This post was inspired by a tag I got weeks ago from Not A Mean Girl.
Until I moved to Indiana I had lived in five different houses all within the same five mile radius. Crazy right? It’s not like Salt Lake is an itsy bitsy little city.
This is the house I grew up in. My dad did a lot of the work on it and I had four doors and two light switches in my bedroom, I always thought that was so strange. I miss this house, to see the disrepair it has fallen into breaks my heart. I would buy it and renovate it in a heartbeat if I had the chance.
Next is the house we moved into my sophomore year of high school. It was on this mountain.
I had to look at this everyday when I drove home.
Is anyone beginning to see why I’m having such a hard time with the Midwest? Okay, the house.
Not much to look at right? But wait until you see the view I had to look at every morning.
This picture doesn’t even to it justice. When I left home in a fit of rage at 17 I ended up living at the seediest little apartment in the history of seedy apartments. My neighbors sold drugs, the ones below us had eight kids in two bedrooms and a couple of them even slept in their stolen U-Haul when the weather was nice. The other neighbors just ate a lot of “special” brownies and handed them out liberally to all the neighbors. Oh little brothel, so many memories.
Mine was the upper left unit. When my sentence at the brothel was complete I moved in with my sister and her three (boy) roommates.
I had to share a bathroom with two boys here. Eww. There was also an impressive collection of Playboy to the right of the couch. And several dogs, and a cat or two. Good times. This is the place I was living when Cody came into my life. Well, it’s the place I should have been living. Cody and I had an awful lot of sleepovers. (SORRY IN LAWS!)
Enter the newlywed shoebox apartment.
This is the shoebox apartment I found out I was pregnant in, the one I overdosed in and the one we could never manage to keep clean. Since I was going to be staying home with the moosh after she was born we moved to a smaller and much cheaper apartment next door. Literally, next door.
That is the apartment I went into labor in. It is also the one where we shared a room with the moosh for the first six months of her life only because there was no where else to put her. I loved this apartment. All 400 sq. ft. of it. It was sunny and cozy and charming and where we started to feel like a family. Everything I could have ever wanted or anywhere I needed to go was within a ten minute walk of my front door. This was heaven sent for a new mom. I miss this about my old ‘hood.
And now I live in Indiana. Flat, flat Indiana.
But I have good news. I’m getting turned around in Utah. I find myself wanting to go to stores that are only in Indiana. I’ve forgotten about things that are in Utah. Is this good news? I don’t know. Maybe. I know I’m going to cry when I watch the mountains fade into the distance when we leave in a week, but maybe this time I won’t cry when we land in Indiana.
making unbreakable - formerly moosh in indy. 
here’s to memories and no (or fewer) tears.
Holly’s last blog post..Double Ack, I’ve Been Tagged: Part II
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Cool post. Looks like you’ve lived in some interesting places.
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Ok. Your seedy apartment? Doesn’t look so seedy compared to the first apartment I lived in with Jess! Only I didn’t know so much about the “going-ons” in our complex.
I wonder where you’re going to live after Indy. I’m jealous over you living in a different state away from family and experiencing something new!
Oh my gosh! I just realized that I never called you from my phone to give you my number! Oops! I swear I’m losing it!
Carrie’s last blog post..PRAYERS NEEDED!
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Hey, I remember the shoebox…and the house on Ramona. Good times. Feels like an eternity since I met you!
Kimmie’s last blog post..Lately…
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Utah’s not just “not a little city,” it’s not a city at all. Payback lady.
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Ah, Cody is a law student AND a geography expert. Your husband is so multi-talented, Casey!
I take it from this post you’re in Utah…give Kimmie a hug from me. She doesn’t know me, of course, but she’s kind of my hero right now.
heather’s last blog post..Swing For Two
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and just when you get used to indi and start calling it “home,” Cody will get a job in south carolina or something
Biddy’s last blog post..More From Jake The Photographer
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I hope you’re getting your fill of Mexican food. Granted, Utah isn’t known for its authentic Mexican fares, but I bet it’s still better than Indy.
Just a thought.
Camille’s last blog post..{To Be a Hotdogger}
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You’re first house is adorable! Like a picture book! I can see how you would miss that scenery but I’m glad that Indiana is growing on you!
calicobebop’s last blog post..Muffin + IMAX = Disaster
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Indiana is lucky to have you, Casey. And I like knowing that however remote the possibility, I could *technically* drive to see you. 🙂
Assertagirl’s last blog post..DUH
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your mountains is to my water……we just don’t have it in Indiana. But at least we have each other.
ellinghouse’s last blog post..The story of a rocket pop…
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Behold the power of EDIT. loce.
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What a great post. Hubby and I have moved four times in our six years of marriage, and I still don’t feel like I’m home just yet… We are hoping to move to Georgia or North Carolina, I just want to get out of Kansas 😉
Nicole’s last blog post..37 Degrees
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I feel your pain. I grew up in Maryland, spent 6 years in Utah, and then husband dragged me to middle of nowhere, Idaho. But it has grown on me (after 6 years) just like Indiana has grown on you. Still. It’s Idaho.
erin’s last blog post..Oh the Places we went!
