The best thing, in my opinion, about this car is how many miles to the gallon it gets compared to what the Jeep was getting. We will save tons of money on gas, and I'm so HAPPY about that. We are buying it from a guy at Geoff's work. The color (hot lava) will take some getting used to, but we could not pass up this offer and it just kind of fell into our laps. It is a huge blessing actually and could not have come at a better time. Geoff had not mentioned to this guy that we were car searching (which we have been doing for a week now) and he just randomly said to Geoff this week, "Hey, want to buy my car?" Geoff was like, "Yes!" which the guy was not expecting at all. We have been praying that something would just come along and it did. We were very diligent and vigorous in our search this week (going to many dealerships, looking on craigslist and cars.com, etc.) and I know that Heavenly Father blessed us with this car because of our efforts. We are going to get it on Monday and I cannot wait! It'll be fun to drive a stick shift again since that is what both Geoff and I learned to drive with.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
new car: hot lava
Those of you who know us know that we have been having car troubles with our Jeep Liberty for a while now. We have been wanting to sell it, but have been waiting for the best time to do it. Well.. now the transmission is about to go and it will be a $2,500 repair. This is the last straw for us, and now have found an excellent deal on this 2008 Scion XD:The best thing, in my opinion, about this car is how many miles to the gallon it gets compared to what the Jeep was getting. We will save tons of money on gas, and I'm so HAPPY about that. We are buying it from a guy at Geoff's work. The color (hot lava) will take some getting used to, but we could not pass up this offer and it just kind of fell into our laps. It is a huge blessing actually and could not have come at a better time. Geoff had not mentioned to this guy that we were car searching (which we have been doing for a week now) and he just randomly said to Geoff this week, "Hey, want to buy my car?" Geoff was like, "Yes!" which the guy was not expecting at all. We have been praying that something would just come along and it did. We were very diligent and vigorous in our search this week (going to many dealerships, looking on craigslist and cars.com, etc.) and I know that Heavenly Father blessed us with this car because of our efforts. We are going to get it on Monday and I cannot wait! It'll be fun to drive a stick shift again since that is what both Geoff and I learned to drive with.
The best thing, in my opinion, about this car is how many miles to the gallon it gets compared to what the Jeep was getting. We will save tons of money on gas, and I'm so HAPPY about that. We are buying it from a guy at Geoff's work. The color (hot lava) will take some getting used to, but we could not pass up this offer and it just kind of fell into our laps. It is a huge blessing actually and could not have come at a better time. Geoff had not mentioned to this guy that we were car searching (which we have been doing for a week now) and he just randomly said to Geoff this week, "Hey, want to buy my car?" Geoff was like, "Yes!" which the guy was not expecting at all. We have been praying that something would just come along and it did. We were very diligent and vigorous in our search this week (going to many dealerships, looking on craigslist and cars.com, etc.) and I know that Heavenly Father blessed us with this car because of our efforts. We are going to get it on Monday and I cannot wait! It'll be fun to drive a stick shift again since that is what both Geoff and I learned to drive with.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
life these days
we have been in california for a week now and we are settling in to our life here for the summer. we found a studio apartment 5 mins away from Geoff's job, which is a huge blessing. on days i need to use the car i am able to just bring him to work in the morning. Geoff is getting settled into his job and the responsibilities he will be having. he leaves by 7:45 am and is home around 5:00 pm. while he is gone all day i hang out with Cora, which involves feedings every two hours, diaper changing, playing, cooing at each other, napping (Cora that is, cause when she is asleep i am doing my online BYU classes), and making dinner for when Dad gets home. my days really do fly by and I'm sometimes not jumping into the shower till 20 mins before Geoff gets home. I like to be somewhat ready for the day when he gets home, looking half way decent!
