THE BRANBURY

So, I'm sitting here tonight at the clubhouse/office of our apartment complex, The Branbury, and I thought, "I should blog about this great place we live in!" So...here goes!

We live at an apartment complex for students. It is for single students and BYU contracted so all residents agree to live by BYU honor code here. It is a HUGE property with 300+ Apartments and 1200+ residents. There are 7 buildings on the property -- 3 for boys and 4 for girls. This makes up 6 student single's wards that meet up on BYU campus. They have a clubhouse (where the main office is located) that has all the amenities you can imagine! Basketball court, volleyball court, raquetball court, excercise/weight room, sauna, 2 tanning beds, swimming pool and hot tub, ping pong table, billiard table, flat screen TV with popcorn machine, and a piano! SO much to do all of the time! Then...on top of that...the Branbury puts on activities for the residents every month. Tonight happens to be their annual Steak and Salmon BBQ --- and there are probably 400 people here right now! It is absolutely insane, but I've heard this is the biggest turn out that they've had in all the years they've done this. So that's good!

So...you ask...how did we get the chance to live here? Well, in each building there are a few one-bedroom apartments that they rent to married students. Most of the married couples who live here don't have kids (because it's only one bedroom) but it is wonderful! And on top of just being able to live here, we were blessed enough to get a job as Resident Assistants (RA's). This means we are in charge of the residents in our building. We take care of cleaning checks every month, lock outs, reporting honor code violations, and other small things. We also watch the clubhouse after the office is closed (5-10) about 4 or 5 times during the month. This consists basically of just hanging out at the clubhouse for a few hours and getting paid for it! :) not too shabby!

And for all this, we get 20% off rent each month, free internet and parking, and are paid $8 for each hour we work, to go toward our rent -- tax free! :) It is really a wonderful option and has been a wonderful blessing for us!

And the best part of our job here though, is that we work with GREAT people. The other RA's are awesome! Easy going and friendly--ready for anything! And the management at the Branbury is WONDERFUL! They make life easier for us at every chance that they can.

I pray each day to thank Heavenly Father for opening up this opportunity for us. Ryan and I both graduate this upcoming April and we are starting to think about what we're going to do after that--where we'll go and what we'll be doing. It makes me sick to think of leaving right now though...because this is a great place to live and we definitely have more time to give than money! :) We have wonderful friends here and a great ward, and again...just such a good set up! (except that one bedroom is starting to get a bit crowded!!) :) We definitely want to stay here as long as we can...it's too good to give up!