Congratulations!

So you and your family are going to law school. 
Congratulations, and also holy crap! 

Where do you start?

First of all, this is not a blog for the law students. The students will have reading groups, and mentors. They will be stressing about their memos, tests, and assignments. My husband is working hard in his first year of law school and delving into studies with a time commitment that can only demand respect, but I’m here too and this blog for those who are like me, behind the madness and supporting it.

For starters, a little bit about us:

Nathan is attending the College of Law at the University of Kentucky. I am clarifying this because if you are like me you will probably gauge how helpful this will be for you depending on the rank of the school your significant other will be attending. Nathan received an amazing scholarship to attend this school and we decided I would stay home with the kids, so these factors were HUGE in deciding where he would attend. Kentucky won the vote!

*My artist heart dreamed about New York and truly hoped for it, but let’s be real - we would be in SO much more debt than we are in now. Living in Lexington, Ky in our three bedroom basement apartment, two miles from campus, only costs us $825 a month!

My name is Amelia and Nathan is my husband. We have two boys - a three year old and ten month old. They are amazing, I am biased, but I have also heard it confirmed.

We moved to Lexington, Ky from Southern California. Lexington, Kentucky in general, is a far cry from what we were used to in California, which could have made this transition scary, but from day one we chose to look at it as an adventure. This perspective definitely kept us positive in the next phases which were stressful - mainly for me.

So you are trying to find a place to live...while living across the country...

So here’s the deal. We have rented an apartment unseen before and it was my least favorite place we have ever lived. This experience only made me more nervous for our move to Kentucky because we knew we wouldn’t be able to afford a trip to check out potential homes before actually moving there.

We decided we would start our lease on August first, giving us two and half weeks to settle before Nathan’s orientation on the eighteenth. I would suggest moving earlier if you can. We needed to make and save as much money as possible so we cut it as close to his start date as we could. Ideally a month or so would be perfect to get your apartment in order and enjoy the town before your partner hits the books.

*If you can make a trip just to look at places - do it! Or, rent something short term and explore the town, get to know the neighborhoods, see how far or close apartments or houses are from campus before committing to a year lease.

**Some Landlords will offer decreased rent if you sign for longer than 12 months. If you know you will not move or you love your place, I would highly suggest exploring this option.

So, unfortunately we were moving, sight unseen, across the country. I was constantly on Craigslist, Apartments.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, google mapping distances from apartments to campus, etc… I can not tell you how many times I Googled “the best neighborhoods to live in Lexington, Ky with kids”. Hundreds. Of. Times.

1. Put yourself out there - call around and post on Facebook

Luckily, I knew which church we would be attending in town so I called the local leaders for some information in regards to neighborhoods and safe areas to live. They were very helpful. I also posted on Facebook about where we would be moving to and surprisingly was connected with a friend of a friend who had lived in Lexington for her husband’s schooling. She was equally helpful concerning housing. The most interesting connection I made was after chatting with my Grandpa. He told me my mom had a cousin in Lexington and that his sister and some of her children were just over the river in Cincinnati. Long story short, we got in touch with my mom’s cousin, had dinner when we arrived in Lexington, met some of my Grandpa’s family, and came to realize that my mom’s cousin works just around the corner from the apartment we had rented.

2. Make a list of priorities and must haves

Once you have an idea of the town and where you want to live, I would definitely try to stay as close to your budget as possible. This was so hard for me. There were some wonderful new builds and spacious places to live, but I knew that I wanted to keep our monthly rent and utilities under $1000 a month (this was my biggest priority). If you are hitting a brick wall, get creative when searching for what you want. I originally didn’t find my apartment under three bedrooms. I searched for a two bedroom with a den and what do you know, my complex marketed their three bedrooms as a two bedroom apartment with a den to avoid being over crowded with tenants. Lucky me!

Make a list of your must haves and weigh what you are willing to cancel off the list to stay on budget. I wanted a balcony or outdoor space so badly, I still do, but I could not find a space that had the other things I needed more (air conditioning - it is the South, washer and dryer in unit). Though I didn’t win on the private outdoor space, I am in a small complex with a park in the middle that all the kids love to play at. I don’t have to maintain it and if I don’t feel like lugging my kids to the park, I just walk outside. If you are prioritizing your budget, you ultimately have be flexible with your must haves.

3. YAY! You moved!

Enjoy your “free time”. You have however long on your lease to nest, but you don’t have the whole lease time to hang out with your significant other. Take advantage of their free time and explore the town, look at Facebook for upcoming events, eat out at a local restaurant and ask about what things are popular in town. I recently bought a book from a boutique in town that is a bucket list for Lexington, Ky. I can’t wait to get through all of the awesome adventures.

Let out that breath that you’ve been holding in anticipation that this will all work out. It will all work out. You will get where you need to be. Be flexible, put yourself out there, do your research. This is a special time and we won’t have a student as a partner when these next three years are over so try to enjoy it!