Fence Sitting

So, I have always been an indecisive person. I have a hard time picking between things and making up my mind constantly. Just ask Brad. He will ask me what I want to eat and 98% of the time, I can't tell him and ask him to pick. So Brad has made it his mission in life to turn me into a decisive person (good luck!) Well, with this whole car crash fiasco, I have had a lot of decisions to make.

So with our car, as it was considered a total loss, State Farm told me that we could turn the car over to them and receive a check for the worth of our wonderful car, or we could keep the car and they would give us less money (as it would be considered a salvage vehicle). Big decision basically. Do we keep the car we love and fix it ourselves and hope the money we receive pays for everything...or do we turn the car over and buy a new one (resulting in a loan).

So we weighed the options. And had a few different collision repair places and got different opinions and assessments of the damage. We also started looking at different cars. Now our Escort is a 99 with just barely 100K miles on it. For the worth of our vehicle, the only cars available are old, beaten cars with at least 150k miles on then. Yuck. So thats when we started looking for a little more pricely vehicles (by we I mean Brad). Brad figured out that we could get a good car in the 5k - 6k range, compared to the 3.5k the insurance would give us for our car.

So then Brad left it to me. We drove nice cars, found a nice one, were approved for a loan with a low APR...but it was all my decision. My dad thought we should keep the car, Brad thought we should get a new one, but what did I want? Good question.

I love our Escort. Its been a good car, we have only had to fix minor things, and my grandpa gave it to us. So sentimental value is pretty high. However, I was a little worried about the cost of having to fix it and all sorts of issues that could happen if I got hit again. This is when Brad started calling me the fence sitter. After much thought, discussions, prayers, and mechanics telling us it would be better to just get a new car, I decided to give our car up. So we found a good little civic in our price range and decided to get it. So this morning, the plan was for Brad to turn in our car and buy the new car. Then I started talking about how much I would miss the ford and how comfy the seats are (which they are really comfy and not stiff). Needless to say, I got the look and Brad told me I needed to get off the fence and make a decision.

Well we turned our car in. So I did pick a side. And we have a nice new blue '03 Honda Civic with 101K miles on it. And we can have it all paid off in a year. We both feel good about it. But I will still miss the Escort. Afterall it was my first car given to me by my late grandpa. But hopefully this Honda will prove to be fabulous just like we think and I will learn to love it too. I just hate making decisions still :( Brad's favorite part of this whole story was when he called today to tell me to go in and sign the loan, and I said "Well, I will try and find someone to take me". It must be a deep psychological error of fence sitting, cause I had every intention of finding someone and I did cause I didn't want to have to walk home.

My Traffic Cam spotlight

So, I never have any exciting news about life to talk about, until yesterday. I should be excited right? Well, everyone wants to be famous and be noticed (supposedly) and I had my shining moment yesterday morning. Ready for the story:

I was driving to work and had just merged on to the freeway from the Provo Center Street on-ramp. Just as I was trying to speed up, I noticed brake lights ahead, so I slowed down. "Wierd, maybe I should change lanes cause I don't want to be stuck in traffic and be late to work". No sooner had I thought this when I realized the car in front of me had come to a complete stop. So I slammed on my brakes and stopped just 1-2 feet behind the car. Right when I'm thinking "Thank goodness", I am slammed forward. The car behind me apparently was not paying attention to brake lights and crashed right into me. Luckily, I still had my foot on the brake pedal, so I still didn't hit the car in front of me, however, my car was not so lucky.

The first thing I noticed was that the stereo had completely come out of the dash and was hanging. The music was still playing, so I new it was okay, but it still freaked me out. So I popped the stereo back in. Then I got out of my car and called Brad. Now I should mention that due to all of the I-15 construction, there is no shoulder to the freeway, so we all tried to pull over as best we could in the 1 foot space to the side of the right lane, but basically we blocked the lane. So I'm on the phone with Brad telling him that i was hit and everything, and all the other girls from the other 2 cars are on their phones, when I realize that my glasses are not on my face. I freak out and start searching the car cause I was worried that they had flown off and hit something and thereby been damaged. Luckily I found them on the carpet under the steering wheel. Thank goodness. I walked around my good like Ford Escort and checked the front, and saw that I had no damage there and affirmed with the girl in front of me that I had not hit her. Then I walked to the rear and saw the damage. My bumper was caved in/no-existent any more. I could see pieces of it along the freeway. The license plate was hanging on pretty good still as one screw was still very much intact to some metal. I then text my manager and told her that I was in an accident and would be late.

