New City, New Home
- briannablair1
- Sep 12, 2016
- 2 min read
"This is...nice."
There's a reason people don't choose to rent apartments site unseen and that reason became clear as I stepped out of my car and onto the property that would be ours for the next eleven months. Yes, eleven because just in case we couldn't handle a full year at this place, we chose the lease that let us out a month early.
Graduating from Penn State University in 2015 gave us the means to start a life wherever we wanted. We grew up in Central Pennsylvania, just 20 minutes away from State College. Sure, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were an option at first. But there was something in me that told me to go farther. Before I knew it, we were packing our cars and driving west to Denver, Colorado.
My boyfriend and I arrived in Aurora, Colorado on the very last day of March 2016. It was cold and gray, the typical backdrop for winter. Snow was beginning to fall as we made our way to the leasing office at our new home. I clung to the hope that the inside was nicer than the outside and that the pictures online would do it justice. As the leasing agent unlocked the door and swung it open, I found myself letting out a sigh of relief and a cheesy smile lit up my face.
The pictures online weren't a lie! The walls were gray and the kitchen cabinets were white. The hardwood floor stretched its way from the entry to the bathroom and the tile in the shower looked almost brand new. While the outside of the complex could use some work and the area we lived in could be a little better, at least we had a safe haven to cozy up in.
Moving to a city that you've never been to before is scary. Starting a life 1,500 miles away from friends and family makes it even scarier. But anything can be made into a home as long as it is filled with things that make you happy. This is a story about making a new place home and the obstacles that challenge you along the way.
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