Month 10: My first Week in Houston, TX

My first week in TX was full of ups and downs. First, I am happy that MT, the cats and I all got here safely. We have two cats that had to fly cargo. MT and I were both very nervous about having our cats fly cargo but it was the only way we were able to transport them. Ultimately they survived after a short period of adjustment. One cat hid under the bed for a couple of days, but now he is out and up to his old shenanigans. Both cats now seem to be adjusting well in TX.

Right, now we are living with MT’s parents until we find an apartment. Our goal is to live in an apartment for 9-12mos while we explore and research different neighborhoods where we will buy our first home. Finding an apartment shouldn’t be hard because you can just drive up to an apartment complex during business hours and ask to see a place. In NYC this process would be much more complicated because you have to make appointments with real estate agents to see apartments. We saw 5 apartments last Sunday and I fell in love with one apartment complex because it's a beautiful new building. Most apartments in TX are garden apartments like in Melrose place. I want a NYC style building and this one reminds me of a new high end apartment building in NYC but for a third of the rental rate. Additionally, unlike most NYC apartment’s buildings (even the high end ones) this building has a real gym and a beautiful swimming pool with BBQ pits. When we visited they had a lot of tenants using it so it will be a good place for us to make new friends. Oh and I can see MT’s office building from the corner. I think this apartment building would be a great transition for me instead of renting a house. I've lived in New York most of my life, so I feel more comfortable in a building then a house.

I know everyone who has lived in a house or suburbs takes certain things for granted but I’m very much out of my element in the suburban setting. I realized this not only from my own feelings but from people’s reactions when I tell them this is my first time using a dishwasher, home security system, garbage disposal, etc. The big kicker is that I am still learning how to drive. Lucky for me I have my driver's license, but I've never really needed it before now. The last time I drove on a highway was 10years ago. Basically, I’m still a new driver and driving on the big roads of TX scares me. The side roads and avenues are so large out here that they are comparable in size to freeways in NYC. I drove us to dinner Monday night which was 10 minutes away from the house and for me, that was 10 minutes of hell! I had to merge into different lanes with on-coming traffic and that freaked me out. I nearly caused and accident and just wanted to give up and cry. After that incident, MT started taking me to an empty parking lot at a nearby high school to practice driving after he gets home from work each day and each day my driving improves. Yesterday I drove on the freeway by myself! I was following MT who was in the car directly in front of me and we were on speaker phone the whole time just in case. I was so proud of myself.

P.S. Unfortunately, MT’s parents internet has been going in and out so I’m not able to upload pictures