After a few false starts and failed negotiations, both of my apartments sold within days of each other, which led to a brief sense of homelessness, but it will be nice to have the freedom to choose where I want to live. I’ve looked at a few places already, but none have been extremely promising. Either the roommates are … continue reading: Moved (my stuff, not my blog)]]> It is done.

After a few false starts and failed negotiations, both of my apartments sold within days of each other, which led to a brief sense of homelessness, but it will be nice to have the freedom to choose where I want to live. I’ve looked at a few places already, but none have been extremely promising. Either the roommates are too sedentary, parking is overly inconvenient, or the apartment is simply in disrepair. I’m optimistic about a showing I have scheduled for Saturday morning — the apartment is actually owned by one of the students who will be living there in the fall. There isn’t any covered parking, which will be extremely annoying in the winter, and the apartment is on the third floor (not that I’m scared of a few stairs, especially considering I’ll be driving to campus from work each day anyway), which may get a little old. What I’m really interested to see is the ward/social environment. No matter how nice the apartment is, if it’s going to be the same as my previous ward, then there would be little sense in repeating the same blunder.

On the topic of the social life here at BYU, I haven’t yet decided if I want to stay in … continue reading: Four weddings]]> In the past week alone, I’ve received four wedding invitations/announcements, which sets a new personal record for the number received in a single week. Three of those four were from mission friends/companions, while one was for my cousin’s wedding later this month.

On the topic of the social life here at BYU, I haven’t yet decided if I want to stay in the same ward next fall. I’ve signed a contract at Mt. Vista after successfully negotiating myself out of a rent increase, but one of the guys who I was hoping would move in wasn’t able to come up with the deposit in time. Because our apartment complex is at the very edge of our ward boundaries, the social scene is pretty quiet. Since it doesn’t look like I’ll be having a sociable roommate (my current ones are great, don’t get me wrong, they’re just somewhat antisocial), I may want to find a different complex where there’s a bit more going on in that aspect. The problem is, at 24, I’m hesitant to move into a ward where the average age is 21 or 22. My current ward, while geographically abstruse, is wonderful in the fact that the average age (for males) is 24-25. Plus there’s the economic factor. I could afford a nicer apartment, but those complexes typically cater to a more, dare I say, snobbish clique. It would be foolish to move to a new ward/complex in hopes of a better social scene with the foreknowledge that I would have little in common with the majority of the ward. It’s my personal belief that relationships usually have a better chance of success when the two parties have similar socioeconomic backgrounds.

To summarize, were I to look for a new apartment and ward, these would be my criteria:

• Social roommates. Not party roommates, just social ones.
• A nice apartment. I don’t care how nice the roommates are if the place is a dump. I do have to live there, even if only on nights and weekends.
• An older ward. Sorry, but I have to admit that in most cases maturity is directly correlated with age.
• Peers from middle to upper middle class families. I’m not trying to hate on either end of the spectrum, there are some amazing people who don’t fit inside that range, but if your dad bought you a car that’s worth as much as my first house will be, something is wrong.
• Within walking distance to campus. Even if I never have to walk to campus again, it’d be nice to be close enough that I could do so should the need arise.