Our WONDERFUL New Apartment!!!

Hey everyone! Well, I (Ali) promised to write about finding our new apartment and about how great it is, so here we go.

So, a couple of weeks ago we started getting pretty nervous about finding a new place. We knew we needed to be out of our old place by the end of this month, but we were having trouble finding an apartment that would fit all of our needs. (We were hoping that maybe the owners of our old apartment would let us stay for fall/winter, since we were such good tenants, but the apartments had already been "booked" for the year. Now we are grateful to not be living there anymore!) The most important qualifications for a new apartment were 1. that it be within our same ward boundaries, 2. that it be affordable (i.e. <$500/month), 3. that it be close to campus, and 4. that it be furnished (preferably including a bed). The first place we looked for an apartment was on the bulletin board on campus where people can post advertisements about apartments, cars, furniture, etc. I found one place that sounded pretty good, so I called and asked if we could take a tour that evening. We showed up and were shown through a fairly nice 2-bedroom apartment. Unfortunately, it was not furnished, was in the process of being remodeled (meaning we could not move in for a few weeks), was not in our ward, and was very costly. The price was $595/month PLUS utilities! In addition, the landlord wanted a $600 deposit, so we decided to look elsewhere.

After speeding away from that apartment, we drove through our ward boundaries searching for "For Rent" signs and then calling to get more information. We were kind of disappointed, though, because many of the places were only for singles or were way out of our price range. We called one number and the person told us they had several apartments available, but their office would be closing for the day, so we said we would come back the next day. When we went back we were shown through several apartments, but none of them seemed "just right." Finally, we were shown the one that we are now living in. Dave knew immediately that it was the place, and I felt really good about it. We looked at each other and could tell that this was our next home, so we signed up for it on the spot! What we thought would be a long, tedious, frustrating process turned out to take no more than a couple of hours that left us very excited!

I will now tell some of the wonderful features of our new home. It is a one-bedroom apartment that is really quite spacious, and it is in the basement of a home that has a beautiful backyard with fruit trees and a lush green lawn. The trees all around the home provide shade from the hot sun and make the place seem more cozy. In addition, the house is nestled at the base of some stairs that lead right to campus--it will take me about 5 minutes to walk to my classes! We thought our last apartment was close, but this one is about as close as you can get! We get to park just outside our door, as opposed to having to park in a parking lot and then walk up 30 stairs just to get to our door like at our last place. It is a very good price (definitely under $500) that includes all utilities, even cable! Both of our previous apartments have had two bedrooms, so we worried that a one-bedroom would feel cramped, but it is quite the opposite! The extra bedrooms at our other places were mostly used for storage, and this apartment has a huge pantry/storage closet, so everything that we need to store can fits in there! Plus, we do not have another bedroom to heat, cool, and clean. :) The apartment also has many, many shelves, drawers, and cabinets to house our appliances, books, dishes, and other belongings. It is fully furnished, including a couch, loveseat, desk, bed, dresser, table and chairs, and a complete kitchen. Our living room is so large that we have divided it into three separate areas: living room (with couches and TV), dining room, and study area (where we have the desk, computer, and filing cabinet). Our bedroom is also much larger than the ones in previous apartments, with plenty of space for the bed, furniture, and a good-size closet. The bathroom is attached to the bedroom, and we enjoy that added privacy. One of the features we appreciate the most is our bed--it is SOOOO comfortable! It is nice and soft, and we wake up refreshed without ANY back pain! Plus, we finally get to use our beautiful butterfly bedspread that we've (okay, I've) been waiting to use since March. It looks great, and really helps us feel at home. Perhaps one of the nicest features of all is that our landlord is very competent, has regular hours, promptly fixes things in the apartment, and even responds to office visits and phone calls. (Our last landlord was not the greatest--but that's another story). Last, but not least, the apartment is within our ward boundaries, so we get to keep going to church with the friends we've made over the past several months!

Well, if you've made it to this point, congratulations! I'm sorry this is so long, but I felt like I needed to share all of the wonderful things about our apartment. We definitely feel very blessed to have found it, and hopefully all of you can visit us and see for yourselves! We love you all!