Moving in with a significant other for the first time is scary. It’s a big commitment, and no matter how much you love them, you never know what it’s going to be like sharing every aspect of your life together. They get in your personal space, you have to share your closet, and suddenly, grocery shopping involves another person’s interests. All that being said, moving in with someone you love is a really wonderful experience.
I moved in with my partner for the first time in June of 2020. We moved into a six-bedroom house with five other students from Hofstra. We soon had to move out of that house for one reason or another and found ourselves searching for an apartment that we could share, just the two of us.
Because of the situation we were in, we wanted to find an apartment first, ask questions later. The first apartment we looked at was a tiny 500-square-foot studio apartment with a kitchen the size of the bathroom and incredibly high rent. Fortunately, that wasn’t our only option, because while we definitely could have been fine living in that apartment, whether we would have been happy and comfortable there is a different story.
After a quick few days of searching, we stumbled upon the perfect apartment for our current stage in life: a cute, 1,800-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment five minutes away from Hofstra. Even though we’ve been together for almost two years, the first week in the apartment felt like the “honeymoon phase” all over again. There’s something special about finally moving everything into its perfect place and flopping back onto the bed that makes you feel more connected.
Because of COVID-19, we were forced to stay inside and be even more in each other’s spaces. Neither of us has ever minded this because even when my partner is at work, I would rather they stay home and hang out with me all day. Since we were always inside, we really got to know each other and learn how the other lived, and fortunately, we really clicked and fit each other in our daily lives very naturally. We got to spend a lot of time together and developed our relationship more in those few months than we had nearly the whole time we had been together.
Of course, with the highs do come the lows. While I am very meticulous about organizing and keeping things clean, my partner is almost the opposite. Fortunately for us, we have a strong relationship and are both great communicators, so we were able to overcome these differences and figure something out that works for both of us. Since moving in together, though, we’ve had bigger fallings outs over smaller things and had some of our biggest fights in those few months than we’ve had throughout our whole relationship.
Sharing your life with someone can be difficult, and some things that don’t bother my partner really bother me. Sometimes you’re simply in a bad mood and your partner can say or do the smallest thing that can set you off, and instead of escaping from them by putting your phone down, you have to face your problems, and that can be really hard. We had to learn how to talk through our arguments instead of shying away from our issues.
Overall, through the ups and downs, I can confidently say that I am at the happiest point in my life that I have ever been. My partner is my best friend, and to be able to wake up next to them every single day is the best thing in the world. The hardships are absolutely worth it when you are sharing your life with your favorite person. Moving in with my partner has been incredible, and though my experience will not be your experience, I think it’s worth taking the leap of faith and sharing your life with the person you love the most.
