Show and Tell Tuesdays: Hometown!

Funny enough that the Bachelor hometowns were just last week! 

I'm excited to be here with y'all sharing my hometown!

And all of the places I've lived since moving away from there! 

Let's get started :)

Show and Tell Tuesdays: Hometown

I was born in Carmel, Indiana. 

We moved away when I was 3 years old, and my little sister was a year old. 

I have literally no memories of this town, but I recently found an old letter that my mama had written to my grandparents saying that I loved riding my tricycle down the street, and then on the way back to our home, I loved to make my mom push my tricycle back while I went through everyone's yard and smelled the flowers. Ha! I was only about 2!

SO fun to hear about those little memories.

This is Carmel. 

But, for the place that feels like 'home', that would be this next one...

Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

The HR bubble {it's partly called the bubble because it has everything you need in a 5 mile radius}

I grew up here from age 3-18. And man was it filled with some memories. 

I graduated from ThunderRidge High School, spent lots of time in our rec center pools as a kid, and loved going to the Park Meadows Mall {which has tripled in size compared to what it used to be}.

But when I go here, I miss my mama.

{I miss her everyday all the time, anyways}

This place is filled with memories of her. And that's hard. But good. 

This was the house I grew up in.

I found this pic off of google earth, ha! And someone's van is now parked in the drive way. But this is the house that we had our trampoline in the living room. And we played with dolls all the time in that room with the window on the very far right. My room was the one on the very top left, and my mama let me paint it pink and purple. 

How fun to relive those memories. 

This is the froggy slide at one of the rec centers that we went down approx. 100, 000 times in our childhood. 

And here's my high school. My graduating class has around 400 people in it!

And this is the school gym on Field Day. Such a fun day with competitive sports between each class. Lots of noise, face painting and school spirit! This is only 1/4 of the gym, and everyone is divided by their class. 

So that's Highlands Ranch. A little {not so little anymore} suburb town about 1 hour from the mountains, and 30 minutes from Denver!

After graduating high school, I moved to...

Laramie, Wyoming


{In the dorms, right outside my room, about to go to my first day of CNA training}

Let me tell you. You want a town with school spirit??? This is it! 3/4 of the population is the University of Wyoming students. But it's a wonderful town.

{The Cowboys stadium}

People are so nice, and it's very outdoors/Cowboy oriented.


{This was in Walmart... Only in Laramie...}

I mean, we did have a rodeo team ;) 

Here's my dorm room.

{mama layin on the futon after we spent HOURS trying to get it up to the 3rd floor}

And let me just show you how big this futon was...

{In the lobby of Downey Hall, trying to figure out how to get this beast into the elevator}

I have such vivid memories of these days. I met some great friends here, and got to decorate my dorms with my mama.

I also had the experience of -60 degree winter weather with wind chill. {Which froze my car battery, making it hard to get home, which was only 2 1/2 hours away!}.

And while Laramie wasn't that bad, my heart was elsewhere.

So, I ended up moving to {after only one semester of school}...

Kapolei, Hawaii

And yes. I moved to Hawaii with my love bug! And we spent a year here.


{What I moved with. 2 huge boxes, 1 checked suitcase, 1 carryon suitcase, 1 duffel bag. My mama may be smiling in the picture, but we both cried for hours after I left}

Let me tell you, I learned a lot about myself in our days living here.

It was crazy being so far away from my mama. And that was the hardest part. 

And of course the living expense. It's not always paradise when you're living there!

But I did have an AMAZING job as a Youth Activities Counselor at Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa.

{And let me just say.... most flattering costume (what disney calls uniforms) of my life!!! ;) }

We had a ton of amazing beach days, but found ourselves not wanting to settle down there. It was too far from everyone else, and having kids there without going into major debt to buy a home would've been impossible.

So, we moved to....

Oregon

And let me tell you. This is NOT where I want to stay. And neither does the Mr.

So we are looking to move very soon. 

We got led here for his job, so I am convinced that God put us here for a reason.

Maybe it was to get our little Coley bear? ;)

As for places that I would love for us to settle down? 

I have a couple in mind!

1. Kansas City, MO. {My sister lives here with her family, and it would be so nice to be close, but it's not our ideal place to live. Even though living by family is ideal.}

2. Northern OR.{ {It's gorgeous, and there's a lot more to do, but it's still very gloomy and has higher living costs}

3. McKinney, TX. {I know some bloggers who make this town look very enticing for our family! It looks like a gorgeous, safe town that has a lot of potential to settle down in, but there's not a huge job selection around that town!}

4. St. Petersburg, FL. {Man is this place gorgeous, but living costs are out of this world. And Florida would be a HUGE unknown change to us}

5. Orange County, CA. {This is what I consider to be such a gorgeous place, and so sunny and happy. Living costs are high, but my brother does live here! However, buying a home would probably never be an option}

If I had to move back to any of the places we've lived before, where would it be??

Kapolei, HI. And I'd go back to having the same exact job I had :)

So, y'all. That's my hometown, and where I've lived throughout my life so far, and the places we're thinking of trying next! 

If y'all have any suggestions, I'd love to hear about the towns you love!

Can't wait to read about your hometowns!