Our Home Away From Home

We live in a small town by Concord called Penacook.  It is a nice community with little shops and various services close by.  We are able to go to a laundromat just down the street and we have a McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts close by.  In the other direction we have a fire station and several schools.  Of course there are trees everywhere and when we first came the fall colors were just stunning.  Since it is cooling down much of the color is gone because the leaves are on the ground.  We had wanted to get up to Vermont but were so busy just settling in that we missed it.  Next year for sure!  The apartment has about eight buildings with 24 apartments in each building.  After living in a house for so many years it has definitely been an adjustment for two reasons.  The first is the noise level.  We are on the parking lot side so we hear cars coming and going throughout the night and horns honking when alarms are set.  We have lots of children which I actually love hearing but don't enjoy the teenagers as much.  If anyone is in the hallway talking we hear the whole conversation, which sometimes isn't a good thing.  The second reason is that cigarette smoke seems to permeate the hallways.  Occasionally I smell it in our apartment if someone is smoking outside but when we walk out into the hallway it is almost overpowering.  There are a lot of smokers out here!  I told the missionaries they needed to get busy and teach our whole building so they can learn about the Word of Wisdom.  There are some things I do enjoy about living in an apartment complex.  If something breaks they are right here to fix it.  The man who does that is very nice and helpful.  The security is good.  We have to have a key just to get into our building.  It is small and easy to keep clean and since we are on the second floor I have to go up 15 stairs everyone day (several times a day) which right now is about the only exercise I have time for.  When we moved in the apartment had brand new carpet and tile and looks really nice.  The mission did a really nice job of finding us a great place to live.  When I finish getting it fixed up I will post some pictures.