Life without a car

It's been a week since my car accident. On Wednesday, I was on the phone for a few hours talking to the necessary people, and then got a phone call from a car rental agency telling me that I was on top of their list for getting a rental (my insurance company called them). Well, six days later, still no car. Never have I been so grateful for Stephan's scooter in my life. But as it is, I'm stuck at home a lot. I probably should call them really soon to yell at them, but I'm currently sitting in the UVU library. There was a job fair today, and Stephan encouraged me to attend, and obviously I checked it out. Stephan is at work right now until one, so I'm just trying to use my time wisely until then. I found one good lead at the fair, so that's encouraging.

But the good news about the car is that it is repairable! They should have it done by the end of this week or the beginning of next. That makes me happy. But for now, it's my feet or Stephan's scooter.

I was pretty sore for a few days after the accident. A couple days after the accident, I found some bruises on my hips. That was probably from the impact. My back still hurts a little bit. I was also emotionally messed up for a few days. Thankfully, I am married to someone who is very patient and understanding. I don't know what I would do without Stephan.

Let's see, what else? I went to the Relief Society Broadcast with Kathy and Heather (Stephan's sister) on Saturday. It was really good. I went to Mimi's for the first time with them--the French Onion Soup was really good! I had chicken parmesan, which was pretty good, but not the best I had ever tasted. I developed a lovely case of heartburn later on :( Italian food does that to me, but I still love it.

My mother-in-law taught me how to cut Stephan's hair this last Sunday. Stephan has SO MUCH hair!!! And it's wiry. Cutting hair is a challenge, but Stephan thinks I did a good job (Kathy helped). Although it's shorter in front than he usually wears it. Oh well. We'll save a lot of money this way. It's more money to get *my* hair cut. Our children are destined for thick hair. I hope we don't have to name any of our children Esau...ha ha ha.

Here's to living the poor newlywed life! But being married to Stephan makes it all worthwhile. He is so good to me, and he says I'm good to him too (I do try).

my car accident

For those who are not on facebook or who have not heard yet, I was in a car accident yesterday. I am not injured, though yes I am a little sore. Unfortunately, the accident was my fault and the car had to be towed. And thankfully, it is still under my parents' insurance until I have a job.

Here's how it happened:

I decided to go to Target around 5 yesterday to look at picture frames and other decor items. Stephan was doing homework, so I thought it would be a good time to give him some quiet. I didn't exactly know where the Orem Target was, so I thought I'd just trust Jay (what we call the GPS). Unfortunately, Jay thought that the closest Target was in American Fork. I did not want to drive all the way there when there was a Target in Orem! So, I just drove around hoping I'd find it. I did not, so I thought maybe I'd go home. But then I went the wrong way, and it looked like I was getting close to the Lindon Wal-Mart. I was gauging my location on State Street, and I guess I wasn't looking ahead when before I knew it WHAM! I rear-ended a stopped car in the street and caused it to rear-end the car in front of it. My airbags deployed and I was screaming bloody murder this entire time. I was afraid that the car was totaled and I knew that the accident was my fault. That was when I started crying. A witness called the police and came to check on me and he checked on the other drivers. I called Stephan in a panic and he stopped everything he was doing to come to me. He also called his parents. The cops arrived, and I was ordered to stay in the car because since my airbags deployed, I was required to be checked up by paramedics. I was fine except for a sore leg. The officer asked me if I had been texting or talking on the phone. I was happy to say that I was not. The paramedic asked me some questions, they towed the car, gave me some cards, and I could go.

This was a traumatizing experience to say the least. I am grateful that the damage to the car was not serious and that it can be repaired. I am grateful that we also have a very good car. I don't know if anyone remembers, but Stephan and I had a disagreement a few months before we got married about our car situation. What I wanted to do was let my parents do what they had done for my older brothers: buy us a Honda from our next door neighbor who owns a Honda dealership. The agreement with all this is that we have to pay my parents back over time (before you think we're spoiled rotten). The neighbor has given my parents the best deals on the cars they have gotten from her. However, Stephan was not comfortable with this. He wanted to buy a car with the money we both had, which would basically buy us a junker. We compromised and asked my parents if it was possible to get a slightly-used car from Stacy (the neighbor). What ended up happening was I got my dad's 2007 Accord (still going to pay them back) and my dad got a new car. If I had been in a junker, I probably would be in the hospital right now. So basically, I now think everyone should get a Honda because they are good, sturdy cars!

