in-between

The boyfriend has been upstate for a boys weekend, which means I have had our apartment to myself. As a studio dweller, this is huge. With a pretty busy work week behind me and an even busier and more stressful one ahead, my only plans for this weekend is vegging out. Today I got to spend the day with my mom, which is always one of my favorite things for many reasons - one being that we are incredibly close and the other being that I know I can rely on her to help me focus on something (thanks, self-diagnosed ADD!). Today I wanted to focus on organizing paperwork and throwing stuff out. Basically, I want to not have to worry about anything when the time comes for me to write my Capstone so I can finally finish my MPA. 

Mom was super helpful, as always. We have a fun and delicious dinner at Mole. Come back to my apartment and we're both pretty tipsy since neither of us will say no to Happy Hour priced margaritas. We're talking about my new job and the benefits that come with being a City employee (such as pensions, etc) and then start talking about renovations she wants to make to our upstate house. In renovation talk, she mentions adding a bedroom and bathroom to the empty attic that we have. Her rationale is that my future children will obviously need a bedroom in our current 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom home. These conversations are happening in my second floor studio apartment that I share with my boyfriend. Granted, the boyfriend and I talk about marriage and children, and plan to spend the rest of our lives together - but still. 

I look around our apartment and see so much that's part of our twenty-year-old selves and so much that is starting to grow up. I've owned the same couch since college. But I try to buy fresh flowers every week. We have Christmas lights over our bed instead of a headboard. But it's because it's his old bed and in trying to fiscally responsible we decided to save our money instead of buying a new one. I could go on and on. 

We're just in-between right now. Like a second puberty, except I'm way more comfortable in my own skin and am getting laid on a regular basis. None of our close friends have gotten engaged yet, but almost everyone seems to be committed and are starting to move in together. Some talk more openly about marriage. Others are even planning moves. I guess a lot of us have just started to truly realize where we fit and it's about making everything work around that one amazing piece of the puzzle. Yet beer pong still isn't out of the question. 

Anywho, we're not going to live in this apartment much longer - less than a year. We definitely won't be in a position to buy a home until who knows when. I guess we'll just have to see if Apartment #2 for us reflects the next stage in our life together. I'm just hoping it will be pet-friendly and have a bedroom. A dishwasher and kitchen at least as large as our current one will be great too - but beggars can't be choosers. 

I love where we are and how we live. I think it's perfect for where we are in life and perfect for figuring out where we want to be in this life we now share.