Journey to Forever: Our Last Apartment

Mya gauges when we will be going home according to how many more apartments we will be living in. She was excited to find out that this was our last apartment before heading back to Ohio. We have arrived and are finally settled. Let me tell you all about our moving day……

We took one load up on Thursday and that went just fine. Our friends helped us move and we were able to enjoy a nice dinner with them before we parted ways. We headed back to Stockton for one more evening because the furniture couldn’t be moved until Friday. We woke up pretty early on Friday morning and packed up the rest of the apartment (basically bedding and kitchen stuff). We cleaned every inch of the apartment. I have to say that it was a completely different moving experience this time because Dan loaded everything up while I cleaned. Last time he was working while I did all of that by myself with the three kids. So this was much smoother. Until……we started waiting for the Rent A Center van to arrive. We were told they would arrive between 10 and noon. We started waiting around 10 and waited and waited and waited. Of course we had to wait outside because the apartment was clean. And we couldn’t do the final inspection with the apartment complex until the furniture was moved out. I went and got everyone lunch and we ate outside. And we waited and waited and waited. Unfortunately Chloe is not at the age of waiting….she would rather just cry and cry and cry. She is in a very tough stage right now with her behavior. It was a miserable morning and afternoon with her. Finally, the moving vans arrived around 2:00. It took them two more hours to load everything up…not because we have a lot of furniture…but because they had stripped screws on the bunk beds (the fault of the Rent A Center when they set it up) and couldn’t get them apart. At one point they had Dan drive to Home Depot to get some tool, but then called him back because they finally figured out how to get them apart. Meanwhile, all three kids were getting a bit crazy from being outside for almost 6 hours. Dan rode up with the movers while I waited to have the inspection done at the apartment and turn the keys in. As if we hadn’t waited enough, the leasing office made me wait almost an hour before they met me at the apartment. I think they don’t like us…maybe because we aren’t agreeing to pay their fees. In all seriousness, I have learned the employees of a rental company will treat you very nice when you are going through the process of renting an apartment…but as soon as you are living there they aren’t so nice anymore. I have experienced this at all the places we have lived. It is sad. And seems unfortunate when we are people who treat their facility nice and take care of things well. I am sure they are used to having renters who take advantage of them, but it isn’t fun to be put in that category right away before they know what kind of renter you are. Anyway, our final inspection happened and she told me that the apartment looked amazing…so that was good. But then she told me our fee and I told her that my husband would be talking to a lawyer about the situation. Her demeanor changed right away. Yucky…I don’t like those situations. But we will pray on it, seek advice from the lawyer and do what is necessary and right. We are on the homestretch now….three months and heading back to Ohio. Yeah!

The first picture...my fixed hair. Ugh! Now I get to let the top part grow out again!