Joy's of apartment living

When we moved into our apartments - we were not really sure what we were getting because there were only 3 pictures online - 2 of the living area and 1 of a bedroom so we had no idea what the kitchen or bathrooms were going to look like. When we got here I am not going to lie, I wanted to cry. We pulled up to the leasing office to sign everything, both the kids had had it at that point so instead of taking them inside, Dan and I took turns going in to sign so we wouldn't have to get them out and then put them back into the car to go to the actual apartment. So we followed the lady behind her golf cart over to our apartment. The buildings have a door that you go into that then will get you to the apartments. So when it’s raining, it’s really nice that the stairwell and everything is inside. The downside is that it gets hot and muggy in there and looks super GHETTO! So first impression, I wanted to cry. We then get into our apartment and I was very pleasantly surprised. They had just painted, put in new carpet, and got new cabinets in the kitchen and some new appliances. It looked very clean and really big. We have been fine with it here. They have a cap on your how much your water and utilities can cost so knowing that we can blast the AC as much as we want and not worry about getting a huge bill has been really nice and the highest amount we would pay a month is less than we were paying in Texas so that is ONE thing that will be cheaper here.

So we haven't really had any problems until this week. The AC isn't working and hasn't been for a couple of days, our car got towed today, and the water was off for a couple of hours without any notice today as well.

They don't know when the AC will be working and luckily it has cooled down a little but we are on the top floor and since heat rises... it gets really hot still. The good thing is, it cools down at night so we just open the windows and it isn't too bad.

When we moved here they gave us a temporary parking pass that expired on September 14th - so before then I called and asked what we needed to get to be able to park in the parking lot. I was asked if our car was registered here in Alexandria - I said no - so I was told that I needed to go down to City Hall and get a decal to put on our windshield that would allow us to park without getting ticketed or towed. So I did that - I went to city hall, paid the $33 bucks for the decal and a bunch of money for property tax on our car and was given the little sticker that would let us park without getting ticketed or towed and stuck it on our windshield. While driving in the apartment parking lot I looked at the other cars and saw the same sticker so I was reassured we had what we needed. Apparently not! Friday's Dan doesn't have class so we spend then mornings as a family, so when we went down around 1:00pm to drive Dan to his Georgetown softball team practice and get the stroller out of the car so the kids and I could go on our daily walk/play time with the Straits... we didn't see our car in the parking lot. We both started to panic thinking it was stolen. Our downstairs neighbor came out on her balcony and said - you drive the silver car right? Yes! It was towed last night. We didn't know which apartment you lived in... we were trying to find you to tell you, but it was towed. So Dan went and got it all taken care of and we found out that we had to get that decal so we could get another sticker to allow us to park in the apartment parking lot! No one said anything about that and since the stickers look almost exactly the same - same color, size, shape, everything, we had no idea! Needless to say - we were not happy that we had to pay the fee to the towing company to get our car back! AHHHHH!

Then just a few short hours later - I went to go do the dishes and the water wouldn't turn on. I called and was informed that it had to be shut off because of a problem one of the units in the building was having and it would be off for about 4 hours. AHHHHH! I needed to do dishes and start dinner at that point so I was very very frustrated.

So right now I am really missing my little house in Lubbock. I guess the plus side is that luckily we don't have to pay to get the AC fixed, or the water turned back on. I just haven't lived in an apartment for so long I am readjusting to it.

Aside from all that - it really has been a good place to live. We have a Mormon family in the complex that me and the kids hang out with almost daily - there is a pool and playground right next to our building - there is a BEAUTIFUL walking trail down the street that we walk to. It looks like you are up in the mountains but obviously you aren't. They have free car washes they do monthly, a free shuttle that takes people to metro stations, we are down the street from a huge mall, and it takes us 2 mins to get to the freeway and about 12 mins once on the freeway to get to Georgetown's Law school (which is within walking distance from the Nations capitol) so it's pretty cool. We decided to live outside DC to save money on rent - and we found one of the cheapest apartments available so we knew we were not going to be in anything special. Luckily Virginia is beautiful and makes up for my apartment not being the best haha!