.

I guess with all the moving around that we did when I was younger it is fitting that I would marry a man that would later join the military. There is a certain excitement to the whole process, the wondering when you will get orders, the research once you find out. It is totally hardcore to move to a place you have never been to and have a mere 10 days to find a place to live. Even more hardcore is to move to a place you have never been to, find an apartment in 10 days and then have your husband leave in a few weeks for a three month assignment.

We have two years left on a four year assignment. I am already thinking of our next move. You have to, because you have to plan ahead. This time will be different, this time will be my first move with kids. I am a little apprehensive about this. We have to find a place that will meet Evan's health needs and will at the same time meet my husband's career goals. The move will be stressful but I am already looking forward to the excitement and fun of seeing a new part of the country.

Places I have lived:

• Heber City, Utah. My birthplace. I don't remember much but I have been back since I was born and it seems like a nice enough town.
• Oklahoma. The place where I learned to ride my bike and broke my arm in the same day. I got chicken pox while in kindegarten and peed my pants in class while in the first grade. My two youngest sisters were born here.
• The Colombia River Gorge, Washington. I was depressed at first because of the rain but I soon learned to love the state of Washington and claim it as my home state. We lived in a small logging town. It is an amazingly beautiful area and we got to see the river every day through the amazing picture window in the house we were living in. My best friend there later turned out to have pot head parents that were growing weed in the forest. It was very neat to experience small town life.
• The Puget Sound, Washington. We settled here for many years. We lived in the very southern part in a suburb of a much bigger city. It was a heavily military area so most of my friends were military brats. There was some gang activity there but mostly things were pretty good. The camping was great. Our big vacations were spent at the Olympic National Forest and inVictoria British Colombia.
  
• I then spent some time in Eastern Washington going to college. Fun times those were.
• Then I moved back to Utah. My parents had been there for a few years already but I had stayed in Washington to go to school. I moved in with them because I had wanted to start saving money for a mission. Instead I met and married my husband.
• San Diego was our next stop and our first while in the military. I loved the weather there. I had my windows open all year, I was addicted to fresh air. We lived within walking distance of Sea World and got to enjoy the nightly fireworks that they put on during the summer. The only downer about the apartment was that is was in the flight path of the air port so there was a constant barrage of airplane noise. The San Diego zoo was also a high point of our stay there. It is so big that you can't even begin to see it in one day. We were only there a year and then it was on to
• The Bay Area! We have been here for three years now. It has been a wonderful place to live. The weather is nice and mild but has enough difference that there are actual seasons. I love the rain and this climate gives me enough rain with out over doing it. The boys were born here so this place will always have a spot in my heart. Sadly the house prices are insanely high so we will probably never be able to retire here.
  
• Who knows where we will be next? Not me!