So the girl who hit me tells me that she thinks its all her fault cause her brakes don't really work. I wanted to yell, "Then what are you doing driving! Seriously!" My estimation is that she was going at least 45 mph when she hit me. Brad asked me over the phone if I was okay or hurt. I only noticed that my sacrolumbar was sore (low back). The girl who hit me called 911 and within a few minutes, the high patrol was there. They numbered our cars by the order we were all in. Some how 2 other cars were involved. One was completely crunched, so I think she might have hit the concrete barrier when she tried to stop and not hit all of us. The other car, well i have no idea, she looked fine. So after we were all number, the UHPs had us back up and drive into the closed off part of the road that is being worked on. Luckily our accident was right next to this, so I only had to back up a few feet and then they moved cones for us to get over and off the freeway.

After we are all moved, the UHP officers start talking to all us and asking what happened. They then had each of us write down our information and statements and they took all of our license, registration and insurance info. After all this, the UHP officer working with me told me to sit in my car while he filed the report. This is when I found out the the girl's car who had been in front of me, had stopped working all of a sudden, which is why she had come to a complete stop. Her car was working now, but they decided to tow it anyways so that wouldn't happen again. As her car was not affected at all, she was good to go. Some EMTs came and spoke with all of us. After I assured them that I was fine and would just go to work to have my physical therapist look at me, they left me alone.

So this morning was not exactly warm, so I'm just sitting in my car freezing, when finally I get out and find my UHP office assigned to me. He hands me a piece of paper with my information and the girl who hit me's information on it. He told me that he gave her a citation and that he filed a report. This was all stated on the handy dandy paper. He told me that I could just call her insurance and with all this information and get the details of repair worked out with them. He then told the girl who hit me the same thing but that she should contact her insurance, not mine. After all the cars that needed to be towed were moved, the UHPs stopped some traffic at the onramp and let us get back on the freeway.

I got to work and Roger, my PT, looked me over and did some tests to determine that I had no neurological damage. By now, it had been an hour and a half since the accident, so I was starting to notice a little more pain. He told me that the adrenaline was wearing off, so I would really start feeling sore and that it would last for 4-6 weeks! I laughed cause I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. He told me that massage, heat, and advil were the best things to help. I also spoke briefly with Dr. Ockey and he said that same things. Great! So as I'm working, I am getting sorer. It gets to the point where my whole spine hurts. And the longer into the day, the worse it got. Plus, my greatest pain region kept changing. Where it had first been my low back, it was then my midback and this morning it was my back that was killing me. But, Roger did give me a tens unit to help. A tens unit has electrodes that you stick on the muscle that is bothering you. It then sends like electrical impulses/shocks, to that area(s) and this helps to relax the muscle.

During the whole accident and high patrol stuff, I was talking with Brad and he got online and told me that he could see me online from the traffic cam. Of course, traffic built up at the accident spot, and as typical, when I got on the freeway, once I got passed the point where we had crashed, the freeway was moving great again. Gotta love curious looky-loos.

So there were my minutes of fame. Ha ha. Great right? Now I feel like the bionic women with all the machines attached to me and wires (my insulin pump and the tens unit). Too bad it doesn't make me really strong. Oh well. Now I have to take the poor car to a collision repair shop to get the bumper/crunched trunk fixed and get a rental (all paid for by State Farm Insurance at least). Oh and a great thing that happened as well, when the stereo was popped out, the knob to change the air from cold to hot, was broken off. The metal part that lets you turn the knob and is inside the stereo console was broken and super glue isn't gonna fix it. So now the car is stuck on hot. At least it is getting colder right?

Class Reunion

So the other day I got a facebook invite from my high school class president for our 10 year reunion. A little early, considering it won't be for another 5 years, but it still got me thinking. What in the world have I done since I graduated from good ol Rocklin High School?!

Well, here's what I came up with: I went to BYU, I got married, graduated with my BS in Exercise Science, and started working full time as a Medical Assistant in a Pain Management clinic.

Not a bad list. But I sure hope I have more to add to that by the time my reunion comes around. Basically, I'm just not satisfied with where I am. Sure, my job is great, and it is a job. And I do have a degree and my husband is fantastic. But I feel like I'm selling myself short.

So our big plan, as Brad is graduating in December (thank goodness for that!), I will be applying to nursing school. Cross my fingers I get in so that in 2 years I will have a second BS in Nursing this time. Then Brad can go to grad school and get his DPT (doctorate in physical therapy). Oh yea, and somewhere in there we want to start a family.

