Stephanie Eva: Life Gets Messy | Real Talk #8 (and a peek into the finished apartment)

Over the last few weeks, Spencer and I have spent our free time unboxing and decorating, hanging curtains and laying down rugs. Moving into our new apartment went from an estimated two-day excursion to a full two-week calamity. Now that the dust has settled, I'm reflecting on our experience and where else better to share it than in my real talk series?!

My whole life has been a lesson in flexibility. Not the physical, but the mental type. At times I have been quite inflexible when it comes to a shift in the plan. I remember when I was young traveling to Holland space available (been doing it my whole life like this!) we were scheduled to fly into Chicago but the plane was full and we were changed to fly into Washington. One of my parents made a comment like, "there goes our luggage to Chicago, without us!" and I lost it, demanding that we make it to Chicago, because at the time I did not realize what it meant to be "flexible". Of course over the past several years I have been developing that "go with the flow" mentality, and I have the messier events in my life to thank for that. I feel like no matter how much planning you do, things are going to change. Life is messy, and unpredictable. I really believe that this is half the fun of living. If you can foresee everything in life, it becomes predictable and probably boring, which is something I like to remind myself every time a plan goes awry.

The plan was to have our new washer/dryer installed as we brought in and unpacked boxes. From there we would start a load of laundry, eat lunch, and continue to unload the moving van while the sun shined on us. After returning the moving van we would have all of our personal belongings inside the new apartment and finish unpacking by the next day.

Now, here is what actually happened. We woke up in our old apartment to an early-morning thunder accompanied by pouring rain. Spencer and our friend, Jacob, went to a hardware store to pick up rain coats and packing tape while I stayed behind to finish packing up the odds and ends I was too tired to pack the night before. I thought to take out the trash, and as the door clicked behind me I realized that I'd just locked myself out of the building. I ran to the dumpster, and returned to the door to wait another ten minutes until a little old man came to my rescue. "It's not a good idea to lock yourself out in the rain." he said. No duh I thought.

When we arrived at our lease-signing appointment for the new apartment, things were looking up. The rain had ceased and the apartment was beautiful and sunny. As we dropped off the first load of boxes I checked my phone and saw a missed call and voicemail from an "unknown" number. I listened to the message, which was from the company delivering our washer and dryer. They called to confirm a reschedule of the installation. I called them back, because the delivery was supposed to happen THAT DAY, and after the longest five minutes of bickering with the customer service representative I realized that there was nothing to do but wait until the next day. The move continued on until the late afternoon when we went to drop off the moving truck. We met up with my mom (who had thankfully been cleaning all day at our old apartment, one less thing to worry about.. THANK YOU MOM) and dropped off the old keys at the leasing office.

When we returned to our new apartment there was a very strong smell of weed in both the hallway and the bedroom area. To this day we still haven't been able to solve the slight smell that passes through. It's annoying, but tolerable with my new scent melter from Yankee Candle. I guess a pretty apartment has a smelly cost.

Day two was met with another set of challenges with the washer/dryer. When the installation crew went to plug in the washer, there was no outlet within reach. I called the apartment office, and was told that I would have to hire an electrician to install an outlet for it. Between the missing outlet and the marijuana puffs I was feeling pretty hopeless. After about a week without clean clothing, we were able to run a heavy-duty extension cord and are sitting pretty with fresh laundry.

There have been a handful of other move-related complications. Pesky neighbors, in-cohesive stories from our apartment office staff, and numerous trips to return ill-fitting curtains and rugs. The point of this whole moving story is that things (shit) happen(s), and life will get messy. You have to deal and live through it as it hits. Enjoy the twists and turns that life throws at you! Even your darkest times can hold some beautiful memories. Eventually the "storm" will pass and you'll be left with that beautiful rainbow everyone talks about!