When Andy and I first decided to move to PA we were trying to figure out where to live. It's a bit overwhelming looking at a city where you know none of the suburb's names, let alone what they are like. The few times I had driven through Philadelphia on major highways I had only ever seen row houses. I figured that was for sure what we were getting ourselves into. It turns out I was completely wrong. (Please don't tell Andy I said that. It will ruin everything that I have led him to believe for 11 years.)
We started by picking a general area that we heard was a good place to live and was close to Andy's office. There was hardly anything to rent. The houses were small and the rent was expensive. Andy started looking at apartments and I had a few good reasons why that was a terrible idea (1 of them being Deb). As we continued to look we realized that apartment does not have to mean 700 square feet of 15 year old crappy carpet, dusty window air conditioners and shared laundry facilities. It turns out that if you are out of college and have real jobs, you can actually afford to live in some decent places! Who knew!?! Most of the apartments had dog parks (awesome!) and the ones we started looking at had lofts. We loved the idea of extra living space on a different level.
In May, we came out for a weekend and fell in love with the apartment we are currently in. They hadn't been built yet, but the models were incredible. Here are a few things that I have discovered about apartment life that has been new to me.
1. Sharing walls is not that big of a deal. We are lucky enough to have a corner unit on the top level so 2 of our walls are outside walls. The other 2 walls are the guest bedroom that is shared with our neighbor's bedroom and our bedroom that I think we share with our other neighbor's bedroom as well (our bedrooms are on opposite sides of the apartment). I have not met that neighbor yet, but I have heard from others that he is a pilot, therefore he's hardly ever there. Awesome! Point being, we have heard absolutely nothing from either neighbor.
2. I do NOT miss having a yard. I don't miss raking, mowing, and I can promise you I will not miss snow blowing or shoveling.
3. Having a dog park is amazing. Deb gets to run around and play and I get to meet other neighbors.
4. We have a laundry closet with a full-size front loading washer and dryer and I LOVE it. I love not having a huge laundry room where multiple loads of laundry can pile up. Out of sight, out of mind is not the way to do laundry. With our machines right in the hallway, it's easy to throw in a load and fold it right out of the dryer. No piles here!
5. Having a loft is like having a basement rec room that you actually use because you don't feel like you are in a dungeon.
6. It is a bit odd to have to make sure I always have my key to unlock the door. I never used a key at our house.
7. I only buy as much food as I can carry in one trip.
8. I have become very mindful of how much 'extra' food we have in the house. It turns out that I don't need multiple cans of beans and boxes of mac and cheese. If I need it, I buy it (I can almost see the grocery store from the apartment.) No more food hoarding here!
9. Same goes for toilet paper and paper towels. I actually don't need 30 rolls of anything in my house at one time. Believe it or not, I go to Target very regularly and can just buy it when we need it. I can actually see Target from our apartment.
10. I have gotten rid of SO much clothing. I really only wear the same handful of things and for some reason I held on to a ton of stuff that either didn't fit or I just didn't like. Gone. And it feels SO good.
11. Cleaning supplies - same story. I brought only the basics with us and have bought only the things I use regularly. No more hoarding cleaning supplies (this is also a great time to give a shout-out to my favorite cleaning supplies, Norwex! I don't use them because I'm chemical conscious, I use them because I'm lazy and they are easy to use.)
12. Because I don't love standing awkwardly in an elevator with strangers, I tend to take the stairs a LOT. I have also realized that making Deb run up and down the stairs, over and over again, is a great way to get her energy out. This means lots of stairs for me and lots of added exercise! Win, Win for both of us!
13. I miss my china cabinet. It's in storage because we didn't want to unpack everything for a year just to pack it up again. But I miss it and everything in it.
14. Andy and I share a bathroom now which made me drastically cut down on what I keep in the shower and beauty supplies in general. It turns out that one shampoo, one conditioner, and one body wash are pretty much all you need. The rest was just a bunch of clutter. I've also made sure that I use what I have before I buy more so I don't have to store it.
That's the things I can think of for now. Apartment living turns out to be pretty great, for now. I'm sure the real house hunt will start in the spring. No reason to stress about that just yet!
Coming up: The Holidays. They are going to be busy and awesome. This week at school we have 3 half days and get off at noon Wednesday. We are heading to the Jersey Shore that evening to spend Thanksgiving with some friends. The following weekend we will be in Minnesota for a Christmas Party. Then back to PA for my school Christmas Party. The next weekend is Andy's PA Christmas party. Then back to MN for REAL Christmas! Here we go!
