TexasRachel Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 After moving all over for my Dad's Army career, I moved to Texas for college and I've never moved from it. It would take *a lot* for me to consider leaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Ich bin ein Austiner. Keepin' it weird! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'm a Nutmegger through and through. astrid :lol: dh used to refer to going to ct as "going nutmeggin'" as if that made any sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akmommy Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'm very much connected to my state. We may in a few years move south, but I will always consider myself an Alaskan and there are many things I will miss when and if we do make that move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 This is not "my" state. I live in California because that is where my husband's job is. I have no family here and no intention of living here forever. I have absolutely NO connection with the state of California. This is how I feel about Pennsylvania. I don't loathe it, but I don't feel any connection to it at all. I have felt rootless for 2 years now, and I don't like that at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'm a TEXAN. 'Nuf said. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Sure it's not perfect but what state is? Where else can you find ocean, mountains, desert and rainforest? I can not live without the ocean. When I get all kinked up, we head out to the beach and watch the waves. Everything is put in perspective. I am not sure why there is so much disdain for California. Not everyone lives in Hollywood or Santa Cruz. California leads all the other states in farm income..... There are many minerals mined in California that are used in manufacturing that are found in no other part of the country. The film industry & computer industry were born here. I have visited many other states and I have yet to find one as beautiful and varied as California. Homeschooling is a breeze here :iagree::iagree::iagree: California is a great state, and I love living here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avila Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Ugh, if you are around SAFB, then you understand why I despised IL. :D. Yup. I don't miss Illinois one little bit. I do miss St. Louis, now and then, but I have more of an attachment to Texas than I EVER did to Illinois. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineW Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) St Louis will always be "home" (Go Cards) but N. California is becoming home too. I agree with Kristen "I'm from St Louis, but I live in the Bay Area." My kids and hubby are Californians. We live 5 miles from where DH grew up. I don't see us leaving anytime soon. Edited October 23, 2011 by ChristineW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I don't think I really identify with my state. I do, however, identify with my neighborhood and our small city because that is where I have connections to actual people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I love my state, NC, and I feel very connected here. I was not born in NC, but I moved here when I was 7. I plan to spend the rest of my life here. The only other state I would consider would be Virginia. I have lived outside of NC -- in California (for the summer), in SC, Germany and Spain, but NC is my forever home. At this stage in my life (48) I don't plan to live elsewhere anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbecueMom Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Yes, St. Louis is home. Not the rest of Missouri, just this city IN Missouri. DH works on and off at SAFB, but he'd rather drive than pay triple the property taxes to live over in Illinois. We've talked about leaving, depending on how DH's career goes, but I'd be pretty homesick if we left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Raised in IL my whole life, and except for my 3 years in the Army, have always lived here. As much as I sometimes dream of a more beautiful place to live, I'll always consider this my home. Dh is from Texas, and although we met and married in CA while in the Army, and the fact that he's lived here for 15 years, he's still a born and bred Texan. I think he's a little shocked he ended up here. :lol: All that said, he loves his life here. He's got great friends, started his own business which he loves, and the kids & I were all born here. He does miss his extended family though, and they're all still in Texas, so we end up vistiting there a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHowell Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I am a California girl through and through. Both my family and Dh's family have been here since before it was a state. Sure it's not perfect but what state is? Where else can you find ocean, mountains, desert and rainforest? I can not live without the ocean. When I get all kinked up, we head out to the beach and watch the waves. Everything is put in perspective. I am not sure why there is so much disdain for California. Not everyone lives in Hollywood or Santa Cruz. California leads all the other states in farm income. California produces almost all the country's almonds, apricots, dates, figs, kiwi, nectarines, olives, pistachios, prunes and walnuts. We are also the main producer of avocado, grapes, lemons, melons, peaches, plums and strawberries. There are many minerals mined in California that are used in manufacturing that are found in no other part of the country. The film industry & computer industry were born here. I have visited many other states and I have yet to find one as beautiful and varied as California. Homeschooling is a breeze here. If Dh's work takes us away I would be very, very homesick and would have to visit often. :iagree: Wish they all could be California girls... :biggrinjester: I LOVE it here. Small town life, 15 minutes to the beach, 2 hours to GREAT skiing, 3 hours to SF or LA- I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! I have visited many states and lived in two others. Nothing feels like home like CA does. Anywhere in CA does it for me, and I have lived in northern CA, the valley, the bay area, and now the central coast. I love it all. