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# Austin and my many homes
- URL: https://cutelittlepaperblog.com/austin-2/
- Published: 2020-10-01T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:37:42.000Z
- Author: Katherine Leung
- Tags: Austin

I lived in Austin for almost twenty-five years and called several places home, mostly in North Austin. I have fond memories of all the places I’ve lived. My childhood home was on 360 and Spicewood Springs, a house I’ll return to over and over again for holidays. The home represented stability and quiet. While I didn’t recognize it as a child, only later, it was in a breathtakingly beautiful landscape with hills, endless oak trees, and picturesque hiking trails. I certainly had a childhood of privilege in what seemed like a giant small town. Every corner of Austin is so different, yet the city itself is not a a large metropolitan area.

Reflecting back on the places I’ve lived all around this city, I can’t help but wonder how much it will all change in the next twenty years.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/7d/8e7d83ab-d11b-49b6-a585-40ad598fb79f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-b408c977-5045-4359-a64d-c89391f3ad76.png)

My second homes were dormitories and small apartments all around the University of Texas area. My favorite apartment of all was in Riverside. I met Casey while living there, and experienced my best year in college – student teaching and finally getting to take on the career I had been dreaming of my entire life. On one of our first dates, his car got towed. I made some of my best friends while living in Riverside.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/7d/8e7d83ab-d11b-49b6-a585-40ad598fb79f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-001f2af6-7c86-4cdb-9747-ce3dbbe35aba.png)

When college ended, I had a few months of bliss before moving to Russia. I worked at an outdoor camp and Casey’s dad ran a small gym. It seemed like a moment lost in time. Everyday was pretty fun, waking up to homemade smoothies from a raw health expert, to weekends at swimming holes around Austin.

There was always some sort of adventure regarding Casey’s dad and a ragtag group of athletes, from barbecues, to cast-iron experiments.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/7d/8e7d83ab-d11b-49b6-a585-40ad598fb79f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-e050fe5a-cb18-4dd3-a3be-f762c0bbd61d.png)

When I returned from a year abroad in Russia, I lived with Casey again near the University of Texas campus. We spent two years in a tiny apartment, where we acquired a cat and decided to move together to California. The apartment was in a great central location. I went from being a tennis coach, to working retail, to working at a call center, to going back into teaching, and discovering my love for middle school, while living in that apartment. I even saved up for a new car. Ultimately, I was glad to upgrade to California.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/7d/8e7d83ab-d11b-49b6-a585-40ad598fb79f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-6031733f-3f0e-49f7-9ff9-cfb97c90b884.png)

I’ll always describe Austin as my hometown. There were so many sweet, blissful homes there. It’s weird visiting, because you forget that so many things happened in a certain space, and you’re not quite sure it those experiences were ever real. I feel that sense of listlessness when I visit Austin again, and pass the area of my old apartments and homes.