Hi guys,
Life has been super hectic lately! I never realized that buying a house would be so time consuming! It’s not like HGTV makes it out to be, that’s for sure. The area we were looking at, along with our budget, new houses were few and far between. With that being said, when one did come on the market, we had to drop everything and get there right away to see if we wanted to make an offer. Luckily about after a month of endless trips to the suburbs, we found a new home to call our own. This on top of trips to meeting with the bank, home inspection, packing and other things, we can’t wait to move in at the end of the month!
I always find myself getting super sentimental when moving day comes up. Nick and I have now lived in two different apartments, each with their own set of memories. I guess this blog post is a little selfish, as I wanted to recap our apartment living, while we move forward in purchasing our first home.
For those that don’t know, Nick and I first lived together in Bridgeport, West Virginia. It was a leap of faith when I moved there after only 6 months of long distance dating Nick. And guess what, it was worth it! One of my biggest concerns was that I wanted to make that apartment ours instead of me just moving into his bachelor pad. Nick of course agreed and the golf ball collection over the toilet was taken down, and we bought a new comfy couch together. At first, it had it’s moments where it was an adjustment living with one another, but all in all, Nick was the best roommate that I ever had! We spent days hiking through WV, nights drinking at the local pub and many evenings cooking with each other in the kitchen. We called this apartment the “Tree House” since it was on the top floor of a big wooden outdoor staircase. It held so many firsts for us as a couple and was a place where we became closer than ever.
As time went on, we knew West Virginia wasn’t our forever home and we started to think about our different options. It was between Columbus, Ohio to be between both of our families or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania near my family. As time went on more job opportunities came about in Pittsburgh, so we decided it was our place to start the thought process of putting down some roots. I had been to the Aspinwall Borough of Pittsburgh a lot due to some friends living there previously and had loved it. It was close to the city but still felt like we’d have our space and safety. After looking at some apartments, thinking about his short commute to work and the fact that there was actually sidewalks, Nick was sold on the area!
So that leads us to where we are today… our Aspinwall apartment! This apartment has been so good to us. It’s a big old house split into two different apartments with a ton of character. We have the entire second and third floor, so it’s spacious! We love our landlords and this area. We got engaged and married while living here, along with countless memories on our amazing front porch. Seriously, we love this porch aka “Bar Hinkle”. We’ve walked to the coffee shop and restaurants here more times than I can count. It has been so nice to be close to people we love again and showing our Michigan family the city!
I’m so excited for our next chapter in our first home! The TV channel here has changed from countless episodes of “Say Yes to the Dress” to now “Fixer Upper”. We are ready to get in our new home and get settled. The thought of making something ours excites us and I can’t wait to share more with you soon!
Until next time…
XO, Anna
Anna Hinkle 