Our Habit of Bucking Tradition

Little about my relationship with Mountain Boy has followed a traditional path. After an intense whirlwind courtship where, at first, we were not officially together as a dating couple, we moved in together. It was less than a year after we had met, and about four months after we had come out as a couple to our friends (they had all figured it out anyway). It felt quick, but we had both lived with other partners before and knew right away that we were compatible, so when our leases expired within a month of one another, it made good fiscal sense. We secured a larger apartment for about half of what we had been paying for two places.

After that things settled into a really nice living arrangement that lasted for two years. I was happy and probably would still be there if I had been left to my own devices.

Mountain Boy had other plans. He has always been much more level headed than me, and is a practitioner of level headed practices like savings and planning. One day, he suggested we buy a house.

Huh!?

We were happy, I had made a job shift and was making a little more money, but adding a mortgage to our happy picture had never crossed my mind. So, after a little convincing, I agreed and we launched into a house hunt. I do like searching for things. It was like a gigantic Easter egg hunt. It was also a prudent fiscal decision; you may have detected a theme here.

So, now a year later we are sitting in our very own downtown condo. (It fit our budget better than a house.) It's a historic building built in 1907 and had beautiful mission style molding. When people ask weather or not I'm married I love the looks I get when I respond:

"No, we skipped marriage and went straight to mortgage."