where i'm from

"Where are you from?" was always a hard question for me. Did the person asking the question want to know where I had just moved from or where I had lived the longest? While living in Europe I could have come up with a million different places. I was an Army Brat growing up which meant that I never lived anywhere longer than three years. In those three years, I could have lived in a couple different houses as well. When I went away to college, I put my grandparents' address as my permanent address because my parents were still moving around every few years. It could get complicated.
My mother is from Tennessee and my father is from Texas - queue song.. "T for Texas, T for Tennessee.....". Both have southern roots but both have influences distinctively non-southern, too. I didn't think much about my roots until recently. If you ask, "...i'm from North Carolina". I loved my time in North Carolina. It's where I went to school and where I chose to live when I could do so. The fact that I don't live there now, baffles some of my friends (until they meet my husband and then it's crystal clear why I stayed in Texas). Despite shallow roots, I consider myself a southerner. I didn't realize how southern I was until I moved to south central Texas. South central Texas IS NOT the south. Houston, Dallas.... those are southern cities. San Antonio... it's a bit confused I think. Austin is southern and just an hour away - it's weird but southern. San Antonio is more south west. I live in the Hill Country of Texas and there is no telling what you would label this part of the county! I like sweet tea, porch swings and hydrangeas. Most places here don't have sweet tea, there aren't many porches on which to put a swing and, for some reason, I can't get hydrangeas to grow in my yard to save my life. They are sold at Lowes but don't grow here.
I will have lived in Boerne for six years come this July. Six years in one place - three different houses. I like the idea of growing roots for my kids but I still don't feel like this is home. I found two posts today that made me think of my family and the fact that I really am a southerner.

http://www.insidetheloopblog.com/2008/01/bless-my-heart.html

http://www.geocities.com/southernbelle27203/phrases.html