home?

I moved to St. Louis in August of 2007, when I began undergrad at SLU.  The summer after my freshmen year was spent back in BloNo, but with the exception of those 2.5 months, I have been a St. Louisian for 6 years.  Since I moved here, there have been MANY things that I have quickly fallen in love with.  How can you NOT love a city that has so much to do?  If you're bored here, it's because you aren't trying.  The zoo is FREE.  During the summer, there are FREE concerns at the Botanical Gardens on Wednesday nights.  The city museum is a blast.  There is pretty much always some sort of concert/show going on.  Forest Park is a gorgeous place to spend a day, and it's common for some sort of event to be going on here.  Food Truck Friday was my newest love this summer in Tower Grove Park.

BUT!  There is also a lot that I hate.  Driving here gives me the most ridiculous anxiety.  Besides the fact that MO doesn't make kids take drivers ed, which still makes absolutely NO sense to me, the lanes throughout much of the city are freaking SKINNY!  Like, my jeep just fits, skinny.  I also don't love how everything is spread out.  I am used to everything being 10 minutes from my house, but that's just not how things are here.  Dan and I both have to commute about 30 min in opposite directions every day.  If we lived in BloNo, that would not be the case.

Most importantly, I really dislike being 3 hours from my family.  After we graduated, I wanted to move back home.  I wanted to raise kids in the same town as their grandparents.  Mostly for the free babysitting, but also because I have wonderful memories of weekly visits with my mom's parents.  The Mr. was a rockstar, though, and got a wonderful job while he was STILL in college that has transformed into the perfect job for him now that he is done.  He would not be happy giving that up and working for "the Farm" at home.  

On Fridays, I have to drive through/around downtown to get to the city my practicum placement is in.  Sometimes it still amazes me that this is my home.  First of all, I can't believe that I can actually drive on 70 without hyperventilating.  That was my biggest fear when I got here, and even though I get stressed, I manage ;)  But mostly driving by the arch and seeing Lumiere and the stadium, etc....  It's nice.  Dare I say that today, it felt like home?

It may have taken 6 years, but I can feel my roots digging in here.  I feel like I may be OK with raising a family here.  I think I may be falling even more in love with the city that took me from home, and I am OK with that.

Right now, I'm grateful I took a big chance and moved to STL without a single person I knew.  But I am extra grateful that Dan chose SIUe and that we have both found our place in this city :)