Another Miracle and Time with Friends

This week, we took our new vehicle into the shop.

It was making some strange sounds when we'd first start it up, and so we decided to have it checked out. Grig dropped the car off in the morning on Monday (it's awesome that he works right behind it, so he can take it in during break), and then we waited to find out what was going on.

I felt pretty peaceful about it, so I wasn't worried. I figured something was just loose or something.

However, when Grig called me that night, he informed me that we were looking at $800+ in repairs. He told me that the sound was caused by our timing belt, and that it was pretty expensive to replace. I was pretty surprised.

That night, I prayed pretty hard. Due to our recent expensive purchase, we no longer had $800+ extra in our account. In a couple of months we will, but at the moment, we do not.

The dealership we bought the car from agreed to pay around $250, even though we didn't have a warranty with them, but that still left us with around $600.

It was hard not to second guess ourselves. We couldn't help but doubt and wonder if we had bought the wrong car after all, or if we should have put less money down for the down-payment?

However, on Tuesday, Grig called again after work to inform me that it was going to be far less than predicted. It turned out, though the timing belt did have a small slice in it, the biggest problem was that someone that didn't know what they were doing had tried to install it and it was loose. They tightened it, and told us that it should last for at least a couple of years. They also found a valve that had some problems, but again we were told that it wasn't any immediate danger, and we could bring it back in a couple of months.

That was the biggest miracle for me! I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father. It was a nice reaffirmation that we had been following His council and he was going to take care of us.

It's also been super hot lately. As in, over 90 degrees every day.

I went to mow the lawn yesterday, and after about 30 minutes, the lawnmower quit on me. It died completely and wouldn't start at all. I started to panic. Money is tight right now, and we couldn't afford a new lawn mower or repairs. To de-stress, I called my mother. She's really good at listening and letting me vent, and then helping me to have more faith and hope. She told me that the lawn mower may just have overheated. She told me that sometimes their lawnmower does that in really hot weather.

So, a few hours later, I tried it again, and it started back up. I feel like that was another major answer to prayers.

Kevin had some friends over to play in a boat pool that we were given by some other neighbors. They had a fantastic time, and our dogs enjoyed playing together. With their mother's permission, I'm going to share a few photos.

 There was a lot of jumping and splashing involved from everyone. Sometimes the kids couldn't jump in the pool because the dogs were in it, but everyone was having a great time.

 In this picture, you can see Arkhon and Siff playing with their dog. He only has three legs due to a preexisting injury that occurred before they got him. That doesn't stop him though! He plays as hard as the other two. They don't care that he only has three legs. They love it when he comes over! He's a sweet dog too.

Kevin is so funny! He loves being cold,and he was wet all the way to his neck, though it wasn't on purpose at first.

At one point, Kevin jumped in and slipped, landing on his bum and chest deep in the water. He stood up and said, "Cold, cold, cold!" and then, two seconds later, jumped in and deliberately did it again.

His friends weren't quite so sure about sitting in the cold water, but they weren't afraid to get wet either.There was a lot of splashing and fishing, but eventually, everyone started getting hungry and tired, so we had to end the pool party.

It's so fun to have friends!

The Story of the New Car

A few months ago, we started feeling like maybe the Lord wanted us to purchase a new car. Our car was beginning to act up, and we couldn't fit all the people and animals that lived in our house in our current vehicle.

So, in February, we started looking. We went to a dealer. We were trying to find something that would last us for a long time, and it had been recommended to us that Hondas and Toyotas were usually high quality, even if they had a few more miles.

We found a couple that we were interested in, but we wanted to get a loan from a bank before we decided on anything for sure.

Then, almost the next week, insurance started at Grig's work and we ended up back-paying for insurance in February. Due to this, we didn't know for sure how much we were going to be making after insurance, and so we didn't know how much we could put into car payments.

So, for a while we didn't worry about it. Our car began to have pretty serious issues. Sometimes it wouldn't start. One day, it went completely dead. We took it to our mechanic and they told us our battery was dead, so we bought a new one and put it in. However, that didn't fix our problem. During April things began to get worse. Our blinkers stopped working consistently. Often, they were fine (especially during long trips when we'd been saying prayers), but often we'd just hear a mechanical buzzing or they wouldn't work at all.

Not sure if we had the money for a new car, we tried to take our car in to get it fixed. The mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with it, and it worked perfectly for them. However, only the next day, the troubles came back. We tried this two more times. Each time, the car would be having issues, but as soon as we brought it to the mechanic it worked fine.

We finally decided we needed to put our efforts toward purchasing a vehicle. Obviously the Lord didn't want us to spend any more money on the impala. A short time after that, the air conditioning and heating stopped working.

Old Car

Then came the final nail in our car's coffin: We received a notice in the mail telling us that our car's registration was due by the end of May and we needed to have a safety and emission check.

We now had a deadline. There was no way that our car was going to pass safety, and we would rather put our money toward a new vehicle than pour money into our current one.

May began, and during the first Sunday, Grig and I fasted and prayed that he would finally get his raise and that we would be able to find the right car. We were still waiting for our first paycheck in May, which would show us how much we were making after taxes and insurance. As of the first week of May, Grig had now been working at his current job for over 6 months, which is usually how long banks want you to be working somewhere before they give you a loan.