we are living very simply this summer. we only
brought the essentials (1 frying pan, 1 pot, a whisk, our blender of course - gotta have our daily smoothies, clothes, etc.) I swear we brought more stuff for Cora than for ourselves. we're even sleeping on the floor - we have those thick camping mats that are pretty comfortable (see pictures below). i'm really liking our simple life. i find myself being more inventive with dinners since i'm so limited with cookware, and being in a small studio apartment isn't that bad for a family of three. we just have one main room, a separate kitchen, a separate bathroom, and a walk in closet that leads you form the main room into the bathroom. the furniture you see in the pictures is from our grandma georgia out here and our aunt linda and uncle mitch. they have lent us their coffee table, a lamp, a bookshelf/night stand, and a card-playing table with 4 chairs. this stuff has really saved us and made it feel more homey. we are so grateful for family close by! the only struggle we have had with this apartment is the urine smell in the carpet from the previous tenants who had many many cats! febreeze has become my new best friend!!
we are definitely the minority here in San Gabriel (just outside of Pasadena). it seems the majority of the population is Asian. all the stores are even written in Chinese characters as well as in English. the first day we got here we went for a drive to explore the area and we were in shock to see Asians in every car that passed by, on every street corner, and for all the signs in store fronts to be written in both English and Chinese.
luckily we have a costco 15 mins away. that is a must! we were two of maybe 5 whites in the store the other day, the rest were asian. i had never seen a costco crowd like that before!
Cora is doing well. she was pretty fussy the first few days we were here. i think she could sense that we were in a new place and was a little out of her sorts. she is doing much better now. she gets cuter and cuter every day. i really love having her here with me all day. it would be pretty lonely without her!
i am feeling much better in my recovery process from birthing a child. it has been a pretty rough time for me, but I seem to be mostly healed now and I am enjoying working out again. I started P90X up again this week and it is kicking my butt! I thought it was hard pre-pregnancy, but now I am realizing how strong I really was before having a baby. my core muscles just are not the same anymore, but i can tell they are waking up. i'm excited that i am fitting back into my normal clothes again, it'll be good not to have to wear maternity pants anymore.
well, we are happy and settling in to a routine this summer. these three months will go quickly and we will be back in provo before we know it.
our Bedroom
Cora's Corner
the Kitchen
the Dining Room
the Bathroom
very simple, but just what we need for the summer!
brought the essentials (1 frying pan, 1 pot, a whisk, our blender of course - gotta have our daily smoothies, clothes, etc.) I swear we brought more stuff for Cora than for ourselves. we're even sleeping on the floor - we have those thick camping mats that are pretty comfortable (see pictures below). i'm really liking our simple life. i find myself being more inventive with dinners since i'm so limited with cookware, and being in a small studio apartment isn't that bad for a family of three. we just have one main room, a separate kitchen, a separate bathroom, and a walk in closet that leads you form the main room into the bathroom. the furniture you see in the pictures is from our grandma georgia out here and our aunt linda and uncle mitch. they have lent us their coffee table, a lamp, a bookshelf/night stand, and a card-playing table with 4 chairs. this stuff has really saved us and made it feel more homey. we are so grateful for family close by! the only struggle we have had with this apartment is the urine smell in the carpet from the previous tenants who had many many cats! febreeze has become my new best friend!!
we are definitely the minority here in San Gabriel (just outside of Pasadena). it seems the majority of the population is Asian. all the stores are even written in Chinese characters as well as in English. the first day we got here we went for a drive to explore the area and we were in shock to see Asians in every car that passed by, on every street corner, and for all the signs in store fronts to be written in both English and Chinese.
luckily we have a costco 15 mins away. that is a must! we were two of maybe 5 whites in the store the other day, the rest were asian. i had never seen a costco crowd like that before!
