Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Tuesday Talk: My Hometowns

I've had 6 hometowns throughout my life and I am excited to share some of my favorite things about them with you today.  Some are big cities and others are small.  We went on a string of living in capital cities for a while, living out west and the south, and we're back to Midwest living now.  It's been quite an adventure to enjoy all of these fun cities.  However, I'm pretty excited about the prospect of making our current city home for a LONG time.

1. Newburgh, Indiana

I was born and raised for 18 in Newburgh located in the very southern part of Indiana.   The majority of our immediate and extended family lives in this area.  I loved growing up close to family and cousins.  We had great times living surrounded by cornfields, enjoying all four seasons and growing up as a Hoosier.  The highlight of this area would have to be our family living there.  We got to help my dad run three campaigns for sheriff, enjoy great schools, go to baseball & basketball games and be close to several big cities.

The best parts about this area of the country are:
The Polar Express Train that comes through French Lick, IN every Christmas
The Indianapolis Colts Play here - I still miss Peyton!
Santa Claus, IN is a town where's it's Christmas year round
Smothers Park in Owensboro, KY

2. Bloomington, Indiana
I went to college at Indiana University and loved my time in Bloomington.  It's a great little college town with a perfect town square, the best restaurants and it was only 2 hours from home.  I was an elementary education major from the second I stepped on campus and loved my time in the town.  The campus is beautiful and it's really exciting when the Hoosiers are doing well in basketball.  I love their striped pants and often pick them to go farther in the March Madness tournament than I should.  I'm anxious to plan a college visit since I haven't been back since 2003.  We frequented Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop and ordered late night pizza from Pizza Express.  I lived on campus the whole time and adored my time walking all over this cute town.


3. Salt Lake City, Utah
We called Salt Lake City home for 9 years.  I never thought we'd live there more than 5 years, but sometimes life has a way of working out differently than you'd planned.  We had a wonderful run in Utah and very happily look back on our years out west.  We were newly married and up for any adventure that came our way.  We were both in graduate school at various times and left the state with two masters and a PhD.  We also added two cats and a baby to our family before we left the state.  I taught elementary school and my hubby was in graduate school the whole time we were there.  The mountains are SO CLOSE and the city is such a fun place to live.  We're hoping to plan a visit back sometime soon.

 

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I have over 100 blog posts about Utah so I'll just share a few favorite things:
 The proximity to The Badlands, South Dakota, Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, etc.
Jackson Hole, WY is a quick drive away - Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, ranches, etc.
Las Vegas is the a quick drive away with several National Parks along the way & Hoover Dam
We loved going up to visit Park City with all the delicious food & outlets.
Salt Lake City has a great baseball team, the Utah Jazz play there, the food is delicious and the shopping is great!  I miss having an IKEA so close and basically anything else you'd need.


4. Little Rock, Arkansas

We lived in Little Rock for one year and enjoyed our time there.  It wasn't a long time to get to know the city, but we made the most of it.  We loved the BBQ, the Farmer's Market, walking along the river, the zoo, the children's library and all of the yummy restaurants.  They have a fun Food Truck Festival every year and we made a trip down to Hot Springs.


 5. Jackson, Mississippi

We only lived in Mississippi for one year, but we fell in love with it right away.  The people were some of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, we found a great church and lived in the cutest house.  We made friends easily and explored as much of the state as we could.  We'd never lived in the deep South before and we loved it.

We enjoyed going to their huge state fair.
Had a blast going to Music for Aardvarks classes for kids.
Loved touring the coast, eating beignets and being so close to the ocean.
Exploring Vicksburg, MS and frequenting the Children's Museum
and our backyard was a little slice of heaven


6. Terre Haute, Indiana


We moved to Terre Haute last July and are settling in really well.  Kevin's settling into his new job and we're enjoying making friends.  We are in the process of buying a house and are looking forward to moving into it sometime in April.  Our town has lots of fun things going on with college sports, a children's museum, a newly renovated children's library, bounce house for kids, a fun country club and the public parks are great.  We're excited to keep trying new restaurants, attending fun events and getting to know our city even better in the coming months.

The best parts about our area are:
The Indiana State Fair is an hour away in Indianapolis
We're just three hours away from our beloved University of Notre Dame
 Chicago is really close and so is St. Louis
ISU sporting events


What's the best thing about your hometown???

I am joining Momfessionals with her tribute to hometowns this week.

It's time to link up with my favorite ladies!
Be sure to join us with your best post of the week.
We had 179 ladies link up last week.

The most clicked on link up from last week was
9 Reasons I'm Afraid to Have a Baby from Currently, Kelsie
 Becky at BYBMG | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Michelle at Grammie Time | Pinterest | Instagram 
Polka-Dotty Place

8 comments:

  1. Loved this Whitney! It has inspired me so don't be surprised if you see a similar post on my blog soon :) Your attitude about moving and exploring new places is very similar to mine and it's so awesome to know someone else who feels this way. I'm glad you guys are settling back into Indiana life.

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  2. I really loved this post. I didn't realize how much you have moved. I think living in Utah would be pretty cool. I've always wanted to go to that Food Truck Festival in Little Rock. They are changing up River Fest this year. I'm curious as to how the changes are going to change the dynamic of River Fest. One positive side is there is a designated time just for kid friendly activities.

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  3. This was such a fun post!! You have moved around A LOT!! And it seems like in every place you have lived you have really enjoyed your surroundings and made the best of it- I LOVE that :) And you have such a beautiful family!!! I can only imagine how happy and proud your parents are!! :)

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  4. You have lived in so many places! I love it! I have only lived in 2 towns my entire life, and one of those was when I went away to college! Loved your post!

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  5. My goodness, you bounce around quite a bit - and must love it too! Thanks awesome. Our family took a trip out west a couple years ago and got to see the awesome sights of South Dakota. My daughter attends school in Ohio so some of the places you mentioned in Indiana were familiar too. What a fun post - love it!

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  6. So fun to see all the places that you have lived and that you slowly found your way back to your Indiana roots. One of my best friends is doing a family vacation this year to the Badlands, Mt Rushmore and all of that stuff up there. She is beyond excited and tried to get us to go with him but that beach was calling my name to strongly :).

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  7. I guess I've had 8 hometowns (and I've lived here in CO twice). Each town definitely had it's own flavor.

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