Where is Home?

Many people consider home is where they live.  The place they go to every day after school or work.  Where their mail gets sent to.  Me?  Of course my residence is "home", but so is Iowa.  The place I grew up - where my parents are - the place where I go and everything feels like it hasn't changed.  I'm fortunate to live less than four hours from Cedar Rapids, and try to get back at least once a month. 

When Amanda announced her new link-up, Tell Me About Your Town, I was eager to get started.  I will mostly be sharing things about my hometown, Cedar Rapids, but for some of the link up prompts I'll be writing about the western suburbs of Chicago, where I currently reside.  Today's prompt is "things you are thankful for about your town".  This one clearly belongs to Iowa.

I grew up in a town of just over 120,000.  Not huge, but not small either.  (And no, I did not grow up on a farm - a question I get a lot!).  I lived there all the way until I went to the University of Iowa, which is just 30 minutes south.  There are so many things that I am thankful for:

|| The people.  I didn't realize how dang friendly everyone was until I moved away.  People ask "how are you?" and really want to know.  They hold the door for you, help you carry things, and when someone pulls over to help you and your broken down car, they really want to help - not rob you.  (Yes, that happened to me - another post for another time.)

|| My friends.  I was lucky enough to go to elementary, middle and high school with the same kids.  Of course, multiple elementary schools merged in to middle, and multiple middle schools merged in to high, but I always had the "core" people I knew since Kindergarten.  These days, I only see one when I go home - but when we are together, it's like no time has passed at all.

|| Diversity.  This one might be a shock to some of you, but I was fortunate and grew up with a diverse group of people.  My high school even offered Japanese (which I took).  And, I was lucky enough to study abroad in Japan when I was only seventeen years old.  (Spoiler - this is what my series is about).

|| Low crime.  Growing up, I hardly heard of crimes.  This could be because I was sheltered from it, but I really believe it's because it didn't happen often.  When I was in college, one of my roommates used to make fun of me because on the nightly news, they had a segment called "Big Ole Fish".  Viewers could submit photos of the big fish they caught, and they would feature one a night.  My roommate thought it was hysterical and "weird", but to be honest, I'd rather watch that than what she grew up watching, being from the south side of Chicago.

|| Shopping was exciting.  Ok, so don't get me wrong here.  I still absolutely love shopping and am excited any time I go (especially if I'm going sans children).  But in Iowa, I didn't have everything at my fingertips like I have in Chicago.  We would frequently take weekend trips to Minneapolis or Chicago just to shop.  It was fun and exciting, and I don't do that anymore.  I also didn't spend as much money!

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I'm more than a little proud to be an Iowan.  I'm grateful that my parents chose a place to raise us that felt like a small community, but offered things similar to a larger one.  I love Iowa.  I'll be the first to defend it, share random facts about it, and would move back in an instant - if only I could convince my Chicago-loving husband. But for now, I will take shopping over the Big Ole Fish on the news.

Linking up with Amanda for "Tell Me About Your Town" and Emily for "Grateful Heart Monday".