We weren't "movin' on up" necessarily, as
The Jeffersons theme states, but we were thrilled to be moving in to our own place.
The apartment search had begun about seven months before our wedding date. Caleb and I would ride around Ruston and discover streets and neighborhoods that we didn't even know existed. But we couldn't commit to anything because the landlords would never know what would be available that far down the road. So a month or two before the wedding, we continued our search. At that point, all of our preferences were taken. Of course. We spent who knows how many hours riding around, searching online, and calling around. Tech Town it was- the first apartment we looked at those seven months before we got married. It definitely wasn't our first choice. The complex is old, but the unit they showed us seemed well kept. It had wood panelling, and the bedroom looked
huge with the twin sized bed they had in there.
Our move-in date was scheduled for the Tuesday after our reception in Clinton. Caleb and I woke up early and packed up the truck with our insane amount of wedding gifts, and we were off!
As soon as we got on the road, I called the complex to make sure everything was in order for us to move in, and she said, "Sure thing!" We were almost to Ruston when my phone rang, and it was the landlord. "Could you move in tomorrow instead?" Ohhhh great. Here we go. Now we could have stayed in Caleb's old apartment for a night, in his twin bed or on the floor. But I really wanted to stay in our apartment. Having our own place had been highly anticipated by both of us, and at that moment in time, I felt like I couldn't wait one more day for that. She told us that the apartment wasn't finished being cleaned from the last renter. The carpets needed cleaning, the paint needed touching up. After arriving at the complex, we signed the papers, then she took us to see our apartment.
The walls are taupe. The ceiling is taupe. The floors are taupe. The cabinets are taupe. The doors are... brown. And the bathroom tile is this mint greenish color that looks like it's from the sixties. (It probably is.) The carpets were stained and frayed. The window unit was leaking into a bucket inside. Needless to say, their "show room" doesn't seem to be on the same level as the apartments they actually rent. The landlord decided that it could probably get finished that day, but we would have to let the carpets dry before putting stuff on them. Caleb and I left to kill some time while they finished cleaning. I left feeling pretty sick- kind of a "What have we just gotten ourselves into?" feeling. We had signed the papers, after all. Though we had feelings of regret, we still laughed quite a bit at our misfortune.
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| This light you see is a crack in our front door. |
During our wait, we ran errands such as getting the electricity turned on. The guy at the desk told us that it wouldn't be turned on until Friday. Friday, which was three days away. (Later, we found out that the electricity was never turned off. It would just be switched over to our name on Friday. Crisis #1 averted).
Another ordeal we had to take care of was getting our marriage license mailed back to the Circuit Clerk in Gulfport. We hadn't done it yet, so we were getting that prepared to send off. I began reading the instructions for its return, which stated that it was supposed to have been returned within 5 days of the ceremony. OOPS. We didn't do that. At this point, Caleb and I are saying things like, "At least we have a pretty apartment." "At least we have electricity in our apartment." "At least we are legally married right now." Nothing seems to be going our way, but we can't help but laugh about all of it. So I called the Circuit Clerk, and they said that rule isn't a strict one, and it will be just fine to mail in after the five days is up. Whew. We didn't have to drive to Gulfport to apply for another license. Crisis #2 averted.
There were problems on the financial aid front, as well. We visited the office on campus to try and get everything sorted out. We had to wait until we were legally married to apply as independents, and our wedding date was just days before the deadline to apply. After talking to a few different people, we got things straightened out, and we were all applied for loans and grants. (I ended up getting the Pell Grant, which I totally wasn't expecting to get. Crisis #3 averted.)
Our list was obtaining more and more checks. Y'all know how I like lists.
The next mission was to get the truck unloaded before 6:00 so we could go pick up our mattress from the store before it closed. Our apartment looked so much better when we got back. The frayed edges of the carpet were trimmed, the stains were mostly gone, and the AC unit wasn't leaking inside anymore. Crisis # 4 averted. We started to like our home better.
I must say, we were quite the movers. Caleb used a rolling computer chair as a make-shift dolly, because we had no muscle power besides our own. (And mine isn't much to speak of.) We made it just in time to get the mattress, so we didn't have to sleep on the floor! Yay! Crisis #5 averted.
Exhausted and famished, we went to eat at Cheeburger Cheeburger. It didn't take long for us to scarf down our burgers and shake.
More unloading, unpacking, putting together.
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| Why yes, those are children's scooters on our floor. No, we did not steal them from children. |
At last, there was enough of a bedroom assembled for us to sleep. Carrying heavy objects back and forth on an August afternoon in Louisiana had made us hot and sweaty, if you can imagine. We had a shower curtain, but no rings. We had left our toothbrushes in the truck. When we had reached our point of exhaustion, we did not have the energy to drive to Wal-Mart for shower rings, or even to walk to the truck to get our toothbrushes. So we went to sleep. Sweaty, sticky, dirty, scratched up from furniture, physically worn out. But we were happy. So undeniably content to be together, to be married, and to have our own home.
The first meal I cooked occurred before we had a kitchen table, so we used a plastic storage bin as a table. We also had our whole bathroom torn apart within the next couple of days:
Our home has made quite a bit of progress since then. :)
We are so incomprehensibly blessed. We owe everything to Him.
