Just about any larger purchase these days includes some kind of contract along with it, or a payment plan. I always get really nervous when I have to sign a contract with a big purchase, and I like to have a few days to think about it and go over everything before I commit. I’ve signed several apartment leases since I’ve moved away from my home and out of the dorm, and even when it’s at the same apartment I get nervous and want to go over everything I’m agreeing to before I sing and get stuck with it. When I bought my first lap top, I had saved all the money up for it and just paid for it in one payment. With my newest lap top, I decided that I wanted to do it in payments on a credit card so I could help out my credit score. I had never had a credit card, so when I signed up for it all the contracts and agreements were scary to me, but it was time for me to get one and build on my credit score. Now, I’m in need of a new cell phone. Instead of how it’s always been, where we just get a new cell phone and add on to the contract we’ve had for years, we have to sign up for a whole new contract that’s completely different because our cell phone company, Alltel, was bought out by Verizon. We’ve been going over it, but just getting into that two year contract is still a bit unnerving. Contracts are a part of almost everything now, and it’s just something I’m going to have to get used to.

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When I moved into my new apartment, I had nothing. I had lived in a furnished apartment for the past three years, and before that I lived in the dorms so I never had to buy any furniture for myself. So, my parents said they would help me get a bed and look for some other stuff with me, but that I was pretty much on my own for the rest of it. I got so lucky, I found my couches at Colortyme for really really cheap and I love them, I bought my coffee tables off of craigslist, even though they were ugly. And then, Derek’s family had a few other things that they didn’t use that were from his sister’s old room. Which were white and covered in yellow flowers. So, everything ended up working out, though most of it wasn’t my style at all. But, you can’t complain about free stuff, so I went to Wal-Mart and bought some supplies to redo the furniture. I sanded off where the flowers had been to get a smooth surface, and then cleaned everything really well. I bough some black paint and painted both of the chest of drawers they gave me, a desk, the coffee tables I got on craigslist, and then everything matched. It might have taken quite a bit of work and patience, but in the end I barely spent anyting on all the furniture I have in my house and I actually like all of it now. So, anytime you come across something that’s cheap and a good find, but may just not be exactly what you want, take it anyway. Just a little creativity and time and you can turn it into exactly what you want, and know that you actually created what it is now.

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My cousin Riley lives in this new living complex called The Cottages here in Lubbock. It’s pretty close to the Texas Tech campus, just a bit east. It is on the bus route to campus as well, so if you don’t want to walk or ride your bike you can get a ride on the bus to school. Well, they are really nice looking and have a well-put together feel from the outside, and the insides have nice features to them as well. The floors look really good, and they have nice decorative crown molding and little details that really makes it look good. BUT… they have a lot of other issues from what I’m hearing. I’ve heard a few stories of things going wrong in them, and one in particular that scared me. Someone who was living on the second floor had some kind of leak problem, and their ceiling actually fell through and ruined everything in the apartment. In my cousins apartment he is always have trouble with the plumbing in him room, most of the time it isn’t even working and it might as well be like he doesn’t have a restroom. On a side note, he went potluck with his room mates and they are awful. They are always having parties on random nights during the week, they broke his big screen TV and wont pay to repaid it, and they are always eating their food. And, through all this shit, he isn’t supposed to “break his lease” and move out to go somewhere else. He plans on staying there for yeah with some different room mates he has already signed a lease with, but they were making it kind of hard for him to move out. He finally got it all settled now and is getting out of there and into another cottage, thank God. I think this place is just like most of the living places here for college kids, made too fast and not too personal. They’ll do what ever they can to ensure they make money and don’t care about the satisfaction of their customers.

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The other day I was taking a shower when the shower head decided it was done working and busted off, so I called my apartment complex to come and put a new one on for me. The one before wasn’t very pretty, I could tell that it was old and had seen it’s days, but it was probably the best shower head I had ever had before. The pressure was perfect, and it didn’t just spray out the sides and have a waterless center. Now, they come in a give me this new shiny shower head, and I’m all excited to get into the shower and try it out. I turn it on… and it totally sucks. I’m so disappointed. If I’m going to have such a low pressure water saving shower head, I’m going to be in there twice as long trying to get clean. Thus, ruining the water saving it’s intended for. I’m going to have to go to Wal-Mart and get one myself, because this is the worst pressure I have ever used before. It doesn’t even get the shampoo out of my hair. I have been confined to baths for the past week now, because I haven’t had time to go get a new one. Without adequate shower pressure I may as well not bathe at all, right? I need like, an intense massage while I’m in there. I want to be relaxed and clean when I get out of the shower, not pissed off and still soapy. This is just another thing I’m going to have to do myself because my apartment people just can’t handle it.