Cora is doing well. she was pretty fussy the first few days we were here. i think she could sense that we were in a new place and was a little out of her sorts. she is doing much better now. she gets cuter and cuter every day. i really love having her here with me all day. it would be pretty lonely without her!
i am feeling much better in my recovery process from birthing a child. it has been a pretty rough time for me, but I seem to be mostly healed now and I am enjoying working out again. I started P90X up again this week and it is kicking my butt! I thought it was hard pre-pregnancy, but now I am realizing how strong I really was before having a baby. my core muscles just are not the same anymore, but i can tell they are waking up. i'm excited that i am fitting back into my normal clothes again, it'll be good not to have to wear maternity pants anymore.
well, we are happy and settling in to a routine this summer. these three months will go quickly and we will be back in provo before we know it.
our Bedroom
Cora's Corner
the Kitchen
the Dining Room
the Bathroomvery simple, but just what we need for the summer!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
easter
dave and lisa (Geoff's brother and his wife) had us over for Easter dinner and an egg hunt this year. we had a great time and their garden was so beautiful that we took some pictures...
you gotta love the "sun is so bright it is killing my eyes" shot
this one came out much better. we had lisa count to 3 and on three we opened our eyes. look how tiny cora looks next to geoff!
cousin cassidy and cora. cassidy was so sweet with her and so interested. cassidy will be turning 1 in a few days.
for the easter egg hunt geoff put cora in the baby bjorn. she loved it! dave, geoff, and i hid the eggs while ellie and mason hid in the house. since cousins cade and connor couldn't make it, ellie and mason had tons of eggs to find. they did a great job, but could not find one egg (hid by me) so i had to show them where it was. i can't wait till cora can run around looking for eggs in a few years!
you gotta love the "sun is so bright it is killing my eyes" shot
this one came out much better. we had lisa count to 3 and on three we opened our eyes. look how tiny cora looks next to geoff!
cousin cassidy and cora. cassidy was so sweet with her and so interested. cassidy will be turning 1 in a few days.
for the easter egg hunt geoff put cora in the baby bjorn. she loved it! dave, geoff, and i hid the eggs while ellie and mason hid in the house. since cousins cade and connor couldn't make it, ellie and mason had tons of eggs to find. they did a great job, but could not find one egg (hid by me) so i had to show them where it was. i can't wait till cora can run around looking for eggs in a few years!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
motherhood
we had a lesson at church today on motherhood and it really hit home to me since i am a new mom. we talked about "mothers who know..." from the verse in Alma 56 of the Book of Mormon where the 2000 stripling young men said, "we do not doubt our mothers knew it." These sons of Helaman had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them...
we made a list in class of things "mothers who know" do:
see here for full article
I feel that motherhood is a privilege and I am honored that I have been entrusted with one of God's children, to care for her, love her, and guide her back to Him. the almost 3 months of motherhood that I have known have far surpassed my expectations of what it would be like. everyday I am in awe. everyday I fall more and more in love. everyday I learn something new of how to take better care of her. everyday I feel blessed to be a mother.
Let's honor our mothers this week as we prepare for mother's day. tell her you love her. tell her you are grateful for her. tell her how she has changed your life.
My mother is my best friend. I hope to be just like her in the way that I mother my daughter. she is the most amazing mother I have ever met because she is a selfless mother who is always looking for ways to help her children and ensure that they are happy. I love my mother.
we made a list in class of things "mothers who know" do:
see here for full article
- mothers who know bear children
- mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants
- mothers who know are nurturers
- mothers who know are leaders
- mothers who know are teachers
- mothers who know do less
- mothers who know stand strong and immovable
I feel that motherhood is a privilege and I am honored that I have been entrusted with one of God's children, to care for her, love her, and guide her back to Him. the almost 3 months of motherhood that I have known have far surpassed my expectations of what it would be like. everyday I am in awe. everyday I fall more and more in love. everyday I learn something new of how to take better care of her. everyday I feel blessed to be a mother.
Let's honor our mothers this week as we prepare for mother's day. tell her you love her. tell her you are grateful for her. tell her how she has changed your life.
My mother is my best friend. I hope to be just like her in the way that I mother my daughter. she is the most amazing mother I have ever met because she is a selfless mother who is always looking for ways to help her children and ensure that they are happy. I love my mother.
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