1. Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Lived in Lewisville, ID through kindergarten. Yes, we got a week off for spud break.
2. Moseyed about a small rental home in Lawrence (northeastern), Kansas.3. Six months later moved to a spec home there.
4. Knocked around walls in a tiny travel trailer. In Oskaloosa (still northeastern), Kansas.
5. Moved to the barn.
6. Luxuriated in a large custom built home still in Oskaloosa. This was a 116 acre spread with more snakes, possums, deer, chiggers, and ticks than you could dream. 13 dogs.
7. Plummeted back to a tiny 1950s home in southern Kansas. Longton. Sad, I had to look up the name--I'd blocked it out. Slept on the pull-out sofa in the living room.
8. Zipped over to Howard, Kansas. In an A-frame with a red master bath tub. Only lived there for six months before moving 45 minutes east to...
9. Independence. Basking in a home in a park-like setting. Swimming pool, hot tub, steam room, sycamore trees. Built atop the original home of 1910.
10. Flounced back to Idaho. Lived in two different homes in eighth grade backed by the Teton mountains. The first was in Victor--11. the other was Tetonia. Such a beautiful place--made many friends.
12. Shot over to Missouri. Salem, home of the hicks. Don't let that arch pic fool you. We were very, very far away. Neighbors kept washers, dryers, and toilets in the front yards. Dad was the "millionaire" since he actually had a job (as a school teacher). Freshman year.13. Flicked up and over 40 minutes to Waynesville, MO. Right next to Ft. Leonard Wood (Tamara, land of Basic Training). Sophomore year.
14. Jaunted over to Rola, 20 minutes away. Another suburban home. A year of three proms. Junior year.
15. Careened into Iberia, Missouri, 45 minutes away. Never made a friend. Never participated in extracurricular activities. Senior year.
16-18. COLLEGE. Some stability at Brigham Young University. Lived in Stonebridge condos in Provo, Utah until I met my husband, married, and lived in three other Provo "dwellings."
19. Longview, Washington (outside of Portland) to live with Husband's sweet folks.
20. Austin, Texas. Internship for Husband.
21. Back to Provo.
22. Manassas, Virginia. Apartment for 2 years.23. Home in Manassas. A foreclosure bought at an auction. Sometime I'll bore you with the updates.
Ha! I guessed twenty not believing it was true! 23 in all actuality--who would've thought? If you managed to read this post you deserve a patronizing award. What a heinously boring post. But now you know more than you could ever desire. AND this is my excuse for any so called "issues" directed toward moi. :)
Which place have you lived nearest to me? And can anyone else vouch for living in 16 places before hitting 18 years?
*Writer friend David J. West suggested looking at my past for a short story idea. Which place seems the most intriguing to you? Like I said, they're all pretty dang exotic. (Maria, if you read this, just pretend each move was to a different country abroad. Australia, yes. My best friend was part aborigine...)
Reading this brought a tear to my eye. I feel so sorry for you.
ReplyDeleteHa. I can't vouch for 16 before 18 but as a self-proclaimed gypsy, I have moved 12 times in the last 5 years. I love this post, because you found stability in college, when I became a gyspy. :)
ReplyDeleteOH, and Austin would be the closest to me.
Manassas is closest to me. But, whoa. Thassalottamovin'.
ReplyDeleteYou're reasonably settled now, though, right? Right? Yah.
Living close to Provo doesn't feel to exotic to me and then the next closest would be Idaho Falls.
ReplyDeleteManassas sounds the most exotic now if only because its the one place I probably haven't been too on your list.
As formy own list-7 or 8 before 18 and I think I am counting 23 after 18 how about that.
You're like the PRESIDENT of gypsies. Wow. So here's the real Q, do you still feel the need to move around (or desire to) or do you now want deep, lasting roots in a place?
ReplyDeleteI can not even imagine moving your family that much. I am a fine one to be talking, move your family that much, lived in 5 different states the last 25 years, only one house per state. I do feel sorry for you to change school that many times, that would be really hard. Issues or not you are still amazing and an inspiration to me.
ReplyDeleteWow! I've lived in New Hampshire my whole life, so I have no idea what it's like to move. What did your dad do for work?
ReplyDeleteWhoa, girl. You survived. Did your dad become a teacher during all this, or did he start out that way? Just curious because my husband taught for 11 years (started out that way) and we've moved 5 times in 18 years.
ReplyDeleteMost exotic? Oskaloosa sounds like a jungle hike in Costa Rica.
Closest to me? Longview, WA, and Victor and Tetonia, ID. It sounds like you were happy there.
David is right, you could use this.
