Wrenches and Goodbyes

This week has been crazy with different wrenches thrown in my plans. Why is it that as soon as I plan out my life, some wrench needs to get thrown in to shake things up? I guess I'm just being kept on my toes.

Remember how much we love that apartment complex in Vancouver named Cascade Park? The one with the waterfall and the fireplace? Well, I called them to get applied for the apartment. And they told me that the one we wanted wasn't available because the tenants (who were supposed to be kicked out) were not leaving until October. Which doesn't work for us. So then they told me that there was only a downstairs unit available with the floorplan we liked, but that was not so great for us because the downstairs units are $50 more a month. No bueno when you're going to be tight on money as is. The apartment was supposed to be by the waterfall, we said great. Then when we called back about it, they said that the only one that was available is actually a DIFFERENT one that is down by the highway, but still a bottom unit. I was starting to feel like we were getting the run around.

I was able to download the applications and email them in and our email conversations continued... our credit was great (no surprise there), but they just needed to verify income. Which is great for what we're making now, but remember how we won't be making ANYTHING when we move? But they didn't say they wanted to see any financial aid rewards or anything.... And they wanted the security deposit NOW. Which I wasn't happy about because why would i send that much money if we weren't going to get approved? WRENCH.

Now I've seen enough Judge Judy to know that you should have EVERYTHING in documentation, so I continued with the email plan explaining that I wasn't going to send money without a contract. Which they disputed with "we only sign contracts in the office." To which I said, "well, if I can't sign a contract, I can't start paying rent September 1st cuz we won't be there til the week of the 20th." To which they said, "okay, fine, we'll see what we can do."

Tuesday they sent a contract over and said we could sign it and fax it in (why was that so hard for them? I have no idea). As I looked at the contract, I noticed that they also require you to have a landline number for the security gate so guests can call you on their keypad and you can let them in. This is not an expense we were even THINKING about getting as we don't nearly come close to using half of our minutes with our cell phones. Plus, with Dustin at school all day, and me at work all day to pay for this bottom unit, why would we want a home landline?!? So extra money for the apartment that we don't even want, and now extra money for a utility we don't even want? WRENCH.

At this point, I was seriously starting to question whether we wanted to live here and rent from this management as the whole process had seemed like a hassle and was hard to communicate with. So then we remembered our second choice in apartments: Star Crest Manor in Portland. Over $150 a month cheaper than Cascade Park with all the new expenses. And way closer to Dustin's school. Close enough that we wouldn't need 2 cars. Cut that expense out. And the landline. Add satellite/DVR service, and it's STILL cheaper than Cascade Park. No bridge traffic. An apartment with TWO bathrooms. 5 minutes away from the plasma center. This was looking like a MUCH better option for us and we set our minds that Star Crest was the right decision for us.

Then my Aunt Sheri went to Cascade Park to check out the apartment for us in person. And talking with the management, they told her that if she gave them the security deposit right then, we could actually have the original apartment we wanted because the tenants are moving out in three days. SAY WHAT?!? I guess that there are other people in the complex that want that apartment but haven't put money down on it yet, so if we showed the dough, it was ours. WRENCH. This gave us a lot to think about. We told them we'd take a day and let them know.

On the way home from work (mind you, this is all still TUESDAY), I get a message from Robert Half Accounting saying they have a potential position for me. I called him back and found out more about the job, that it would need to start beginning of September, that they were looking for someone that I met the qualifications for perfectly. This meant that I would have a job! That we could afford Cascade Park! WRENCH.

Seriously, by this point I was freaking out so we stopped at Arctic Circle and got a Butterfinger shake to clear our heads :) It worked.

We made a pros and cons list, listed out all expenses associated with both apartments, and decided to sleep on it.

Final decision made yesterday morning: Star Crest Manor in Portland. We think it will be a great home for us and if we end up hating it and having the money to afford Cascade Park, we can always move. I mean, we're going to be there for YEARS so if we're at a cheaper place now, we won't be out anything really. And we'll be able to save that extra money from cheaper rent and transportation costs to maybe come home once or twice in the next 3-4 years. Or buy food. :)

We've applied for Star Crest and are waiting to hear back on whether we are accepted or not. Of course, they are hung up on "income verification" because they want 3 x rent NET income (what would we ever do with all that money?!?!) We gave them the info for the financial contact at UWS and hopefully she can send them what they need and explain to them that we will definitely have the funds to pay for rent. I'll let you know how that works out. If we're not accepted, I have no idea who will accept us cuz that rent is pretty cheap. Hahahaha.

As far as hearing back about the potential job, after 2 full days, no one has called me about an interview or a job, so I'm guessing that they, like everyone else, do not want to hire me because I don't live there. And the apartment people don't want us cuz we dont' have a job? It's a catch-22.

Oh man. Life is crazy. We are packing up all we can now and there is still TONS left to pack. It's only a month away!

Nathan, Adrienne, and Elliott moved to Chicago on Sunday and it was very sad to see them go!! I definitely loved having them here for the summer and spending time together playing games, watching the Bachelorette, SYTYCD, and Parks and Rec. And of course, snuggling and kissing little Elliott!! We miss you guys and hope you are having a great time on your adventure in Chicago!