April 16, 2012

• Our Miracle Apartment

  A little over a week ago we moved into a brand new apartment.  The entire process was a complete roller-coaster and so overwhelming, but in the midst of it we saw God provide so amazingly for us.  We are confident this is where He wants us and we are so very thankful to be in this place. 

  When Andrew and I got married, we chose an apartment that was the smallest and cheapest in Greeley for our first year because we wanted to save as much money as possible when we were just starting out.  And, as the saying goes, we got what we paid for.  The place was decent, the low rent included all utilities, and maintenance was fairly quick to come address the few problems we had with plumbing and electricity in the first few months.  But, it was in a less than ideal part of town, and I never felt very safe there.  Most of our neighbors didn’t speak English, and some families had 5+ people living in the tiny one bedroom apartments.  Half naked kids were constantly running around, leaving trash everywhere, and banging on doors.  The police showed up a few times to talk to one neighbor across the sidewalk from us.  But we made it cozy inside, and our friends put up with the lack of space when we had a Super Bowl party, and we made do.

  In the middle of February we got the first reminder that our lease would be up April 30th along with a notice that rent would be going up and utilities would now be separate and our responsibility to pay.  At first we ignored it.  We had not anticipated moving out and had planned to stay in that apartment until Andrew was all finished with school (another year or so) and then decide about possibly relocating to a different city.  As time went on, little things started getting worse around the apartment, including the management.  We started thinking more seriously about moving.  I did some investigation on rent costs around town, and with our rent going up and the utilities being separated, we were now in the range of many other complexes in Greeley, even some two bedrooms.  We started looking at ads and even visited a place or two around town.  I then found a listing online for a complex on the complete other side of town, only a mile away from my work.  It was beautiful.  The rent was more than what we’d be paying (even with the increase) but, it was over 200 square feet larger.  One Saturday morning we went to look at it.

  And we fell in love with the place.

  The model was the smaller of the two one-bedroom options and it was beautiful.  It had a fireplace and a patio, beautiful hardwood floors, a pantry, and a washer and dryer IN the apartment.  No more laundromats or saving quarters!  The complex even had a fenced in dog park! We were ready to sign a lease that day.  But, the lady broke our hearts.  She said that there were absolutely no units available, of any size, and even if there were, there was already a waiting list. This was early March.  We had to give notice to our current apartment by March 30 if we were moving out.  If we did give notice, then we had to be completely out by April 30th.  The tenants of this new complex though, did not have to give their notice until April 10, and they would also have to be out by April 30th.  If we decided to go with this complex, that would be a long 10 days to go on a leap of faith.  And there was not even the slightest indication that anyone would be moving out.  We put our names on the waiting list for both of the one bedrooms, saying we would take whichever opened up first.  We left that day very disappointed.

  We looked around at other places, but nothing compared or was worth actually going to see in the light of this apartment we had fallen in love with.  We started praying very seriously about it, and asked all of our family and friends to pray too. 

  Within the next week we had decided that our best option was to sign a month-to-month lease with our current apartment (adding on an additional hefty fee on top of the new rent rate and utilities) in the hopes that if nothing opened up for May, maybe something would for June or July.  We scheduled a meeting on Wednesday at noon to sign that month-to-month lease.  This was now mid-March. On Wednesday morning, I was at Bible Study when Andrew texted me that we had to talk as soon as I got home.  I stepped out of Bible Study a minute to text him back to see what was wrong.

  Nothing was wrong!  An apartment had opened up, and not just any apartment, the BIGGER of the two one-bedroom apartments and it had all the features we had wanted (a fireplace, a patio, and hardwood floors – some units don’t have the fireplace/patio, and have all carpet)!! The only condition was that we had to be able to move in by either April 6th, or April 13th, which we could easily do!  The people on the waiting list ahead of us were not able to move in on that time frame.  When I arrived home from Bible Study we called them to tell them we wanted the apartment, and that we would be over that afternoon to filling out the paperwork.  At our meeting with our apartment (at which we intended to sign a month-to-month lease) we simply filed a notice to vacate form and left!  If the call had come only 2 hours later, we would have been financially committed to an extra 800 cost.  God’s timing is PERFECT!

