Well, things have started to return to normal after the fire that we had a couple of weeks ago. We are still at 98% containment, and will most likely see full containment within the week. During the calming period, I had been inspired to make a slideshow in tribute to all of the first responders and fire fighters who were there, helping restore balance.
Here's the link to that video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AfQs_Pl9Dg&feature=plcp
Of course, the sadistically funny thing to happen with the weather recently, was all of the thunderstorms we've suddenly been getting, and during one the other day, was a tornado in town! Granted, it wasn't strong enough to touch down or cause damage, but it got people to freak!
On the 4th of July, was Willow's second birthday. Feels like time has just flown by! She was playing in the pool with her cousin, and we had a barbeque with family and celebrated her birthday. When Willow began opening her gifts, she was quite content to just sit and play with the silverware that Sarah's mom gave her. Eventually, we managed to get her to focus long enough to open the rest of her gifts, which she played with each one, once opened. She loved the M&Ms that she got too. You couldn't get them hidden fast enough!
As I mentioned, I believe in my last posting, that I was having some car troubles with my Equinox heading to Craig a couple weeks ago. When we got to Craig, we took it to the Chevy dealership there, which we found out later that they have a bad reputation to make things worse than it was when you got there with it. Not knowing this, they "looked" at my car, washed it, reset the computer chip and gave me a clean bill of health, not to mention the $48 bill. Being told that the car was fine, I drove home, over 200 miles back to the Springs. I told Mike that it still felt as though the car didn't have enough power to get up hills, and was rubber-banding. (The term rubber-banding is used in video game speak, when the game stutters and causes your character to suddenly be several feet behind where you were just at) Not thinking too much about it for a while, and then I start the car to head to my mom's house, only to hear the car sound like it was a disel truck. Not normal. I drove it to my mom's house, had my stepdad take a look at it, after driving to get lunch to listen to the car. He popped the hood, and found the problem. The EG valve that runs from the engine into the exhaust manifold was broken off. It looked like someone had caused this. After speaking with Mike on the matter, we send it into the dealership, one of them, here in the Springs. They told me that the part was remodeled and that it would cost about $200 or so. I tell them to go ahead and fix it, as I need a car, and I had them replace the air filter as well, as it was time anyways. The bill, once fixed was roughly $265 give or take. A couple days later, I'm driving to my brother's house for Willow's birthday, and the car really didn't have the power that it was supposed to have. Going up the hills in my brother's neighborhood was difficult. I drove around the neighborhood a couple times, and figured that I would just park it and worry about it later. That's when I noticed the check engine light was on. After complaining to Mike about it, and telling mom, Roy and I make another drive to see if there was anything he could hear or feel wrong. I made another appointment to get the car looked at.
Now, at this point, I had done some reading up on my car, when I got home. I discovered that my car was a big problem maker during the 65K-100K+. I was sitting at 82K. Not a good sign. People were complaining about the same issues and what they had to replace how many times. I talked to Mike and said that if they come back with an easy fix, that's no issue, however I would still be nervous driving up to Craig with that car, as it isn't a reliable car anymore. After several hours of talking and researching new cars, we decided that we would wait to hear what they say before making a decisions. I sat in the dealership for a few hours, making "friends" with the creeps there, and finally got someone to tell me what they found. It was the catalytic converter that was needing replacing. The price for replacing that, and they would have to order it in, so just for the part itself was going to run me over $900. If you add on the shipping of the parts from two different places, labor and holding, plus the cost of the part, you'd be looking at somewhere around $1800 or more. I told Mike and he said that it sounded like we would be doing some car shopping.
When Mike came down last weekend, we had already both done some research online, however, as I told Mike, it's tough to make any real decisions about the kind of car you want when he has to be able to fit into it. It's really challenging to try and fit a 6'5" man into a car if it is not built right.
So we had brunch on Saturday mid-morning and headed next door to the Mazda dealership. We saw the model that we were looking at online, and immediately started to get in to look at it. Within minutes, after finding out that Mike could fit into the back seat, front passenger and driver seat, we were talking it for a test drive. After speaking a little about it, we decided to go forward with the choice and buy it. A few long hours later, we were leaving with a new car. The reason it took so long to finalize it was because four people said yes to buying a car, and they only had one or two people working in the finance department.
Mike says that he's pretty jealous of the car, and I'm really enjoying it.
I am so very blessed to have such an amazing man in my life. He takes great care of me, and provides for me not only in the things that I need, but the things that I want. Sometimes, those two things are the same. Even though we are on the opposite sides of the state, we are still really close. If anything, this distance is drawing us closer as a couple and as friends. I miss him everyday, but I also get to talk to him everyday too. I'm a terribly lucky girl to have been able to get a man like him in my life. I know that it is only a matter of time before our great life turns into a fantastic one, and I can't wait to see where and when it will happen. The journey to get there is worth the wait, and it's also the most fun.
This Thursday, I'm getting together with my great friend, Ana, as we haven't had time lately to spend with each other, and on Tuesday next week, we should be getting together with the rest of the girls, because it's been so long since I've seen them. I've been so busy with the packing and going from here to Craig. It's a tough and busy time, but I know that it's going to be totally worth it in the end.
Mike is already making a lot of friends in Craig, mostly with his co-workers and their families. He talks about them all the time, and he was invited to a barbeque on the 4th of July by two of them, and could only go to one of them. I told him that I was really proud that he went and started to make friends. People ask about me out there often. It's not the same kind of being asked about as it was here. Here, I felt that people were asking how I was doing, as it was the conversation starter for them. And in this case, with these new people, some of whom I have met, and some I have not, but they seem genuinely interested in how I am doing. I've even received some friend requests from some of them! I think that they will help us in the transition period out there.
Friday, we're getting our carpets cleaned. We have a really good company lined up, and they will be doing practically the whole house for $250 or so. It might be less as they have a few things that they will do to save us money and prep the house for selling.
Well, I think that pretty much covers most of the things that have been going on. Life is on cloud nine and things are just great. It's amazing how much better you see life when you keep the positives in mind and heart, and let go the rest.
Because I don't know if there is a showing today or not, I best get the house opened up anyways, and head out, just to be safe.
Until next time!
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