Avant Garde (avant_garde) wrote, @ 2008-03-05 20:23:00

Home, Sweet Home
Many of my lunch hours over the past few weeks were spent visiting apartment buildings with available space in the spring. Everything fell short of my expectations: no basement storage, too little kitchen space, bad neighborhood, etc. On Sunday, however, Ryan accompanied me on a visit to a place I saw advertised on Craigslist.com. The price was listed as high as our budget would allow, but I decided there was no harm in taking a look.

The flat, which is the lower level of a house, belongs to a fairly young married couple who rents to the tenants above them. They decided to move to a home with more yard space for their dogs and rent their former home. The man gave us a tour of the house and couldn't have been much older than Ryan.

It's hard to explain the feeling upon walking into that house. Ryan and I exchanged a look that suggested we both felt comfortable there. The positive vibes kept coming as we examined the amenities: an electric fireplace in the living room, a dining room with built-in china cabinet, a bathroom with an all-tile shower and stainless steel fixtures, a heated bathroom floor, a huge kitchen with new cabinets and appliances (including a dishwasher!), two bedrooms with one used as an office, basement storage with laundry hookups, garage space, a covered front porch, and a back yard.

As soon as Ryan and got back into the car, Ryan said, "Dare I ask what you thought of it?"

"It was nice. I liked it."

"I more than liked it. I know it's on the pricey end of what I can afford, but I will make it happen. This place is everything I could want in a house. I'd be so proud to come home here. It's be some extra work, but I'm going to do it." He took my hand, and I let out a big sigh of relief. We filled out and returned the applications within a day.

Pending the background checks, the place is ours. It's three minutes from my work, and ten minutes from Ryan's future job. That's right, Ryan's actually quitting his job at Fred Astaire. He'll be teaching lessons at a private studio, and working part-time somewhere that offers health coverage. He's already booked 5 hours of lessons on Saturday, as well as a few hours of baby-sitting, to cover his share of the security deposit. He told me that moving into this house with me was enough to cause him to "get my act together. I can't work in a dead-end job anymore. I need to work somewhere that makes me happy, that will provide for us and our future."

I will move in mid-April. Ryan will begin moving his stuff in shortly after, but won't become a resident until the summer, since he can't get out of his other lease until August. In the meantime, I'll be paying the full rent for the new place since I will be the only tenant, so I've set aside the money for my new flat-screen TV for rent instead.

It always gets worse before it gets better, but in these tight money times, our relationship has never been stronger. Ryan's stepfather even joked that we should just get married so Ryan would have health coverage for free. Ryan said I deserve a better reason for marriage than that.

	sunshinysarcasm 2008-03-07 00:54 (link)
	i've been away from Blurty so long. this is great news! and OMG a heated bathroom floor. i can imagine how wonderful that must be in the cold months. i'm so happy for you! (Reply to this) (Thread)