I can't believe we are moving in 2.5 weeks. I think I'm actually in denial. We haven't started packing (AT ALL.... we don't even have boxes yet). We haven't rented a truck yet (hey, don't blame me, that's the man's job). We haven't really started saying goodbye yet either (if I had my choice, I'd just skip that altogether. It's easier to just leave without acknowledging anything, in my opinion).
We do, however, have a place to live! We took a miserable trip up to Virginia early last week and spent TWO FULL DAYS looking. I say miserable because: 1. it poured rain almost the entire time we were there, 2. all the places I wanted to check out got rented to other people right before we got there, 3. every house we saw in our budget was disgusting, 4. Abby was sick and coughing and although I should feel bad, I have to admit that I was just mad, because it was driving me crazy. Garrett and I really hate sharing a room with our kids (they are noisy sleepers), and the coughing every 30 seconds drove me insane. Also, since she was sick Abby was in a pretty whiny mood the whole time. She kept begging to "go on the trip" that we had been promising her. She didn't quite understand, no matter how many times I explained it to her, that we were on the trip!! Poor thing has always correlated "trip" to mean "we are going to see grandma", so Virginia just didn't do it for her I guess.
Anyway, so yes we found a place to live. It's a little 2-bedroom apartment about 7 minutes north of the hospital. Not too bad. It certainly isn't what we were hoping for. To be honest I'm pretty anxious about living in an apartment complex. I have only ever lived in one once, when I was a sophomore at BYU. It was great, but I was single and living with girlfriends. I'm not quite sure what to expect from an apartment complex full of people I don't know, with two kids to keep happy in a small space. I'm anxious about noise from the neighbors, lack of privacy, finding a parking space, and safety.
The the fact that it has two bedrooms doesn't bother me much at all. I have always planned on my kids sharing rooms, so we're getting an early start and I like that. I always shared a room as a kid - until I was well into high school, actually - and I think it's great for kids to learn how to share a space.
We did find one very nice townhouse that had three bedrooms and a small fenced in backyard. It was in a fabulous neighborhood, with a community pool and playground. There were walking trails nearby, and it seemed so perfect. However, it was at the very top of our budget - like, the tip top - and when it came right down to it, we just couldn't take it. When we created our budget and decided on that number, we still had a couple hundred dollars left over each month, so we figured it would be just fine. We were even pretty liberal with how much we expected to spend on our utilities, and we still came out with some left over. However, we couldn't help but wonder if we were forgetting something, or if things would be more expensive than we thought, or if we will soon have a car payment (this is very likely). So, we went for the cheaper option - the apartment. And it was at the low end of our budget, so it's not like we're only saving a couple of dimes each month. It's more like a couple hundred dollars. (I mentioned to Garrett that maybe I could have a small "fun money" budget with the money we are saving by living in the apartment. ummm... no. But it was worth a try! I guess I'll just have to keep spending money on the sly. "Oh these shoes? I've had them for months!")
Probably the main reason I was so frustrated about settling on an apartment was my own pride. I guess I always thought that once Garrett was a doctor, life would be a bit easier. I certainly knew that things would still be tight and that residency wouldn't be easy, but it's a little frustrating to go from a great three-bedroom home on almost an acre of land (during school), to a little 2-bedroom apartment (he's a doctor!). One step forward, two steps back? It kinda feels like it.
I have to say, though, that I feel good about our decision about where to live. I feel like we made the right decision for us. Another option (a house) was presented to us a few days later, but after a lot of discussion we decided to stick with the apartment still. It's right. And as everyone is saying, we can do anything for a year. I suppose that's true. I mean, if we were moving to a huge city, we wouldn't even have an option - it would be apartments all the way. That makes me feel a little better.
One major bright spot about moving into a small apartment: we are getting rid of a lot of stuff. If you know me you know that I LOVE to declutter. I love to give things away, throw things away, etc. It's awesome. I really enjoy not having a lot of "stuff". "Stuff" just wears me down. It is so freeing to see trash bags full of things get taken out of our house. I love it.
Now excuse me while I go call WalMart.... apparently you can call them during the night shift and request boxes, and that night they will set aside as many as you want and you can pick them up in the morning. For FREE. I love that word.
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