buying a flat

In the next month my lovely other half and myself will have been going out for four years. "Four Years?" I hear you say, that is a long time. Well, I imagine you are saying that because before I started going out with Craig I used to talk to people who had been going out for anything more than two years and think Wow, that is ages. But now after four glorious years, time no longer surprises me because i know that actually time can fly by.

But anyway, that is not the point of this post. After four years we have decided to move in together. Now often moving in together involves discussions about whose place you move in to and the clearing of half a wardrobe and 2 drawers to let your other half slot into your life.

This however is not the case for Craig and myself. We both still stay with the parents. Blissful in a  house that has a fully stocked fridge and someone who will help out with the laundry. Therefore moving in together for us involves saving lots and lots for a deposit and trawling around flats until we find "the one."

Now, saving for a deposit is not fun. Not because I don't want a flat, but more because it is a long process and you look at the money building up and say things like- "Imagine the holiday we could get on that" and eventually as you reach your desired amount "We could probably drop everything and explore the world for a year on that!"

However  as tempting as all of these things are, you just have to keep reminding yourself that actually the money can go towards your first home and can be the start of your future together.

And so with this in mind I have given up clothes shopping and have missed many nights out and now we are here. Ready to enter into the category of "First time buyers."
According to the news we are a dying breed and I am not surprised, buying a first home is hard. If we hadn't both been fortunate enough to save without paying rent I think I would be writing this post aged 35, not now.

It is a daunting idea buying a place. Especially at the moment when you are faced with stories about people trapped in their first homes because they cant afford the next step up the ladder. But I guess it is like most things in life which are worth doing- it is a leap of faith. Yes it is scary and exciting but in the end, I think everything will be ok.

But anyway I am getting off the point. So, Craig and I are getting our first home together (Hopefully the first of a few as ultimately I want a turret, don't worry he is aware of this. I want to sit in my turret and write great things.)

Now I am sure you are thinking I am speaking a-lot about the actual property and not the fact that this is quite a big step in a relationship. Now, I have no doubt that once we live together we will both do things which irritate the lives out of each other (for example Craig ALWAYS leaves his wet towel on the bed, a habit which already drives me nuts) but I think the majority of the time we will bounce happily along. Because, the thing is, I am not scared about the living together part. It just feels right. We are ready to live together and I think we have been for quite a while. So you can call me naive if you want but when it comes to actually living with Craig I am not worried. But don't worry once we move in together I will keep you updated.

But the hunt for a flat is quite epic. Little things can make the perfect flat terrible. I seem to have a fondness of flats with wood boring insects. Turns out these are a big "NO" when buying property. Also, it might surprise you to hear, but we are not loaded and so on our budget in the City Centre (which is where we would like to live while we are still relatively young) our options are small (literally).

We have seen many flats where you couldn't get us both in the kitchen (this did not please chef Craig and did nothing for my worries about the size of my bum). There were some where the double bedroom advertised was a blatant lie. Yes you could get a double bed in it but nothing else.

However we have spent the past two months looking desperately on ASPC at the flats available and going to viewings when we can. This post has ended up to be very long so I am going to stop here and if you want to find out if we have found the right flat... you will have to tune in next time.

Kisses

Fi

xxxxx

six months on.

First, I must apologise, it has been a long time since I have blogged to you all. I realise that probably no-one missed me too much but if you did I am sorry.

When I started this Blog I set it up to pass on my experiences of graduating from university and what life has brought me. I went a little off course with tales of spiders and just the general ridiculousness of my life, but i thought I would give you all an update on life after Uni.

This week I finished my 6 months probation period of my first ever paid job as a reporter. It seems they are going to keep me - which is nice of them!!

So what has it been like doing uni and getting a job in what I want to do? Honestly, it has caused me mixed emotions. From excitement of yes this great and what I want to do, to I am so bored and disillusioned I want to cry to I am terrified and am not cut out for this. I think these feelings are fairly normal (or at least I hope they are!!)

I will admit that I have quite often been bored, not because I am so brilliant that the work is too easy, but simply that sometimes there isn't much to do. It is on days like these I have to remind myself that this is my first step and that I should just be grateful to be in the position I am in. I get to sit and write all day which for me is pretty much living the dream!

However it is still a little scary to no longer be a student, I know that sounds silly but some mornings when my alarm goes off at 7 I close my eyes and dream of 2pm lectures and weekday nights out. I think the adjustment from education of any kind to work is hard!I

Fortunately, for my sanity a  number of my friends finished uni at the same time of me and so we were all a little bit lost together. And to be honest I think that many of us will admit that we are still a little lost by it all. There are so many questions to be answered- Where do I want to live? What do I want to do? Do I want to start work straight away? To name but a few.

So I have watched my friends and myself all go through different experiences. Some have jobs they want, some have jobs they don't want and others are planning adventures in distant lands. But I think all things considered, we are all doing pretty well. Some days I find myself in my office thinking; what is the point? I have no idea how I am going to get where I want to be. It can be frustrating and disheartening. But it can also be exciting. I sometimes look at my dream jobs and think- that will never be me! But now I just keep telling myself- someone has to do it, so why not me?

I also know people who simply don't know what they want to do. But how many of us actually do?

As the sunscreen song says: "Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives."

But regardless of where my friends are in their lives, I am so very proud of all of us. Because well, we have come so far and we have reached so high. . .

But no seriously, on the whole, things are going well. I am happy and content for now and am looking forward to seeing what the next six months will bring. . .  oh and I promise I will try to start blogging more.

Love and kisses,

Fi

xxxx