Do you know your neighbors?

Ah the joys of apartment living. Sharing walls sure lets you get to know your neighbors--sometimes in ways that you would rather not know them. Luckily our complex is full of families and graduate students so we haven't had any horrible experiences, but I definitely feel like I'm ready to be done with apartment living! Let me give you a peek into life at our apartment:

This is a scenario that happens quite frequently.
Bang! Bang! Bag!
Me: Babe, what the heck is that noise?
Hubs: I have no idea. Where is it even coming from?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
**Us putting our ears to all the walls in the house**
Me: I think it's coming from back here--the apartment in back of us!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Hubs: What the heck are they doing? (he bangs on our wall a few times)
We're pretty sure they have wall ball tournaments at their place every now and then.

We live in the middle of the complex so we don't get a lot of direct sunlight, which makes our house a little like a cave--kind of depressing. Anyway, because of this, I like to keep the drapes and blinds open so I can soak in any ounce of light I can get. We live on the ground floor and the stairs to the upper apartments go right by our big living room sliding glass door. There is an older woman who lives above us with her elderly mother, and every time they walk up the stairs (very slowly) they make sure to peek in at us to see what we're up to. Here, let my husband demonstrate

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. They are such nice ladies and really probably can't help but look in as they are walking up the stairs, but I would really rather they didn't peep in my windows as they pass by.


We've heard horror stories of people with neighbors who smoke, and the smoke smell gets into their apartment. We have been so grateful to not have this happen...until last Sunday. We were getting ready for church when we smelled something weird in our bathroom (I know what you're thinking, but this wasn't the normal bathroom smell). My husband called me in to investigate, and it was definitely cigarette smoke. Sick! As we contemplated what could be done about our stinky situation, the smell was slowly spreading throughout our house. We decided to go to church, and if it was still bad when we got back we would go over and talk to them. Luckily we haven't smelled anything since, so hopefully that was just a fluke. I would rather my son not have to breathe in second hand smoke in his own home, thank you.

Overall, we haven't had any nightmarish experiences, (knock on wood) but I think I would still prefer not to share my walls with anyone. Bring on suburban-home living!