Camera purchase on hold

But that's okay because we might be using the money to go towards a new car. I've wanted a DSLR forever, but I think a new car might be a better purchase for us right now. Yes we have our truck back, but I don't think it will ever be problem free again. And with it being our only vehicle, I can't help but be a little nervous that I may end up stranded somewhere. So that being said, we're interested in a Ford Edge.

We went to a dealership this past Monday, but found out that new rebates/cash back opportunities were going to be available starting yesterday. So we'll go back next Monday and try again.

No truck again

Ugh...seriously?? As I mentioned in a previous post, an issue popped up while driving our truck home. Well yesterday after work I drove it back up to our friends' shop so now more waiting. I just want the damn thing back a new car already!!

home sweet truck

So I'm back from my work training in Grand Rapids. It was good...got to play with some fun gadgets so that's always a good time. AND, I got to spend some time with Elena! She was a bridesmaid in my wedding,

but since she lives on the other side of the state, we really don't get to see each other very often. I did take some pics of her cute pets. Of course they are crappy cell phone pics, but you can still make out the cuteness.

This is Rupert

and this is Beren - mid-lick/yawn

Yeah it was funny, my non-smoking hotel room smelled like it used to be a smoking room, my rental car smelled like a clean hotel room and B.O., and the place where my training was held smelled like crap...but that probably had something to do with the classes being held at a waste water treatment plant...lol.

So Thursday night I drove back and Jim picked me up and brought me flowers!! All together now, awwwwwwwwwwwww. So sweet!

Then it was back to work on Friday. The good news was that we were FINALLY going to be able to pick up our truck. Now remember - this was a friends shop, so even though it was taking so long, we knew we were saving in costs in the long run.

So last night we show up at the shop to pick up our "ready to go" truck and our friend isn't even there! Jim is getting pretty mad at this point. So he calls him and it turns out there were still a few things that needed to be done on the truck...like put the intake and hood back on!! So Jim pretty much tells him we're not leaving without the truck and to get his ass up there and finish it! So our friend gets there, probably around 6:30, puts the intake on, adds the necessary fluids and starts it up. Well after some listening and prodding, it was found that the wrong coolant temperature sensor was put on. UGH!! Needless to say, we didn't end up leaving there until almost 10:30!! But she's back and I'm so happy. But...driving home last night, Jim was having some issues with the service engine light flashing, which we've never seen before, so he's trying to figure out what that's all about today. If he can fix it, great. If not, then we can't take the expressway to our Whirlyball adventure tonight and that will turn our 47 mile - 47 minute ride into a 45 mile – 1 hour and 21 min ride. I really hope he figures it out!

Still no truck

So in a previous post I mentioned that we were without our truck. Well we still are. It turns out that there's a chunk missing from the cylinder bore, which I believe is what the piston moves up and down in, so the engine's pretty much toast. We now have to buy a "new" engine from a junk yard and have that installed. Hopefully we'll have the truck back by next week. In the meantime, I've been driving Jim's parents' car, but I want my own truck back already! I'm grateful for being able to use it, but I'm ready to give it back now...lol.

This week sucks!

I know...it's been awhile since I've posted anything but I have been super busy this week!

First of all, over the weekend, Jim spent all day Saturday (his day off) working on a few things on our truck. He fixed the intake gasket and then the heat was all screwy so he fixed that. I was at home waiting for him to finish so I could make dinner. Plus he had to pick something up on the way home in order for me to make said dinner. So he calls me around 7-ish to say he's on his way to the store and he'll be home soon. Like 10 minutes later I get another phone call and he says the truck died and he may have run out of gas but wasn't sure. So like 20 minutes goes by and I go to check my cell phone and it's off! Yeah...it's been randomly shutting off on me, so that sucked. So like the minute I turn it on, Jim's calling me telling me to come get pick him up. So I pick him up, we got get a few gallons of gas, go back to the truck, put the gas in and that wasn't the problem. We leave the truck in the parking lot and deal with it the next day. We ended up eating dinner at like 9:30 that night. Fish tacos, which were delicious by the way...

Needless to say, the truck is now in a shop somewhere. Monday it was towed there and it turns out the timing chain broke in like 2 places. So they replace that, and it still doesn't fix the problem. Today I guess they're going to make sure the camshaft is turning, so who knows what's going to happen. Thankfully the inlaws are letting us use one of their cars this week otherwise we'd have to rent one and I really don't want to do that.

But this weekend we're supposed to visit Jim's sister in Grand Rapids (about 3 hours away) and we were going to go Saturday and spend the night with a friend, Elena. It seems like whenever we go to Grand Rapids, Elena is back in town here...we always miss each other!

Me and Elena at my wedding

So that means we have to drop $100 on a hotel room and then like another $100 on gas. With all these car repairs and not even knowing when we're going to get the truck back, I don't know if we can swing it! I'd rather not go, and neither would Jim, so we may be able to get out of it.

Oh and then my cell phone shutting off randomly...yeah it's still doing that. Like I said...this week sucks!!