Hometown.

And so Facebook has spurred a completely random blog.

You know, FB has rolled out it's new layout thingiemabobber and most of my FB friends have made the switch and are busily updating their info, which hits my newsfeed. One of the things that I see a lot is "hometown" - this is something that always stumps me. What do you consider a "hometown"? To me, it's a place you primarily grew up and consider your home. By that definition, I don't have a hometown, and thus I never know what to put - so I usually leave it blank.

You see, I was actually born very close to where I live now. My parents had a little house over on Cribbens Street in Boise and I was born at the same hospital that I had Ben (St. Luke's down town). Shortly after that, my dad enlisted in the Army and we moved down to Georgia while he went through basic training. From there we traveled a bit north to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina (that's where all my earliest memories stem - would that be considered my "home town"?). We lived in North Carolina for I think 3 years before we went overseas and lived for 3 years in Italy and then 3 more years in Germany. It was during our stay in Germany that my dad decided not to reinlist and we headed back states side.

I believe the original intent was to settle back in the Boise area, but during the 10 or so years we were gone from the area, Boise boomed. It wasn't the same town my parents remembered and some how we ended up further north, in Moscow, Idaho. My dad went to the University of Idaho there and we lived there for about 3 or so years before we moved down to Clarkston, Washington. We lived in Clarkston for again, the magical 3 years, before my dad's job was transferred to Salt Lake City, UT. That was not a good fit for us and the shortest I think we've lived anywhere. We lived there about 6 months before we again followed my dad's job to the Seattle, Washington area. We lived in Black Diamond, WA for several years before I graduated high school, went off to play at college at the U of I before becoming a dismal collegiate failure and dropping out to come back home (a decision I do not regret to this day).

After that, my moving journey fell on my own shoulders. Nick & I lived in sin in an apartment in Auburn, WA and then bought our first house in teeny Enumclaw where we lived til my family all abandoned us. First it was my brother - he moved to Boise. Then my parents went. Then my granny went. Then it was just us. So we up and sold our house - most amazing story: we talked to a realtor about what we would need to do it get it sellable and planned to work on those items and then list. Not even 2 or 3 weeks later, she called saying she knew it was an odd offer, but she had a buyer in from California that was looking for homes similar to ours and asked if we'd mine showing it. Seriously, she looked at it that weekend and made an offer that night. I quit my job in a whirlwind and we moved to Boise.

So what is my hometown? Is it Boise - because that's where I was born and that's where I've settled again (for now)? Is it the Seattle area, because that's where I've spent the most time in my life? I never know what to put, so I generally leave it blank if I can.