Then, last Wednesday, the long awaited day finally arrived. Grig received his check, and we looked to see what our actual workable income was. At lunch he called me and asked, "Wasn't I making this much when I started?" I told him, I didn't know, but then I went and looked. It turned out that Grig had received a raise a month ago, but we hadn't noticed because of all the back-paying we were doing for insurance. We were amazed! Our fast had been answered, and even before we had asked for it. Grig thanked his supervisor, who was surprised that he had just noticed. Wednesday, we plugged the paycheck into our budgeting system and found that we could spend at least $200 on car payments a month.

Thursday, we went and talked to a bank that had been recommended to us by the first dealership we had gone to. They seemed okay, but while we were applying for a loan and setting up an account, I couldn't help but feel heavy. I wondered if it was just worry about borrowing money, but the feeling persisted, even after we had left the bank. Grig and I prayed about it, and Friday morning, while he was at work, I got on the computer and began to compare bank rates for auto insurance. It turned out that a different bank, that we had been wanting to get an account at for a long time anyway, had much better rates. Grig and I talked about it when he got home, and we decided to apply at this bank instead and cancel our other account.

So, Friday night we did just that. We went in, got everything set up, and then decided to go to the dealership to "just look around." We didn't expect to find the car yet, but we wanted to get an idea of what was available. We had been told that this dealership was incredibly honest, and so they were our first choice.

We found a couple of cars that we were interested in. One was a Toyota Sienna, and the other was a Honda Pilot. We test drove the Sienna first. It was less money and had fewer miles on it. However, it also didn't feel right. It didn't help that as the dealer got in to drive it over to us, it began to make a loud squeaky noise.

However, when we got in the Pilot, everything felt right. It handled beautifully and had all sorts of features that we didn't even know that we wanted. It had eight seats, which is something that I really wanted. It also had four wheel drive and a place for a trailer hitch, which are two things that Grig wanted. We both felt really good about it, and after praying about it, decided that this was the vehicle that we were supposed to get.

So, when we drove back in, we went in with the agent and began to fill out paperwork. Our loan hadn't been approved yet, but we were supposed to hear about it the next morning. We asked the agent if they would hold it for us, and he hesitated. He said, "If tomorrow wasn't Saturday, I'd say yes. However, since tomorrow is Saturday, we ask that you put down at least $300, just so we know for sure you're serious."

He left the room for a minutes so we could talk about it, and we prayed again. Feeling very light and good, we put the $300 down, with the expectation that we would return the next day and buy the car. We agreed to a down-payment amount, and had them appraise our Impala for a trade-in value. It was only priced at $200, which was better than nothing. We printed off all the things we would need for the bank and drove away.

As we drove away, we both felt really good about our decision, but we also felt a little overwhelmed. "This is happening really fast," I told Grig.

He replied, "I was feeling the same way."

The next morning, Grig was working a few extra hours. About mid-morning, the bank called me and told me that our loan was accepted. We had been praying that our Impala would keep going until we could get the new car, and it had been working pretty well for the past couple of weeks.

However, I was having second thoughts. Not so much about the car, but about the amount we had agreed on for the down-payment. It would use up a lot of our buffer, and I was a bit worried about making such a large purchase. The thought of waiting until Monday crossed my mind several times.

However, as I read scriptures and talked to Grig (after he got home), we decided to just go for it. We felt that this is what the Lord was telling us to do, so He would provide for us. We were trying to stay carefully in our budget.

We cleaned out our car and got in to go get the loan from the bank. We all got in the car and tried to turn it on.

Nothing happened.

We tried again.

Nothing.

After a few minutes, Grig ran over to the neighbors and he came to jump us. It took a while, but eventually the car started. Then, as we were about to drive off, Grig received a call from the dealer. They asked us if we still wanted the car. We told them that we were on the way to the bank right then. They told us that it was a good thing we had put down the $300. A man was there saying he would buy the Pilot right then if we weren't going to take it. If we had waited even a day, we wouldn't have gotten this car.

As we drove away, our blinkers stopped working again, and lights were flashing all over. The Impala, which had served us faithfully for nearly four years, was dying.

We left the car running while we went into the bank. The amount of our monthly car payment came to the perfect amount, and everything else went smoothly. We withdrew our down-payment and got the check from the bank. As we drove to the dealer, the low fuel light came on.

We handed all of our paper work to the dealer, and within a few short minutes, drove away in our new vehicle. It was amazing.

It was a little sad to say good-bye to the Impala, but we were so grateful to have a car that we wouldn't have to worry about whether it would start every time or not.

We are so grateful for the many miracles, both large and small, that led to us being able to purchase this new car. We're also grateful for the Impala. We bought it from some wonderful friends and it was a great car to the very end.

New Car

It was such a great weekend. As we drove away from the dealer, I had the distinct impression that we were exactly where we were supposed to be and we had done exactly what we were supposed to do. I felt the Lord's love for us, and the He was pleased with us.

That night we went to the temple and felt the wonderful Spirit that is there.

I had a really great weekend.

