February 19 (apartments/fish tank)

Last Friday me and Ben spent a day in Des Moines. The point of the journey was to look at a couple apartments, but also to just do some shopping and have a day to ourselves since I would be working on Valentines Day. We first went to look at West Glen aparments. We really like that they are close to many things. Walking distance from Target and some decent bars/restaurants. They are also just off the interstate so travel to/from jobs would be convenient. So we had high hopes for them. We met a woman named Wendy who was going to give us the tour. Wendy's hair was teased within an inch of its life and was hyped up on something. She introduces us to the fob, which is a little keycard that you need for EVERYTHING....right here I got a bad feeling. I need this little plastic thing to use the elevator, to open doors, to use the garage, everything. So that means friends come over, they cant just come up, I have to use my little card to let them in, same with pizza or anything. well...minor setback. We go to the apartment. Its a two-level, one bedroom, which I like. The kitchen isnt the biggest, nor is there really any space for much furniture (couch/table and its probably going to be full) there is also a space cut out of the wall for a TV. but its so small that nothing above 32 inch will fit. So thats a bust. We go upstairs though and I LOVE the bedroom. It has a huge closet and bathroom and they are very nice. So after the tour we're asking Wendy some questions. We can have dogs up to 30lbs.....well what if our dog gets bigger than that? I really really want a dog so any place that wont let me have one is not good. Also, no aquariums....well I just invested all this money in our aquarium and then I couldnt have it there? We then asked her about any fitness center, because I'm used to a free gym up here and want to continue that. Well she says Aspen is right downstairs, and while it would be a 'conflict of interest' for her to offer discounts to Aspen....she 'has heard if you mention you live at West Glen they take VERY good care of you'...whatever that means. We left West Glen feeling a bit dissapointed....oh and the rent was going to be $1200/mo. so thats kinda steep. We got lunch at Los Cabos then headed to Ingersoll Square. These are located on Ingersoll and MLK and are very new. We walk in and the look of the place is VERY modern, which is OK with me but Ben doesnt like. Everything is concrete and metal and very bold colors. So we meet our next tour guide and she is much more toned down from Wendy....I dont even remember her name....Jessica maybe? anyway she shows us the first style of one bedroom and I HATE it. the bedroom is right inside the front door and there is a sliding door going to it. it looks like a giant warehouse. Then we go to the second model, much better! all the floors are polished concrete, which I dont know how I feel about, and Ben doesnt like. the kitchen is awesome. Everything is from IKEA, which is good and bad. Sometimes IKEA stuff is kinda cheap, and their wardrobe's dont have much room. and we dont get a closet in the bedroom. The other thing is one side of the building faces downtown, so pretty view. The other sides....not so pretty view, and the windows are big which is also good, but bad too. So then we go tour of the rest of the place. Only one key for the front door which locks at ten, nice. We tour the fitness room, which is small but sufficient. The fitness room is connected to the club room. Which is this sweet room with a bunch of tables and couches and TV's and a kitchen that anyone can use. Also anyone can use the clubroom for parties, 'family gatherings' and whatever else, nice! the clubroom has a door to the pool deck, yes there is a pool and hot tub! we walk outside and our guide goes "oh! what is that?" and we look down to see a giant black bird head! not the whole body just a decapitated head! sadly our camera battery died before we could get a picture! the guide kept going "oh I'm so embarassed!" and kicked it off the pool deck. I couldn't stop laughing. So the pool/hot tub are nice. Also Ingersoll is a bit cheaper than West Glen, all pets are welcome. Bad things are the location and concrete floors. We then went back to my parents house and made a list of the positives and negatives for both places, so we could compare them and also to get a better idea of what we're looking for in future apartment tours.

As mentioned above, we recently got an aquarium which I have wanted my whole life! it is 35 gallons and a tall hexagon shape. We are just learning all this stuff and realizing you need so much stuff! and they are expensive! but currently we have 3 guppies. A blue one named Moon, a bright yellow one named Star, and a dark orange one named Sun. We love our fish and they have been alive for over 12 hours now and survived one feeding! I'm so freaking excited (surprise sue voice.....SNL skit)!