Divine Intervention

Steven and I love getting together with other young couples in our ward. Playing games and sharing stories has helped us become good friends with some really neat families. Inevitably, one of the first topics we delve into as poor, college students, is housing. The topic usually comes up thanks in part to the apartment we currently live in. When having friends over for the first time, we play the part of a good host and hostess, and take our company around for what Steven always calls "The Grand Tour". "Welcome to the 70's!" we exclaim as we show off our tiny kitchen complete with olive green linoleum, the fancy gold/glass chandelier hanging in our "dining room", and the 9 by 87 (bajllion) foot mirror that covers one whole wall in our apartment.

We have heard some good stories from our friends. Yesterday my friend Mary was sharing the horrors of thin walls. Apparently every night at 10:30 her rather large neighbor takes a bath. Confused at why she would share something that simple when everyone else was griping about hearing dogs, fighting couples, and crying babies, I asked her, "Well, what does a fat man in a tub sound like?" She replied, "URRRRT URRRRRRT URRT! There's just not that much room in the tub!" I laughed for about a year but I still think our apartment tales are the best.

Apartment #1, December '06-June '07: The first apartment Steven and I ever lived in had a joint kitchen/bathroom. Just past the entrance of the kitchen, one could touch the stove with her right hand and the space where the shower was with her left. Morning breakfasts became amazingly simple and time saving as I could condition my hair and step out of the shower to stir the oatmeal almost simultaneously. Across from the refrigerator, a slatted wooden door concealed the "throne". And literally, the toilet was on a little pedistool, so one couldn't help but feel royal whenever it was put in use. Thankfully we had this apartment as newlyweds because it certainly didn't allow us much privacy. The doors were paper thin and we continued to use the clear shower curtain left behind by the previous tenants.

Apartment 2, June-August 2007: Converted garage in La'ie, Hawaii. Our only piece of furniture was the bed, the bathroom was tiny, and all we had to cook on was a hotplate. But, by gosh, despite our tiny, minimalistic, and rather dirty living space, our standard of living was sky high.

Apartment 3, August '07-April '08: Normal one bedroom in Provo. This has been our favorite because we were so close to Peter and Emily, we were able to have yelled conversations on the balcony and pelt their door with marshmallows or snowballs whenever Peter talked smack.

Apartment 4, April-August 2008: We had a lovely flat above a computer store in the quaint London suburb, Kew Gardens. The flat was darling, but sadly, we could only afford the $1,200 a month rent for one of the bedrooms. The other two bedrooms were filled with three other tenants, and we all shared the living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Our room consisted of a mattress on the floor (one side was soft, the other hard, so we would flip it occasionally and try to trick each other into sleeping on the nice side) one lumpy pillow we shared for four months, a gross looking white blanket we inherited from the owner we dubbed "the snow", and our suitcases. Looking back, I laugh that we shared one pillow the whole summer because of my insistence to be frugal.

Apartment 5, August 2008-now: While it is definitely from the '70's, we really enjoy this apartment. The carpet is new, the location is fantastic, and our bathroom is a whole wall away from the kitchen.

Sadly, it seems like we have come to the end of our "interesting" apartments. We've found THE PERFECT place for next year- two bedrooms, a great location, awesome price, and great amenities- a dishwasher and wood floors! The Lord truly blessed us with this, the apartment practically fell into our laps when we were searching elsewhere. Because this apartment is fairly normal, we probably won't have funny stories to share with our friends. But, since this is our first home with our son, the memories and experiences we have will be far more amazing and memorable.