Our First Apartment

As much as we loved vacationing for almost two months after our wedding, we were very excited to unpack our bags in the first place we would call home together. We arrived at the Thomas Apartments in the Diamond Community, and searched for apartment #14 along with the welcoming committee who had picked us up from the airport. We found out place, and eagerly unlocked the door.

I was picturing a very small, practically one room apartment, but much to my surprise and delight, we opened the door to a pretty good sized kitchen.

We followed the hallway to the bathroom on the right, small, but sufficient.

Continuing down the hallway, we entered a good sized bedroom on the left.

Since there didn't seem to be any major issues with the apartment, we said goodbye to the people who dropped us off, and quickly began checking everything out. We decided we didn't like the way the bedroom was set up, so a quick rearranging of furniture fixed that. After living out of suitcases for almost 2 months, we were ready to unpack. It didn't take us long, especially since we didn't bring much. Luke looked at me and said, "This is the first time my clothes have all fit in one drawer.

We noticed a door in our bedroom, and I thought that maybe it opened onto our own balcony. You can imagine my surprise when I flung open the door to see a couple sitting at a table on the balcony. I soon realized that it's a shared balcony with three other apartments. That turned out to be such a blessing. The couple we met live right next to us, and the wife was so happy to have another wife so close. (It can get a little lonely when your husband is in school or studying all day). They have been 

good friends to us, and such a help for advice or companionship. We also met our other neighbor that night on the balcony. He is a single Army veteran, medically discharged. The night we arrived, we spent a few hours on the balcony just talking and getting to know each other.

Our apartment isn't perfect. The balcony door has cracks so wide the light shines through easily and probably let bugs in as well, the front door doesn't line up right, leaving a large opening, our dishes and cookware are a strange conglomeration, but we are so grateful for our little place to call home.

It's definitely a new experience living here.  I've lost track of the number of cockroaches we've killed, along with tiny ants. We keep almost all our food in the refrigerator, including cereal to keep out bugs. A lizard came into the apartment yesterday. I thought it would be gross to squish him, so I got the dust pan to chase him out. Well, he disappeared when I went to get the dust pan, and I never saw him again.

We have a gas stove where you have to actually light it with matches or a lighter. Cooking can be interesting at times because there is no low setting on the burners. We brought adapters for the outlets. Each outlet has an on and off switch. There are no outlets in the bathroom. The light switches seem backwards as you have to tilt them down to turn on the light. The sinks are very shallow, so dishes must be done very regularly.
There is so much to be thankful for! We have Wi-Fi, a pool, cable TV, we don't have to pay for laundry, and a maid comes and cleans twice a week.

We live in a gated community with security 24/7. Our neighbors are all medical students, as well. There are a few dogs that roam around here. Thankfully, there are no rabies in St. Vincent, and the dogs are not vicious. We also have 3 turtles that live at our apartment complex. We named the smallest one Cooper, but we have yet to name the other two.

The school has vans that come multiple times per day to take students or their families to and from school. I'm In the weekends, they take us to town and to grocery stores. If we run out of food before Saturday, there is a grocery store about 7-8 minutes walk away.
It's been an adventure, but we are enjoying living here.