It's official

M and I are not renewing our lease. And after March, we won't be roommates either. M is going to move downtown and I...well, I haven't quite figured it all out yet. If you asked me last week where I was living come April, I would've confidently told you I was moving back into my parent's house. But, in a recent conversation with my mom she recognized that I wouldn't be happy at home and that in some ways it would be "a step back." I agree with her, but it's pretty costly living alone & finding a roommate presents another challenge, especially because most of my friends here either are married already or live alone and are currently in leases. So we'll see, surprisingly I'm just happy that we for sure made the decision of whether to renew or not. Now I have two months of making up my mind.

I contacted the Apartment Finders, have scoured craigslist, and even posted on Facebook that I'm looking for a roommate. Apartment Finders got back to me but most of the 1 bedroom apartments they found in my price range don't have washer/dryers included. So I'm going to keep looking. At this point I'm just open to wherever life takes me. I know, it's a very Zen approach, even for me. But all I can do at this point is take each day in stride, appreciate the last months in my beautiful apartment, and hope for the best.

While on craigslist the other day, I saw a posting for a girl that's looking for a roommate. She's a PhD student at CU, and has lived in the US for 6 years; she's originally from Taiwan. She's very quiet, doesn't do drugs, and seems very friendly. We emailed back and forth about places and just answering general "about me" questions. She seems like a good fit...I mean clearly no one can replace M, but for a roommate, she doesn't seem too bad. The only drawback at this point is that she needs a place to live by Feb. 6. She emailed me the other day saying that she's still looking for a roommate and found a nice condo to rent. She offered if I could move out early, that we could have a trial period of sorts. I'm still confuzzled by her email to be honest, but I think that's what she was suggesting. I emailed her back about the place, and am awaiting to hear back. I might meet her for coffee or tea this weekend to see if we'd even get along. Who knows, we might or might not be roommates. My mom freaked out when I told her I had been emailing a girl from Taiwan, but ultimately, it's my decision. I have to make my own mistakes. But I'm very open minded to different cultures and personalities.

I think either way I'll be fine. At first I was freaked out about living alone. Like what will I do if I hear scary noises at night? It won't do any good to call someone because if it is something serious, I'm screwed. But after my intial freak out session, I am confident that I'll be fine either way--alone or with a roommate. I just think at this point, I definitely don't want to live at home. But, if I don't find a place by March 31, I know I can go home. So either way, I'll be fine.