I moved once in HS--a whole half a block when my grandfather passed away and we remodeled his house and moved into it. Sixteen places before eighteen--that's wild--definitely some good writing material there.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got married we moved eight times in seven and half years. We finally settled down. We've been here six years next month. I'd love to hear about your current house adventures. Are you restoring or remodeling?
Angie, hey! A new face! Thanks for stoppin' by. Where are you with Austin the closest?
ReplyDeleteSimon, yeah, we hope to be in this house for a while.
David, 23, eh? I dub you a nomad title.
L.T. It's sad how apathetic I feel about moving. If my husband came home today and said we had to move to Alaska I wouldn't care. But it is sad that I don't have a homestead to go home to.
Delilas, thanks for coming over today. I enjoyed our talk. :)
Aubrie and Krista, my dad did a lot of school teaching and counseling. You'll have to ask him why we moved so much.
Kate, we are remodeling. Glad to know I'll have one interested reader when I post about this. :) I posted our kitchen a long time ago but there's a lot of other stuff too.
yes, i read the whole thing!!!Wow, there were some places i didn't know about! haha. You were roughing it about as much as i was in my "homely", uh, i mean "homey" dwelling in Victor back in the day. LOL.
ReplyDeletei'm really not into moving. we've moved once in the 4 yrs we've been married and i plan to move just once more!
and of course Teton Valley was the most exotic! you guys had the most gorgeous view of the Tetons at your house in Tetonia.
fun post! :-)
OMG, Mary! It must have been so hard for you and your dear. I've always lived in the same small ancient town and always wanted to be back there any time I travelled somewhere. Curious enough, I've just posted some pictures of it in my latest post! Thanks for sharing. Hugs. MG.
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd moved a lot, but seeing them all listed out like that still blows my mind. I moved once in kindergarten, and then never again until college. And I really hate moving. I think Craig and I would sooner add another wing onto our house than contemplate a move!
ReplyDeleteHow you (and your mother!!!) survived this is sort of beyond me...
lol i didn't know we lived in a rental in lawrence! LOL yeah, we're crazy. i can't believe i might move again. poor us. =)
ReplyDeleteSad that as the only military family in our whole family, we've moved far less times than the folks. Since we've been married, so in the last seventeen years, we've moved 8 times. Not even close to our gypsy family.
ReplyDeletewhat about Dixon? Cam, do you agree with the list? I think it has increased in frequency lately.
ReplyDeleteNicole, aah! I can't believe I called your home that!
ReplyDeleteMaria, LOVED your village pics. WOW!
Alanna, you know me, some days you may decide "survival" can be a mere facade. :)
Cam, well yeah, I always knew I knew something you didn't.
Chris, Iberia=Dixon. Iberia school/Dixon address.
oh my word. Why on earth did you move around so much? I live four hours from Rola/Waynesville and all the places around Fort Lost in the Woods, LOL. I hate moving. I hate that I know I'll be doiing it several more times in my married life before we settle down.
ReplyDeleteYikes Mary, I knew you guys moved a lot, but not that much! I guess the closest we were to you was Iberia, since that is when you were in our ward. My parents just moved up near Independence, did you know that? I moved 15 times by age 18, so you barely have me beat there, haha. But we have only moved twice since we have been married, thanks to school. I am getting the itch to move again though, so good thing Peter graduates this year!
ReplyDeleteWow. I moved once when I was 2 1/2 into a trailer while we built a house and then into the house. Not nearly the 16 places you hit before 18. Seven places in 4 1/2 years of college (all in Provo, UT except two months in London). Four places since I've been married (2 in basically the town where I grew up in CA, then Kansas and now Virginia).
ReplyDeleteClosest to you: Lawrence, KS (Oskaloosa was actually in our ward) and now.
That post was seriously some blog inspiration for me.... I am already cranking my life through my head in terms of this. Thanks and I LOVE your blog!
ReplyDeleteWow what a life! I could not handle the moving! I applaud you, you have done well.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you don't have roots, that is, a hometown to call your own. That's the one thing I do have. I suspect it's tougher to move so much when you're young, when you're trying to form friendships and "fit in." But at least from the brief time we had together, you seem to have weathered the storms quite well--and I suspect these moves have given you experiences you could write about. I can identify somewhat with your moves. From age 3 to 19 I lived in the same house in Salt Lake City (it's still there), but then I went to BYU and from there, ages 19 to now, through two marriages and four children I have lived in 31 different apartments/houses in Utah, Connecticut, California, Hawaii, Missouri (Ft. Leonard Wood, the OLD Ft. Wood--1962), and finally Virginia. And thus you, Jen, and I met...happy day. Too tired to move again, unless I become a millionaire and can build a handicapped accessible house for my daughter!! Dream on . . .
ReplyDelete