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktkcb Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I ditto my love for California. Lived most of my early years (minus time overseas growing up w/missionary parents) here, went to college here. I love my city (Santa Clarita). Wish the political/social climate were different, but I'll never be anything but a Californian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Yes, St. Louis is home. Not the rest of Missouri, just this city IN Missouri. DH works on and off at SAFB, but he'd rather drive than pay triple the property taxes to live over in Illinois. We've talked about leaving, depending on how DH's career goes, but I'd be pretty homesick if we left. If we ever moved back (and pigs might have to grow wings), we would move into St L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluezoo5 Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I was born and raised in Missouri, but always with an eye toward moving away. I met DH, also from Missouri, married and then we spent the next 12 years in Oklahoma. There's nothing quite like bonding with your new love far away from your families to give one a new identity. We are now back to Missouri, but still feel like Okies (and we have Okie-born kids to show for it). My MIL (from Missouri) always called them her little Okie Dokies. So I guess I feel somewhat connected to both. Missouri is where our roots are, but Oklahoma is where our heart is (especially since all our babies will always have Oklahoma on their birth certificates). Good memories! Oh yeah, and we miss the Sooner hype every Saturday during the fall too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'll always be a Minnesotan. I've lived here pretty much my whole life, except for the relatively short time I was in the Army, and the older I get the more I appreciate the culture and heritage of Minnesota. Even the accent. Though, thanks to Sarah Palin, people who hear me talk are now just as likely to think I'm from Alaska... :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I was born in California, but moved when I was 2 to New England. Even though I've spent all but 3 years since 1995 back out here in CA, it doesn't feel at all like "home". I'd move back to New England in a heartbeat except my DH's job is here and we'd lose money on the house. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I've never really lived anywhere but California (except for a year in Denmark). I'm not sure I know how to! My family has been here for generations now, mostly from Okie-type beginnings. I was a third-generation student at my university. The government has managed to completely screw it up, but California is home for me. That said there are large swathes of CA that I wouldn't want to live in. I LOVE my city here; we've been here 11 years (though it has recently kicked me in the teeth so I'm less enamored ATM). I like the Central Coast, and a good bit of the Bay Area--thank goodness we've escaped the traffic there. But I'm grateful to my parents for getting us the heck outta Bakersfield, and I would hate living in the LA area or quite a lot of the Central Valley--which is where I do in fact live, just a really good bit of it. What makes me mad is that here we've got one of the single greatest places on earth--amazing farmland, beautiful forests and beaches and deserts, tons of natural wealth--and we can't seem to run it in even a minimally competent manner. If it's bad for us, we go for it. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 This is a really interesting thread, thank you! What's a Hoosier Texan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Not just the state, but the city. After leaving here for awhile and living in different states (and England). I realized just how weird and wonderful Portland is. where else can you drive 1 hour one direction and be at the beach, or drive an hour in a different direction and have wonderful skiing? Great hiking, windsurfing, river rafting etc... We have wonderful restaurants, theater, and people smile here. I love it here, and I always come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) I'm a New Englander through and through. Edited October 24, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) I am Victorian. Everywhere else is a better place to be if I'm gallivanting, but Victoria is home. Tasmania has tempted me a few times, but I'd be claustrophobic being permanently off the mainland. Rosie Edited October 23, 2011 by Rosie_0801 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 The state I was born in, my family left when I was very young and I don't identify with it at all. The state I grew up in, I suppose I identify with, but I really don't like it. I left after finishing college and I don't have any desire to be there. The state we live in now is DH's home state, but it's not mine and I don't identify with it. I don't feel any roots here at all. The only state I feel a connection to is one I have never lived in, but I have relatives there and we made many trips there when I was growing up. But I really can't claim it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Almost not at all. I have fond memories and I am always happy to hear that the sports teams are doing well but I don't follow the teams. It makes me sad to see what has become of the state economically but I don't really follow that very much either. Some of my habits or thought processes derived from living in the Detroit area I suppose. But I don't really identify as a Michigander. I don't have a deep and abiding loyalty to the state. Now that I live abroad I am more likely to identify as an American. