Wednesday, January 18, 2012

My very first apartment.

From the time I first started making cash money through jobs, babysitting, chores, etc. I started purchasing items towards my first apartment. It was all I could do to bide the time till I was out of my Mother's house and in my own place. I lived for independence. There was one place in particular I wanted to live and I would settle for nothing less. I wanted to live in the renovated cotton mill a few towns over that they had turned into lofts.

After High School, I moved in with some friends while in limbo between living arrangements. It was two houses down from my Mother's house. Convenient, no? I was only there for a few months and I headed south for Florida to be with my best friend at the time. Naples was beautiful. Pricey, but beautiful. I still hadn't found a place to call my own though, and the lofts still called my name. When I literally fell into my airline career, I knew then that I would finally be on my own! I could get my loft! And then they stationed me in Chicago. To save money, I lived in the baggage area under the airport. Seriously. After 2 brutal months reeking of deicing solution and plane exhaust, I was confronted by my Inflight Manger who told me I finally had the seniority to be stationed in Atlanta. I took the first flight home, threw my friend in the car and went to secure my place in the Newnan Lofts. Nobody told me it was haunted until after the fact.


I lived minimally. Making my own meals! From scratch! Just for myself and nobody else but me! I had people over! I EVEN HAD PARTIES! HOSTED! IN MY OWN APARTMENT! It was a bliss nobody could have prepared me for. Sure at night you could hear children running up and down the hallway slamming doors. Sure there were times my dog would bark at absolutely nothing. Sure sometimes my milk would be on the counter when I came home from a 3 day trip. I thought nothing of the blasts of cold air coming from my speakers or the fact that my t.v. would turn itself back on minutes after turning it off. They were all just added bonuses of living in a 100 year old cotton mill.

 What you don't see is the loading dock I would back my car up to, unload 2 weeks worth of groceries and dog food, park the car and then slide every last grocery bag up each arm and power through those damn stairs. I do not miss those stairs even though my legs were probably the most toned they'd ever been in my life during that period.

Many cases of Natural Light Natty Light were enjoyed poolside. This pool will probably also be the first place I think of if I ever get diagnosed with skin cancer.
 
Despite the ghosts, the time I spent there was the best time of my life. I started dating my (now) Husband while I was there, so the romance that budded there still intoxicates me and swims through my veins whenever I think of apartment C204. The short walk to downtown during Spring and Summer still warms my skin and makes me think of the bookshops with their "Free" tables out front. The smells of hot metal after the train would pass through town still scorches my nose. I miss the lofts. I miss the nostalgia of freedom and days open to doing whatever I pleased. It was my first place and of course it will forever hold a special place in my heart.

15 comments:

  1. Those moments of finally having freedom and a place to call your own are great. It's pretty cool that your apartment was haunted....though I'm not sure how cool it would be while living there...at night...by yourself :)

    great post...it helped me remember my own 1st place memories

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  2. There are more haunting stories related to the lofts that are scattered across the internet. Pretty spooky stuff! The t.v. didn't start acting up till after my (now) Husband moved in with me. It ALWAYS freaked him out. Thinking maybe my particular ghost wanted me all to itself. ;)

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  3. It looks great and twice the size of my 1st apartment. Glad your marriage blossomed there :)

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  4. That looks like an uber-cool place...well, other than the ghosts and all!

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  5. Stasha and Melinda, it was definitely a magical (albeit spooky) apartment.

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  6. Nice place! Been living "on my own" too since I was in highschool and I can relate to your story. :)

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  7. Looks like an amazing first place, minus the ghosts. If my milk suddenly removed itself from the fridge, I would shit myself. But at least you had a pool!

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  8. Cham, we were BORN for independence!!!!

    Amy, oh believe me... I had some "shit yourself" moments. Plenty of them. The pool was FABULOUS!

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  9. Oh. My. God. That has to be the coolest first apartment ever!! Agh, I'm so jealous. I love, love, love renovated mills (we have lots up here in the Northeast). They always look so cool and the pics you have totally prove my point. And a POOL! Lucky! Totally beats my fishy smelling hole in the wall, haha.

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    1. Oh, I SO wish I still had pictures of my apartment from the inside! I have no idea where those pictures went. :(

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  10. Amazing place! I am actually thinking about moving in in the next week or so. I need something exciting and different, as I myself am exciting and different. And ghosts? BRING it.

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  11. Me and my friend were in the stairwell and heard a high pitched female screaming. It couldn't have been a neighbor's television...because the screaming lasted so long. We stood in our tracks and looked at one another with a nervous grin.

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  12. Interesting blog...Thanks for sharing your experience.People always search for apartment with minimum range in Aruba and never think about its facilities and other happening like you have mentioned. We must aware about all this.Whenever you come to visit check it properly.

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  13. I lived in the c building back in 2000. Best and scariest year of my life! I actually convinced my roommate to move out because of the activity!!! It was crazy haunted! Still loved the place though!

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  14. Daughter and BF just moved into building C. Second night the closet light turned on by itself (switch in UP position, no faulty wiring😳

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