{via GoogleEarth}
In some ways, I have not moved around much in my life at all, in other ways, I’ve made a bigger move than a lot of other people will ever make, when I moved to a foreign country to live with the man I love.
Grevenbroich, Germany. I was born and raised in a small city in the (very!) Western part of Germany. I wrote all about my hometown here. We moved two times within the city until my parents bought their house in which I lived from age 10 until I was finished with college.
Davis, CA In my final year at university, I decided that it was time to apply for a semester abroad. It was a “now, or never”-type of situation and I knew that if I didn’t do the semester abroad, my dream of living abroad (for a while) would never happen. Boy, was I in for a surprise!
Grevenbroich, Germany I moved back to my parents’ house after my exchange semester until I finished college.
Davis, CA After I finished my degree in Germany, I moved back to California to look for an internship in order to live with J and feel out our relationship. I was lucky to find an internship and apply for a 12-month visa.
Sacramento, CA Half-way through my internship, after J finished school, we decided to move to Sacramento to shorten my commute. I ended up staying at my internship for 18-month (which was the maximum time allowed on the visa that I was on) and when a conversion into a work visa didn’t work out, I had to leave and go back to Germany once again.
Grevenbroich, Germany I lived at my parents’ house again for about a year, in which J and I got married and filed for an immigration visa.
Westwood, CA J had moved down to Los Angeles while I was in Germany waiting for my paperwork and I returned to our new home in Westwood 10 months after our official wedding date. We had a lovely one-bedroom apartment in the vicinity of UCLA and – to be honest – I still miss it. A lot. If I had been able to find a job in LA, I think we would still be down there, but a few months after my return to the US, I accepted a full-time position back in Northern California.
Ventura, CA – We moved to Ventura – where J is from – for a couple of months as an interim solution when J’s band fell apart. I commuted to Sacramento during the week for a few months and it was nice to have the best of both worlds – my great job in Sacramento and a lovely apartment, 10-minute drive from the beach in Ventura.
Sacramento, CA Eventually we decided that we needed to be back where my work was, so we moved back to Sacramento once again.
Where have you lived?
emmysuh
October 14, 2010 at 10:11 amI’ve been to Ventura! Can’t believe anyone else has even heard of it, much less FROM there! My aunt and uncle used to live there and we visited them when I was about 9!
I was born in Indianapolis, IN, then moved to Salt Lake City, UT as a baby, then moved to Baker, FL from about 2 years – 5 years. Lived in Bloomington, IN for about 6 months, then moved to Paducah, KY, where I have lived off an on ever since. Also lived in Murray, KY. And a month in Germany. :) With frequent trips to family in Indiana and sometimes Tucson, AZ.
Kat
October 14, 2010 at 10:56 amWoah, emmysuh, I didn’t know you moved around that much… I’m confused, I thought I knew EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU!! *evil voice* Haha, just kidding.
I lived in an apartment in a tiny town in Northern Germany with my brother and parents until I started high school, then moved to another tiny town right next to it to live in our own house.
Moved to Lawrenceburg, KY for one year.
Came home, and 2 weeks later moved out of the house and into a duplex with my brother and parents.
Moved to Aachen, Germany right after graduating high school.
Moved to Maastricht, Holland one year later.
Moved to Sweden for 5 months this past summer.
Will move back to Maastricht in January.
San, you know your story is my Fantasy Of A Perfect (Love) Story so I’m always jealous when I read about it… But also, in general, I *love* moving to new places and the thrill of starting over. :)
.-= Kat blogged this: Candyland =-.
Emily Jane
October 14, 2010 at 11:25 amI always find it fascinating to learn about people’s lives like this. Is Grevenbroich close to Nickenich? That’s where my uncle lives :)
Jen
October 14, 2010 at 12:31 pmMy gosh, I’ve lived in so many places it would take me an entire post to retell it all. But, one thing I can tell you, I also lived in Davis, CA for 4 years when I was a kid! What a coincidence huh?
