Looking Back.....

This time last year, everything was new and exciting. I had to just moved into my new apartment w/ my best friend from childhood. We were always together enjoying the simplest things in our new apartment.....like the fact that we actually had a patio to sit out on and try to figure out our new neighbors and inviting people over to see our new pad.

We had so much fun trying to figure out what our "Sexy Neighbor's" name was and if he had a girlfriend/wife. We eventually asked him one day on his way to his apartment.....his name was Steven and he was 22. But we still called him Sexy Neighbor..haha! We actually became really good friends w/ him...going to the movies, out to eat, bowling, the mall, etc. He ended up moving 7 months later and we had a falling out......it's a shame because he was really hot! Not too smart, but easy on the eyes....lol.

We had 3 Canadian neighbors that we were convinced were terrorists! They all lived in one apartment(2 bedroom, one slept on the couch) and were always coming and going. They were really loud and always speeding away from the apartment our whipping their cars in abruptly. They were up till all hours of the night, always pacing around outside on their phones, sometimes yelling.

One night I heard someone being really loud, so I opened the front door. And to my surprise, found the Canadians w/ their door open and vomit all over the sidewalk!! They were in the process of cleaning it up. We had never met face to face before...we just wondered about them from a distance.....Audreia(my room mate) was already in bed. They invited me over for a drink...and I went.....ALONE!! What was I thinking? I have no idea, but those 3 guys( Kirk, Scotty, And Major) became some of our closest friends. We had our own little rituals like: we would all go together out on the weekend and then go to Jack in the Box on the way home, Every Sunday we would watch the Cowboys and we would take turn cooking dinner, I baked whatever new recipe I found and they would eat it, or they would request things and I baked them. We even celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with them.....they cooked it all, of course theirs is a little different food wise then ours. But they asked me to bake homemade Pumpkin and Apple pies for the occasions, which I did( the first time I ever attempted homemade pies).

Their lease was only short term and they eventually moved back to Toronto. But I learned alot about myself through those guys. Kirk and I became like best friends and we confided in each other alot. They didn't have alot of friends here because their stay was temporary. His wife was back in Canada, so he needed someone to keep a straight head on him while here.

I also found out alot about my room mate that I didn't know...even after 21 years. We are very different in soooo many ways. I have lived with a few people in my time, but I thought this would be a piece of cake. Well, the first 2 months were......she helped keep the apartment clean, help buy things for the apartment, etc. Little did I know, that from that point on, all of the responsibilities would fall on me....cleaning, buy trash bags, dishwasher soap, groceries, etc. It is sooo hard to live w/ someone who is sooo different than you! I call other friends and vent, but that's just Audreia. She thinks I'm controlling( reminding her about turning off lights, keeping doors and windows shut, picking up her 50 million shoes out of the living room, putting her trash in the trash, etc), and I think she's a slob! haha! But for some reason, I wouldn't trade it for the world.......it works.....we never REALLY argue......we just move on. Opinions are voiced but hateful words are not spoken. We just renewed our lease a few months ago.

So looking back, when we moved in together, we were moving in on uncharted territory. Everything was new, the apartment, neighbors, responsibilities, bonds, etc. And I'm glad we did......we have met some awesome people along the way and grown up in more ways than one.

It's amazing how different things can be after a year... =)