My Town

I grew up in Spencer, WI so I suppose that is "my hometown", but I never felt like I was meant to be there. When I graduated from High School, I tried to stick around and go to school, and make it work, but as fate would have it, God had other things in mind for me. I moved to the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Omaha Nebraska area. Where my some of my mom's family lives and my sister had moved to.
I lived with my aunt and my sister for awhile, and eventually ended up in Omaha, NE. Which for those of you who don't know Council Bluffs, IA, and Omaha are connected. There is only a river seperating them. For most people from Omaha this might as well be a whole continent.
I have lived in the area for 12 years OMG can you believe it. And there are times I can't believe that small town girl me lives in the big city. Well okay it's not New York, or L.A. or Miami, or even as big as Kansas City or Minneapolis, but it's big enough. And you know what I really do love this city, and I believe it is where I have been meant to live my whole life. Here are a couple of reason I love this town.

First the shopping. Yes the shopping. It is pretty good. We might not have designer boutiques, like some places, but we do have great shopping. Way better then the area that I grew up in. There are so many places to shop, if you can't find what you are looking for, you aren't really looking. And if you really need the designer goods you can take a day trip to Kansas City, MO and get your designer fix.
Second the sports. Yes the sports. We might not have any Professional teams, but we have lots of differents sports and some pretty good teams in the area. Yes we have the Huskers, Gag gag. I can't stand them probably because every one thinks they are so great and can do NO wrong, but I just don't get what the big deal is. People in this state think they are a religion. No joke. But other then Husker, we have the Creighton Blue Jays who are pretty good at basketball, and baseball. Then we as a city host the College World Series every year, and even though we don't often have a home state team in the tournament you can't help but get caught up in the excitment and over the years everyone picks a favorite team and roots for them to come back every year. This year we hosted the Olympic Swimming Trials and the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. (I didn't get a chance to go this year, but I was so proud to have it hosted in my town). We also have a rodeo every year, and great hockey teams, and a AA Baseball team. We have a golf tournament every year too. A pretty big, (well I don't really follow golf, but they broadcast it on the Golf Channel so I guess that's pretty big. Not Tiger Woods or anything, but still...) And on top of what is right here in Omaha if you drive 3 hours away you are in Kansas City MO and can see a NASCAR race, a Cheifs game, or a Royals game.
After sports it would have to be the other events that come to town. We have a great Arena that was built about 5 years ago. This has brought some big concert into town, so you don't have to travel anywhere to see your favorite bands. Kenny Chesney loves come to this town so much he kicks off his concert here, Faith and Tim kicked off their concert here a couple of years ago. Kiss came to town, Cher, and a bunch of others that only go to Great Venues.
There are other things that make this city so great too. We have a world class zoo. It is right up with some of the best of the USA. We have the Missouri River to boat on, (wouldn't recommend swimming it's not very clean). Drive 20 minutes in any directions and there are places to camp that aren't in the city. There are lakes to boat and swim in. There is Mahoney State park to rent a cabin at. There is Fun Plex Water Park.
And then there is eating. Yes eating. Omaha is a test market for restraunts. So before a restraunt goes national they will open up one or two places here in Omaha and see how it goes over. So there is almost always a new restraunt to try all the time. And there are so many different kinds of food to eat. There is truly something for everyone.
These are just a couple of reason why I love this city. Please come down and check it out for yourself, if you don't believe me.