.-= Jen blogged this: Guess who- come on- guess! =-.
Maribeth
October 14, 2010 at 1:52 pmToo many places to write down. Primarily I have lived in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where I was born. I have lived around the Boston area as a young woman, and then moved to New Hampshire, which is now my adopted home. I did live in Florida for 6 years, but that was uncomfortable because I do not like hot, hot, hot, all of the time!
.-= Maribeth blogged this: People & Places =-.
Grace
October 14, 2010 at 2:54 pmThat is a big move. I’m not sure I could move that far away from my family for long term. I’ve lived in CA, DC and Ecuador. I’ll probably stay in CA for most of my life and possibly move back to DC if I pursue a political career.
katelin
October 14, 2010 at 4:35 pmman my history is so boring in comparison:
pasadena, california
granville, ohio
pasadena, california
haha, clearly i make up for it by traveling :)
.-= katelin blogged this: Skinny bitch =-.
Susanne
October 14, 2010 at 7:27 pmI love this post Sandra! And I agree, the West Hollywood apartment was awesome. Truly awesome.
You two need to move again! Let me know if you need help. Uh, btw, when are you coming over again? ;-)
My list:
born in Leipzig, Germany – we moved two times within city.
moved to Augsburg, Germany – we moved 6 (!) times within city.
moved to Neusaess, Germany
moved back to Augsburg for my nursing school
moved to Walnut Creek, Au pair
moved to Friedberg, Bavaria to my grandparents
moved to Garmisch-Partenkirchen for full time position
moved back to Walnut Creek
Benicia
Berkeley
and finally El Cerrito with my husband
Geeees, that’s a long list. Never realized that.
Love you!
Stefanie
October 14, 2010 at 8:05 pmI love this post!!!! I might incorporate this idea in one of my posts. :)
Well, here is my list:
Guenstedt, Thuringia, Germany
Schulfporta, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (two years of boarding school)
Oak Harbor, WA (exchange year)
Guenstedt, Thuringia, Germany
Oak Harbor, WA
Puyallup, WA (1st Army move)
Amberg, Bavaria, Germany (2nd Army move)
Grossschoenbrunn, Bavaria, Germany (move within Germany)
Wheaton, MD (3rd Army move)
Killeen, TX (4th Army move)
:)
kim
October 15, 2010 at 2:27 amthat grafic almost looks like my wedding gift to you two. remember? https://www.flickr.com/photos/puttytat/155535301 :)
now to me:
* born in bremen
* moved to uphusen (close to bremen)
* back to bremen and then within bremen a lot
* st. paul, MN, USA
* bremen
that’s it.sounds kinda boring compared to what all you guys have done…
.-= kim blogged this: 30 Days of Truth Day 07 =-.
Fabulous
October 15, 2010 at 6:32 amOh..great question. Lemme think!
Bullendorf, Germany
TEnaha, Texas
Bullendorf, Germany
Fort Worth, Texas
Lueneburg, Germany
Granada, Spain
Luenburg, Germany
Honolulu, Hawaii – college
Waialua, Hawaii – met wasband, got married to the military and then all these shitty military towns
Norman, Oklahoma
Watertown, New York
Hirschhorn, Pfalz DIVORCE and back to the US
Woburn, MA
Boston,MA
.-= Fabulous blogged this: Protected- back! =-.
lauryn
October 15, 2010 at 6:55 amVery interesting subject for a blog post! I’ve lived in Michigan and Michigan only. I’m not sure if I’ll ever live anywhere else… I’d be open to it, but I think I’d ultimately want to come back here!
.-= lauryn blogged this: Bokeh and broken records =-.
Impossibly Alice
October 15, 2010 at 7:24 amOh wow! I’ve only lived in the same city – but in multiple houses/apartments!