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb in NZ Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I moved overseas over 20 years ago, but will always be a VTer. Even my kids identify with VT & they never lived in VT full-time :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb in NZ Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 where else can you drive 1 hour one direction and be at the beach, or drive an hour in a different direction and have wonderful skiing? Great hiking, windsurfing, river rafting etc... That's what my dh says about New Zealand ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Hmmm...I've lived in 10 states (my dad was in the Navy) and I can't say I feel any connection with any of them. Maybe IL as that's where I went to high school and I still have loads of friends there that I keep in touch with and I LOVE Chicago (I went to an all girl school just north of the city), but I'm kind of lukewarm on it. I was born in AL, lived there on and off a few times, went to college there and that's where my parents moved when my dad retired (they're both from AL), but if I ever had to live there again I'd go crazy. I'm not even that fond of visiting. Jame Bond is from AL (we met in college) and he never wants to live there again either. Plus, in AL if you don't worship football (neither of us do) you're looked at like you're nuts. :) <-that's a joke, BTW. Perhaps too it's because we haven't lived there since 1996 and we've lived out of the country for 9 years. It's not that we don't like our country (JB is in the Army after all), we just don't have a particular state we identify with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 My state is where I have been born, grown up, and lived my whole life but even so, it is just a place to me. We stayed here when we married only to be near my parents. If it weren't for them I would be living somewhere in the southern states right now probably NC. We plan to move out of this state once the kids are grown. Where we settle doesn't really matter much to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 This is a really interesting thread, thank you! What's a Hoosier Texan? A Hoosier is someone born in Indiana. Where ever you go that part never leaves. :tongue_smilie: Sounds like she was born in Indiana, but her heart is in Texas. My dh is a Hoosier, even though he grew up in a different state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) I grew up in MA and moved to PA right before I got married. I've been in PA for 11 years now, but I think I will always feel like a New Englander at heart! ETA ~ Reading through this thread has reminded me how hard it was for me to move to PA from the MA/RI area. I remember talking with my dad about it a few times, and he would always say (in his strong Boston accent): "They're not like us anywhere else." It's makes me laugh to think of it now, and it's funny because he was right. But, I have gotten used to the slower pace of life and meeting people who expect an actual response when they ask how you are doing. Edited October 23, 2011 by JessReplanted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I have been a Jersey girl for almost 14 years now but in my heart I am still a New Yorker. Thank goodness I still live close enough to get a fix. Much to my horror my kids think of themselves as Jerseyians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'm a navy brat. I do not have a home. I don't have any kind of emotional attachment to places I live/ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'm a TEXAN. 'Nuf said. Ds1 was born in TX but we moved right before he turned 3. He still claims he's a TEXAN. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'm still a Pittsburgher at heart. I grew up there as did my mom and my grandparents and my greatgrandparents immigrated there from Poland and Slovakia when they were young. Their stories and traditions formed my world as a kid. Since my dad is Hungarian, he fit right in to most of that culture too. I honestly didn't realize that polkas and pierogis were not standard fare everywhere until I went to college. Of course, that Pittsburgh doesn't exist anymore. It was already changing when I was a kid. But that time and place shaped the way I look at the world profoundly. Now, I live in Texas. I really do like Houston and I'm glad I get the chance to live here, but I haven't become a "Texan". I'm a person who lives in Texas but it's not my hometown. (I always cheer for the Pirates when they play the Astros, shhhh). There are lots of people from all over the US and the world here so I've never felt out of place or less than perfectly welcome. I think my kids will feel like Texans since they've lived here most of their lives. They don't think it's odd to salute the Texas flag and they look forward to rodeo with an enthusiasm I just can't muster. And they can clap perfectly to Deep in the Heart of Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I don't identify with this state except that this is where we live, this is where dd was born, and this is where dh's job is, which is very strongly identified with this state. There is no "going back home" for us, financially or emotionally, so this is where we'll stay. For now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Although I was raised in Virginia, West Virginia is my heart's "home." As for NY....well, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all, right? :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I don't really feel much connection to any state. I am from KY and grew up there. I like KY. I wouldn't say that I'm a Kentuckian, however. I've been gone too long. DH is in the military and we've lived in a lot of states and I've liked all of them in some ways but I'm not claiming those states as mine either. I think I could claim being a southern girl. We've spent most of our time in the south and I felt more out of place the few times we lived out of the south. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayle in Guatemala Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I will forever and always be a Minnesotan. I love my state and I've lived in more than a few! AND more than that I will always be a CENTRAL Minnesotan! Not the cities or the southern part--but the beautiful lake country of Minnesota. I love the trees and lakes. I love the people. I actually love winter!