Anyways, apartment living has had its highs and lows. The initial "holy cow, this place is tight" went away pretty quickly, thankfully. I kind of like living more simply. On the other hand, the initial "look at all these amazing amenities!!" excitement has also kind of subsided. I guess we're just into the new-normal phase of change.
The downsides of having 5 people in a 3 bedroom apartment (on the second floor!) are probably pretty obvious... the small(er) space, the constant "Don't jump! Don't scream! Don't run!" is said multiple times, daily. The girls share a room (and a bed!), which I would say works about 85% of the time. When it works, it's great... when it doesn't, it's not. Oh, and having to make several trips down to the parking lot when you go grocery shopping to bring the groceries in... that's different. ;)
Though I'd say the biggest downside is probably all the driving/sitting I have to do everyday. We were able to enroll the girls in the school they're zoned for where our house will be (which is awesome!), but we're living on the other side of town... about 20 minutes away. Parker is in a pre-K program at a school on the other side of town, about 15 minutes from the girls' school and about 15 minutes from the apartment. It's kind of like a little triangle I do. This is how we roll... (no pun intended):
We leave the apartment at 7 AM, and go to the girls' school. We get there around 7:20, sit in the drop-off line, drop them off. Then, Parker and I drive to his school, but we get there around 7:50 (and drop off isn't until 8), so we get to hang in the car for about 10 minutes. I walk him in, and then head back to the apartment, getting there around 8:15.
I repeat the process in the afternoon, but I have to leave the apartment by 1:15 to get to the girls' school in time to get towards the front of the car rider line. Their school dismisses at 2:15, but by the time the girls get in the car, it's usually around 2:25 (even with me towards the front!), and then we have to head to get Parker by 2:45. We usually get home around 3:10. It is a lot of sitting and driving that I'm definitely not used to. I try to make the best of it- I've gotten a lot of reading in!- and I try keep in mind that it'll be sooo much better next school year.
But, the pluses definitely outweigh the negatives!!! The pool, the gym, the scenery, the putting green, the fire pit, the walking paths, a huge green area where we've had many baseball games, soccer games, kite flying fun, etc., the shuffleboard game and pool table, the many grills around the green area, the trash that's picked up outside your house every night (!!). We can walk to Publix and some restaurants. It takes so little time to clean the whole place. Our power bill has been cut in half, as has our water bill. We don't have to worry about mowing the grass, landscaping the yard, and... best of all... if something breaks, we call for help! Whoop!
It's a good thing the pros are better than the cons, because our closing date on our house has been pushed back 2 MONTHS. Bleh. The 4 month apartment tour has now become 6!
Here are some pics of the fun we've been having here so far!
Walking back from Publix.
The apartment peeps have fun little events. This was where they made brunch for the residents.
Hmmm... maybe apartment living is the way to go?? ;)
