Thursday, July 17, 2008

We Did What?!?

That's right!  On Saturday Stephen and I became the proud new owners of a Ford Edge.  After a few months of talking about getting a new car, we finally buckled in and drove out of the parking lot with one.  After signing lots of paper with lots of fine print, of course.

We bought it from this great man:
For those of you who don't know, the other man in the picture (besides Stephen) is my wonderful father-in-law Jeff.  He works for Long-Lewis Ford...which is how we were able to afford our nice new car.

Now let me explain a few things.  First of all, the last straw that contributed to us making the big decision to get a car was what I now refer to as one of the most miserable days of my life so far.  The windows in my old car have been giving me problems for over 2 years.  Two of them decided to stop working, and one of them would not go back up - it was stuck with the window down.  I took my car in and was told that it would cost about $500 PER WINDOW to fix them.  So of course I decided it didn't really matter THAT much that I couldn't use my windows, so I just had them bolt the one window that wouldn't go back up into place.  This was about 2 yrs ago.  

Last Thursday, my driver's side window decided to get stuck in the down position and not go back up.  This wouldn't have been the end of the world IF I hadn't been in Birmingham when it happened AND if it hadn't been POURING DOWN RAIN outside. 

Here's the story.

After work Thursday I had to go to the doctor's office.  My window had already decided to stop working earlier in the day.  As I was sitting in the waiting room, with a clear view of my car out in the parking lot and my window WIDE OPEN, the skies opened up and rain came pouring down.  There was nothing I could do.  There was no way to get my window back up.  So I sat there for about 30 minutes and just watched the rain pour into my car as I waited for the doctor to call me back.  All the while knowing I would soon have to drive home in the soggy seat in the rain.

Once I finished at the doctor's, it was STILL POURING DOWN RAIN.  Remember, I'm in Birmingham and have an HOUR drive home to Sylacauga.  It rained pretty much the whole way.  At one point I attempted to open an umbrella and hold it over the window while I was driving, but the wind kept blowing the umbrella around, and really it wasn't doing that much good.  Plus it was probably pretty dangerous to be holding the umbrella up to my window while I was trying to drive in the rain.

Then I decided to stop at WalMart and buy a garbage bag and some tape - maybe I can tape up my window and keep the rain out.  Good idea except for the fact that it's still raining and the entire inside of my car is wet, so there's no way for the tape to stick.  Plus the wind blew the trashbag off the window.  

I did however buy a towel.  To place between my wet clothes and my very soggy seat.  Not that it did much good at that point.

All that to say, when I finally got home soaking wet, the first thing Stephen said after "I'm sorry" was "We're going to buy a new car this weekend."  This was music to my ears, no matter how much it might cost in the long run.

So we went to see Jeff and came home with the Edge.  It's a crossover, so it gets better gas mileage than an SUV and it looks super cool.  Here's some pics of the inside.
I LOVE the moon-roof/sunroof!  It covers like the entire ceiling of the car.  It's almost like driving with the top down and I've ALWAYS wanted a sunroof.

So that was our big purchase for like the next 10 years.  It sure has made the drive to work each day a little more fun.  We're really enjoying it and will be taking it on a little roadtrip this weekend to Atlanta to see my aunt & uncle.  Should be fun!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Life In Sylacauga

Sorry it's been a while.  Stephen and I have been keeping pretty busy here in Sylacauga.  We had a GREAT time at the lake with my family for the 4th of July.  It was so good to see everyone, even if it was just for a few short days.  We had lots of fun hanging out on the lake and Stephen went fishing with the guys and caught some big 'ol fish!
A different group of our family went each night and my Aunt Mary actually caught the biggest fish of the weekend...beginner's luck, I guess!

Since then we've been entertaining lots of friends and family in our new house!  Our dear friend KJ Pugh (he married me and Stephen) came and stayed for a night last week after preaching at a youth retreat in the area.  It was great to have him over and catch up for a little bit.   Next time we hope he brings his sweet family along too!  We're excited they've moved to Tuscaloosa and hopefully will get to see them a little more often.

This past weekend we had a big group over for dinner.  I guess "big" is relative.  We had Janet, Jeff, Frank, and Chad (family friend and carpenter/house refinisher extraordinaire), plus Stephen and me.  Stephen grilled steaks on our new grill and they turned out soooo good!  And I had fun in the kitchen with Janet getting all the side dishes and desserts ready.  We had a great time of fellowship together and hopefully will be having many more meals just like that one.

We also made a large purchase over the weekend, which I will be posting about hopefully tomorrow after I take some pictures!  Get excited!!!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Beaver Lake



We're off to the lake for a 4th of July Johnson family get-together. I can't wait to see the family and to relax and have fun out on the lake. I am definitely ready for a few days of relaxation with my hubby!