Not Homeless Anymore

I am pleased to announce that we are no longer homeless.  We have an address that is not c/o Ohio Light Opera and it is in Binghamton, New York!  I am not going to publish it here, partially because we won't be able to get mail there for about a month.  The important thing is that we know where we are going to live when we leave here in a month.  In a lot of ways it is really a miracle.  In my hunting process I found out that Binghamton University decided to admit 3,000 additional students this year, so that is why housing is going fast.

I started to look at craigslist and apartments.com a couple of weeks ago.  About a week and a half ago I started calling people about apartments and found out that things were going quickly (affordable apartments were going within 72 hours of being posted), so I knew that I needed to get to Binghamton and secure a place for us... and fast.  I was able to go on Tuesday this week.  I enjoyed the 7 hour drive - there are lots of trees and some beautiful lakes between here and there.  At one point I was admiring the hills I was driving through, just to notice what could only be a ski slope and realized I was in the "mountains" in Western New York.  I had several appointments set up for that evening to see some places, most of which ended up being way too big, or way too small, or just plain scary.  

Wednesday morning I had some luck and found our apartment.  It is in a building that was completely gutted and is being rebuilt.  Our apartment is the first one that will be done, so there will be construction for a little while while we are there, but it will be worth it.  It has hard wood floors throughout and brand new everything as far as appliances go... and it includes a washer and a dryer (No more Quarters! Yeah!).  It also includes all new fixtures in the bathroom, and one of the interior walls is exposed brick.  It is really charming.  It is on the east end of downtown (which is less run down that a lot of the city, and according to the LDS missionaries is a great part of town).  And all of this is going to be within our projected budget. I was the first person to put money down on moving into the building, but there were three people in line behind me with checkbooks in hand.  

Wednesday afternoon as I was driving home with my receipt for the deposit in-hand I felt like we have definitely been led to be in New York State at this time, and like our Heavenly Father is doing everything in his power to make sure we actually get there.  This all makes me feel so loved and blessed.