a hoosier homecoming.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! {cv} and I made it back yesterday from our Californian adventure, but today I'm off again to Indiana for work. So far, May is turning out to be the busiest month of 2011!  With eight days on the west coast and two weekends elsewhere in New England, I'm also tacking on this four-day trip to Indiana. You won't hear me complaining though! This is {sadly} my first trip back to my home state since last July. I just know that climbing off the plane and emerging in the beautiful Indianapolis airport will be a perfect homecoming. {My parents are even making the hour trip from my hometown in southern Indiana to greet me! Yay!}

All this talk of Indiana brings me to the topic for today's post: the idea of home. When most people think of Indiana, the contents of these three images might come to mind. For many, Indiana is simply a "fly over" state, with loads of cornfields below them. Indianapolis is also another easy thing to remember from the Hoosier state {hello, the state is in the name--so easy!} and a few people might even think of the Indianapolis 500. 



To me, Indiana is so much more. I spent the first 18 years of my life in its pleasant confines. When I left, I wasn't exactly sad to leave. I was ready for more adventure than my small hometown could provide. In the almost eight years since my departure, I have experienced more than I ever dreamed I could--and I know I still have so much more to see. 

With each passing year, I have realized I miss the idea of "home" more than I ever anticipated. I don't miss the small town gossip or the slow{er} pace of life, but I have found that I miss the fact that people genuinely care what is going on in your life. {There are a handful of people in New England who have this characteristic, but on the whole, it's one of the things I miss most about my Midwestern home.} I miss the sunsets over those fly-over cornfields. I miss running and having people honk to say hello, not to tell you that you're in their way. I actually miss the quiet sometimes too.

So, where do you consider your "home" to be? 
If you don't live there, what do you miss about it?
If you do, what do you love most about your home?

I can't wait to learn a little more about each of you from your replies :) 

Get ready for a little taste of California this week--but let's be honest, I took 1750 pictures, so these recap posts will be stretching into the next month. Have a great start to the week! xoxo {av}

{images sources: cornfields, racecars + downtown}

23 comments:

  1. I think I will always and forever consider New Hampshire "home"...the house I grew up in, where all my family is. And its funny, because whenever we head back there, I was saying I am going home...because its the truth:) Home is where the heart is and New Hampshire will always have a little piece of it!

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  2. sleepy little medfield masschusetts will always be my home...my mom still lives in the house i grew up in and i go back every summer. italy's great, but there's something about the peace and tranquility of medfield and my childhood bed that keeps calling me back!

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  3. I consider our little Rhody home "just because my family is here," home is where they are.

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  4. The Carolina coast is my home...whether in Charleston or Beaufort/HHI. The salt water and salty breeze call me home. The smell of the salt marsh is my favorite scent. I am convinced I would never be able to live to far from the coast.

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  5. Aww hope you enjoy your time back in Indiana! I consider southern CA home...it's not that far from northern CA, where I am now, but its hard to get home!!

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  6. A small town in central Ohio is my home :) I don't live there currently, but I'm hoping to go back for good in a couple of years. I miss my family, old friends, and familiar surroundings. And OSU Buckeye fans!!

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  7. I can't wait to hear about your trip!

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  8. Northern California is home and I couldn't live farther away and still live in the states. I really do miss home. I miss the weather, the people and my family. I never thought I would miss my family because I didn't while I was in college but now I guess I do more because I don't get to go home as often.

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  9. I have moved around quite a bit, that my home is more of a state now, than a hometown. Home to me, is all my past memories with loved ones in familiar places. Oregon is my home.

    Indiana is actually my bf's home, too ;)

    (& can't wait to see all your California pix!!)

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  10. Wonder if it's an age thing? I've JUST recently started missing 'home' too! And that's something that I never thought I would say!
    Glad y'all had a good trip! Can't wait to see pics!
    xo:: Lauren @ tickled.

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  11. I agree with Holly. Even though I'm still living in my hometown, "home is where my heart is." And I feel at home with my beau.

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  12. Home to me is NY, it's where I've always lived and I honestly can't imagine being anywhere else! Have a safe trip! XOXO

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  13. My home will always be California. Specifically, Fresno CA. I miss it a lot. I miss palm trees and good mexican food and orchards... I miss mountain ranges and the beach and my family and friends..... grape vineyards and fog and no humidity.... there's lots I miss.

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  14. This is such a loaded question for me! When I went to college, I DREADED people asking me ‘where are you from?’ As a military brat I never really knew where my ‘home’ was – I was born in San Diego, but only lived there for 5 years, so I guess I’m not really from there. Then I lived in Pensacola, back to San Diego, in Maryland, in Italy, back to MD for a bit, in Florida for college, and now I’m a DC transplant! I guess my rule of thumb is to just consider wherever you are at the moment your ‘home!’ That, or wherever family is, is home to me. And actually, the reason my blog is named traveling anchor has something to do with this very idea: http://traveling-anchor.blogspot.com/p/anchors-aweigh.html. So yes, definitely a subject close to my heart. :) And home is where the heart is!! Great post!

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  15. My home will always be Michigan. In fact, I still refer to my parent's house as "home". I think that might change once I move out of an apartment and into an actual house though. Hope you have a great trip to IN!

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  16. home is sarasota, florida. always has, always will. I am actually headed back for a trip in a few days and when people ask where I am going I say "back home". and when I get "home" (which is the only house I lived in until college), i know my mom will say "welcome home". and it seems weird that i still call it home considering i own a home with my husband. that should be home, and really it is... for now. I love our home. it's where my heart is now.. but I know it's not forever. so I think when we find that "forever home" that is when it will truly be home. for now I am enjoying the place my husband will always consider home. Being in his hometown (area) makes me appreciate who he is so much more. He will always look at Maryland, like I look at Florida: home.

    enjoy indiana xoxox :)

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  17. I was so impressed with Indianapolis when we visited for the first Grand Prix years ago, and I've often thought how about how lovely it would be to move somewhere so generous and expansive! My parents still live in the house where I was born and raised (and conceived-thanks for giving me that information, Mom!), and it feels like home in a big way, but "home" is also where ever John and I are together-we're in our 3rd home so far, and each one is better than the last!

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  18. As a fellow Hoosier, hear hear! I tell everyone who will listen (even if they don't want to) how fabulous Indy is and how everyone should visit!

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  19. I spent four years in Indiana and though at the time I felt it was boring there, I really appreciated the quiet, small town feel that I don't get living in Bangkok.

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  20. When I was younger, I always wished for a "home" like that, because it seemed so quintessentially American-- but now I am so glad that I was raised in NYC, because I had a truly unique experience!
    It's so great to hear about other peoples' homes and get inspiration for future trips!

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  21. Massachusetts will always be my home but my time in DC makes it a very close second. To me home is both where your family is and where you can imagine yourself raising a family someday. I love living in NYC but I don't think I'll ever consider it home since neither of those descriptions apply.

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  22. I love this post :) Though I definitely consider Seattle "home", Southern California is also "home" to me because my mom & my best friend are they {along with pretty much all of my family}...I think that it is sometimes the people that make the difference in whether or not someplace feels like "home". I suppose that is why they say that 'home is where the heart is'. {woo hoo!!! going "home" in 11 days!!!}

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  23. i'm an indiana girl myself... and as much as i'm excited for the future {and possibly finding a new home}, indiana will always have a special place in my heart! i just love the small town atmostphere and how nice {most} hoosiers are! :)

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