H is for Hometown!

The word hometown is defined as "The town (or city) where you grew up or where you have your principal residence". However, my journey has been a little different than most, so it's hard to answer people when they ask me where my hometown is. I have lived in many places and each one of them has a significance in my heart.

I was born in Paducah, KY on Thanksgiving Day 1980 and it is the place where my journey began. Even though I am very far away from that small river town in the Bluegrass State, it will always have such an important meaning in my life. It's a place where there isn't much to do, but when I go there, I have the places I love to visit. It has the best BBQ you'll ever put in your mouth, is home to the National Quilting Museum, and holds my childhood memories of hotwheel races at the summer festival, t-ball games, and riding the rides at Noble Park.

Paducah River Front 2007

Then there is Northern Kentucky where I spent my middle school years. Out of all the places that I have lived, it is by far my favorite. The three years that I spent there were some of the best years of my life. The Northern Kentucky area is very unique. You have all the comforts of small town living with the Metropolitan area of Cincinnati a stones throw away. My memories of my time there are filled with sledding down hills, family nights at the ballpark, and soft serve ice cream and Icees at the Ameristop. 

Northern Kentucky Riverfront overlooking Cincy Skyline 2008

When my years in Kentucky came to an end, my live in the dirty south began. When I was a freshman in high school we headed out to the Big Easy (the Northshore suburb of Mandeville to be exact). And let me tell you, there was nothing easy about this. Not only was I going through an early teenagers angst of bitterness over moving, I was in complete culture shock. It was like every way of live I had ever known was gone. It was hot as hell all the time, the food was different, the people were different, the complete day to day way of life was different. But as the years came and went, things grew on me and Mandeville soon became the keeper of memories for me. It is the place where I learned to drive, the place I went on many first dates, and the place where I came of age. All in all....not too rough after all. 

Katie and Jen NOLA 2007

And my final stop in my list of hometowns, is my current location of Lafayette, LA. I made my maiden voyage in Laffy when I chose to come to college here in 1999. Although I doubt I will live here for the rest of my life, like all of my hometowns, it holds many memories for me. I went to college here and met some of the best friends I could ever ask for, made memories (some of which I can never reveal), got my first teaching job, and much much more!

AOII Romp in the Swamp....sometime around 2002

I think it's easy for anyone to see why I don't just have one "hometown". Or maybe I've just reinvented the definition!