Car Shopping

Grig and I have decided recently that it's time to start looking for a new vehicle. Our car, which has served us so well for the last four years, is beginning to die.

It's been having a lot of dashboard problems, and it has a few leaks here and there.

So, the other night, we went out and looked at vans.

Why vans? Well, right now, everyone in our household doesn't fit in our car. Yes, we only have one kid, but if we wanted to go somewhere with Grig's brothers it would be very tight. It also is impossible to haul anything large in our car.

We are looking for a Honda or Toyota, and we think we've found one that we like. We applied for a car loan through our bank, and we're eagerly waiting for them to contact us back. Neither of us have ever bought a car from a dealer, but we're excited for this new stage of life. We've figured out how much we can put toward monthly payments, and we're hoping that this works out.

It is interesting, because a few months ago, we were getting new tires for our car, and we were trying to decided which tires to pick. We were going to get the very best kind, so they would last forever, but something stopped us. After praying about it, we both felt that we should get the decent, but much cheaper tires.

That answer kind of confused us for a while, but as we've had more problems with our vehicle, we've begun to feel that it is time to upgrade. Also, if we are able to have another child like we're hoping, we're going to need more room for our growing family.

As a side note...

ONE WEEK TO PUPPY!

I might just be a little excited.

She's so stinkin' cute!

All of these changes are a little scary. Life is going to change, and that always comes with some difficulties, but I think we're making the right choices, so that's pretty comforting.

We aren't looking forward to making car payments, but we think it will save us money. The current repairs that the vehicle needs are worth more than the vehicle. It's time to move on.

Birthdays and Other Crazy Events

This last week has been pretty eventful. We've been a bit focused on Grig's job and so I didn't talk about a lot of the things that happened. This will have to be my catch-up post. 

First of all, our car broke down again. I was at a relief society meeting, and after I came out of the church, the car wouldn't start. We tried to jump it, but it wouldn't hold any kind of charge. We had to leave it in the church parking lot. One of the men who was there offered to drive Grig into work, if he needed a ride. That was very kind of him. However, it turned out that Allopex had the next two days off, so Grig was able to borrow his car while we tried to get ours figured out. 

The next day was my birthday! I turned 29. It's hard to believe that I'm almost 30. I guess I'll just have to enjoy my last year of being in my 20's. 

I had a pretty great party. Kevin made me a cake while his dad was at work. He did a pretty good job. He tasted it every few minutes and told me that it was still yummy. 

After Grig got home, we had a birthday party for me. I finally got to open my presents, which had been sitting next to my computer and mocking me for the last couple of weeks. I was pretty excited about my gifts. I got Kim Possible Season 1, a microphone for the computer (so I can work on more Atomic Otter Cinema videos), a new swing for our playset, and the book "Avatar: The Search." We finally know what happens to Zuko's mother. Allopex and Havelock joined us for the party. Grig's taking the picture, so he's not in this one. 

 However, he did help Kevin finish my cake. They're quite the pair.

 Arkhon wanted to help with the cake too, but he behaved himself. Kevin, on the other hand, was feeling a bit mischievous. I had spice cake with a cream cheese frosting. It was pretty yummy.

 Then, the next day, my grandmother was kind enough to pick me up and take Kevin and me to her home for another party. My sister was up visiting, and so we had breakfast together, and then they gave me cake again! I love angel food cake, so I was pretty excited. We had a fun time visiting with family, and my sister revealed the gender of her baby. I felt pretty loved afterward. It is nice when people think of you.

 We had our car towed that day, and found out that our battery was dead. Our mechanic is amazing, so they got our car started and Grig went and bought a new battery and put it in himself. It ended up costing far less than we thought it was going to. We're grateful it wasn't the alternator.

That same day, we had Loki (Arkhon's brother) come and stay over. They really love each other, and he enjoyed playing with his brother. They wore each other out.

 He stayed with us for a couple days, and we all enjoyed having him around. He's a lot fluffier than Arkhon, but he's smart and he figured out our house rules pretty quickly. They're both really good dogs.

Arkhon's on the left, and Loki's on the right. 

Loki's a little heavier, but Arkhon is faster.

 Another exciting event this week is that we were invited to a birthday party with one of Kevin's friends. They invited us to go bowling with them. It was Kevin's first time bowling and he loved it!

 Every time he'd knock over a pin, he'd do a victory dance and spin around. It was pretty adorable. We sure do love our boy. He and the birthday boy also danced to the music in between their turns. They had a lot of fun.

The family also has a little girl who is quite the snuggler. Kevin just adores her. He loves to kiss her and push her cheeks in and play with her. Here is a picture of the three of us cuddling.

 After we finished our game (which I didn't win, though I was leading for a while), we had cake. It was a really yummy Reese's cake. We're really grateful that they invited us to join them for their party.

 After we finished eating and opening presents, we let Kevin "drive" on one of the games. He's not actually driving. We had to leave soon and didn't want to go spend money on the arcade, but he sure thought he was. He wasn't very happy when we had to go home to go to bed.

 Sunday, we went for a walk around a nearby temple. The gates were closed, so we walked all around the outside, and then went down a nearby trail. We had a great time, though Kevin is really into eating snow right now, and that's all he wanted to do.

