My apologies for the lack of posting in the last little while. A whole lot has gone down in the past 10 days since my last post.
I made the official announcement of my intention to move almost one month ago on the 19th of December. I immediately began searching for a new place in the area. I had my dream for what I wanted, but also a realistic idea of what I would likely end up in. I wanted a decent townhouse or actual house where I could create a comfortable environment for both myself and for entertaining friends. Most important to me was being able to walk through the door and have that feeling of being home; something that never fully settled in at my old place. To me, that feeling of being home is more than just the place where I sleep and eat. Home is where you feel safe, where you are at ease, where you can be your normal self and live without scrutiny, judgement, or self consciousness. At my old place, I was not comfortable being myself. My family and friends know me to be a somewhat ridiculous guy who loves to cook and loves to laugh. I never cooked and I was definitely not my normal self at my old townhouse. I would not go out much and when I did I felt like I had to sneak out to avoid uneasy tension from roommates for keeping to myself so frequently.
I was very fortunate to have two friends from work who were available to move out of their places and move in with me. I found a handful of places to call to check out and proceeded with my search. I immediately had appointments for two places. One I had very little info about other than it was across the street at the bottom of the temple. The other was a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom condo barely a mile from where I was living. I looked at the two places back to back on the 21st of December. The place by the temple was awful. It was a house converted to four apartments. The outside was nice, but the inside was disgusting. It had one bedroom with a small room attached that the guy called a second bedroom, but was more like a study. The bathroom scared me and I stopped pretending to write down notes about it when I saw the kitchen. To be honest, even though it could be afforded by just one person, I never even considered it as a last resort option. I then headed over to the 3 bedroom condo. The minute I walked through the door I loved it. I walked through the front door into a spacious living area, dining area, and small kitchen, all in one large, open room. I walked to the back of the condo to find a small bedroom and a large master bedroom with a walk in closet and the bathroom linked to the vanity room (sink and cupboards). A nice 2-car garage and laundry area rounded out the back. I was already sold on the idea, but the upstairs room confirmed it. An open (meaning no door) flight of stairs led to a fair-sized room, which I immediately envisioned as my theater room. The trick was actually getting the place though. I spent a good amount of time talking to the landlord, getting to know him and letting him get to know me to build up a good relationship so I could hopefully beat out anyone else wanting the place. I was fortunate enough that I was the first person to call him and also the first person to look at the place, but someone else was coming right after I left. I took an application for me and my two friends to fill out and we faxed it to him within a couple hours.
In my few years of experience in life, I learned not to put all my eggs in one basket, so I continued my search. Things did not go so well. Our third person was unsure about moving and if we did not get the condo I wanted, he definitely would not move. We had not heard from Jere, the landlord, and could not get hold of him (the holidays are not the best time for moving). With a multitude of 2-bedroom places on the market, I talked with the third guy and he decided to pull out. That evening, the second guy who was definitely going to move with me came over to meet and make calls on some places. No sooner had I told him we were down to two, Jere called and told us that the 3-bedroom condo was ours if we wanted it. That put me in a really difficult position. I had found the place I dreamed of and it was mine, but I needed a third person. Our third guy really could not move, so I had to decide whether to gamble on my dream and sign and try to find a third guy during the holiday, just days before school would start, or start over and try to find a 2-bedroom place. I had a place to live until I could move, but my friend's contract was up and he had to be out quick. I thought it over and accepted the condo.
From there, miracles continued to pour in. With the holidays, my old roommates had not been active in trying to find a replacement for me. In order to make the transition smooth and so we could part on good terms, I placed ads for them. Fairly quickly, I found a guy to take my place. Then another guy responded. With two people looking for housing, I realized that one could replace me, and the other, if interested, could move in with me. I got to know a little about them both and things began falling into place so perfectly. One was LDS and coming up to start school at USU. The other was more of a free spirited type and his music, gaming and other habits matched perfectly with my old roommate. The LDS guy, Aaron, contacted me first about the old place, so I explained to him the situation and invited him to move to the condo. He appreciated us placing him where he would fit best and accepted. The only obstacle remaining was move in days. All of us needed to move in by the 7th, but with the old tenants in the condo delaying their move-out past the day they said they would be out, the condo would not be ready until the 10th. We contacted Jere (by the way, it's pronounced Jerry) and he was very kind and was able to get our condo ready by Friday, January 6th. Myles, my friend from work, had to be out of his apartment by then, Aaron wanted to move in then, Jensen, my replacement, wanted to move to my place then too, so everything fit together great and last weekend, we all moved.
Since then, we have been the recipients of even more awesome miracles as we furnished our condo. We got a great loveseat for upstairs for $25, an AMAZING sectional at the unreal price of $150, some nice home decor for the whole house for under $50, a very nice wood dining room table and chairs for $50, a wood tree coat (which I have ALWAYS wanted) for $20, and a free DVD surround sound system. Yesterday, I set up the internet and tv and we had a movie night. Myles is getting a bed and dresser and then I think we are completely done settling in.
Overall, the move was good. It got tense at times and we got nervous, but here I am, just under a month later, living in my new home.
Long post, so two songs today. First is from Chronicles of Narnia. It's "This is Home" by Switchfoot. Second is Chantal Kreviazuk singing Randy Newman's "Feels Like Home."
