So we have an apartment to move into next month. We aren't going to be homeless. The rent is much less than we are paying now and the owner doesn't mind big dogs. He also didn't require paycheck stubs which would have been an issue since we're unemployed and all...but seriously, we can pay the rent on what we get in benefits. We've been paying much more than that for months.

The place is nicer than I thought we'd get. Two bedroom/ 1.5 bath, walk in closet in the master bedroom, fireplace in the living room. Kitchen is larger than what we have now and done up nicely. It's cute and in a totally cute neighborhood full of dogs being walked by friendly people.

The only catch is it's not in Orange County. It's in Long Beach. Kevin is happy, he's moving back to his beloved city. I'm happy because it's more apartment for less money and its in a nice residential neighborhood.

It'll be weird leaving my little area. I know the stores, I have my favorite local restaurants... But beggars can't be choosers here. I'd pay more for half the space, maybe a studio or tiny one bedroom, in Orange County. Few places allowed big dogs, so that narrowed it down even more. And the one we did find was so ridiculous on their credit check/employment verification, we couldn't be sure we'd get a place after paying fees to do all the checks. And that place cost the same as this one and was half the size.

I was beginning to stress out... So grateful we have somewhere to go. I was really getting discouraged at the whole apartment search. Felt like we'd never find a place.

But we did. It's just in Long Beach. But this means less financial stress for us. We can hopefully focus more on our writing, my business and take part time jobs as a worst case scenario and still survive. It's a huge relief to be out of this ridiculously expensive apartment. We have managed to pay the rent every month, but it sucks... It's been tight. It'll be nice to have a little more cash (granted we won't be rolling in the dough still).

Anyway, that's where I've been lately... Searching for a place to live. Now it'll be packing. We need boxes. We also need to figure out how Kevin and I are going to move all this heavy stuff ourselves. But we will make it work.

And yay for a totally cute apartment!