Apartment Hunting.

[Top: H&M // Belt/Sunnies/Earrings: Target // Skirt: The Limited // Heels: Forever 21 // Bag: Coach]

So as of Monday, Nick and I have officially started looking for a new place to live for the next year! Woohoo! Unfortunately, we aren't moving out of Decatur just yet, but there are some benefits to this. First of all, rent is super cheap here. Yes, please! Second, we can both still take voice lessons at Millikin and get ourselves ready for grad school auditions this coming year. Third, we still have friends living here this summer and we can still hang out with our friends that will still be in school! Not to mention, we'll be able to make it to homecoming for sure in the fall :)

We could move to a town with more to do, like Champaign, but we really have all we need at the moment right here in this stinky little soy town. Plus, we both have steady jobs, and I love where I work!

Looking at apartments and places is fun, but a little stressful. I looked at a 2-bedroom apartment on Monday that is really nice, but the only problem is that it's just a bit too far outside of where we work. Mostly, where Nick works. We only have one car right now, and he has a bike, so it's imperative that he be able to bike safely to work. That man can bike 50 miles at a time, but I don't really think it's fair to make him bike 10 miles to and from work everyday, don't you think? haha. Yeah, way too far. Luckily, we have many other options that we can still look at, and yesterday, we looked at a 2-bedroom duplex literally down the street (the next block over) from my current hosue! It is absolutely perfect and the rent is a great deal for all of the space we get! It's pretty big! Large entryway into a living area, wide doorway into a large dining room (all hardwood floors), large kitchen space so we could fit more tables and chairs if we wanted, and 2 nice-sized bedrooms. The closets are good too! We don't need a 2-bedroom, but if we can afford it (and this one, we can), it would be nice to have the extra space for Nick's piano (practice room!), more closet space, and a place for people to stay if they come visit us!

We applied right away yesterday, and we should know if we get it for sure sometime today! I'm so excited, and a little nervous. It's always a litle scary to sign a lease and put a huge chunk of money down, and the one little downside to this place is that we'd probably have to sign the lease ASAP in order to get it. This means paying a deposit and first month's rent right away, and then having to pay one more month of rent and bills at my current house in addition to the duplex rent :/ Yikes! I was super anxious about this yesterday, but Nick was able to think clearly about the situation and assured me that everything would be alright. He also made the brilliant point that, even if we start the lease a little later, we're still paying the same amount of money, it just seems like more because we're having to pay a lot of it at the same time. That man. This is why we are getting married. He always knows how to talk me out of an anxiety attack and make me feel calm! I am so well taken care of and know I will be for the rest of my life :)

So, I'm off to work, and hopefully Nick will know something for sure in the next few hours! Wish us luck!