I lived with my family in my first house until grade 7 then we moved to a bigger house. My parents got divorced and at the start of grade 10 so my mom, sister and I moved to a smaller house. I lived there until I moved to my first apartment.
It was such a lovely first apartment…it was older than my Grandpa (who was 90 at the time) and it had a true galley kitchen with a large eat in area, giant living room with a fake fire place, radiator heating which made it so cozy (a little bit too much in the bathroom through and I had to keep the window open all winter), and my tiny bedroom. There was only 1 plug per room but I didn’t care. The neighbours upstairs fought a lot which provided free entertainment for me and my friends. The caretakers were awesome and knew I was living there alone and were so helpful! I only have happy feelings when it comes to that apartment.
The my boyfriend and I moved in together and we got a 2 bedroom generic and bland apartment one block away from my first apartment (the move was so fast!). Why we got this one? It had the BEST view! From the balcony we could see all of downtown and the fireworks at the forks at New Year’s and Canada Day which meant we had awesome parties! But that,and a giant storage room in the apartment were the only good things.
The spring before we got married, we moved into our first house (2 years ago!). It is not our forever house but it suits us for now.
.-= Impossibly Alice blogged this: What I Love About Autumn =-.
Kyla Roma
October 15, 2010 at 8:14 amOh my goodness, my list is short: one location! Even though there have been lots of houses and apartments inside of that :)
.-= Kyla Roma blogged this: Friday Finds are Dressing Up Giveaway Winner! =-.
Maddy
October 15, 2010 at 10:25 amAll over the world! But, namely, Cambodia, China, the Philippines, and the US. This seems like a great blog idea that I may have to steal it from you… :o)
.-= Maddy blogged this: San Francisco- or The Philippines =-.
Karen
October 15, 2010 at 5:02 pmI’m going to make a post similar to yours soon, so you’ll have to wait to find out. You sure have moved around a lot in the past few years huh? (Okay, I know, I have too!)
.-= Karen blogged this: A week in the city of hundred spires =-.
Irene
October 17, 2010 at 11:30 amHere is my list:
Born in Bremen, Germany
my parents moved within the city, from a small apartment to a big house when I was about two.
3 month in Ladner, a suburb south of Vancouver, Canada when I was 15 (school exchange)
back to Bremen to finish High School, in 12th Grade I took part in another 4 week school exchange and lived in Woburn,MA
moved to Washington, DC as an Au Pair after Graduation, moved there from my first family who lived downtown to my second family who lived north, between DC and Baltimore
back to Bremen for University, moved to a 2BR apartment with a friend but decided after about 9 month we weren’t meant to be roommates
moved to my own tiny 1BR apartment which I LOVED, it was cozy, had a tiny kitchen, squeaking floorboards and a huge balcony overlooking a green backyard.
About a year later I met my (now) husband who lived in Hannover (80 miles away), commuted a lot to be there on the weekends or summer break and moved to be with him about 18 month later. We lived in his 2BR apartment for a while but soon moved to a 3 BR in Hannover
after three years he got an offer from his company for a better job in Nürnberg, Germany so we moved to a 3BR apartment in small village right outside Nürnberg, been here for 4 years now
currently looking for a house in the area because with now two kids we’ve run out of space and need more rooms
I hope that sometimes in the near future we will be able to live in the US for a while (I really miss it!), hubby is negotiating for a job right now which would be in southern New Hampshire, so we would move there or maybe to the (northern) Boston area and he would commute
Ute
October 19, 2010 at 9:14 amahah wow. yeah I cant write all that down either….lol. I think you need to add CT to that list! :)
steph anne
October 19, 2010 at 11:48 amWow, what a story to tell your kids some day! :) How often do you see your parents?
.-= steph anne blogged this: Common Questions about Being Deaf Part 1 =-.
terra
October 21, 2010 at 5:08 amI’ve bounced back and forth between states so many times, I’ve pretty much lost track.
.-= terra blogged this: Recently =-.