Like many off-campus houses, there are a lot of unique things about my house. And with “homeless week” approaching, I decided to reminisce on some of my favorite memories and oddities about my house. 

The first thing on the list has to be that half of the house is sliding off of the foundation and looks like it is going to split in half at any second. 

It’s especially apparent above the doorway into the kitchen. There is a large crack above the doorway and it is leaning to the left a bit. To make it even better, the bathroom is right where the floor is also sliding down to the left, so if you are not careful you might fall into the bathroom. 

Another top memory of mine was when we had a mouse. “‘Twas the night before (winter break)” and my roommate and I were doing dishes. I saw something run from under the fridge into our cleaning closet. 

After some slight panicking my roommate got our shovel to close the closet door and we put a towel underneath the opening of the door to trap the mouse. 

The next morning it was gone so we assumed everything was fine — it was not. 

I returned to the house before my roommate did at the beginning of second semester and long story short, the mouse had still been in the house all month when we were gone. 

My mom eventually came to help trap the mouse and clean up the house, but to this day every squeak terrifies me.

My third favorite memory was our great “Friendsgiving feast.” My roommate and I got a small turkey, we bought instant mashed potatoes and a variety of other Thanksgiving foods. This was a good wholesome moment that I will treasure.

Speaking of good memories of the house, some honorable mentions include a secret Santa Christmas party, scary movie nights and our “Big Mouth” viewing party. 

But back to the not-so-pleasant memories, because those are more fun to read about. 

Another weird thing about my house is that our washing machine and dryer are in a shed outside of our house. This shed is underground, very dirty and has a lot of dead bugs. These details are extra fun to think about when doing laundry. 

When my roommate and I first moved in we didn’t have any type of coffee table to put in front of our couch. It was not a big deal until one time my friend and I got a lot of Culver’s. 

We had a bunch of extra cardboard boxes from moving in, so my friend took a giant box to use as our table and it honestly stayed like that for a couple of months. 

Finally, after winter break my mom and I found a nice one from Goodwill, so now we have one.

Despite all of these weird and somewhat traumatic experiences, this was my first house and it will always hold a special place in my heart. 

I will miss all the late nights studying, having breakdowns at the kitchen table, staying up to listen to Harry Styles’s new album, my roommate and I’s famous chicken tacos and not being able to use the Keurig and the microwave at the same time because it would short circuit the kitchen. 

I can’t wait to return in the fall.

Olson can be reached at [email protected].