Thursday, May 15, 2014

Apartment Therapy #TBTStories

I thought I would go waaaaay back in the archives for this week's version of Throwback Thursday Stories. I think Jessica, at The Mom Creative, had a great idea for a way to share the stories behind our photos, and I am thankful for the chance to link up over on her blog and join in on the fun.

This photo was taken on the day Jim and I moved into our married student apartment on Tower Drive at Purdue. That's me on the floor, with my mom and my grandma, who were always there to help with the completion of a project, whether it be moving, sewing, building, or finding a way to make sure the door would swing over the rug in my dorm room.

I little bit about the photo. First, it's a Polaroid. For those of you young'uns out there, it was the only way we had of seeing the photo 'right now'. Can you believe it? We thought it was so cool that the little photo spit out of the camera and developed right before our eyes. We always thought that shaking it made it work faster, but I don't know if it was true. The film cartridges themselves were bigger than my iPhone, and only contained 10 photos, I think. Of course, if I look around, I'm sure that camera is around here somewhere. :) It was a wedding gift.

The carpet on the floor was a remnant we had purchased for my dorm room. We used it in this apartment, in the next house we rented, and in the house we live in now. We actually just disposed of it last year when we had the upstairs floors refinished. I'd say that was a good return on the investment!

The chair in which my grandma (Mamaw) is sitting was included in the 'furnished' part of the apartment. The apartments were university owned, and came with a bed, a desk, and a table and chairs. I believe the lamp was included too. The orange print couch was ours, a hand-me-down from Jim's parents, which we were thrilled to have. That couch was covered and recovered through the years, and now lives in Andrew and Darci's basement. It was always a favorite with our tall boys since it is long and comfy. There were orange chairs, too, which we also still have, but they're no longer orange. Stuff was made to last back then.

The round thing in front of me is a floor fan, which belonged to Mamaw. She brought it along to keep us cool while we were moving. I don't think I've seen another fan like it.

Another memory from this photo is the day we moved out of the apartment. It was about a year later, and we were moving to a little house over on Evergreen Street, just a few blocks away. Same moving crew. The apartment was on the second floor, and instead of carrying things down the steps, Mamaw thought we should just pull Jim's pickup truck over to the stairwell and drop things over the railing. I wanted no part of that embarrassing idea. Turns out they took me over to the 'new' house to start putting things in place there, while they proceeded to start tossing. Clothes, pillows, shoes, etc, were quickly loaded with this method, and I didn't have to see it. I was told they only missed a couple of times. :)

That first apartment was about the size of our current living room, but we were happy and excited and married! We were crazy young and in love, and just like that, we were making our own decisions and living like grown-ups. Thirty-three years later, we still are. :)

Linking up with Throwback Thursday Stories at themomcreative.com. #TBTStories

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a fun picture & background story! :) And I have never seen a fan quite like that one! Interesting!
Frances

Terri D said...

What a great story to go with your TBT photo! Fun seeing you "back then".

leelee said...

Hearing this story gives me hope about starting out with very little.