I’ve had roommates since 2004. It was fun having a roommate in college, especially at Sonoma State where I spent my freshman year. We had incredible suite-style dorms at Sonoma. Two rooms, two people per room & a living room & bathroom that connected us. No nasty door room bathrooms with 5 stalls and gross showers & long hallways. Sonoma State’s suites also came with a pool and hot tub. No. Joke. If you ever want to go to an awesome college, choose Sonoma State in beautiful wine country California.
Even though I loved the school, I didn’t stay long. The east coast was calling my name. At Umass my roommate experiences were less than great. I finally got that real dorm room experience everyone had warned me about…. and what an experience it was! Yikes. 9th floor of a tall building… urine in the elevators, hair in the showers, dirty toilets. Anyway – my roommate experiences weren’t all that great for the first two years I was in Amherst. My senior year was much better. I moved into an apartment with an awesome roommate who was totally fine with me getting my little baby Copper! She even took care of him sometimes when I would spend weekends in New York or DC. Our apartment was cute and homey and we were pretty good about decorating for the holidays which I am absolutely crazy about doing. I have tons of holiday decor.
Immediately post-college my roommate situation was fine. I lived in an awesome condo only about a mile and a half from the beach in La Jolla. Our dogs got a long and for the most part, we did too. Different life styles but we were friends.
And then I relocated to Colorado. My roommate situations have been very hit or miss since then. For the most part, my experiences have been positive. However, since the stress of nursing school & moving SO MANY TIMES in such a short amount of time & the stress of having to travel to Wyoming every other week, etc, I wore myself out. I am totally worn out. Still, even though three months have passed since I spent a night in Wyoming.
I have become very, very picky about picking a potential housemate and the thought of living with someone again who might not be clean or might not be completely normal, by my standards, is exhausting. I have never had the desire to live alone until the past few weeks. I don’t even like being alone at night. Ever. No matter where I am.
But alas, I want my own space. I don’t know if it’s because I’m exhausted or because I’ve been staying with Andrew for so long or whether it’s because I was having serious doubts about the girl I had decided to move in with in Greenwood Village.
Regardless, I began searching for a 1 bedroom. Or, I should say I began browsing. Casually looking. I’m currently reading Dave Ramsey’s financial makeover book and am in the beginning stages of thinking about buying my own condo wherever I do get a hospital position so I was adamant about not spending too much to just rent a 1 bedroom apartment. Believe it or not, a 1 bedroom in an apartment complex in the area I prefer to live in ranges from $1000-1300 per month, plus $100+ for utilities and another $25 per month for pet rent. My browsing led me to the discovery that there are options out there for those of us who don’t want to or can’t spend a fortune on a monthly rent. You just have to look closely, weed out the crap and be ready to jump on something you find.
When I saw a privately owned 1 bedroom condo advertisement pop up on the internet for an incredible price, I called the owner right away. We spoke on the phone and he had me fill out an application before he would even show me the place. I met him a few days ago. Nice man with a Boston accent. He showed me the place and we got to talking. Turns out he graduated from UMass in 1978! Turns out he’s also a real estate broker which I believe will come in handy when I decide to buy… if I decide to buy in Denver. I move into the condo in a week and a half. When I told him I was hesitant to sign a year lease (Yes, I totally still have commitment issues even after all this time) he said I could start with a 6 month lease to see if I like the place.
It’s less than a mile from where I’m currently staying with Andrew and it’s on the ground level. He said I could paint if I want and do anything I want to it, really. It’s a bit small (but all 1 bedrooms are, I suppose) and the carpet is definitely not something I’d choose but I guess that’s what area rugs are for 🙂
Can you tell I’m stoked? Clearly I am considering I just dedicated an entire blog post to something that most people wouldn’t think twice about. But for me, it’s exciting. And I think I’m relishing in the fact that I got such an incredible deal.
Now back to studying 🙂 Once I pass my test next week I can begin to pack what little I have that is not in storage and start looking for a new couch, bed, curtains, etc. So exciting 🙂
| jenn at home | 