Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Sucking Us Green or Sucking Us Dry Of Our Green...

Spencer and I have had the worst luck with cars this past week. It started out small but quickly grew to a much larger problem than I imagined it would. Spencer has been noticing that his car was leaking oil for about two weeks now, so we had agreed that we would take it in to get it checked. However, my car started to really act up at the beginning of this week. I noticed that it was close to over heating on the way to work one morning. I had my so very intelligent brother take a look at it and he gave me a list of things that could be the problem but he couldn't tell without using tools. My brother helped me carefully drive my poor car to our mechanic and then we went home to wait for the news. My mechanic (Craig) called me to inform us that of all things to be wrong this was one of the worst. He was so nice about it and felt so bad. Craig informed us that I needed a new coolant pump. Now for those that don't know, your coolant pump is behind almost everything in your engine that it could possibly be behind. Usually when you replace your coolant pump, you replace all of your belts as well because you have to take them all off anyway to get to the pump. This cost us about $600.00 total to fix! 
When Spencer and I went to pick up my car we dropped off his to have it checked...remember that I said he noticed it was leaking earlier in the week. We thought that the most of our worries were over by this point. Boy were we wrong! I took Spencer to work that night (Wednesday) and planned to pick him up in the morning. On the way back home he could drop me off at work. We had this planned out perfectly or so we thought. I got up Thursday morning and went to leave. Problem number 3...my car won't start. What could possibly be wrong? We just had my car in the mechanic and hadn't even had it back a full day! I called my amazing brother again and asked him to come get me and take me to work. Cory picked me up, we then picked up Spencer and dropped me off at work. Spencer borrowed his mom's car in order to pick me up from work. Once we returned home I tried starting my poor car again and poof, it worked. We drove to his parents house to dropped off his mom's car and joined them for dinner. I didn't think twice about my car because sometimes Hondas get fussy with the cold. It never lasts long and never seems to be a big deal. You just have to have patience for about 5 minutes and then you will be on your way. 
Spencer and I decided to head home for the night. Little did we know that my car was not ready to leave with us. Spencer and I tried for about 15 minutes to get my car to start. It was a no go! We pushed my car out of the way and again borrowed his mom's car. On Friday Spencer and I headed back over to his parent's house. Spencer called Craig and discussed the issues with my car. Spencer and I had already determined that it might be my ignition switch going out and Craig seemed to agree with us. Craig told Spencer a few secrets and so Spencer gave them a shot. It worked and we were off again! We drove straight to Craig's shop to pick up Spencer's car, which had 2 oil leaks. We again dropped off my car and headed head. Craig called when my car was finished and Spencer went to pick it up. 
When all was said and done, Spencer and I had racked up almost a grand total of $1,070.00 in car repairs in 1 week! However, my incredible brother went and paid about $212.00 of the cost. He never said that he was going to and never called to tell us that he had paid anything. I couldn't believe it and Spencer was in awe too. We know that Cory has his own worries but he is just such an amazing person and knows more than enough about cars (He is a diesel mechanic) that he knew it was going to be a costly fix for us. So yes, my face was probably green from wanting to vomit due to the cost and we no longer have any green in our pockets but on the other side of everything I am so grateful for having the relationship with my brother that I have. I don't know many people that can say their siblings would do the same for them. I am so blessed to be so close with Cory. I love him so much and couldn't ask for anyone more amazing than he is!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Valentines. . . Not All About The Romance

I love this holiday but I have the hardest time with the stigma that often gets placed on Valentines. In the last couple years Valentines has more commonly been called "Singles Awareness Day." Now I know that society makes Valentines all about the significant others in our lives but I would like to remind everyone that valentines is about "love" and the best example of being able to show love is Christ. Love can be demonstrated in many different ways to many different people in our lives. Christ demonstrated this by giving his only son.
In my life there are many different people that I love. For example, I love Spencer and this love is the romantic, intimate kind of love. However, I also love my family. This is a very different kind of love then what I have for my husband. I love my friends and I love my coworkers. All of these people give me a piece of my life that the others can't and I view them all very differently than that others. 
 So with all this said, no more of this "Singles Awareness Day" because EVERYBODY has SOMEBODY to love. The love does not have to be romantic because valentines just isn't all about the romance . 
"Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God's child and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:7-8
"And so we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Those who live in love life in God, and God lives in them. We love because God first loved us."
1 John 4:16, 19
"And from far away the Lord appeared to his people and said, 'I love you people with a love that will last forever. That is why I have continued showing you kindness." Jeremiah 31:3
"So these three things continue forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13
I love you all and I hope that you had a fantastic Valentines Day! Don't forget to tell EVERYONE in your lives that means anything to you that you love them.