P.S. It's Anniversary Week and Andy sent me a special delivery to school.
We started by picking a general area that we heard was a good place to live and was close to Andy's office. There was hardly anything to rent. The houses were small and the rent was expensive. Andy started looking at apartments and I had a few good reasons why that was a terrible idea (1 of them being Deb). As we continued to look we realized that apartment does not have to mean 700 square feet of 15 year old crappy carpet, dusty window air conditioners and shared laundry facilities. It turns out that if you are out of college and have real jobs, you can actually afford to live in some decent places! Who knew!?! Most of the apartments had dog parks (awesome!) and the ones we started looking at had lofts. We loved the idea of extra living space on a different level.
In May, we came out for a weekend and fell in love with the apartment we are currently in. They hadn't been built yet, but the models were incredible. Here are a few things that I have discovered about apartment life that has been new to me.
1. Sharing walls is not that big of a deal. We are lucky enough to have a corner unit on the top level so 2 of our walls are outside walls. The other 2 walls are the guest bedroom that is shared with our neighbor's bedroom and our bedroom that I think we share with our other neighbor's bedroom as well (our bedrooms are on opposite sides of the apartment). I have not met that neighbor yet, but I have heard from others that he is a pilot, therefore he's hardly ever there. Awesome! Point being, we have heard absolutely nothing from either neighbor.
2. I do NOT miss having a yard. I don't miss raking, mowing, and I can promise you I will not miss snow blowing or shoveling.
3. Having a dog park is amazing. Deb gets to run around and play and I get to meet other neighbors.
4. We have a laundry closet with a full-size front loading washer and dryer and I LOVE it. I love not having a huge laundry room where multiple loads of laundry can pile up. Out of sight, out of mind is not the way to do laundry. With our machines right in the hallway, it's easy to throw in a load and fold it right out of the dryer. No piles here!
5. Having a loft is like having a basement rec room that you actually use because you don't feel like you are in a dungeon.
6. It is a bit odd to have to make sure I always have my key to unlock the door. I never used a key at our house.
7. I only buy as much food as I can carry in one trip.
8. I have become very mindful of how much 'extra' food we have in the house. It turns out that I don't need multiple cans of beans and boxes of mac and cheese. If I need it, I buy it (I can almost see the grocery store from the apartment.) No more food hoarding here!
9. Same goes for toilet paper and paper towels. I actually don't need 30 rolls of anything in my house at one time. Believe it or not, I go to Target very regularly and can just buy it when we need it. I can actually see Target from our apartment.
10. I have gotten rid of SO much clothing. I really only wear the same handful of things and for some reason I held on to a ton of stuff that either didn't fit or I just didn't like. Gone. And it feels SO good.
11. Cleaning supplies - same story. I brought only the basics with us and have bought only the things I use regularly. No more hoarding cleaning supplies (this is also a great time to give a shout-out to my favorite cleaning supplies, Norwex! I don't use them because I'm chemical conscious, I use them because I'm lazy and they are easy to use.)
12. Because I don't love standing awkwardly in an elevator with strangers, I tend to take the stairs a LOT. I have also realized that making Deb run up and down the stairs, over and over again, is a great way to get her energy out. This means lots of stairs for me and lots of added exercise! Win, Win for both of us!
13. I miss my china cabinet. It's in storage because we didn't want to unpack everything for a year just to pack it up again. But I miss it and everything in it.
14. Andy and I share a bathroom now which made me drastically cut down on what I keep in the shower and beauty supplies in general. It turns out that one shampoo, one conditioner, and one body wash are pretty much all you need. The rest was just a bunch of clutter. I've also made sure that I use what I have before I buy more so I don't have to store it.
That's the things I can think of for now. Apartment living turns out to be pretty great, for now. I'm sure the real house hunt will start in the spring. No reason to stress about that just yet!
Coming up: The Holidays. They are going to be busy and awesome. This week at school we have 3 half days and get off at noon Wednesday. We are heading to the Jersey Shore that evening to spend Thanksgiving with some friends. The following weekend we will be in Minnesota for a Christmas Party. Then back to PA for my school Christmas Party. The next weekend is Andy's PA Christmas party. Then back to MN for REAL Christmas! Here we go!
P.S. It's Anniversary Week and Andy sent me a special delivery to school.
Dad and I are so Happy for you. Dad says way to go girl....and I second that too. love you lots and again, so happy for you both .
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