 The next few pictures are from the trail we were walking on. Half-way down, we saw a deer trail going up the mountain. I was a little nervous about leaving the human trail, but it was really fun, and steep. We saw deer tracks, and made our way back up to the sidewalk. It's good to do things that are brave sometimes.

We didn't even die!

 One last thing I wanted to add. Kevin loves to sword fight with Allopex. The funniest part though, is the fact that every time they sword fight, Arkhon goes and gets his "sword" as well. He grabs a rawhide bone and brings it over. He'll fence with his bone to the best of his ability. He loves it when you knock it out of his mouth. Here's a picture of him sword fighting with the other two.

That ends a pretty crazy week!

Mormon Monday: Asparagus and Faith

A month or so ago, we planted our garden.

When I was a kid in primary (church classes for children), we sang a song about faith. We talked about how "faith is like a little seed, if planted it will grow. (Faith)" At the time, I though, "Duh, you plant seeds and they grow. Where is the faith in that?"

Faith is so simple when you're a child.

We decided to plant asparagus. I think I mentioned this in a different blog post. (Yes, I did. Here is the link: http://atomicottercinema.blogspot.com/2015/04/gardening.html) I have been praying really hard that those asparagus would come up, and for a while, it looked like we were going to have to try again next year.

Arkhon got into the asparagus, and we kept finding the roots above the soil, half-eaten. We fenced off the asparagus, but we were afraid it was too late. A few weeks passed and there was no sign of life from our asparagus patch.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Grig came in the house and said, "We have some asparagus!" Surprised, I followed him out, and he showed me where a nearly full-grown plant seemed to have appeared overnight.

Only a few days later, we found another plant that had survived. I was super grateful. I didn't think we were going to have any asparagus, and now we had two. Then, a couple of days later, we found a third plant that had lived.

All three asparagus plants are doing well.

This actually is not our asparagus plant, but it looks pretty similar to it. I found the picture here.  It's too dark to take a picture of ours. I'll post it later.

This is a great analogy for faith. We had faith that the 20 asparagus plants that we planted would grow. We toiled and worked hard to help them, but adversity (Arkhon) appeared and tried to destroy our faith. It caused doubts and made us wonder if any good would come of our efforts.  Even so, we replanted and watered and prayed.

Weeks after we had nearly given up hope, the plants appeared, far larger that we had expected.

Just recently, we had some adversity appear in our lives.

Our car has been having problems again. The alternator broke and we had to get that replaced, delving deeply into our pockets. Then, just last Thursday, we thought we were in really trouble. As I was parked at a store, I returned to find liquid underneath the car. It didn't seem like very much, but it concerned me. As I started the car, the low coolant light came on.

That wasn't a good thing. We quickly bought some antifreeze and poured it into the car. Everything seemed fine, and nothing seemed to be leaking, so we drove away and headed home.

Half-way home, the light came back on.

When I checked the radiator at home, it seemed to be far emptier. I poured some water in, and in moments I heard the sound of water falling to the pavement beneath the car.

It appeared that our radiator had a serious leak. Adversity had appeared and it seemed to be eating all of our finances.

It was really scary that night, we didn't know what we were going to do. We couldn't really afford more car repairs, and we couldn't afford to buy a new car. We prayed pretty hard.

The next day, Grig took the car in, and to our astonishment, everything checked out fine. They didn't even charge us for bringing the car in. They told us that our sensor was probably not working right, but there was plenty of liquid in the radiator and there didn't appear to be any leaks.

He also informed us that sometimes clogs will occur in the radiator during winter, and when they break free, sometimes liquid can spill out. He told us that was probably what we heard. Either way, everything seems to be working fine now.

It is a miracle, and we are very grateful. Just when all hope seemed lost, the Lord blessed us with blossoms and living miracles.

I am very grateful for faith and trials. Without the trials, how would we come to depend on our Savior?

The rest of our garden is doing well too, and we can't complain. We are a little low on money, but we have sufficient for our needs. The Lord is taking care of us, just like he took care of our tiny asparagus patch.

Why We're Not Going to the Grand Canyon

A couple months ago, Grig decided he needed a vacation. I agree. He's been working really hard, and has been in near-constant pain for the last couple of months.

We decided that we would take our vacation after he finishes his class. We didn't have enough money this year to go back to Virginia, so we decided that we were going to go to the Grand Canyon. We picked our week, but everytime we went to make reservations (we were just going to camp there for $18 a day), we hesitated and decided not too. Soon we found that there are campsites that don't allow reservations, and we decided to try our luck with those. They are first come, first serve, and we felt good about gambling on getting a spot.

http://publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com/2009/11/grand-canyon.html

We had a bit in savings, and so we weren't too worried about paying for our trip to Arizona, especially since there is an extra payday in May for us.

However, the more I thought about it, the more the Grand Canyon began to feel wrong. Grig and I talked about it, and we decided that we probably should just stay close to home and go camping nearby. It would be a lot cheaper, we could bring the dogs, and if something was forgotten or something went wrong, we could just go home.

Once we had decided that, I began to feel a lot better.

