What's New? #4

There have been SO many changes lately, but one of the biggest changes is that I've moved. I used to live in a 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment that was 720 square feet. It had a dishwasher, washer and dryer in the unit, a balcony, and since I lived on the 3rd floor, vaulted ceilings. I loved my apartment. It was the first place I ever lived on my own, and I was so happy with it in many ways. I will admit, there were times I wished that I had a roommate. It can be lonely living alone at times. But mostly, I loved it.

Now, don't get my wrong. My current living situation isn't bad! It's just not the same. I now live in Salem with my sister. We have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment. I seriously don't have an exact square footage number, but it's like...950? We have a dishwasher and washer/dryer hookups. We don't currently have a washer and dryer, so we've been using the laundry room. We live on the first floor, so we don't have a balcony, but we have a patio. It's nice, but it doesn't have a fence or anything keeping people out. A little weird, but probably mainly because it's different.

Both bedrooms have a bathroom attached. My bathroom also has a door to the hallway. It's nice, but also a little odd. My bathroom is also WAY bigger than it needs to be. We think maybe they weren't sure what to do with the extra square footage. Whatever.

My room is big enough to fit my bed, my bedside table, a small armchair, my old TV stand with the TV, half of my desk, and my sister's dresser. I could potentially fit more, but right now that's what's set up. I don't use my TV, but there's not really anywhere else to store it.

That's the one thing I don't like about this apartment. There is hardly any storage space. Right now, we're using the laundry area as storage, but it we were to get a washer and dryer, we wouldn't have that space and all that stuff we have in there would need somewhere to go. That's one reason NOT to get a washer and dryer.

Living in Salem is interesting. First of all, we're close to just about anything we'd want. Mostly. We can get to things within 10 minutes that would've taken me 30+ to get to from Oregon City. There are also a lot more people on the roads. The convenience of being closer to things means more people within close proximity, too. The one place this bugs me the most is at the grocery store. We've started shopping at Winco, which is kind of like a Food 4 Less (for you Californians). It's cheaper, but it's set up kind of warehouse-like and there are TONS of people shopping, since it's all cheaper. We're saving a lot of money, though, so I think I can get over the crowd situation.

I don't have any photos of the new apartment yet. I will definitely get some posted once we've settled a bit more. We've only lived here about 2 weeks, and we're still unpacking boxes and putting things where they're going to go. It's a slow process, especially since I'm not much help during the week since I come home so exhausted from my 6-8 year old students! :)

I know that living with my sister will have its challenges, but we really do get along better than we used to. We still have our conflicts, but they are fewer and farther between, and as long as we're not tired or hungry, they seem to be less intense. :)

I don't know if I've told you all the kinds of details you'd be interested in, so feel free to ask questions! I am more than happy to answer them, and I promise those pictures are coming...I can't give an actual time frame, but look for them in the next few weeks?