Anyway. I am happy to be alive and mostly unhurt. It's an experience I never want to have ever again. But I think I am less judgmental of other drivers now. There are many, many things I'm grateful for right now that I may list at a later time.

If you want my advice, here it is: Know where you are going so you can plan accordingly. Keep your eyes on the road at all times (that was my biggest mistake). If you are lost, just get back to familiar roads and just go home. Target wasn't that important anyway. Or park the car and call someone for directions. Don't drive aimlessly. Oh, and don't text or talk on the phone while driving. I wasn't doing either, but I think that was one of the reasons the cop didn't give me a ticket. Plus, it's illegal to text while driving around here.

Sorry for my long post :)

no more coin-op!

So after about a month of living here and using the coin-operated laundry room in our complex, I was sick and tired of it. There are only two washers and dryers in our entire building, and one of the washers is STILL broken. But I had accepted this fate because we could not afford a washer and dryer...or so we thought.

I vented my frustrations to my dear husband, and he just randomly decided to go on craigslist to look at washers and dryers, basically to prove that we indeed could not afford any. I decided to get on too, and then I saw a listing for a washer and dryer being sold in Orem for $130. Stephan had not seen this--the ad had just barely been posted! Stephan did the math in his head, coming up with the cost of using the coin-op in our building and comparing it to the cost of the washer/dryer. Basically, we'll be saving about $100 with our lovely additions. They're used, yes, but we should get good use out of them. And our bills shouldn't be too bad--they already are not bad. That's the plus of living in a little one-bedroom apartment.

Let's just say that it is amazing having a washer and dryer all our own. No more do I have to lug laundry baskets down the hall. No more do I have to groan every time I see that "out of order" sign on the broken washer, although my heart goes out to the other residents who must pay to do laundry. I never thought I would love appliances so much.

In other news, I have gotten two job rejections so far. Kind of a bummer, yes. But Stephan keeps assuring me that we should be okay for a few more months at least, as long as we are careful. My mom is acting like I must have a job right this very second and should therefore apply to Wal-Mart or something for the time being. Uh, no, I refuse to work retail and Stephan will not let me besides. He worked retail before he left for his mission and hated it. Don't worry, Mom. Blame the government for making my job hunt more difficult. Of course, don't get me started on the government ;)

Stephan and I have callings now. We're in charge of the ward newsletter. The couple who worked on it last had the calling for FIVE years! Holy cow. I guess my editing skills are being put to use. Yay. Can I get paid for them yet?

We have also opened up our own checking account. I know, it's the "in" thing to have separate checking accounts, but I got tired of the whole "Who's paying?" deal whenever we went shopping and such. Plus, I know people who have separate checking accounts and they fight over money ALL THE TIME. I'd like to keep the arguing to a minimum, thank you. Just thought I'd mention that it was never our plan to have separate accounts, it's just that we hadn't gotten to the bank deal until last week. I wanted to change my name on my account (we mainly just added Stephan to my current account with the bank), but I had to have our marriage certificate for that. My mom is mailing that as we speak (we had it sent to my parents).

So, we have a washer/dryer. I'm still looking for a job. We have a calling. And we have a joint bank account. That's all for now!

Getting better

On Tuesday, we decided to celebrate our one-month anniversary by going out to dinner and catching a movie. We went to Chili's, where I had some ribs (mmm) and Stephan had a really good steak. We also had some lovely strawberry lemonade...mmmmmmm!!!! After dinner, we went to the dollar theater to see the movie "Up". Unfortunately, I started feeling ill in the middle of it and we had to go home because I was afraid I'd throw up. Stephan called his mom (she's a nurse) and she recommended some peppermint tea, and he went to the grocery store and got some. Thank goodness I like peppermint tea, and I started feeling better. It was a mild case of food poisoning, we think.