  We filled out the paperwork, paid the deposit, signed the lease, and moved in on April 6th!  We had given ourselves that long to move out of the old one (we still have to be “out” by April 30th) because this is quite a busy month for us, and with the two of us doing the entire move by ourselves, we didn’t know how long it would take.  We expected the actual move would take a week or so, and then that would give us another week to clean the apartment before doing the inspection the week before the 30th.  It ended up taking us 3 days to move and get everything set up.  We still have cleaning to do, but it is so nice to be able to do it in little bits and not be stressed. 

  Here are the pictures of our new place! (this is mostly for our families who want to know what our apartment looks like but are unable to visit yet)

  
  Our living room! Isn’t that a beautiful fireplace? It *almost* makes me wish for winter. 
  I was so excited that our couch, my grandfather’s chair, and BOTH of my bookcases fit comfortably in this room, with room to spare!  Our friends will be able to hang out much better here.
  Andrew was glad the TV unit fit.
  That door you see there goes out to our porch.

  
  The opposite side of the room.  We plan to do a bit more with pictures on this wall, documenting the stages of our relationship.
  The door you see in this one is the main door.

  
  The porch!  Right now my bike is the only thing out there, but hopefully we’ll get some chairs and a table out there soon!
  Luna is so confused by this patio.  When we open the door she gets very excited because she thinks its outside, then she gets out there and can’t find the grass.

  
  A glimpse at the kitchen and dining room. 
  And a lovely built in bookcase! That was a surprise to me – it wasn’t in the model.

  
  The dining room!  At the other apartment we pretty much could only sit on the couch to eat.  But now my grandma’s table has its own special place.  I LOVE being able to eat our meals here together.

  
  The kitchen.  It may look small, but its almost twice the size of the kitchen at our old apartment.  Andrew and I can BOTH be in here at the same time, and STILL be able to open the refrigerator door!  We also have a pantry there in the back that has SO MUCH ROOM! That built in microwave above the oven was a surprise too.  It is such a blessing to not have our microwave taking up precious counter space.

  
  The view when you walk in the door.  Luna loves to play fetch up and down this little hallway.

  
  Our washer and dryer!  I have never been so excited to do laundry in my life.  Being able to do small loads while watching TV or reading is so much nicer than having to set aside a chunk of time to go to the laundromat and saving big loads to make it worth the cost.

  
  One side of our bedroom.  Sorry its blurry!  Notice all my Jamaica quilts and pillows

  
  I’ve turned the middle of our room into a little sewing section!
  That quilt on the wall was the “guest book” from our VA wedding reception.  Everyone signed the middle and then a friend actually quilted it all together for us.  It’s beautiful and I love having it up on the wall.

  
  Luna’s little bedroom in our bedroom!

  
  That is the door to our gigantic walk-in closet! I can have ALL my clothes and shoes organzied by color and season.
  Andrew’s clothes are all in here too (although I don’t make him follow my OCD requirements) and there is STILL room for storage!

  
  The bathroom set-up is a little weird.  The door on the left goes from our bedroom to our bathroom, but the sink/mirror/counter are in our bedroom.
  It’s super nice for just the two of us to have the shower and sink separate, and to have the sink/mirror, in our room, but it makes it weird for guests.
  So, when you come visit us, you’ll have to wash your hands in the kitchen – sorry!

  
  This is from the hallway door into the bathroom.  The door straight ahead is for the water heater tank, and the door with the red towels goes into our bedroom.

  
  When you round that corner or go in from our room, this is the bathroom!

  
  And that’s it from the outside!  We have the bottom one.  The windows on the left are on either side of the fireplace, then the patio, then the window by our bed.
  Although right now there is a sign that says Happy Spring and a container of daisies on the patio!

  So that’s it – our beatiful miracle apartment that is a gift from God.  We are so thankful to be living here!

   

   

   

  • 11:40 pm
  • 1 Comment