On the Hunt

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time researching apartments near our area. I am a researcher. I rarely make a big purchase without investing in some serious reading or browsing. Well, let me tell you, searching for apartments is frustrating! Especially in a town like ours, where there is half as much rental housing alone as there is people--chalk that one up to some over-excitement in expanding the west side. Anyway, we were really leaning toward moving about 15 minutes north of where we are now in order to get a bigger place with less of a blow to the checkbook. We finally made a decision that this would be the best choice overall.

You know that old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Well, it's hard not to when there is such a broad spectrum. I mean, I'm not an apartment snob or anything, just discerning, I think. What am I saying? You be the judge.

The winner of "Worst Dressed Apartment" is:

And the winner of "Best Dressed Apartment" is:

To be fair, the first apartment was a one-bedroom with a walk-in closet a couple of people could easily sleep in. And the mildew was in the hall closet adjacent to the washers--which had leaked--and the manager said that was going to be fixed within the week. But, oh, the wallpaper! I could imagine it making me dizzy if I spent too much time in there. Plus, there was a hanging light in the dining nook that looked like it was taken from a 50's Italian restaurant that I could bump my head on if I jumped (and that's saying something).

But this second apartment! I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that the tenants still live there, but I walked in and it felt like home. This one is a 911 sq. ft., two-bedroom apartment with two bathrooms, a washer and dryer, and some great closet space, as well as a tiny patio area. All for a reasonable price--actually, we won't be paying much more than we have been for our little 550 sq. ft. apartment. Excitement! We hope to sign our lease this week, and then we might get to do some painting (for a little reduction in rent), because the current residents have a lavender accent wall in the bedroom (um, no), a pink and purple kids room, and a very pink bathroom. I've never painted a place that I call home before!

So, now I am just praying that everything will go through and that I won't get too distracted by the "stuff" aspect of moving. It is so easy to get into a new place and look at all of your things and say "My stuff looks old. I need new stuff!" Funny, how God reminds me even through something like apartment hunting that my heart is fickle and I need His grace just to remain focused on Him.