There's NO Place Like Home

In 2 months, we'll be leaving good ol' Bloomington, IN. I really, really love it here...even more since I just scoured apartment ratings for some of the places we're looking at in Houston. I should further clarify that our list was narrowed to about 30 places in 4 of the suburbs. I've already eliminated just about all of them. I take most of the complaints with a grain of salt. Honestly, many of them are complaints about management or not getting their deposit back. Most of those, I ignore. But if I do see a trend, I'll pay closer attention to their rants. After reviewing the apartments, I noticed a trend worth considering: safety and thin walls.

The safety complaints went like this: my car was broken into in broad daylight, drug dealing in the parking lot, some weird guy luring children, the maintenance staff broke into my apartment, the SWAT team was called after shots were fired, a domestic disturbance turned into a murder, and the office/gym caught on fire.

The thin walls complaints went like this: I can hear my neighbors doing it, there's some 300lb girl who lives above me, I hate the family they moved in above me, I can hear my side neighbor's alarm clock, the television does little to mute the conversations between the walls.

With a newborn and a 2 year old, I just don't think I can stand to move into an unsafe complex-especially since I'm out walking and playing outside almost daily. The noise doesn't bother me, but I know we'll be the family our neighbors complain about.

I wish I could take where I live right now and plant it smack dab in the suburb I want to live in. I love my town home. I love my neighborhood. I love my rent. I love that I don't hear my neighbors unless I really want to.

Will I ever find a home?