Our New Home
Marissa,
my girlfriend, and I live in a house. We are still setting it up at the moment. It is a
small cape on the south shore of Long Island, and we got a great deal on the rent (it's
her Uncle's house). We are still decorating, cleaning, fixing, making it ours.
An old house has quirks; this house has them in spades. I am still trying to figure out the things that need repair. Walls have been paneled over paneling. When we moved in, there were no cover plates on the outlets. We know why now; the paneling over paneling made it impossible to screw the plates onto the outlets. I fixed it.
Wall
trim is missing in spots, some carpet was terrible, the sink in the kitchen has to be 
replaced, knobs were
missing on the stove. Day by day we do more repairs to make it a little more modern.
Replacing knobs on the cabinet to remove that fifties (not cool fifties, crap fifties)
asthetic.
I have replaced outlets, switches, the mailbox, washed stains that have never been touched for years out of walls, installing things that have been missing...
The house, being small, created unique living arrangements. Our dining room is now our bedroom, and it opens up into a living room. A small room that was to be a bedroom was too small for two people (or one for that matter), so we made that into a computer room.
Its' great though. We are getting a great deal, and this has enabled us to take steps in improving our life financially and career-wise. I am not sure if I would have been able to transfer into my current job without the cut in living expenses we were able to make by moving.
Not to mention, it's a house! We have access to her Uncle's jacuzzi, we have a front yard, we can play movies and music loudly. We have a place to park! We don't hear screaming kids next door like an apartment. We have a basement to use as storage (as well as an upstairs for storage). We have control over our own heat! We are quite happy in our current living conditions.
