A look at places I have been..

I have been fortunate to live a-lot of places in my life,  I have been on one side of the USA in Maryland to the other side in Hawaii. I have lived in Germany and also  Britain twice.  I have traveled from France to Spain and even Venice.   Where did I meet my spouse?  (No this is not an answer to a security question I have anywhere) I was in a town in Maryland called Union Mills. It does have a Civil war history in fact two brothers had a sort of inn and one catered to the North and one catered to the Southern troops. In the same house. Yes they did that. 

One brother took care of the Union troops and the other the Confederate ones.  Maryland was a border state so one could see how this could be.  It must of made for interesting living though.  I wonder what the brothers relationship was like after the war. 

  I was 25, and this was a small town smaller than near by Westminster and very much smaller than Baltimore. Its about 10-15 mins away from Gettysburg Pennsylvania though as we know is a historic Civil War museum. I have been to that, it is a real neat experience to go to. 

 It also has a big Civil War cemetery which oddly enough was a location my brothers and I and my husband went to on a stag/hen night. I know its an odd place to choose but it was close by. 

I can't tell you why we choose there other than we all like history.  Before that night ( 2 yrs before) , I decided to give this Internet dating thing a try.  This was back in 2001. I signed up for a trial.

It did not take long till I found my spouse. No kidding it was like a couple days after I had signed up.  However he wasn't a town or two nearby,  He was in Cheltenham England. 

Thats right - clear across the ocean to Britain.  Interestingly enough I was already familiar with Cheltenham and had been there many times as a teenager.   He even knew some of the same people I knew in Cheltenham.  That's when I had last been there, I was there because my father worked for the US government which also worked with Britain.  I lived there for three years and went to British school.  I can relate to Pink Floyd's song "The Wall,"  because I know the British school experience, school uniform and all.  British school was not a pleasant experience as many who have been and gone to one can relate to. 

Before finding my spouse I had been in Hawaii.  I really enjoyed it there.  I lived on the island of Oahu in the town of Laie. 

This picture shows exactly where I lived for 5 yrs, on the Point as we called it. I lived in 2 houses when there. I lived with parents and younger brother there, I went to college at BYUH University and really enjoyed it there. Not only is the weather really wonderful and there tons of beaches to go to, but I met a-lot of people there from all over the world. I know people from Fiji to South America,  I danced in  with them for Culture nights and sang at Song Fest. 

You learn to appreciate so many different cultures and I got to do this in one place.  I only got to go to one other island during my stay in Hawaii,  I wish now I could of seen more of the islands

The Big Island, even though I didn't spend a-lot of time there was a fascinating experience. My parents and my younger brother ( I have two older brothers as well).  went to the Big Island for Thanksgiving.

It was a wonderful experience. 

We stayed in a little cottage outside the Volcanoes National Park.  It was actually a little chilly. We explored the park, hiked through the caldera and ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Volcano House Hotel. I have seen lava flowing into the sea. Its a really a unique experience to see another island in the process of being formed.

The lava flows into the ocean, and eventually enough will make a solid surface appear. Don't expect that any time soon though, it takes a very long time.

After Hawaii, and after I was married I lived with my spouse in Balham, SW London.

My husband used to work for the General Trading Company and then he did his own business fixing computers for people.  He also volunteered his time to helping people with their resumes.  He did this at St Mary's church which is in Balham. You can still find the church there, but the General Trading Company which was in Sloan Square I don't think you can.  

I have no idea where that business went.It used to be a very posh store. It sold very expensive things and rich Arabs used to visit it amongst others. 

I lived in Balham with my spouse for about 2 1/2 yrs. Then we decided to move back to the United States.  I came first being a citizen and after doing a lot of immigration paper work  Simon joined me.  Immigration is expensive but worth it.  By that time I had moved with my folks to Iowa.  Keokuk Iowa.

This is the house I lived in for awhile with my spouse and also my parents.  It was a wonderful house with a grand tower and some other out buildings. Keokuk is full of grand houses which need TLC. If you are into DIY you can find a grand place to fix up and not pay and arm and a leg for them. 

Keokuk is 20 mins away from Nauvoo. As a town you could definitely say its a sleepy one. Its not busy in fact it never has gotten out of the last big recession.

We all lived in Keokuk till about 2008 when we moved to Utah to help my grandfather was ailing and then passed away in 2009. 

Woodland hills Utah- thats where I am now.  I was here for five years then went away to Salt Lake City  for seven.  I am happy to be back here. Its one of my favorite places to be.  ( this picture isn't the mountain with the homes on it),  1000 feet up from Salem which is the town below.   We get a lot of snow here in the winter. More than down below gets for sure.

Now you have seen part of my recent places, and a bit of the story of how I got from there to here,  I will have to go in to some of the places I went to when I was a teenager and before another time..