“I know you hate quotes on the walls,” I smirk, “but I think in our apartment we will have to compromise on décor.” J rolls her eyes, but I see the corners of her mouth twitching up into a smile. “Of couuuurse, Nikki, I’d even put quotes on the walls for you.” “Good,” I grin like a goof, “and I’ll let you put up your edgy art. I can’t wait to see what our place is going to look like. I know we’re going to have an adjustment period,” I continue, “but I’ll learn to listen to podcasts in the morning if it means getting ready next to you.”

“And we can have your sisters visit,” J gushes, “and my brothers. I hope we can swing a two bedroom, because I can already imagine the fun we could have with guests.”

I laugh. “Maybe between the two of us we’ll be able to keep a reasonably stocked fridge.”

“Maybe we will do laundry before it turns into a 6 load pile. Maybe we could get new bedding. Maybe, we can start a book collection!”

“J, you already have a large book collection.”

“I know. But like, a home library collection.”

“Let’s get an apartment first, remember?”

We sit side by side on the couch, feet propped up in front of us and heads leaned together over my laptop as we scroll on Apartments.com.

A few months ago, something must have come over me, because I popped the question to J. The “will you move in with me” question, guys, we are not those U-hauling lesbians. Actually, we were pretty proud of ourselves for taking it slower than everyone (apparently) expected. I will take full credit for that by the way, J. When we told our respective parents what we were planning, neither reacted with any ounce of surprise. J’s mom actually responded with something like, “I’ve been waiting for this!!!!” Anyway, J and I are moving in together, a big step in my opinion and one that I’ve never taken before. I’m excited, though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t also nervous. I feel like I have lived by myself for so long, it’s what I’m used to, it’s comfortable. I like alone time, it’s how I recharge, though I obviously enjoy the time I spend with J. Whatever comes our way, we will learn how to adapt, and I have all the confidence in the world in J’s emotional intelligence and ability to let me have my moments when I need them.

So, the hunt. Given our work schedules, it was easiest for me to do the detective work and make a list of potential apartment candidates, then have J traipse around town and take videos of all the ones she could. It was fun for both of us at first, picking out a neighborhood and sorting through pictures and amenities. We sent videos back and forth, laughing at our apartment filming skills. We narrowed it down to a list of four apartments, and decided to pull the trigger and send in an application. The first apartment disappeared from the listing website before we could even hit send. Okayyy, next. We submitted for a place in a building we were really excited about, only to be told that another couple sent in their application a few hours before we did. Sigh. We quickly hit submit on our next choice, but days went by without any sort of communication from the property. One evening I got frustrated and gave them a call, 5 minutes before they were supposed to close. AS IT TURNS OUT, the people who had applied for the apartment we wanted had backed out, and we were next on the list! They transferred our application back to the coveted unit #13, and we held our breath. It felt like ages went by, but finally, FINALLY the acceptance email came through. Watch out, folks, there are new girls in the neighborhood!

Well, here we go. Our move-in date is in two days, and I’m ready to not live amongst floor-to-ceiling boxes. Timing worked out terribly and I’m in the middle of a stretch of night shifts, but we will get it done. Our siblings are coming down to help, though something tells me we will be unpacking for quite some time once we get there. In any case, I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter, and building a little life together in our home sweet home.