Moving Panic

So The Girlfriend asked me to move in with her..and her roommate (i love him, a strapping handy handsome gay man).. and panic has ensued

The Rent
I have never paid rent. I'm moving to a big city without a big job and I am contributing rent. At first The Girlfriend suggest I not pay as much as the two of them did because I'd be sharing a room and wouldn't have my own space and because i won't be making as much as she does. Financially that sounds lovely, considering it's..kind of a lot. But I want everything to be equal, I never want there to be any money conflicts. Besides, I will feel that the apartment is less mine. So the goal is to pay exactly one third.

I don't want her to be my sugar mama.. I mean.. take me out to dinner and make me cupcakes for breakfast but don't give me a deal on the rent. The deal is..that I'm going to at least try to pay the one third of the rent and if for some reason (say new job search issues.. ) if I struggle to get the one third, she'll cover what I can't... I'm going to avoid that at all costs. While we have an age difference and a job/career status difference (she's got a job, I'm in school) I just don't want to feel like the baby in the relationship you know? I don't want her to take care of me like that.. at least not at this stage of the relationship.

The Space
Then.. I started freaking out about the space. Their apartment is beautiful and perfect for two people but not for three, and they love it so much they want to stay as long as possible (so out goes the three bedroom i found on craigslist) While we'll share the bigger room with a private bathroom, The Girlfriend has SO MUCH STUFF.. SOOOOO MUCH STUFF (i should know, i moved it all) and I don't know where I'll possibly find room to bring my stuff. I'll probably only bring essential wardrobe, laptop/ipod/phone gadgetry, and beautification supplies. That's it, no picture frames with memories of home.. no art work.. nothing to make the place really mine.

Also.. every thing's already decorated, and that's great. Every things really nice. But it isn't mine you know? It's her bed, her art, her bedspread.. her pink kitchen utensils (mine are red haha).. Again.. I worry that this will make me feel like its THEIR place..not OUR place. Will it feel like an extended sleepover?

I confessed my concerns to The Girlfriend and she was deeply offended that I didn't think she'd do everything to make it feel like OUR place. "I'll get rid of stuff!" she said. "I'll make space in my closet!" ... "You don't like my bed? I thought you said you thought it was sexy?!" .. I do I do.. I just want it to be OURS

I'm sure this is something every couple faces as they move in together. I'm sure this is normal for the person moving in to the already completed space. But I have to hash this out before I get there. Luckily I have a really patient girlfriend.

Independence
To top it off, while discussing the move with my mother (who cried during the whole conversation about her only child leaving) she said..

"I just feel like you're moving from one mother..and in with another mother" meaning The Girlfriend is definitely the caretaker type (as am i but she's much more dominant and motherly than I) and that.. I won't really know what it's like to live "on my own" because I'll have her taking care of me..



Again.. I am excited.. just scared. I want it to all work out great. I want everything to be smooth. I worry too much, and The Girlfriend is way too laid back. It makes for an interesting pair.