New apartment
I got a new apartment and I’m very excited. My girlfriend also got a new apartment and she’s really excited. Our excitement is correlated, because it’s the same apartment! It has an in-unit washer and dryer, so we’re really moving up in the world. Not only that, the apartment is a detached residence built on top of the backyard garage of a friendly landlord. So we’ve got windows on every side of the building. If you don’t think about it, and really squint your eyes, we’re basically home owners. We’ve got the same amount of home equity as we do opposite-wall neighbors. None.
I’m only bragging about throwing our money away on rent, because we’re getting a really good deal to do it. For 750 square feet, we’re paying $2450 a month. If you’re not from Seattle, maybe you gasped, but if you don’t understand the rent-economics of Seattle, go to Zillow, draw a five mile radius around Pike’s Place, and tell me you found something better. You can’t because we snagged the last best option. Not only is the rent underpriced, we’ll pay a flat $100 for all our utilities, which for some reason also includes wifi. I’m fully prepared to take warm, guilt free showers with the lights on while listening to bluetooth music.
Perhaps what I’m most excited for is leaving the apartment. The bus stop to work is only one block away, and the one-way transit time is five minutes faster than my last bus route. Starting in September, my employer is requiring that I return to the office. I’m excited for the return to normalcy, the travel time to write, and the opportunity to see non-pixelated coworkers. It’s about damn time.
Overall, things are good. We’ve got a free parking spot and brand new appliances to go with the good. The neighborhood is safe, maybe a little too safe for comfort - Magnolia has more children than dogs, which is strange for Seattle, and reinforces the sad fact that the closest bar isn’t within walking distance - but that’s the premium for a grandiose living space. I’ll take a vaulted ceiling, air-conditioning, and quality wood flooring over nightlife anyday.
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We found the apartment through answered prayer. We’d been looking for an apartment for about a month without success. The available options suggested that we’d have to settle for a one bedroom apartment or pay $3000. Given that we need an office space to work from home and given that we’re both responsible with money, neither of those options would work. Fully discouraged, I deleted all my apartments apps - Zillow, Apartment Finder, Trulia, etc. - and prayed to God that we’d find an apartment. I prayed with Maddie, and that we’d know with certainty that we’d found the right apartment.
The very next day, Maddie looked on her Zillow once and found the place. It was having an open house that day. We went. Liked what we saw. Talked about it throughout Saturday. Maddie’s work reference was accidently called around noon, only two hours after touring the place; but despite the confusion, the work reference gave a glowing review. The landlord reached out the next day and said a couple from the ominous east coast was willing to sign, but she would give us preference if we wanted it. She had a good feeling about us. We said yes, and signed the lease Sunday. In a 24 hour span, I went from deleting all my apartment apps to writing a $7100 check for tail-end rents plus a security deposit. The moral of the story is that God sometimes works fast.
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I’m somewhat hesitant to post a blog on moving in together because of the conflicting opinions surrounding the action. Of the four other couples in our life group, for example, all of them waited until after marriage to move in together. Whenever they read the weekly announcements, specifically notifying of the Should I Get Engaged Class, they look in our direction and I pretend to be thinking of something else. [Insert defensive, guarding sentence here.] I don’t think it’s wrong.
Depending on which study you use to support your argument, moving in together before marriage will [pick one: increase, decrease] the odds of divorce later. In the most valid source I could find, Wikipedia, the results were inconclusive. The results were also inconclusive from other less reputable sources, Psychology Today and The Pew Research Center. Whatever the numbers, I’m confident that my and Maddie’s relationship will continue to grow.
We’ve been dating for over a year now, but a Covid year, so it counts for two. We’ve dealt with stressful situations well. We have future plans that are way too detailed. We’ve got a joint bank account together. And we’ve successfully navigated a Sunday’s farmers market together, the true test of any relationship.
