WILIA stands for “Where I’ve Lived in Austin.” I ran to every address at which I’ve lived since I moved to Austin in 1994. I thought it was going to be a few meters more than a marathon. It turned into 27 miles.
I lived in Teresa Hall for a year when I first moved to Austin to attend St. Edward’s University.
After moving off campus, my college roommate and I rented a townhouse off Tinnin Ford for a couple years. It was cheap and in a really shady part of town. Now that part of Austin is expensive, gentrified and coveted.
My girlfriend, a couple of other roommates, and I rented a house off West William Cannon for a while. I did this without my parents’ knowledge or approval. They found out and were vehemently opposed to me “shaking up” with my girlfriend, so I moved out.
I decided I wanted to live by myself, so I rented a 1-bedroom at Bristol Square (affectionately known as the Bristol Method) off of east Oltorf. I met some of my best friends while living there. We shared a breezeway together and raised all kinds of hell. This was also the complex where Elise serendipitously moved into the apartment directly below me. I asked her out on our first date in the parking lot of the Method. The rest is history.
After Elise and I became serious, we rented a 2-bedroom apartment together at the Method. We’d both graduated from college and got engaged.
After we got married, we decided we’d move further out, so we rented a nice 2-bedroom apartment at Monterey Oaks. We lived here for a year while we saved up money to put a down payment on a house.
We bought our current house in January of 2004 and have been here since.
