home

i used to believe and feel that home was wherever my immediate family was (my parents and brothers and sister), which until i was a teenager happened to be california. when i was 13 my dad's new job required us to move to arizona. it was very tough for all of us leaving our childhood friends and loved ones behind, but as long it was all of us moving together it would still be home to me... just in a different state. but after a year of college in arizona i decided to make a change and move to california to live with my grandpa. at first it was a little weird because i wasn't "home", but after a while that's exactly what it became. i still considered my family's house back in arizona my home, but living with my grandpa was home to me as well. now, with me currently living in europe, and my brother and dad living in alabama, it makes me question what makes me feel at home somewhere. because truth be told, for a while now my little home with my wonderful dutch family in a quiet little village in holland is home to me. so it makes me wonder - what is it that makes us call someplace "home"? and i think that i've figured it out.

when i left my siblings and parents and moved to california, it was definitely a spur of the moment decision. i remember one minute i was arguing with my parents and the next i was saying that i wanted to move to california to live with my grandpa. at first i think it was just something i said out of anger, but the more i thought about it, the more the decision actually sounded like a pretty good idea! i had already switched from asu to community college in arizona at the time, and although i was having a good experience there, i just wanted some kind of change (and what better change than to move somewhere where it doesn't get 115 degrees outside!). so i packed my bags and booked it to california. a couple weeks after moving, thoughts of moving back had been crossing my mind. although i loved living near the beach and with my grandpa, it just wasn't feeling right. i found a job soon after where i made a great bunch of friends, and i decided to try it out a little longer. after settling down and allowing myself to experience this new place and all the new friends i had made, my feelings changed. not only did i not want to move back, but now i could never even imagine myself living anywhere else. of course i have some of my best friends in arizona who i miss dearly and try and visit along with my family as often as i can, but it was just like the move in my earlier years from california to arizona. i had the best friends in california, but my life had then moved somewhere else. i really think that what makes us call someplace our home are the things we find most important there - friends, family, maybe even a feeling of love or feeling safe and content. i really enjoy being able to call more than one place my home. i think it's very special to have those few places you can go back to and just feel that warmth and familiarity and have all those memories rush back.

just as i call both arizona and california my home, i can now add holland to that group of very important places to me. having made a handful of great friends from all over the world, and becoming part of an amazing family, this wonderful place full of friendly people, blossoming tulips and forests and beaches and amazing sunsets.. is now another piece of the world that will hold a special place in my heart. i think it's very rare to feel such things about a place and i'm very blessed to feel that way about 3. 3 places that will always mean so much to me. 3 places that i call home.

xoxo