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I tried to get a good angle of our apartment building but it's kinda hard on this street due to all the cars passing and trees blooming. You can really only see a third of the building here... we're the second floor on the left hidden behind the leaves. It's a beautiful large brick structure with bits of gothic style, what was once supposedly a single family dwelling is now a 16 unit apartment building. Like I said, it's huge! 

I did a little Googling and came across this black and white photo of when the building was relatively new. If we're speaking in house years though I don't think the building would be considered "old" today, built in 1924 it's not even a 100 years old yet. When we moved in last year it had just celebrated its 90th birthday. We know of some recent history in the building, but I'm sure every home has some skeletons in its closet. The squeeze and I both agree that this has been our favorite apartment either of us has lived in, what a wonderful first place this has been!

I know nothing we find in Austin will have the charm like the buildings in Portland do; from wonky floors to temperamental showers, fake decorative mantels to enormous bay windows. I will miss the massive brick walls we have and the loft above our bed, the crooked kitchen cabinets and the sink that sounds like it's choking on water. It will be a bittersweet farewell when we say our goodbyes to our spooky house.

Loft

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures. The squeeze took this within a couple days of us moving into our apartment, Pig had just discovered the loft and out of the sheer excitement her pupils took over her eyeballs. We opted to keep our bed on the floor and the loft as a means of storage since we really had none, but ultimately it kind of turned into Pig's own room. When the ladder goes up, so does she. Since we keep all of our bedding and blankets up there it's quite the sweet spot for a little cat.

I told the squeeze it made me a little misty-eyed having to move her again, especially since she's taken such a liking to the ladder/loft setup, he (always) optimistically replied that when we get a house some day we'll just have to put ladders all over the place for her to climb.

I am definitely OK with this, In fact, the idea of having a loft has really grown on me. Some day!

First

I'll look back on this photo and remember that this was our first Christmas tree together. It was also our first apartment together. Well, technically we moved across the hall into this apartment when it opened up, but I don't really count the first unit because we lived there for only two months.

There's the squeeze passed out in front of the heater, I'll never quite understand his desire to nap in front of something that gets dangerously hot, especially when the risk of injury from him falling asleep are high. In a memorable "I told you so" moment, one day I discovered him wandering around with a grill mark on his lower back. I gasped when I saw it, which led to him gasping and panicking. I pointed out the fresh burns and let him have it.

Does he still nap in front of the heater? Of course.

This will always be our first apartment together, our first tree together, and that time the squeeze burned his butt on the rinnai heater.

Home Sweet Home

I love our little apartment. It's cozy, charming, bright, and cheery. Located practically downtown, we're just a walk away from most of our favorite spots. The building has an old spooky mansion feel to it with gothic accents on the exterior, in the summertime vines envelope it making it even creepier. We wouldn't change a thing though!

I try to use colorful things in our little domain, it helps this time of year to have something other than white to stare at. All those pretty flowers, courtesy of the squeeze, definitely cheer up the space even more.

Even with the constant view today of Storm Juno from our big bay living room windows, the coziness prevails.