My New Car

It has been a long time since my last post but I have been so busy with work, the new living arrangements and all the other things life has to throw at you. As busy as I have been, I finally found time to go car shopping.


In the past on a couple of occasions, I have bought a car without any real research or thought process. My previous car, a 1998 Saturn SL1, was bought just because it was affordable and available the day I went to test drive it. The car before that, had just been totaled by a deer on the thruway and I needed a replacement and so for the last 7 years, I have driven my Saturn without any major complaints. Now don't get me wrong the car is 9 yrs old, over 120K miles so it has it's quirks but really no major catastrophes. It was very good to me and to be honest, I would have kept it until it stopped running but a few minor problems (the sunroof leaks when it rains etc..) added to up to be expensive repairs so off car shopping I went.

I am a very independent person but when it comes to car shopping, I always need someone there for a second opinion or just as a sounding board so I enlisted J to come along. Before we even went into a dealership, we decided to pick the top 3 or 4 cars I was interested in and they would be the first ones I test drove. Immediately, I new my top two, the VW Jetta and the Dodge Charger, the third choice came about by a comerical I saw on TV, the Ford Edge. All 3 cars completely different but before I went test driving, I wasn't sure what I really wanted. Luckily for us, the Dodge, Ford and VW dealerships are close by so we just went down the street and hit the places as we came upon them.

The first stop, the Dodge place. The Dodge Charger is such a manly, American car and I was excited to drive it myself. Last year we went to TX to visit J's brother, who owns a Charger so I have ridden in one but never got behind the wheel of one. The first thing I notice when I got into the car was the room it had. The get and go the car had was awesome and the sound of the car was great!! I love when cars sound like they have balls ( the only way I can think it put it). Actually one day, I eventually want to restore an old muscle car but for now I will enjoy the attempt at the new muscle car. :) The sales woman was very nice and to my surprise not pushy at all. She let us test drive it by ourselves and when we came back I she was on the phone so I handed her the keys and said I would let her know. She smiled and thanked us and off we went down the road to the Ford place.

As soon as Jon the salesman greeted us, I knew I was not going to buy a car from this guy or dealership. We started off being up front and letting him know I was not buying a car that day and I only wanted to test drive the Edge. Jon started to ramble on about the Ford Focus and what a nice car it is blah, blah, blah. I wanted to say "if I was interested in a Focus, I would have mentioned it" but instead we listened to his spiel while he escorted us to his desk. I was a little annoyed that he had us sit down before I even got into a car to drive. After asking us few questions, he finally had us go outside to test drive the Edge. Its a very nice "crossover" car and had a lot of room but after I thought about it, it was too much room for just me right now. After getting out of the Edge, Jon kind of insisted that I drive a Focus so I did. It was a nice car but that all it is a car, nothing fancy, nothing special its a sedan. He was selling it to me like it was best thing since sliced bread. Jon also kept referring to J and asking him what he thought of the cars and what he wanted to buy etc.. J handled him well he said "It doesn't matter if I like the car, she is buying it and driving so I am just here for the ride" and Jon could not remember J's name and referred to him as Justin (after telling him 3 times the correct name). After the Focus Jon wanted to come and sit at his desk and he started to talk numbers. HELLO!! I SAID I WASN'T BUYING A CAR TODAY. But he insisted, we let him talk and than thanked him for his time and out the door we went.

Off to the VW dealership down the street and around the corner (sort of) we went. Let me back up just a little, I have wanted a VW Jetta since I was a Sr in high school so for over 10 years. I can remember the first VW car I ever saw, it was an old VW rabbit and I loved it. As the years went on, the VW Jetta's became more sportier looking, sleek and sophisticated, just making me want one more. To be honest it kind of is my dream car, other than the muscle car I want to rebuild. We arrive at the dealership about an hour before it was going to close and we are greeted by a very tall (st least 6'6"), slender man named Dan. He was very friendly and spoke with an accent not sure how to describe it but he does speak spanish so I am sure it ties in with that. As we did in the previous two places, we stated that I was only going to test drive a car so he said no problem, and brought around a Jetta for me to drive. The 3 of us get into the car and now I am driving a Jetta. I knew than that I wanted one of these. I wasn't sure what I wanted in it but I knew I wanted a Jetta. When we were done, Dan had us sit down at his desk too look over the inventory they had and to ask a few more questions like if I wanted to buy or lease etc.. We thanked him for his time shook his hand and went home.

I really wanted to say right than and there that I wanted the VW but I knew I had to think about it. So the thought process started my choices either the VW or the Dodge Charger, both having excellent selling points. It took me about 5 days and a lot of discussion with J that I decided I wanted to lease a VW. Luckily for me, J had offered to fund a small loan for a down payment with the agreement I would pay him back (of course) so we had some bargaining power when we went back. I was so excited that I didn't even want to talk about in fear that I would jinx me getting a VW.

