5 Things I've Learned From Living Away From Home

Wow, I really cannot believe I've officially lived in San Antonio for 1 year! 1 full year ago officially today. I left Houston to live with a boy and start officially "adulting". It's hard to wrap my head around. I always loved San Antonio when I was younger. I told myself I would move away from Houston eventually, but if I'm honest without Dakota I don't think I would have. I would have probably stayed in Houston until I was old and regretted never leaving the big town that felt so small. I'm so happy I made it here though. I've really grown into my own these past few years. I have 3 jobs (don't gasp in horror I truly enjoy staying busy), I have amazing friends that I'm sure people are annoyed over hearing about on social media, plus I officially know how to get to most places without my GPS (although I still put it on because I'm not super confident in my own navigation skills)!! Regardless, there are definitely a few major things I've learned while living in San Antonio. I feel like some of y'all might appreciate these tips and tricks. A lot of these probably seem super obvious, and that's because they are. It's a lot different though when you're in the throws of it all. I'm definitely going to type them out for y'all because this adult thing is a lot different than what I thought it would be when I was younger. 12 year old Kelsie is very excited for me, but also very confused.

1) Just Because You're an Adult and You COULD Have Gushers for Every Meal, Doesn't Mean You SHOULD.

I'm sure my 12 year old self is screaming right now "GUSHERS. NO. BUY ALL THE GUSHERS ARE YOU CRAZY?!" No tiny Kelsie, I'm not crazy. You technically can have Gushers for every meal, but you definitely shouldn't. You have to do actual grocery shopping. Also mom was right..the generic stuff is just as good. Your meal won't taste better just because of the extra dollar you spent. (sorry for always bitching about that, mom!) Although, there are some things I won't compromise on when it comes to generic v name brand. I feel like that's normally a personal thing so I'll press on.
Grocery shopping is a lot easier when you write out what you need, and budget for it, too. I usually sit down at my table with this cool notepad and on the back of the pages, I write out how much each item would cost me along with a rough estimate of how much I'm spending. It definitely makes it easier to zoom through the store and it helps to cut back on my temptation to stop at the bread aisle and just clear out the Little Debbie snacks. Pinterest is my best friend pre and post grocery shopping. I have everything I need for about 3 recipes and I don't have to resort to using a "help me cook with what's in my fridge" app/website. (Although the website is pretty cool. If you've never seen or heard of it definitely check it out.)

2) Since Now You're an Adult You Are Officially Your Own Dish Washer and Housekeeper and....Well Everything

Don't get me wrong, I helped with dishes and cleaning at home in Houston, but sometimes if I left it there long enough the beautiful dish fairy (my mom) would clean them and I didn't have to worry about it.
There is no dish fairy now.
There is no hope for a dish fairy appearing.
Dishwashing detergent is expensive for the amount of product given.
SOS
I've been realizing how much waste I produce as one person much less me and my roomie combined. At first being more eco friendly was so I could align better with what I preach at work, but now I do it so I don't have to take the trash out every 2 days. On a serious note, though it's been a definite transition. Designating a day for certain tasks definitely helps a lot to make sure I don't fall too far behind. I'm still struggling with rinsing my dishes as soon as they land in the sink, but I'm working on it. I think the dish fairy would be proud.

3) Making New Friends is Half the Fun

But boy, is it hard. I tried the apps. They have worked for me about 35% of the time. It's a lot of effort though to have such a small yield. So to the bars I go trying to break out of my shell as much as I can. Ray (who essentially miraculously fell into my lap through roomster) and I try our best, but for the most part our friend group is pretty tight. Most of my friends are from work, which is awesome, but they all live so far! I guess that's honestly apart of adulting too not all of my friends are from school and live within a 10 mile radius, but I sure wish it was more like that.

4) Use an Apartment Locator

Seriously, just do it. It's free. Not like "free", but oh here's a surprise fee, SURPRISE!!!!! NO. Actually free. The apartments pay them not you. They do all the work of looking for an apartment for you. Just let them know your price range and location, and they do the rest. Usually, the only thing they ask is that they go with you to look at the places. All y'all have to do to get one is Google "Apartment locator ____" with the blank being your city name, and viola! You should have plenty of options. If you're in San Antonio I used Apartments Now! I was super skeptical about an apartment locator at first because I thought it was kind of weird that they would do this service for free, but they do. It's awesome. It takes a lot of stress off of you while apartment hunting. Plus, did I mention they do all the leg work? Like calling the apartments, getting the specials, typing up the list of apartments, everything. 10/10 experience. I cannot stress this enough. Use them!!!!

5) This is 100% the Best Decision I've Ever Made

Moving to San Antonio has hands down, no questions asked been one of the best experiences. I could not be more thankful for this path I've put myself on. It's been hard at times, and I'm grateful for the amazing parents and support system I have that has helped me through it all. Without a doubt though I wouldn't change anything. Except maybe to have an extra 1 million dollars lying around, but whatever. P.s. if you have 1 million dollars lying around and wanna donate I will TOTALLY not say no.