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IdahoMtnMom Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 :iagree::iagree::iagree: California is a great state, and I love living here. It's funny... I was born and raised in Anaheim Hills, went to college in Irvine and lived in Costa Mesa, moved back to Anaheim Hills... loved it so much I ran for public office and opened a communtiy non-profit to help the communties in OC... and you could not EVER pay me enough money to go back now that I live in Idaho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I will always be a Michigan girl. I have lived in NC for 14 years now, and it will never be my heart's home. Of course I would rather be with dh and kids wherever they are, but I still hope to get back to Michigan someday. I miss my sister so very much, and all the rest of my family is there too. I grew up next door to both sets of my grandparents and I am sad for my kids that we live near no family. Plus, really, once a Great Lakes lover, always a Great Lakes lover. I just cannot get used to this ocean thing. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I don't really feel that I am connected to a particular state. I was born and raised in Tennessee. I went to college there. I lived there for more than 23 years. I moved to Louisiana and had my first real, adult work experiences there. I bought my first house there. I met and married my husband there. I had my children there. I lived there for 15 years. My husband changed jobs and his new employment brought us to Kentucky. My children have grown up here. It really was not what we wanted at the time and we were somewhat in shock for the first couple of years. We really wanted to move to a much larger city and he had seriously considered a job in the Chicago area, for instance. But we got used to it. It is really so centrally located in the U.S. that it has made travel to the Great Lakes area and Canada much more doable than it ever would have been had we continued to live further south. We have been here 13 years this Christmas. I expect that we will stay here so long as my husband has his job. If that changes for any reason, and/or if our children grow up and end up moving to some other area to live, then I would expect that we'd probably want to try to live closer to them.... I grew up visiting Florida often and my family has had a small house there since about the mid-80's. We have not been able to be there as much as I'd like due to difficult family members, but perhaps some day that will change and if the house is maintained in the family I hope that my sister and I may use it with our families in future years.... I'd like to have a small house in the Great Lakes or North Woods region at some point, too, that we could all use together.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I don't have a state. I've lived in a dozen or so of them. I'd choose the one I liked the best, but I lived there less than 2 years. I have no attachment to the state where I was born. I don't even remember living there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I spent the first 28 years of my life in Orange County California. I moved to Idaho in 2005. If asked, I will say I am an Idahoan. I feel little or no connection to California. I can't even stand visiting. Funny how there has been more than one post about this. I, too, am a Southern California native - mostly OC but also in the Inland Empire for a few years (Claremont.) There is part of California that feels like my origin, but there's not a strong identity related to it that I feel. I never bought in to all the California culture, and I, like the above poster, get aggravated when I visit (just with the endless urban sprawl, the traffic, etc.) I've lived in North Alabama for 4 years and I love it. I'd say I feel deeply identified with *Huntsville* (my city), but not Alabama. There is much I love and appreciate about the South and Alabama after living here for 4 years, but I also realize I am not intrinsically Southern and I never will be. I love and appreciate my Southern friends, but I'm not one of them. I am a Jew from the west coast, yet California itself doesn't have a character I feel intrinsically linked to either, and I'm happier living here. Huntsville on the other hand - I do feel like a Huntsvillian - and a strong identity with the city. The demographics here are a mix of Southerners and transplants as well as "new generation" Southerners who have lived in Huntsville their whole lives but are not quite like other Southerners either. Our city has its own identity that I think takes the best of all those who contribute to the culture. I <3 it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I spent most of my life in California. My only connection there is my family. If they weren't still in CA then I could care less. I don't have an attachment to any place. I either like where I live (or have lived) or don't. I don't like living in Florida, I love visiting. I wouldn't mind living in TN, and I live visiting too. I liked visiting PA. My dh on the other hand solely identifies with New York. Specifically upstate. To the point of annoyance, irritation and shut up already! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Barely at all! Of course, I've lived here most of my life, but I more strongly associate myself with my birth state. :) If my dh's job and brothers weren't here, I wouldn't even be here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) I have considerable affection for the great state of NJ, where both DH and I grew up and where our parents still live, and for NYC, where our extended families live and where we spent most of our married life so far. We moved to TN this summer -- neither one of us had ever lived in the South before -- and while it's perfectly nice, it's hard to imagine it ever truly feeling like home. Even DH, who could not stand living in NYC and love love loves pretty much everything about our life here, admits this. I often have these moments when I look around and think, "Wow, I'm in Tennessee." There are a lot of good things about living here, though, and it's so interesting to experience a different slice of the country. And since apparently we're going to be here for a while, just this past week I ordered non-diastatic malt powder online so I can make my own bagels. :D Edited October 23, 2011 by JennyD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoforjoy Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Michigan, no. Detroit, very much so. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I feel none, whatsoever. (That's not to say I hate it, because I don't; neither do I like it, though LOL!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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