We went back to the VW place about a week after the test drive, met with Dan to let him know I wanted to lease. He was a very honest salesman, yes that sounds like an oxymoron but he really was. When I told him I was thinking about using my current car as a trade in he said I would get more money if I sold it on my own and actually he is right I would. Than when he was going through his inventory of cars he kept telling me not to pay for things that I will not use. We ended up at two cars, one with cloth interior, 6 CD changer etc... sort of the basic model and the other was more done up. Leather interior, sunroof, seat warmers, 6 CD changers, satellite radio, a place to put my Ipod that plays on the radio, and chrome accent. I asked Dan to run numbers on both cars, knowing that I probably would be getting the cloth seat one, which is what I was looking for. I didn't go into looking for new cars thinking I was going to walk away with the car I did. So the numbers were ran and it turns out there wasn't that much difference in monthly payment so I of course I choose the one with the bells and whistles. I had to wait for a few days to actually pick up the car but it was well worth it.

Here are a few pictures of the car, which was taken out front of the new place. My best friend C asked me if I felt like I was apart of the "in" crowd now driving to work, (she was teasing me), I told her no but I feel grown up now, no longer in college. My Saturn was my college car, which when you are in college, who cars what you drive. I have had a "career" since I got out of college but just now and maybe because I am turning 30 soon, I just feel like I am saying goodbye to the 20's. Whatever it is, I do love my car.



Thanks J for all the help!! Love you honey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REL!!! ... Bye Bye Summer

Today is the first day of fall which is J's dad's birthday and a time to say goodbye to summer. But first.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY REL hope you are enjoying France. Yep that is right, J's parents are in France for two weeks which just happens to be the same time as his dad's birthday. What a good idea for celebrating.

Since it is the first day of Fall, I figured it is the perfect day to post some of my favorite pics from this summer. It went by too fast but it was a fun filled one. I hope the Fall doesn't go by as fast, I am not a fan of winter in my neck of the woods.

Enjoy the photos

It Could Be Worse

Have you ever over heard a conversation and it made you think about your life? Well today at work, I over heard ( as well as everyone in the surrounding cubes) a conversation between two married women about their husbands and "It could be worse" popped into my head. "It could be worse" is J's philosophy for everything in life, including me, which at the time he said it I thought that was offensive but now I get it.

As most of you are aware, I am now co-habaiting with my boyfriend, J and that was am big deal for me since I have not been successful in the past trying to share my space. There are some things that J does that slightly annoys me and vice versa but after hearing that conversation between my co-workers, I thought my life "could be worse." I actually have no idea how the women put up with what they were talking about. One of them said that she is going to make a chore schedule for her husband so he can't say "I didn't know that had to be done". I am confident J would either laugh hysterical or or find me crazy if I posted a "chore schedule". I mean let's be honest, chores suck but we are grown adults and as a grown adult, you should be aware if the dishes need to be done or the dog needs to be fed. This might sound insane but I really believe that if two grown adults live together and both work full-time, than the house keeping and dinner responsibilities should be split. Or at least something like that. The stories I hear (granted they are mostly from women) make it sound like the men expect the wives to be wife, house keeper and mother. Now that is hilarious to me... maybe that answer the question that so many people have for me "why aren't you married yet" .... just kidding.

I am very lucky to have J!! He and I work well together and I know that if I needed him to do something around the house or he needed me to do something, we would let each other know and would do it without complaining or keeping score. I get why people live with each other and I am glad that it's J that I get to share my space with.

Locks of Love

It finally came time for me to donate my hair to Locks of Love. I have been growing it out for about two years and today was the day that I decided to cut it off. To give you a little background, Locks of Love is an organization that provides wigs to children with cancer that are financially disadvantaged. For hair to be used as a wig, the donation must be at least 10 inches long, in a pony tail or braid. It took me longer than I expected to grow my hair that long.

Here is my hair after growing it for 2 years-

And here is my hair after donating 12 inches to this amazing organization-

I usually wear my hair between chin length and shoulder length but have gone shorter than this before. I love my new hair style and even if I didn't I wouldn't care, my lots of hair will help out a child in need.

Moving Exhaustion

What I thought was only going to be a moving weekend turned out to be a moving week. Dylan, J, and Eric moved most of the big stuff on Saturday. It was a long day since we didn't get the truck until 6 pm and I moved car loads all morning. Everyone was really tired by the time the last piece of furniture entered the new place. Thanks to Marissa and Madison, I had someone to talk to and empty boxes with while the guys unloaded the truck. Sunday came around and we had Marissa, Jen and Tom (a couple that lives in our complex) over for a little bit in the afternoon. More unpacking of boxes later that night and off to bed for work bright and early on Monday morning.

You might be wondering why J and I didn't take any time off of work but really we both work in Finance/Accounting and the end of the month is not exactly a good time to take days off. We went to work, got home, and went to my old apt, filled J's truck with a few items and the wine rack I was giving my brother. My brother is about a 1/2 hour from my old place so the ride was quick but we stayed to visit for a little bit and check out his new place. He and two roommates are renting a really nice old house and J had not seen it yet. We get home and eat dinner around 10, which at the time I didn't know this would be the earliest meal we ate all week.

Tuesday through Thursday schedule went the same way, we get up early for work, work all day, unpack a few boxes, go to one of our old apts and get rid of the stuff we don't want and bring back the stuff we do want. We ate dinner after moving which meant we ate between 11pm and 12 am every night. I was so tired on Wednesday night that I didn't even finish my Mighty Taco before I was dozing off on the couch. The labor of the week was tough, it wasn't just moving boxes, for some reason not all the big stuff went on the moving truck so we had book cases, bikes, etc to move while only using J's truck. Finally on Thursday it occurred to us that we should use my mom's truck also to load things so we are not making 5 trips from the old place to the new place. Oh and our old apts are at least 20 miles (one way) away from the new place and our old apts are not near one another. You also might be wondering why we didn't do a better job in preparing for the move. I have to say, I am really not sure how that happened. I really thought we were all packed and ready to go but I misjudged terribly. J and I both agree that the next time we move, it will be completely different.

Needless to say the week took its toll on me and effected me at work. On Thursday I was so exhausted that i actually fell asleep at my desk. Thank goodness Kristin (who's cube is across from mine) woke me up and not my boss. Now I have been tired at work before and have gotten sleepied eyed but this was different. I had my head resting on my hand looking at spreadsheets and the next thing I know Kristin is tapping me on my shoulder asking me if I was sleeping. Obviously I was and it happened again later that afternoon. You may think, how can you fall asleep at work, but when I am exhausted, and it's super quiet, I can fall asleep easily. I am really surprised it happened twice in one day at work. Like I said thank goodness for Kristin. I mean we were laughing about it but I am sure it would have not been that funny if the Director of Finance came up to me for a report and I was sleeping on the job :)

J and I made it through a really tough week with a lack of sleep without killing one another. We were relieved when it came to an end on Thursday and we could go away for the holiday weekend and relax. We still have more unpacking to do but at least we have a few rooms organized and livable.

Moving Weekend

Moving weekend is finally here and I can't be more excited, exhausted and sore!! I just realized that I haven't made an entry since the beginning of the month. Man time had flown by !! i have been busy getting things ready for the new apartment, cleaning the old one, getting utilities turned on, getting them turned off, you know all the really fun things about moving :) I have had a few fun moments this month that I will have to tell you later about. It has been busy and interesting.

Originally our moving plan was to get the keys today, move boxes, smaller stuff tonight and get up early tomorrow, get the truck and move all the big furniture. However, J, being J, forgot or was under the impression that his mini course started next week. Well it was this week, Mon, Wed, Thurs and Saturday morning. Yep right in the middle of moving. So we are now going to be moving later in the afternoon around 5, that is also when the 1st truck is available so it works out. I was really stressed and annoyed at first but as long as I get to move in the new place with J this weekend, it doesn't matter what time we are moving. Thank Goodness J's friend Dylan is coming into town to help move, my family members were only available earlier on Sat, it would have been just me and him, now that is funny. :) We would have gotten it done but I am sure it will go faster with two strong men than with me helping.

I actually felt really bad for him when he found out he had class this week. It makes for really long days, getting to work in the am, going to class in the pm and packing a few things after class and than doing that routine again the next day. I did go over to his place on Tuesday to assist in the packing and we got a lot done. My apartment had more stuff in it than I thought. It has taken me much longer to wrap every little breakable in newspaper than it has to pack up the rest of the place. I was good and threw out as much as I could for now, I plan on throwing out more when unpacking. I really hate clutter, it makes me feel panicked.

This move is going to be a much needed fresh start for both of us. For the first time in my life, I am fully confident this will be a good thing. I usually have reservation about major decisions I make but not this one. Maybe because I am a little older but I think it is because it involves J :) AS I always tell him, he is the best and I am very lucky!!

More to come on the new place..

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY J-ROCK

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear honey,

Happy Birthday to you!!!

I hope you have a fantastic day!!

Love ya