And that's when things started to go wrong.

First, we found out that the L5 vertebrae in Grig's back is out of alignment. It has a really technical name, but essentially it means that he is in pain all the time and his only options are stretches or surgery. We're hoping he can build the strength back up without fusing his vertebrae together, but we'll see what the Lord has planned. Anyway, so that took some of our savings.

Then, a few days after that discovery, the battery light came on in the car. Our registration was expiring anyway, so when we took the car in for a safety inspection, we had them check that as well. It turns out that our alternator was dying. We ended up having to buy a new one, and then register that car for another $60+.

There went our entire savings. Then, we found out that Grig doesn't have work next week. Sometimes Grig's employer is very frustrating. They will just tell all their employees not to come in and they won't pay them for the time off. It can make things pretty scary.

Now, the extra paycheck in May is just going to be a regular paycheck to make up for the 1/2 of a paycheck in June.

This blog isn't written to complain, but rather to explain our situation.

We'd decided before all these bad things happened that we should stay closer to home, and now we know why.

I am so grateful that we were listening to the Spirit. I'm so glad we didn't make reservations at the Grand Canyon. If we had, we wouldn't have money to pay for our bills, and we would have been in trouble. We'll have more opportunities to go there, but for now, we can enjoy this wonderful home that we've been blessed with.

We can be grateful that my husband has a job, and is still capable of working and going to school.

We can be grateful that we have sufficient money to pay our bills and buy groceries. We can be grateful that my sister-in-law lives with us and helps out as much as she can.

We have so many blessings that every time I start to worry about money, I feel a little guilty. I KNOW the Lord will provide, but sometimes I can't help but stress. I don't like living paycheck to paycheck. It is stressful, but it also makes me much more aware of the blessings that the Lord gives us.

Though I am a bit disappointed, I am grateful that we're not going to the Grand Canyon this year. If we had to have car problems again, we do have money right now to take care of them, and that is also a blessing.

So, yeah, our vacation isn't going to be what we planned, but we're still going to have fun anyway. As long as I'm with Grig and Kevin, we can pretty much do anything and have a good time.

Kevin's face doesn't look like he's having a good time :)

More Care Troubles

So, the other day, Grig mentioned to me that the front headlight was out. However, when we drove the car later, it was back on again. We were grateful that it wasn't actually out, because at the time we didn't have money to replace it. 

However, last Thursday I was driving back from a meeting and both headlights were out. That wasn't good. We only had one working bright as well. So, that night I went and picked up two low-beams and one high beam. 

Friday, Grig went to replace the two headlights. The high-beam was able to be replaced with no problem. However, when he went to replace the two low-beams, they were both fine, but the inside of the beams was melted. 

That means another trip to the car emergency room. Our neighbor was kind enough to follow me out and drive me home after I dropped the car off. 

Hopefully, the problem isn't too severe. 

Other than that, we're starting to pack and clean. If the loan moves through the USDA quickly, we should be able to close by Friday still. We're very excited. 

We've been very blessed that everytime we've had car troubles, we've had money to fix it. This time it's the same. We got our tax returns last week, so we should be able to do what we need to do. 

After the Trial...

On Saturday, we were driving to Sam's Club to go shopping. It was an unusually warm day outside, and so, for the first time all winter, we decided to roll our windows down.

A harmless thing to do, right?

Wrong! Or at least, that's what our car decided. As Grig tried to roll the window back up, it simply groaned and died. We tried to get it back on the track by pushing the button back and forth and we were rewarded by the sound of cracking glass.

Great.

I was pretty hopeful at first. I told Grig, "It will be okay. All we have to do is pray, and it is going to work again." He was kind of skeptical, but willing to try. He wasn't skeptical because he didn't believe God could fix the window, he was skeptical because the Lord may have a reason for breaking the window, and if so, no amount of praying was going to fix it.

We went shopping and when we came out, we said a prayer and tried the window again. If anything, the sounds got worse...and then it stopped working completely. It didn't dampen my faith however. I felt like it was going to be okay, even if we had to take it in. He agreed.

It's hard when you believe something is going to happen and it doesn't, though. I took the car in on Monday and was told it was probably going to be about a $300 fix to get it back on track.  As I left, that was when the frustration hit.

We'd just barely finished fixing up our car. We were starting to be able to save money again! Why did this have to happen now?

However, there was nothing to be done, so we agreed and left the car there over night. That night it snowed, and we were grateful that they had it inside of their shop where moisture couldn't blow through the window.

Sometimes bad things happen, and you begin to ask the Lord "Why?"  However, I am learning more and more that as we continue in faith the blessings begin to pour in.

The same day we turned the car in, Grig's co-worker approached him. Grig was busy sweeping because they were at a slow point, and his co-worker kind of just stood there and watched him for a minute. Then he said, "Hey, man. How would you like to weld?"

Grig loves welding. He is officially a fitter (of parts for the welders), but every time one of the welders will let him, he has been welding. At first Grig thought that his co-worker was asking if he wanted to weld right then, and then he realized that the man was talking full-time. His co-worker informed him that a full-time position had just opened and he should go apply. So, he did.

