Our Trip to Albuquerque

Last week, Evan and I took a trip to look for a new place to live in Albuquerque, NM. Evan will be doing his 4th year externship there at the VA hospital. We may live in Albuquerque for 3 more years after that, if Evan ends up doing his residency there. Evan has to leave for his externship at the end of May, while I'll be staying behind in California until school is out. (sad face)

We looked at a ton of apartments! After about 1/2 a day of looking, they all start to sound the same and you can get very mixed up about what features were in which apartments. Really the only notable thing that stick out in your mind is where you definitely know you DO NOT want to live. We tried to stay organized and make lists about what we'd seen, liked, etc. We also attempted to plan which complexes we wanted to go next in geographical order. It worked pretty well, except for when we'd get a lead from an apartment manager to another building that wasn't on our list.

After a long day of searching, we decided to call it quits. (Well, really all the apartment offices closed.) Then, we were trying to decide where to go for dinner and that's when the indecision really became ridiculous! Evan finally declared, "We do so much better with a plan!" He then started mocking the way we kept changing our minds: "Let's go to dinner here." "No, let's go to Barnes and Noble and get a book about good restaurants in the area." "Let's get something and eat in the room." "No let's stop here." "I want to get something to eat at Old Town." "No, I want pasta." "Wait, I don't care what we get." "I want Chinese." "Let's eat fast food so we can have more time to play in the pool." "Oh, there's Macaroni Grill; forget fast food." "Never mind, I'm kind of tired, let's get something fast on the way back to the hotel." I don't even remember where we ended up eating, but we both had a good laugh.

We were pleasantly surprised by how much cheaper housing in Albuquerque was compared to the expensive Bay Area. This is especially important, since we'll be paying rent on two apartments for a few months. The most important feature I was looking for in the new apartment was that it have a full size washer and dryer. Mission accomplished! We found a nice 2-bedroom apartment in a safe area with a full size washer and dryer. I'm so excited! (No more trips to the bank for rolls of quarters!) It also has two pools (one that is open all year). This will prevent Evan from having to hear me complain about the heat so much! Now, if I could only get Evan to love the water as much as I do!

Here is the VA Hospital where Evan will be practicing to be a foot and ankle surgeon:

After a stressful 4 days of apartment searching, we relaxed after we made our final decision and signed the lease. Then we hit Old Town for some touristy fun.


We found lots of funny merchandise. (Evan isn't really this mean. This sign is basically for a few select patients he's had to work with in San Francisco!)
Evan spent some time trying to figure out a puzzle. I was getting a little bored while I waited for him.

We came back Thursday satisfied with our apartment decision, but sad to go back to real life. I am kind of looking forward to moving to Albuquerque and I know I'll eventually like it once we get settled in. I am going to miss all the friends we've made in California and especially our little branch at church. I'll really miss the awesome weather!