Where were you born? Is that where you were raised?

Welcome to the next installment of me documenting my life. I was amusing myself earlier this week while sketching out this topic by reminding myself that the purpose of documenting your life is often to leave some part of you behind for your kids. Since I have no kids, then the rest of you get to enjoy these little trips. 

The question on today's card is "Where were you born? Is that where you were raised?

I was born in Houston Texas, Herman Hospital to be exact. 

Photo from TrailBlaze Travels

My first dad was in the military and stationed there. I don't think we lived there much longer. And I've never been back. Well, that's not completely true. We visited my Great Grandparents in Texas at some point in my life. Only once that I remember. And since then the only other time I've been in Texas was to be stuck in the Dallas airport for 8 hour due to weather. 

Is that where you were raised? 

This is an easy, and yet, complicated, question. The short answer is no. The long answer is a list of places I've lived that will take you a minute or two to read. 

On my 40th birthday, as part of the celebration, I thought it'd be fun to do some Jenn Trivia. One of the questions was how many places had I lived in my 40 years. The catch was every address counted. Not just the different cities or countries, but every address I lived in. 

The answer: 27

That's right, I had lived in 27 different places by the time I was 40. Now that I'm 55, that number is a whoppin 28. The first part of my life I moved frequently. Then I found a place I liked and lived there for 12 years. The longest I ever lived anywhere. Now I'm in this new place (been here for 3 years already). 

Back in the day, I'd move every year. The places I was living would raise my rent and I figured if I was going to pay more rent, I might as well live someplace nicer. It got amusing for my friends who all found other things to do the last weekend in July every year. 

Places I've lived since Houston - Not in any order: Albuquerque, New Jersey, Lancaster (3 different addresses), Washington (I lost count of how many addresses - Kent, Renton, Bellevue, Redmond three times, Lynnwood (twice), Switzerland, Saudi, Mexico, etc

I have mixed emotions about all these locations and all the moving. It makes me feel a little gypsy esk at times. The benefit has been that I was able to make new friends quickly. The downside was you never really created deep, lasting relationships with those friends. 

Moving, I feel, also broadened my view of the world. Living in foreign countries allowed me an opportunity to see, and understand different cultures. Eat their food, see their sights, talk with their people, and immerse myself in their culture. 

What about you? Where were you born and were you raised there?