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I’ve always been into candles. I have tons of them in my house. They are hanging on my walls, all over the coffee tables and counters, just everywhere. I have a ton in my bathroom cause I like to take bubble baths with candles. My favorite smell is usually pumpkin spice, or anything that smells like cookies or Christmas. But, the smell of candles just doesn’t reach that far. It usually just stays around it’s area, what ever room you put it in. The WoodWick candles are the best ones, they light forever and make that really cool fire place sound. They smell pretty strong, but again just kind of stay in the room you light them in. I also love incense, but they don’t always smell good and don’t last very long. So, the best smelling thing I have ever had is called a Lampe Berger. My boyfriend got me one for my birthday. They have coals that are attached to a rope that goes into the special oil, and makes the entire house smell good. They are lit, but there’s no open flame. The coal burns the oil. There are tons of scented oils to choose from, and the oil lamp itself can look like anything. There are tons of colors and options to get one that matches your house. Mine is orange and a square, and I love it. Right now I’m using a Christmas oil that smells like cinnamon cookies. They are an awesome little gift that anyone would love!

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My apartment complex is not very good at doing what they say they are going to do. Or at listening to what I say. Or at keeping contracts the same in the middle of my lease. They like to try and charge me 30 bucks because my “grass is too long” in the back yard three days after I move in, since somehow in those three days the grass just jumped up because they had taken care of it before I moved in. Not. They like to claim that the laundry room is open until 10, and then suddenly change it to close all the time with out a key to get in. They like to put in the lease that they pick up trash on Tuesday and Fridays in the morning and then never get it, and then try to fine you for having trash out on your porch. And they like to assume that you have thing in your apartment that you don’t, and send you fee notices about it with out asking. Honestly though, what can I expect from an apartment complex in a college town? They have no idea what they are doing and don’t care who you are or what you’re doing, all they care about is making sure they have their money on time. No personal business here, just people working for money with out caring about the satisfaction of those they are working for. If I’m in the hospital on the day my rent is due, I’ll sure as hell have a fucking late notice on my door when I get back with a 30 dollar fine attached.

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Living in an apartment complex can be trying. I’ve lived in a few over the years and every time I move out, the familiar words “I’m never living in an apartment again!” are spoken but of course that never happens. I’m happy to inform you that I currently live in a beautiful, three bedroom house but it took a lot of crappy apartments to get here. My first apartment was in Abilene, TX. I lived with my best friend and things were great at first. It was my first time being away from my mom and I was loving life. My roommate and I were always busy with either school or work so we would sometimes get behind on simple things like taking the trash out. We lived on the second story so it was common for us to set a trash bag or two on our back porch before bringing it down to the dumpster. It wouldn’t be 10 minutes and one of our cell phones would start ringing. It was the office saying that we immediately needed to take the trash off our porch because it made the apartments look bad. Really? Give us a break for crying out loud! From then it just got worse because we were on their bad list. They just seemed to pick on us for the most trivial things. Sometimes I really thought they were discriminating towards us because we were so young. Before my husband and I started renting our house, we lived in a mediocre apartment complex. It was just what we needed at the time and it was actually really homey. Then we realized our next door neighbors were 21 year-old college students who just happened to be twin brothers. This was a disaster. They were so inconsiderate and loud at all hours of the day and night. They insisted on stomping up the stairs so loudly that you could here them at the furthest point of our apartment. We called to complain several times but the complex didn’t seem to care. One night, they were so loud and out of control that my husband called the cops. Needless to say, we didn’t get any more friendly “hellos” in passing. Things slowed down for a bit but never really got better. Maybe it’s now safe to say, “I’m never living in an apartment again!”

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