If he gets this position, we will receive a raise, and Grig will be able to do something he enjoys a lot more! So, we are currently praying that he gets the job. That would be a huge blessing.

Then, my parents just informed me that our phone plan is changing. With the change, our phone bill is suddenly going to become more inexpensive! That's pretty exciting.

On top of that, when I went to pick up the car yesterday, I informed my grandfather (who was driving me) that I had finally received my new state driver's license. He told me, "Okay, then I'm going to take you to Wal-mart and get you a fishing license. I'll pay for it."

I've been dying to go fishing. Lately, I've been editing my grandpa's life history for him, and he told me this was his way of paying me back for all of my work. Then, he asked if we wanted to go fishing at 4:00. I really wanted to, but I wanted to talk to Grig about it first.

We picked up the car and it turned out that the motor that rolls up the window was actually broken. The man at the repair shop told me that it fell into six pieces as he pulled it out. He also told me he had never seen one in that bad of shape. So, I don't know why our car had to experience this right now, but I'm grateful we had money to pay for it. It ended up being a bit less than $300 when all was said and done, and our window works again. That was another blessing.

We did go fishing last night, and we caught three beautiful (though smallish) rainbow trout. We had a lot of fun! Grig didn't fish (he doesn't have his driver's license yet, but he will soon), so he and Kevin explored the area while Grandpa and I fished. They found a couple of fossils and a dead bird. They had a good time.

These pictures are actually from a different fishing trip, but I forgot to bring my camera last night, so I decided to use these pictures instead. We only caught three fish last nigh and they were all about the size of the little one between Grig and I. Also, Kevin is much older now.

I am pretty grateful for how many blessings we have in our lives. I feel like our trials are insignificant in comparison, and I feel bad for my frustration the other day. I am learning to trust in the Lord, regardless of what life might throw at us. He hasn't steered me wrong, and He never will.

Follow Up to Last Week's Disappointing News

So, for those of your who read the disappointing news from a few weeks ago and about our car problems from last week, will remember that things were not looking very good for the Tank family.

We've had a bunch of blessings since then, but I didn't want to write about them until everything finished (so I didn't count my blessings before they hatched). I'm glad I waited though. I can't even describe my gratitude for the things that have occurred.

So, first of all, on our car.

I told you about how we needed a new catalytic converter and it was going to be mega-bucks. They were looking at about $700 plus, just for the part itself. We asked if they could get a used one, and they said it was illegal to do so. Then, we told them that we wanted to wait to repair the rest until our tax returns came. They told us that it would be cheaper for us to replace the front display while they already had it open. So, that day we just had them fix our check engine light, which ended up needing our whole front lights display replaced too. It took a couple days to get our car back (which was okay. They just had to order new parts that hadn't arrived yet).

They were very kind and as we went to pick up our car, they informed us that they had found a catalytic converter that was only $225. We were amazed! They didn't have to do that, but the blessings continued to come.

We got our tax return the next week, so we took the car in last friday. They replaced the thermostat, our catalytic converter, and all of our brake pads. We were expecting it to take a couple days, but they called us at 4:00 p.m. and told us our car was done. Amazed we went to pick it up. The total price?

$837

I don't think we're going to be going to any other car repair shop from now on.

After that, we stopped quickly and replaced our front tires at Les Schwab, because they had treated us so well the time before. They had a special sale going on front tires as well.

At the end of the day, we spent only $75 over the thousand we were hoping for. It was a miracle! I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for saving us so much money and guiding us to an honest place.

Then, Saturday morning we took our car back to the place where we'd gotten the safety inspection. If you bring it back within 15 days, you don't have to pay to have the inspection again. Saturday was the 15th day. We quickly passed safety, and aside from a small hiccup with emisions (where we had to drive the car around a bit before the new parts would engage,) we passed emissions as well.  Last week I cried from frustration. This week I nearly cried in gratitude. Grig and I had a special gratitude fast Sunday morning.

The other good news is that Grig found out that his job is planning on keeping ALL of the full-time employees if they can. He may not need to look for another job after all! That is very exciting news. We've had some amazing things happen.

Havelock, Grig's brother who lives with us, has been looking to move into his own apartment. WE thought he'd found one last week, and we were excited for him, but sad he was going to be moving. However, he found out afterward that they had signed him up for a fall contract, not an immediate contract. So, he's still looking, but that's okay, because we like having him here.

Thank you for your suggestions and prayers for our family and Grig's job. We appreciate it and have seen the Lord's hand in our lives. We can't believe how much he loves us and how much money we were allowed to save.

So, faith does pay off. Even when it seems that things are looking awful, keep believing. Later, you'll look back and realize how many blessings you've really received! The Lord's timing is perfect, and as you try to follow his commandments and do what is right, you will receive the promised blessings.

Car is in the Shop and Other Random Things

Well, today is a momentous day for our family. Earlier this week, we received our federal tax return and we immediately called the repair shop and tried to schedule an appointment. We wanted to take the car in on Thursday so hopefully it would be done before the weekend. However, their first opening was today, so we woke up relatively early (okay, late compared to normal) and took the car in.

