There's no place like home.

Let's face it guys: I know quite a few of my friends (and family) are thinking,
"Why / how can she be so happy to have moved back to...
Indiana?"

It's okay, you aren't judging me (or I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt). It's a valid question. I realize that as someone who has traveled a lot, lived in a lot places, and has some strange (and some times liberal) views, it would seem odd that I'm happy to live here.

Let me tell you the things I am happy to have back. Also known as "Why you should become my neighbor, because I love you".

1. Our price of living here is awesome. We have a big house. We can afford it. It's in a decent area. And we still afford the cars, the boat, having fun, living our lives. We can afford to be generous. We can get a bigger, nicer house, too. And for all you who think you wouldn't trade your place for Indianapolis just for the cost of living... well...

2. There can be a lot to do here. You have to find it (don't you anywhere?). We have a great zoo, museums, shopping, movie theaters, art district, etc. We have a full symphony and the tickets are dirt cheap. I wish we had an ocean, but I wouldn't pay ocean prices, so it's okay.

3. We have the Colts and the Indy500. You know you want to love them both, and Colts blue looks good on everyone.

4. We have great farmer's markets, orchards, and grocery stores. But no one judges you here if you still shop at a normal store and don't buy everything at Whole Foods. Yes, we have Whole Foods. And great sushi places. And great steak houses. Oh, and arguably the world's best donuts.

5. We have really pretty parks. No, they are not as great as some other places. But we do have them, and they are nice, and close to where you live. If you are into it, there are also really nice places to go camping. Which I don't do, but I know lots of people who do.

6. People here are fairly... normal. I hate to break it to you, but my husband would be hated if we lived in a progressive, liberal, Eco-friendly community. People would probably shun him. If we lived in cookie cutter conservative town, everyone would hate me. That's not cool. Your convictions are yours and you can't put them on everyone else. But there are progressive people here. There are conservative people here. Most people are educated, and there is a lot of diversity, and a lot of co-existence. In TN, I stood out like crazy. It's not like that here. There are people like me, people different from me, and people who challenge me.

7. We have great state schools (Purdue, IU). We have great private schools (Ball State, Indiana Wesleyan, Taylor, Notre Dame). And, since our cost of living is low, we can one day send our hypothetical children to these schools, no problem.

8. There are great churches. We don't go to the same church as my sister and her family. We don't go to the same church as Robert's sister and her husband. We all go to different ones, but all of them are solid. All of them are committed to the community inside and OUTSIDE the church. There are good choices here, which is something I really appreciate after living in Nashville and in Wheaton. Not that there aren't good churches there. But I felt like there was an abundance of churches and so few I actually would go to or recommend to someone.

9. The weather - we have 4 seasons. Okay, I don't care about that, but a lot of people do. I love fall, spring and summer. I hate winter. But after growing up in WI, I'm here to tell you -- it's better here. We still get it, but it's not half the year.

10. The world's cutest children live here. Okay, I'm partial. I know they are my niece and nephew, but you can't tell me that I'd trade any of these items for them. I'm home, guys.

So my friends, I have it good. Really good. Right here in hometown Indiana. I realize it's not a trendy and cool as so many places. I realize it sounds boring. But trust me, around here, there's never a dull moment.