A Brief History...Sorta

It occurred to me yesterday when Liz commented that she's been trying to figure out where I'm from originally, that my references to California, Vermont, N.C., and Ohio are probably confusing to those who don't know me personally. I figure this would be a good time to give a brief history of me.

I was born in Marion, Ohio where I lived with my mom until the middle of my 7th grade year and I was 12. I moved in with my dad, step-mom, and sister who were living in Pleasant Hill, Ohio which is where I graduated high school. Once I graduated in January '95, I moved back to my mom's where I got a job. I met my husband in April of that year and we got married in May of '96. We, being very young, ran into hard times and moved in with my dad who had moved to Springfield, Ohio in Sept of '96. The Mister joined the Marines and went to boot camp in Sept of '97. The oldest child and I moved to Pensacola, FL in April of '98 where the Mister was doing some training for his job in the Marines and I got pregnant with child #2. The oldest child and the pregnant me moved back to Marion on 9/30/98 because the Mister was sent to Jacksonville, FL for more training and we couldn't move with him (I wasn't even supposed to be in Pensacola) and my pregnancies are never easy on me. Then, the Mister got his first duty station in Feb '99 and I had child #2 in Feb '99. The Mister was stationed in San Diego and as soon as the youngest was old enough to fly, the kids and I moved out to San Diego in April of '99. We all lived out there until December of '03 when the Mister got orders for recruiting duty. We moved into our house in Vermont 1/1/04 and lived in Vermont until January of '07. Then we moved to North Carolina which is our current residence.

When people ask me where I'm from, I really don't even know how to answer. Am I from Marion where I lived for the first 12 years of my life? Pleasant Hill where I lived for 5 years and graduated high school? Or Springfield where the Mister joined the Marines and Springfield is our home of record? In fact, when people ask us where we're from in Ohio, we answer Marion, Springfield, and Kenton (where the Mister was born) interchangeably, lol. We haven't lived in Ohio for eight years and have no plans to ever move back and I don't really consider it home anymore. I miss California more than I miss any place that I have ever lived. The astronomical cost of living there is the only thing keeping us from actively trying to move back.

So that's me in a nutshell. But just in case, here's a time line to clarify:

6/30/77 - I was born in Marion, Ohio
Sometime in 1989 - I moved to Pleasant Hill, Ohio
1/13/95 - I graduated high school and moved to Marion, Ohio
4/13/95 - I met the Mister
5/3/96 - The Mister and I got married.
9/96 - We moved to Springfield, Ohio
9/21/97 - The Mister went to boot camp.
4/98 - The oldest and I moved to Pensacola, FL
9/98 - The oldest, the youngest unborn, and I moved to Marion, OH
4/99 - The children and I moved out to San Diego, CA with the Mister.
1/1/04 - We moved to Vermont
1/26/07 - We moved to North Carolina

We also moved around a bit in California and Vermont, but it's not really relevant to this story. All in all, I've lived in 3 cities in Ohio, 1 in Florida, 2 in California, 2 in Vermont, and 1 in N.C.
Currently, I'm not even sure which state I'm a resident of. I own a house, earn an income, and am licensed to drive in Vermont but I live in North Carolina and the Mister is a resident of Ohio. You figure it out.