My kind grandparents were nice enough to follow us in their car, and drive us back home afterward. We are excited to have all of this over with. There have already been some remarkable miracles that we've experienced, but I don't want to count my blessings before they've occurred, so I'm going to tell you about everything after it's over.

Not having a car is really inconvenient, but luckily we have a great bus system where we live, and it is fairly easy to get around, if a little time-consuming.

I am going to give the dog a bath today. She's starting to be a little stinky.

Also, I wanted to let you know that currently, my goals are going great. I had to adjust a few to more realistic levels, but I've been feeling really good about how things are going.

This week, Kevin and I have started dancing for exercise. I'm kind of super self-conscious about how I look when I exercise, so I prefer to do it in the privacy of my home. Dancing around while carrying a baby is pretty good exercise though. My thighs are sore today. That must mean that I'm actually working out. When Kevin gets bored of dancing to Tangled music, I'll do leg-lifts with him on my legs, or we'll play some indoor soccer. Either way we're moving around.

My writing has been going excellent as well. I adjusted my goal from five pages a day to 1/2 an hour a day. I'm not accomplishing five pages, but I'm getting in a little writing at a time. That is progress, no matter how small. I'm really liking where my story is headed right now. It keeps surprising me.

How can your own story surprise you? Well, sometimes, I meet characters and I realize, "Wow, you're kind of a jerk!" or "Huh, you're really interesting." I basically know where the story is headed, it's a rewrite after all, but it is morphing into a completely different creature, even while the basic story line stays the same.

Scripture reading is going great, and also my no technology time. I have changed that to be two hours in the morning where the computer CAN NOT be on. It's not that we are on the computer the rest of the day, it is simply for those two hours, we cannot even go near it. It's been great, actually. I get a lot more done, and Kevin and I have had more time to play. I really like it, and think it is going to be a mainstay of my day's activities from now on. Sometimes it's good to remember what really matters, and that I am stronger than my urge to constantly be plugged in.

Life is pretty good right now!

More and More Car Problems

Yesterday, Havelock was very kind and got up early with Grig so that he could drive Grig to work and bring the car back for me. I was very grateful, because that way I didn't have to wake up Kevin. I needed to take it to the repair shop so they could figure out what the codes were that were popping up and give us an estimate of how much it was going to be to fix.

My grandparents were kind enough to follow me and Kevin to the shop, and then to drive us back after we dropped off the car. Yesterday, all Kevin wanted to do all day was cuddle. It could have been frustrating I suppose, but actually it was kind of nice. We had a snuggle day. He's been really great at giving hugs lately. At night, after he's eaten a little, he get up and stumble over to his father and collapse on his chest and then give him kisses. Grig really enjoys it. It's pretty tender.

We love Kevin's hugs. The dog doesn't always, but she's pretty patient about it.

Anyway, just after Grig got home (a coworker gave him a ride) the auto shop called, so I let Grig talk to them. It's not that I don't know somethings about cars, but when you start talking at Catalytic Converters and things like that...I just kind of start glazing or feeling frustrated because I don't know what they're talking about. Also, I trust Grig's clear head.

So, our catalytic converter is broken and needs to be replaced. That is going to be about $900. Also, our thermostat is broken and our check engine light was smashed to pieces. Together, those two will be about $200 something. This could have been discouraging news, because we also have to pay for new tires and brakes, but after my last post, I kind of feel benign about it all.

I've already come to terms with the fact that this is going to cost a lot of money, and I'm just grateful that we have the means to deal with it right now. Grig needs to go to college and in order to do that he needs his residency. So, our car needs to pass these inspections. Also, these could potentially be very harmful things to our car, and as much as fixing it can be a pain, it will be cheaper than buying a new car.

I love this car. A friend sold it to us for an incredible price and it has been wonderful. It has had very few problems and pretty great gas mileage. The fact is, we need it. We told them we might wait until tax returns arrived to get a new catalytic converter, but he told us it would be cheaper if we replace the thermostat while they already have the car opened up, so the car stayed overnight at the shop last night.

That meant that Grig walked to work today.

We had a special fast at church this week for more moisture. Last night it began snowing. Is that a coincidence? I think not.

However, as wonderful as the snow is, that meant that Grig had to walk through snow for 1/2 an hour to get to work at 3:30 this morning. He is a pretty awesome, responsible guy. He made it safely, in case you were wondering.

We have a great kid with a lot of love and happiness. He loves to share that with everyone he meets, and most days I try to return the favor. I have a new goal along with my other goals. I am now instigating 'no technology time.' This is the time of day after Kevin wakes up from his nap where my computer is shut down and I don't touch it until after Grig gets home. This is so I ensure that Kevin gets my undivided attention. That's not to say I'm on the computer the whole morning either, but I do blog, and then while Kevin is napping I am trying to work on my stories and animations. I've just been feeling like I'm spending too much time electronically with my son, and not enough time playing with him.

So, we're working on it.

Yesterday was supposed to be the first day my goal happened, but he didn't go to sleep until 2:30, and by the time Grig got home, he was still sleeping. Thus the period I was supposed to turn off the computer never happened. That's okay, if that time doesn't work, I'll do it earlier in the morning instead.