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I started counting the houses I’ve lived in over the years and I got to 10. However, other than a 4 year stint in MA for college, I’ve stayed within the borders of NJ. It’s funny that although there have been so many houses, home is the house I grew up in. When things are really bad (we had to put a cat to sleep earlier this week), and I’m filling out paperwork, all the info was for Montclair even though I haven’t officially lived there for 14 years. I was just saying we should take pictures of all the places we’ve lived and Helen said it would be a long day. Gypsy blood I think:)
Mary Beth’s last blog post..SUNDAY SCRIBBLINGS – PHOTOGRAPH
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That’s a cool post. Now you have a record of all those places, for better or worse! I want to do this, too, because I am the same as you- all my residences in about a 5 mile radius in SLC.
Barb’s last blog post..I *do* have friends!
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We did that in our little town, while the kids were growing up we moved 4 times in the same city. I liked the school system, even ended up working for it.
And I soooo understand the whole mountain thing. I love driving up my street and looking at my mountains. And then I go back home to Michigan and there is nary a hill to look at.
Adrienne’s last blog post..Sorry
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Oh, Casey. You brought a smile to my face and my hubby’s, as we also lived in that cute red house. I always felt bad when I came to visit that you had to share that downstairs bathroom with everyone; it was a horrible, horrible sight. But good, good times were had in 8*7, were they not?
And, ahem, I remember my sleepovers going the OTHER way for me in that house. It was definitely a trend for occupants.
Thanks for such a great post today!
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I read your overdose story just now, and I’m so impressed with you for sharing that and getting an important message out there. A big hug to you! We all make mistakes, and the only thing to do it move on and learn from them and it sounds like you did.
I loved hearing all the places you’ve lived and the conditions of each. Great storytelling! I lived in a shoebox for five years (400 square feet or so) with two kids and a husband…one bathroom for four of us. It was torture! We’re in a big house now and I love it! But, when we first moved in, I was exhuasted from all the walking I had to do to get around my new house. lol LIke you, I was used to barely moving to reach everything.
Rhea’s last blog post..If Gardens are a form of autobiography, then I’m in trouble
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Love, love, love the mountains. I can totally see why you’d miss them …. (sorry).
whymommy’s last blog post..Radiation: Week 6
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I love mountains, too, even if I don’t go into them, and ocean. I like to see them. Sometimes, places just speak to deep inside you, whether you grew up with them or not (I grew up in flat, flat Dallas).
Wendy’s last blog post..flip, flip, twit. repeat.
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What adorable places! Especially the one you grew up in. I always forget that Utah has mountains. We have them here too – wanna move? (Okay, so they’re a few hours away, but still.)
andi’s last blog post..Welcome to parenthood?
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What a great way to think about a life, as a series of places you’ve lived. And, wow, wha a view from the mountains … amazing.
mimi’s last blog post..Spa-aaaahhhhhh
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I love living in Utah… I never thought I’d say that.
I’m originally from California and moving here almost killed me. But now that I’ve been here and enjoyed all of the recreation and beautiful scenery… I’ll not be movin’ anywhere else.
Come back when Cody is done with school??
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I’m loving this post. A lot! I wish I had pics of all the houses I’ve lived in. They are mostly good memories. I should do that, drive around trying to find all those houses. Road trip!
ashannie’s last blog post..Is There an Elephant in the Room
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makes me homesick for UT too.
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Cool post Casey! The view of those mountains is incredible. I couldn’t live where I couldn’t see the ocean or mountains.
Kristin’s last blog post..A change of scenery. It does a mind good. (UPDATE)
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That was a great post. I think I’m reading your blog too much, I had a dream about you – nothing creepy or weird, just something about work, then they introduced me to you, and I was all “Oh, I read your blog.”
Mandi’s last blog post..Songs as Weapons of Mass Destruction
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What a neat idea!
Cool post!
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I LOVE this post! Since I’m back living in my hometown, you’ve inspired me to take a little walk down memory lane, myself!
mommypie’s last blog post..‘Til Death Do I Part
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Oh, those photos of the Rockies remind me of my days in Boulder, looking at them from the other side of the Divide. Stuck in traffic? Waiting for the car at Jiffy Lube? Running on a flat jogging trail? No biggie when you’ve got views like that.
Sigh.
Must be Motherhood’s last blog post..Flaws: Part 1
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I swear I live down the street from your previous residence… SLC is recognizable like that. ;o)
And I also love the mountains, love love love.
xox
heidikins’s last blog post..Half-Marathon vs. heidikins
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Ug, I would have a VERY HARD TIME moving to some place flat. The Northwest is super hilly. I love that about it.
What a great thing, that you have a picture of every house you’ve lived in! That’s a whole lot of nostalgia. Love it.
Melain’s last blog post..In Conclusion: I am definitely straight.
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I feel ya. I would never wanna leave my mountains. It’s good that your acclimatin to Indy though!
dana’s last blog post..Inauspicious Beginnings of Motherhood
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What a fun tour, thanks for sharing the memories!
Anna at Hank & Willie’s last blog post..“We put the B in blogging”
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You had some very unique looking houses. The first one was really cute and the second one looks like my style. I like my current house, but I miss living in Indiana – I know, opposite from you – but we were in Bloomington, which is a great little college town.
Dallas’s last blog post..First Wedding Anniversary
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Ok, granted, the Wasatch are pretty freakin’ awesome. The wind in the Midwest feels like it could knock you over the second you step outside the door. The humidity makes you want to die. But, one thing I miss about the Midwest are the good ol’ fill the sky with every color imaginable sunrises and sunsets. I miss being overwhelmed like that.
Oh, and random question… you must totally be an east sider based on those snaps.
Emily the Utah transplant from the Midwest’s last blog post..101 in 1001
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