New Luxury Apartment

Here is a short video of my semi complete apartment. I am trying to still keep the minimalist idea going. I just want to add a few pieces of art, furnish the guest room (aka Alyssa's room), get a stand for living room, a night stand and washer/dryer set. This apartment has way more cabinet space then I will ever need (high quality problem) but the large kitchen is nice for cooking. The room sizes are perfect.  If I had to point out something I didn't like it would be that the living room could be a little bigger & no linen closets.

As mentioned in my previous post, I am within walking distance from work. The apartment complex is just over a year old & it is considered a luxury apartment here in Albany. No pool or gym on the property though. Look for a future post on Albany as a whole.

I didn't really clean the apartment before making the clips used in this video. I didn't originally intend to use them for this video but this is how I live.

*Floor plan in the beginning is the real floor plan of the apartment

1000 views

Thank you whoever is checking out my blog. Just reached over 1000 views. Lets get some dialogue going now & leave some comments. What would you like to see or discuss??

Halloween

I spent the day with my two nieces. We went to a pumpkin patch. Did the whole Hey-ride thing.

My niece Sky who is just 3 months old is so adorable. She doesn't really cry & loves to cuddle. Her older sister is a little Diva. She knows it to.

Later once we got home we carved out a pumpkin. It was nice. We baked the seeds after.

I know this is a boring proud uncle post but I love my two little ones.

I found her

But she is taken.... I guess I shall keep searching.

Bye Rochester NY

It was time to leave. My time in Rochester was nice but I was ready to get back to the south to be with my family. I will miss Rochester. Rochester was a good city to live in but at the end of the day it isn't about where you are but who you are with. I made a lot of good friends in Rochester I hope to stay in touch with throughout the years.

Rochester is much is a better city then the one I a live in now. I will miss the sports scene. The city is known for its minor league sports. It is great because you get to see good sports for a great price. The city is big enough to have everything you need but small enough not to worry about traffic. I will miss some of my favorite resturants: Dinosaurs BBQ, John's Tex Mex, Cheese Eddies, 3 Latinos. I will also miss Charlotte beach and occasionally the snow. I will miss having the seasons and the beautiful fall season in upstate NY.  Life will not be the same without Wegman's or the public market but I will just have to learn to live without them.

My last few weeks in Rochester I tried to hit up all my favorites. Ending with a gathering with most of my close  friends at Dinosaurs BBQ. My employees gave me a nice lunch one day and my college friends had a going away breakfast for me. The basketball in the morning and the kickball league was hard to let go of.

Rochester was also in a decent location if you didn't driving some. You could drive to several cities within a few hours (Pittsburgh, Buffo, Niagara , Cleveland, Toronto,  Syracuse,  NYC) and get to see major leagues sports, famous cities.

The single biggest thing I left behind is a person. Some one I haven't been without for nearly 8 years. Although our relationship as a couple came to an end over 2 years ago we still have remained close. We have been through a lot together we have always been able to count on each other. I am not sure what this will do to our relationship and that is scary. I am sure we will remaining close but it will be odd not being able to make a short trip and her being right there.

Rochester although you are not perfect you are a good city that I gave 4 good years to. I hope that we cross paths again in the future. Thank you for treating me well (although the state of New York didn't).

The end of the Experiment.

The experiment has come to an end. Living in a smaller place close to work, riding a bike, trying new food. Well it really hasn't come to an end because it has become a life style. The situation has changed though.

In late July I decided to take a job position at another store officially ending my living arrangements and my time in Rochester NY.  I took a position closer to Atlanta to be near mom & my pumpkin.

 The experience was nice. It made life simple in many aspects. I didn't have to worry as much about cleaning because I had the smaller space. I got to get more sleep because the commute to work was much simpler. The only downside was running into a lot of people from work and the smaller kitchen. Being farther from the main shopping areas wasn't so bad being the staples were close by.

To be honest I liked it so much I have kept to most of the same things at my new place. I live close to work ( I walk to work). I even decided to go without cable. I just have an antenna that gets three channels. I did however get a luxury apartment this time around so the downsizing didn't stick. I still have been trying not to just fill the place with stuff I don't really need. The extra space is nice to host guests (like my niece :) ). The larger kitchen has made it easier for my food experiments even though this kitchen it way to big for me. I do like the simple approach though it makes life easier.  I plan on trying to keep with it. I'll post a video of my new place soon.

Wedding

Last week my cousin got married. It was a beautiful wedding. I always love these events because most of my family comes. It is always like a family reunion. We get to see all the new babies (like 6 new ones the last year) & other family members we haven't seen in years.

My mom & Pumpkin came up. They stayed with me for a few days before we headed out to the wedding. I love that little girl so much. She already has me. She gets whatever she wants. She is a diva. Picking out her own outfits & shoe shopping. So smart for a 2 year old. I don't know why she is so mean to me but won't let me leave her sight. It is ok for now.

The wedding was real nice. The ceremony was simple. The reception was beautiful. Inside & outside. Cocktail hour, dinner, desert & everything was open bar plus the amount of choices for each was great. The bride look fantastic (my cousin). The grooms tux was nice.

Everything went fairly smooth. I got to spend time with all the new babies & my grandmother.