So I haven't really *officially* announced it on my blog, but I moved in with my boyfriend!
...and his brother lol.
Consider this my official announcement on my blog. A little over a month ago I packed up my apartment and moved in with my boyfriend and his brother. The decision was a bit last minute, but I'm so happy and grateful for how everything worked out. Let's take a little rewind on how we got here though.
Back in April, I was starting to look at my living options for the next year. My cousin who I was living with was graduating in the spring and had already made the decision to move back home with her parents. On top of that, the few people I knew that were still in Charlotte already have living arrangements for the next year or are already settled into living with their significant other. With no solid leads on potential roommates and not wanting to gamble with living with a complete stranger, I had made the decision at the time to live by myself. Thus began the series of searching on every apartment site in my area, making sure they were in a safe part of town and of course, checking to see if they were within my budget.
We were still in the stay-at-home orders back in April so the only way I could tour each space that fit all of my criteria was through viral tours. After weeks of calls, pros and cons lists, and virtual tours I have narrowed it down to two potential options. As I started to get excited about the thought of having a space of my own, the main major drawback was my financials. At the time my hours were cut short due to COVID and with so little being known at the time I was very worried if it was financially smart/possible for me to even get an apartment on my own (bc let me tell ya. One bedroom apartments are priiiiccccyyyy).
My boyfriend knew how stressful my living situation was and he and his brother had come together and offered me the option to move in with them. They lived a short distance away from my apartment and since I was over there all the time anyway, they figured me moving in wasn't going to make that big of a difference. I was hesitant at first with many concerns being "is it too soon to move in with my boyfriend?" "Would it be too crowded with the three of us?" "How would this affect our relationship?" "What if we break up?" etc. etc. etc.
After much thought and discussion, I decided it was the best move for me to move in with them. And I'm so glad I did! It's been a little over a month and even though there are still some things for us to get accustomed to, things have been pretty smooth sailing. I will say the biggest challenge is finding space to store everything I've brought from my apartment over to a space that's already furnished... and of course sharing a closet with my boyfriend. lol.
I thought it'd be fun if I brought my boyfriend, Christian on to share some of his thoughts on our first month living together. Here are some of his answers below!
HOW'S IT BEEN LIVING TOGETHER SO FAR?
A: So far so good! Like I said, I was over a lot before I moved in anyway so really not much has changed except for the fact that my stuff is here now.
C: I agree, that it wasn't that big of a change since she was constantly here. I would say the biggest change for me is that I no longer have 100% control over a room that I've lived in for five years now. Also, adjusting to the fact that Amy has the right to make demands on chores in a space that I've lived in for so long and have had my own way of keeping clean.
DO YOU STRUGGLE WITH HAVING YOUR OWN PERSONAL SPACE?
A: Not as much as I thought we would. We had moved his desk with his gaming setup out of the bedroom into a small office room and I think that's helped a lot. Especially since there are three of us working from home here in this space it's been nice that we are able to each have our own room to work in.
C: Yeah it's been great for me to be able to escape into the office and have time for myself, but it's inconvenient at times when I have to take a nap in our bedroom and Amy has to leave because she can't stand my snoring. (lolol) But otherwise, I feel like it's easy to find time and space to ourselves.
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT SPLITTING THINGS UP IN TERMS OF GROCERIES, CHORES, ETC?
A: In terms of groceries, household items, etc, straight down the middle. I made it very clear to Christian when I moved in I wasn't the type who likes to feel like I owe people something. We made an agreement to split the cost of things evenly which has worked well with us so far. In terms of chores... we're still working on that lol.
C: I think it's great that we're not in the type of relationship where one person is expected to do or pay for everything. It's easy for us to just ask the other to pitch in on certain things, but at the end of the day, I know that Amy is better at cleaning and I handle all of the cooking. We both agree that's now how we always want it to be and we try to keep each other pretty accountable for accommodating one another....but, yeah, getting me to clean often is still a work in progress. lol.
HOW'S THE CLOSET SITUATION?
A: We work with what we have lol. The closet really is a decent size, but coming from a space where I had a walk-in closet all to myself to a standard closet that I now have to share was a little bit of a challenge to figure out at first. I am very lucky in that Christian is kind enough to give most of the storage room for my things as I do have a liiiiitle more clothes. I am a style blogger after all. lol
C: Lol there is no closet situation. I get zero space. That's it.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT LIVING TOGETHER?
A: I now only have to take a few short steps to annoy Christian vs having to drive five minutes down the road. Lol, but really it's nice to know that even if we're both having a long busy day we are guaranteed to see each other at night. We also are going to save a lot of $$$ on date nights now that we see each other every day which is great lol.
C: My favorite thing would have to be being able to annoy Amy pretty much whenever I want haha. I know it's pretty corny but she's my best friend and it is great to be able to update her about my day, pop in to show her a dumb video, or just make dinner together every night (she just heats up vegetables). But my absolute favorite thing is that she has a key to the place and I no longer have to get up in the middle of a game with the boys to let her in lol.
And there's the tea on living together, lol. Be sure to follow along on Instagram for more peeks on what it's like to live together! I'll be sure to share more on our journey of living together along the way. If you have any questions about living with a significant other leave them down below! I think it'd be fun to do these interview update posts every now and then to check-in!
I hope you all are doing well and as always, thank you for reading!
xoxo,
Amy