Goals are awesome! They keep us going in life and give us direction. Grig is going to become a resident and so we are going to fix our car.

It's going to be okay.

Mormon Monday: Faith

Friday turned out to be a very rough day for me. We had to get a safety inspection and an emissions inspection done on our car.

I went in with faith, thinking that the Lord would take care of it, and hopefully we would pass. We dropped the car off, and while we waited for them to check it, Grig, Kevin, and I went on a walk. We stopped at Al's Sporting Goods and browsed around looking at knives, guns, and mounted animals. It was quite fun. I wasn't worried about the car at all.

However, as we finished, Grig received a call on his phone. It was from the car place. They told us that our car had failed on both its emissions and safety inspection!

I was surprised, but then I assumed that it was just going to be something small, so I was determined to not worry about it (this is an optimistic quality that I have, that sometimes makes me very disappointed.)

We walked back, and they informed us that our check engine light is on (which it hasn't been because it turns out our check engine light is broken too) and they are reading two different codes that we need to get checked out before it can pass the emissions test. They also informed us that our brakes needed to be replaced as well as our front tires.

All-in-all, we are looking at an estimated around $500-700 worth of repairs. That was very discouraging to me.

We have our tax refund coming, with which we will be able to make the needed repairs and finish this process of getting our car registered in this state, but I really wanted to use that money to pay off the majority of our school debt. When I found out that we were probably going to have to use around a thousand of it to fix things on our car that I didn't really feel like they needed to be fixed, I was pretty distraught.

I didn't know why Heavenly Father had allowed this to occur. Our brakes seem fine to me. They aren't squeaking or stalling. Our front tires, though they may be losing their tread have handled the ice quite decently. I was really looking forward to having less debt, and sometimes when I make a plan that I'm really excited about, it's hard for me to change that plan.

However, that is where faith truly comes in. We hope for the best, but when things don't work out the way we plan, we don't lose faith. Instead, we should try to see what God is trying to teach us, or what we can learn from this new experience.

As my wonderful husband Grig pointed out, at least we have the tax return coming so we CAN pay for these repairs. Most likely, we would have to make these repairs anyway, but if this wasn't occurring right now, we would have to pull the money out of somewhere else.

He's absolutely right. That is a blessing and I just didn't recognize it at first. I was pretty set on what I wanted and the blessings that I thought Heavenly Father was giving us, that I didn't recognize another wonderful blessing that we were receiving.

In the LDS Bible Dictionary, it states:

Faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true (Heb. 11:1; Alma 32:21), and must be centered in Jesus Christ in order to produce salvation. To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed Himself and His perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation.

I do have faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that He is going to take care of us, and I feel ashamed that I doubted, was somewhat angry, and confused for a little while. Our family has been guided and taken care of time and time again, and I know the Lord will continue to do so.

I just really hate making car repairs. I fell like they are way over-priced and they make you fix things that aren't really broken.

Regardless, that is what the laws in our area have asked us to do, and we believe in obeying and honoring the laws. We'll do our best to see them through.

We did find out yesterday that there is a $200 emission repair cap. That was a blessing to find out, so the price of repairs may actually be less than we thought it was going to be.

As we have faith, we put our own worries and fears aside and trust that the Lord won't lead us astray. As we do our best, He will take care of us.

It isn't blind faith. I know that these things are true because I have seen the Lord's hand in my life before, and I have felt His presence and His love. I'm not acting because I'm hoping things will work out. I'm acting because I KNOW things will work out. It's just scary sometimes to walk with only part of the path illuminated.

That's what faith is. It's having absolute confidence that our Heavenly Father is perfect and knows where the path will lead, even if we don't. It's the faith of a blind man in his guide dog or a child in his parent. We trust that they will not lead us astray, and unlike the dog and the parents, God doesn't and can't make mistakes.

That's a very comforting thing when you're trying to turn your life over to someone else.

The Bible Dictionary goes on to state that:

Although faith is a gift, it must be cultured and sought after until it grows from a tiny seed to a great tree. The effects of true faith in Jesus Christ include (1) an actual knowledge that the course of life one is pursuing is acceptable to the Lord (see Heb. 11:4); (2) a reception of the blessings of the Lord that are available to man in this life; and (3) an assurance of personal salvation in the world to come. These things involve individual and personal testimony, guidance, revelation, and spiritual knowledge. Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healings, and all the gifts of God that He gives to His saints. Jesus pointed out some obstacles to faith in John 5:44 and 12:39–42 (see also James 1:6–8).

Faith doesn't just appear. As we grow and work through trials (like Friday), we move forward. As we do so, we see the fruit of our faith and then we can continue to trust and have more faith. There are obstacles to faith, but as we see the Lord's hand in our lives, we learn to work past those obstacles and to trust in Him.

If things are hard right now, have faith. The Lord wants you to have peace and happiness in your life. He doesn't want to make us miserable, he wants us to be happy. Sometimes happiness is a journey, but true happiness takes work and effort. It is not an instant gratification type-of-thing. God knows not only what will bring us joy, but also the only path that will take us there.

Follow His path and have faith in Him. I'm trying to do the same, and as I try, I gradually am succeeding.

Even when I have hard days like Friday.