"Home is where the heart is" is a popular saying used to describe how your home doesn't necessarily have to be where you live, but where you feel the most connected too. It's also used to describe that your heart is where your friends, family, and loved ones are. What happens when your heart is in two places though?

I never imagined what it would be like when somewhere else started to feel like home besides the house I grew up in. I always thought my parents house, the house that holds my childhood memories, would be the place that always felt the most like home. It's the place I grew up, made countless memories in, and had beloved pets pass away. That house has seen my accomplishments, and my downfalls. I've cried and rejoiced there more times than I can remember. Those walls know everything about me, and that house is more than a house -- it's a home. It's my home.

That house may be my home, but I have another home too. My college apartment -- the place I get to call my own. The walls of this apartment have made memories too -- just different memories. It has seen the tears I've cried from feeling like college is too hard, and feeling like I can't deal with it anymore. It has seen the excitement from making a better grade than I thought I would. It has seen four college girls stay up way later than we know we should, just talking and laughing. It has seen us spend countless nights together, doing absolutely nothing, and other nights helping each other get ready to go out. It may have even seen an argument or two between us. These walls have seen the stresses and hardships of college, but it has also seen the happiness that comes with the hard times. This apartment is more than an apartment -- it's a place I get to call home.

I always get excited when I get to go home and spend time with my family. I get to be in my hometown, see my dogs, and sleep in my room that I made tons of memories in. I love the time I get to spend at home, and it never feels long enough when I have to leave. I always feel like I could use one more day at home, and as if I never got to spend enough time with my family. I'm always sad when I have to leave. It's also bittersweet, because I love being at my apartment and in my college town.

My parents' house will always be home to me, but my college apartment is also home to me. They're home to me in different ways, and my heart is stuck in two places. I never want to leave home when I go, but when I'm back at my apartment I'm happy to be at my own place, and the place I get to call mine.

Its forever bittersweet leaving one place, or the other. I will continue leaving pieces of my heart in the places that feel like home to me. My heart is in more than one place at once, and that is OK. More than one place can capture your heart, and feel like home.