new normal | | finding routine in transition

Sorry for the iPhone pano this is my kitchen "before" I moved anything in.

Today is the day, I go back to work - and because I don't have large amounts of PTO saved up (I'm only 8 months into my current job) I will be working the next 9 consecutive days in a row to make up for having the last 9 days off. I jokingly texted my friend saying back to work - hopefully I didn't forget how to be a nurse! In all seriousness it was entirely beneficial and came at a perfect time to take some days off. It allowed me to fully move into my house and find spots for everything, as well as make way too many trips to Target in order to get this place into working order. It's entirely stressful starting off on your own knowing all the money spent is coming from my bank account and will need to be held accordingly to budget. It's really been a good experience overall and I truly have the most awesome friends and family that helped me move, transition and feel at home in the new space. While I continue to figure out this whole "homemaking" thing out I hope that I can start to find balance and routine. I plan on trying to cook my own meals - eating all the "food groups".

Part of my internal struggle is trying to hold true to my values and goals of living simply, with the mantra "quality over quantity", but also knowing it's okay to wait for somethings and my apartment is a continued work in progress. I continue to remind myself that as I live in this space I will begin to figure out what works for me and what is necessary. I plan to continue to sort and purge quarterly and make sure I keep with the essentials. The biggest bonus of my new place that I didn't anticipate is that my apartment is within walking distance of my brothers school, so he can come over whenever he would like and hang out between activities or just say hi. I am so thankful for this because he's a senior in high school and I am anticipating that he won't be in the same state as me for college - and I want to soak up all the "lasts" as I can while he's still here, just as I did with my other brother. Maybe sometime in the near future I will make a post about moving and the best and worst things I did in the process, also maybe hints on when to splurge and when to save around this place. You can also follow me on instagram with the hashtag #Apartment1forone

In keeping with the theme of crappy iPhone pictures:

I am standing in the "dining room" when taking this photograph, left door is my itty bitty bedroom, then the kitchen, bathroom, and the main large closet, behind me is the living room area. Voila, that's my space!