downgrading to a house?

I know that I’ve talked a lot about our living situation, and trying to stay in our one bedroom apartment a little longer to save some money. (here and here in case you're interested)

But, just out of curiosity of what’s out there, I did some looking for two bedroom apartments in our area, just to see if it’d be worth moving into a two bedroom before buying a house…someday!

I found so many apartments that have top of the line amenities, like pools, hot tubs, fitness centers, etc. Now, I should mention that a pool/fitness center is pretty standard for apartments in Colorado. Our complex has a pool, and a small fitness room with a few machines and free weights.

I found apartments that have more than one pool, multiple hot tubs, tennis courts, huge fitness centers, kitchens with granite countertops, master bathrooms with Jacuzzi tubs…

The point of this post is, that the more I thought about it, if I lived in one of those fancy apartment complexes, buying a house would seem like a major downgrade. What?! I have to mow my own lawn AND there are no hot tubs on the premises?!

I think I’d rather pay my dues now, living in a cheap apartment, so that my house feels like an improvement instead of a downgrade.

hiking

One of my goals for this summer is to hike significantly more than I did last summer. I often feel a little lame that I live in Colorado, which is such a beautiful place, but I don't get out and enjoy it that much!

To help me with this goal, I got this book:

100 Classic Hikes in Colorado 

It classifies the hikes by location and the time it takes to hike them. It gives information like how to get to the start of the trail, specifics on which trails to take, and even what time of the year you should hike them! Time of year to do a hike is a really important piece of information, because as you get to higher altitudes, it gets colder and there could still be snow on some hikes.

Hiking is a good source of exercise/entertainment because it's pretty inexpensive. The only costs associated are the gas it takes to get to the trail, and potentially a park fee if the hike is in a state or national park.

I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures!