In which we find a Home {Day 20}

Friday we woke up early, and ate breakfast leisurely in our little hotel suite. We stayed at Candlewood Suites for our first week in Denver and it was really nice. We had a full kitchen, a spacious room and two comfy queen beds. KK's pack n play fit nicely without taking up all of the floor space, and they even offered free laundry down by the main lobby!

As we drove to our first appointment, we resolved to let go of the disappointment of Thursday and just be open to whatever God had for us today. As we drove up the highway, the mountains stood up tall in the West and I thought, man, they are so beautiful, and so reassuring! Everything is going to be ok!



As we pulled into the main entrance of the latest complex, my heart sank a little. It was so beautiful I was sure it was going to be completely out of our price range. We pulled in and parked, and headed into the office with the kiddos. Our leasing agent was incredibly friendly, and after taking our driver's license, we headed out the door and onto the golf cart. Apparently that's standard procedure here in Colorado to take your license, so that if anything were to happen to the leasing agent the police know exactly who they were with. Interesting, right?

Mountain Views

We visited a 1st floor 2 bedroom to start off, and it was really nice. The price was right too. Looking around, I thought, the only thing that would make this thing better is if I could see the mountains from the patio! I looked out but no dice. So I randomly asked the agent if there were any second floor apartments available. And - YES! We all hopped in the golf cart again (the kids loved that) and zoomed over to the next apartment.



We walked up into the apartment, and I LOVED it. The great room was flooded with light, the kitchen was a great size and open to the great room, the bedrooms were very large with HUGE closets, and yes, when I looked out the balcony, there were the mountains! The kids ran around exploring while we talked details with the agent. The price was right, the lease was only seven months, and we could move in... immediately! We were shocked. :) We went to go collect the kids and found Javi bouncing around in the closet, shoes off and already at home.

We loaded the kids back into the van and drove away, and I told Lover "I could totally live there." I loved it. He had really liked it too, but wanted to see if we could find anywhere that was just a little closer to work (it was about a 25min drive to work). So we found a park to let the kids play for a bit since our next appointment wasn't until 1pm.





KK mostly tried to get into my purse, while Javi dominated this backhoe. Does it get any better than your own personal backhoe when you are two? It does not.



Rec Center

So - after park time and lunch, we headed out to another appointment, this one very close to work. We pulled in, and I thought - hmm, probably not. You know how you just get a vibe right away? It just seemed huge and dark and depressing. The girl took us up to model (on the sixth floor, this place was huge) and although nicely decorated, even the model looked worn and had some maintenance issues. She took us back down the hallway  - there were maybe 20 apts to a floor? and cheerfully pointed out the single washer and dryer that were available for the entire floor. All I could picture was my kids' latest escapade leaving me with loads of laundry that were piling up in the corner because those machines would never be free. Downstairs she showed us the pool, outdoor fire pit area and mentioned that they had a fitness center and racquetball, squash and tennis courts as well. The whole place kind of reminded me of a rec center that they had built apartments on top of.

Turns out that although the rent was very low, the mandatory utility fee was hundreds of dollars a month which made it no cheaper than the first apt we had looked at that morning. So we were happily able to cross that one off the list.

We headed back to the hotel to try to put the kids down for naps. KK slept a bit, my little boy who never needs sleep did not, and we discovered that the property we looked at in the morning was owned by a huge apartment company that had 10 other properties here in Denver. We found one that was much closer to work, and headed over there to check out our options.



The Girl who Hated her Job

This sister property to Mountain Views was shown to us by a very nice girl who very strongly disliked her job. Apparently her husband had been ready for a change and got a job in Denver, so they moved out here. She apparently was much more of a California beach girl at heart. She showed us the 2 bedroom they had available, and it was very nice. The layout wasted a little bit more space than Mountain Views apartment, and the kitchen was not open to the main rooms. Also, no mountain views. It was also a 3rd floor apartment and those stairs were killing me! I'm still adjusting to the altitude here, and stairs really leave me breathless.

California girl told us about one last property that was almost next door, also a sister property. So we headed over there to look around because these were townhouses (more space!) They actually didn't have any apartments available to show, but showed us some pictures and invited us to come back the next day for a viewing.

In which we make a decision

So  we headed back to the hotel for the evening, to discuss our options. And - we picked the Mountain Views! Hurray! We immediately started the lease/background check/application process which went very smoothly and takes less than 24 hours. Which meant - Saturday was move-in day!