Places I have lived in my 20s

I have lived in quite a few places and I have great memories for all. 

I started off my 20s living in a dorm room.  I lived on the second floor of Thomson Hall (There’s no “P” in Thomson) at Miami University with Mandy Graff my junior year and on the then first floor with Samantha Crabtree my Senior year.  I actually loved dorm life.  Someone cleaned my bathrooms for me.  Who wouldn’t love that?  I even ran for Hall Council and became president.  Not bad for a relocation student from MUM who had never lived in a dorm before.  We had some awesome programs.  Since we were jaded uperclass students, we didn’t do a lot of cheesy bonding crap.

Thomson Hall, Miami University

Thomson Hall was technically on Western Campus.  Imagine if Miami was Dayton, Ohio....Western Campus would be like Yellow Springs.  There was also the Western program which was an interdisciplinary studies program at Miami.  Most people in that program lived on Western Campus.  Then  there was also the International Dorm, Clawson and Thomson Hall which consisted of mainly transfer, relocation and graduate students.  We weren’t Western, and the Western students let that be known.  To the Main Campus students we were Westerners.  To the Western Campus students we were Main Campus.   I understood why Main Campus snobs would think the way they did, but I was hoping that Westerners would be more accepting.  

Samantha and I hanging out in our room being models.  

I lived in Thomson for 2 years and made some excellent friends.  Samantha and I became instant friends and I have been lucky enough to see her family grow.  Ellen, Kresta, Lauren and Stephanie are my Thomson Hall Girls and we had so much fun together.  I wish we all lived just down the hall from each other again.  

Thomson Girls outside during a fire drill.  I think this is when Ira burnt cookies in a frying pan.  Yes, THAT happened.  

After graduation, I lived at home for awhile because when my father died and I felt I needed to be close to my mother. 

In July of 2004 I moved in with Brandy and Jaeret in Middletown above Jaeret’s uncle’s Debt Collection Agency.  It was below us and literally felt like hell...I worked there very briefly in the office and doing sales to get businesses to use us to collect their debt.  Worst.  Job.  Ever.  I was so happy to leave that place to work for the MEDC.

Chilling out on the porch at the Crack House.  

The apartment wasn’t in the best part of town, but it wasn’t the worst either.  I did call it the Crack House in the Ghetto.  We had some really great times there.  It was a great first apartment for me.  We didn't really put a lot of work int decorating...or cleaning...but it was a great place for a crazy party or a game of poker. We were all young and immature, so we really didn't need much.   

Peeps hanging out in our living room at the Crack House.

We had this big back room that housed a ping bong table, that was ultimately used for flip cup at the epic parties we had.  There was the 80’s Party, Spring Break Party, and Back to School Kegger.  So many awesome memories. 

Funky focusing on flipping the cup.  

I stayed at the crack house for  a little over a year.  I even lived there for a few months with Jaeret after Brandy left.  Since I was about to lose my job, I wouldn’t have been able to afford rent, so I moved in with Monroe....in his mother’s basement.  I was very appreciative that she let me live there rent free.  I owe her so much gratitude.  

Monroe teaching Julie how to play drums in the basement where our room was.  

Eventually I would get tired of the drive from Middletown to Xenia every day to work at Greene County Combined Health District.  I really wanted to live in Yellow Springs, which was only 15 minutes away.  I had originally asked Monroe to move with me, but it was getting hard to find a place that would accept a labrador and three cats.  I thought about it, and I told him I wanted to live by myself.  Yes, it was purely selfish, but I had never lived all by myself before and was afraid I would learn to resent him if I didn’t take that opportunity.  I don’t know why I assumed he would have gotten his own place in Yellow Springs, but he ended up moving to Columbus.  I blamed our falling out on this.  He chose Columbus over me, but I chose Yellow Springs over him.  One person was not to blame.  

Beautiful winter view from my porch.

I would live the next four years in Yellow Springs and love every minute of it.  I would have gladly stared there the rest of my life, but my career is important to me and it took me elsewhere.  I would love to live there again someday, but it’s hard to imagine another summer in Ohio when it’s just so lovely out here in Oregon.

Landlord Don would even join in on the fun

I loved my apartment.  LOVED it!  It was secluded and my landlord was easy to deal with.  I could walk downtown easily.  It needed some work on the inside, but so did I.  The one bedroom apartment itself was the perfect size for me.  I don’t really need a lot of space except for closet space, and I did have PLENTY of that.  The porch was amazing.  I loved sitting out there with a beer or glass of wine and watching nature.  I often saw bunnies, birds and even deer.  I felt like a Disney Princess.  The cats liked the yard too and I felt safe letting them go outside because I didn’t live on a busy road, and the house that my apartment was attached to was down a long lane.  Very private.  

The lane from Wright St. to my apartment.  I would often see deer walking across.

Yellow Springs is an amazing town.  The people there are so warm and inviting.  The students at YSHS were amazingly talented and I am honored to have had the chance to work with them on the One Acts for 4 years.  Truly inspirational.  There was always something going on downtown, drum circle, fire dancing, music, art...I miss it so much.  Yes, I was born and raised in Middletown, but I believe that Yellow Springs is my HOMEtown.  

Julie enjoying a glass of wine on my couch.  Man that's a fugly couch.  

I would eventually have to leave Yellow Springs and Ohio all together to find a job.  I looked all over the Midwest, but decided to attempt applying for jobs in Oregon.  I never thought I’d get an interview let alone a job offer.  Thanks to Oregon State University College of Science, I packed up a bunch of crap and moved to Yellow Springs.  

Yellow Springs is my Hometown.  It's where my heart is.

I signed a lease with an apartment, site unseen.  It was pretty generic...nothing special besides being close to work.  I had never lived in an apartment complex before.  All the apartments that I called home before were very unique.  I never took the time to really make it a home.  When Lindsay asked if I wanted to move in with her and Eric, I did have to think about it.  I had made such a  big deal about living on my own and loved it.  I didn’t think I would want to revert back.  Then I thought about all the money I would be saving that could help me pay off some things and people as well as be able to save more for traveling back to Ohio on occasion.  I agreed.  It ended up being a life saver when I had the MS relapse.  Lindsay’s parents who owned the house didn’t charge me rent while I was in rehab.  

Tiki hanging out by the Witham Hill Oaks Sign

Thomas and Spike like the extra space, although they aren’t too sure about the other two cats.  The boys tend to stay away from the girls though, so there isn’t too much fighting.  I’m even closer to work and the house has more character than the generic Witham Hill apartments.  There’s even an extra bedroom for company...if said company doesn’t mind cat hair.  

Emily, Eric and Kevin brewing beer on the back deck.

Who knows where I’ll move to next. I might stay in Corvallis for the rest of my life and buy a house.  I might move back to Yellow Springs.  I may move somewhere completely different pursuing my career goals.  I’m still young with so much life ahead of me.  Maybe I’ll retire to the South of France.