Today we just went to a ward cookout in the playground at our complex, and I think I'm finally making some friends here! Hurray!

I'm also cooking more often. On Monday, we were supposed to go to a Beatles reenactment concert at the SCERA with my in-laws, but then Stephan's brother and sister both had a ton of homework and then it started raining. Stephan was working until seven that night, but when he got home, I had prepared a lovely Japanese style dinner of chicken katsu, rice, and edamame. It was so good! My brother Scott let me have his panko crumbs, tonkatsu sauce, and Japanese rice when he moved out of his apartment. Stephan loved the dinner--he said it reminded him of the katsu he had on our third date. On Wednesday, deciding I needed to use up some leftovers, I made a chicken teriyaki stir-fry (with veggies) and served it with the leftover rice and edamame. Yummy.

September 15

Once again, I apologize for not updating.

So, we're basically done unpacking. There are a few boxes left, but they contain things like books, and we don't have a bookshelf just yet. We need to get Stephan's old bookshelf from his house sometime in the near future. Right now, I am focusing on keeping the apartment clean, figuring out how to cook and getting dinner on the table at a reasonable hour, and job hunting. I've applied to a few jobs so far--I hope I hear from them soon.

Today marks one month since we got married! So far, so good. We have our challenges, but we get through them. We still love each other--we both agree that we love each other more than we did a month ago. Who knew? We still haven't gotten ANY wedding pictures. No professional pictures, no pictures people just took around the wedding (although Alex did take some pictures of the cake), nothing except for the one picture my dad sent me that's my profile picture on facebook. No one has even tagged pictures on facebook. Errgh. Okay, I sound like I'm whining. Moving on.

Our ward is fine so far, although I've yet to make any friends. It's hard for me because I'm somewhat on the shy side, and we seem to have moved into a very transient ward. I've chatted with a few women in Relief Society. I'm a little lonely around here. I mean, it's like this place is dead. I almost never see anyone out and about. Do we live in a ghost complex? Ha ha. I do hope I make a few friends here soon. It's also hard when all your old friends live in Provo and go to school.

Life is good, I hope it continues to get better.

September 3

Things continue to go. I admit I haven't been the most productive in unpacking. But in my defense, I was doing a lot of household things like laundry and cleaning. In fact, I have a laundry story for you.

Our clothing supply was running low on Monday (running low on the clothes we had unpacked) and we had recently received a supply of towels as a wedding present that we needed to wash. The washing machines we have in the building were available, so I took advantage of this opportunity. I put the whites in one washer and the colors in the other (there are only two washing machines in the entire building). Both start without any difficulty, but the washer containing our whites suddenly stopped after it filled with water. Not good. I tried what I could to start the washer again to no avail. I decided not to give it anymore of my money because I felt it would be a waste. I was pretty ticked because basically my entire garment supply was in there! Stephan still had plenty of his own in the dresser, but I did not (being newly endowed and all). I left a note on the manager's door (she was out cleaning apartments), later finding out that I should have left it in her box. Whoops. As soon as the colors were done, I put them in the dryer and fished the whites out of the warm pool they had been soaking in and put them in the other washer. It took me hours to finish doing laundry because I was only using one washer at a time. I also used a lot of quarters.

It was a doubly hard day because I was all alone and Stephan started work that day, and I didn't see him until after seven. I had dinner mostly ready when he got home (my attempt at hamburgers, if you were wondering). I had forgotten hamburger buns, but Stephan bought some on his way home from work (he normally calls me when he gets off work, and I asked him to buy some buns).

So at the end of the day on Monday, I was quite exhausted and pretty crabby.

Other than that, this week hasn't been too bad. I'll do more unpacking today. I'm looking for new and exciting ways to motivate myself.