First Impressions...

So after five days on the road, we were both pretty nervous as we drove into our apartment complex in South Bend/Mishawaka - our home for the next few years. Given the general impressions that a smaller city in Indiana evokes (mullets, cornfields…and…ahh...well), we were happy to find that our apartment lay just off a main road, with shops and a mall, and not in the middle of a field. The apartment complex is beautiful and indeed has all the things we were told about: two lakes, complete with ducks, a gazebo and a waterfall, tennis courts, basketball courts and swimming pools. As for our apartment, it turned out to be much bigger than expected, with a balcony and plenty of room for the small amount of stuff we have brought with us.

So we signed our lease, collected our keys, and moved our stuff in (about a 30 second process), and now are happily deciding where exactly to put our inflatable mattress - a tough decision when you have no other furniture to speak of. Now, after a year long application process, much preparation, and five days driving across the country, it seems all is well, and we will be happily able to carve out our own little piece of existence in northern Indiana.

While we survived the trip across the country, we are both fighting off colds and severely sleep deprived from various coughing fits throughout the night. Now armed with little sense, even less money, and two weeks before we start school, we are going to attempt to furnish our apartment…no doubt the true test of a relationship.

Pictured: The view from our balcony - and our apartment complex.