But hopefully, all goes well and we can be done with school by 2015. Boy do I hope we are.

On a side note, is it just me, or does it seem like EVERYONE is pregnant?! Not that I'm upset, cause I'm excited for all my friends that are, it just is crazy, cause so many of them are. Maybe that means i'm getting old...

Why's it called Labor Day again?

So for this weekend, my parents and little sister came by! Woohoo! It was so nice to see them, even if it was only for like a day and a half. But they got in Friday evening and we went to the BYU women's soccer game. It was fun, even if it took them a while to build up their moment and score. Then we watched Glory Road back at our apartment (thank you netflix!). My parents, Brad, and I tried to walk down the street to get hawaiian shaved ice, but the shack was closed. Seriously?! Who closes Friday night?! Then I remembered that it was Labor Day weekend, which I guess could be a reason to close...a dumb one though.

We also got Harry Potter 1-6 shipped to us on Friday. Yup, all 6 movies for only$35! We love amazon. Another good buy of the week was getting Psych season 1 for $15 at best buy on Monday. I love sales!

On Saturday, we all went to the Provo Farmers Market at Pioneer Park. I have honestly never been, we have just driven by it. But my mom thought it sounded fun. So we went. Oh man, there were some cute crafts there. This one lady makes purses out of suit coats! They were cute, especially since she puts little designs on them. I wish I had gotten one, but Brad says I don't need it :( My mom and dad did buy us a picture from a photographer that was there. He had some cool pictures. Robyn bought some bracelets, and we would have looked at more, but my dad and Brad were totally bored. Plus we were all hungry. So we went to Tucanos! Yum! My dad is totally addicted so every time they come to visit, he always wants to go. Not that i'm complaining, but it makes me wonder if he is coming to see me or tucanos...ha ha.

After tucanos, my dad bought me a new phone! Hallelujah! I hated my old phone. It was small and dumb and had issues. And Robyn just got a new phone which was totally better than mine. So my awesome dad took me to the store and bought me a new one. It's a pantech, so nothing all fansy, granted I could do stuff on the internet if I wanted to pay for it, which I don't. But it's a touch screen with a full sliding key board. So texting is way easier, and i'm getting used to the touch screen. Not to mention, my phone is blue.

After the new phone, Dad and Brad left for the tailgate party/BYU vs. Washington football game. My mom, Robyn, her friend Calvin, and I played some games at my apartment, then we took Calvin back to his apartment. Then us girls went to the mall. I am happy to say i did not buy anything except a wallflower scent (Autumn) which was on sale. But the buy 3 get 3 free was totally tempting. My Dad loved the football game, especially since BYU won, and I had fun with my mom and sister.

They all left early Sunday morning. Then we went up to Sandy for a baby blessing for Brad's cousin's new baby. It was fun seeing a bunch of his family again. Plus I got to hold Audrey. Then we came home and crashed. We were a little tired after the busyness.

Monday, I cleaned, we ran errands, ran into some old friends in Winco, and hiked the Y. Yea, after being in Provo for roughly 5 years, I have finally hiked the Y. Man, it is harder than it looks. Gaining 1000 feet in elevation in 1 hour is hard on the body. But it is a great day for it. And we got jamba juice afterwards.

In sum, that was our non-laborous Labor Day, Family filled, weekend. And while today sucked cause it felt like monday, tomorrow is wednesday!

Last Semester in Provo!

Yay, I could not be happier! Brad started his last semester at BYU this week and we are so estactic. Not that we haven't loved our time at BYU, but seriously, we are tired of the college town. Our ward is full of people who buy houses here and love provo. We don't! I frankly am just plain tired of students and all the crazy driving, long lines at movies, and loud freshman. Brad laughs at me, but he is tired of it all to. So we are both counting down the days until december ends and we will both officially be graduates of BYU. YAY!! Plus it's football season and soccer season again. I'm more excited about the womens soccer and Brad is more excited about football. But they are both good reasons to get out of our apartment and enjoy the cooler air. I just have to stop glaring at all the loud freshman and awkward dates.

On another note, my parents and little sister are coming out this weekend one their way to drop Robyn off at BYU-I! Crazy! I'm so excited for her but it's still weird to me that my baby sister is starting college! Oh man. But we are excited to see them for the 2 days they will be here. Plus I made my dad super happy when I told him that he could that he could have my ticket to the football game against washington this saturday. He hasn't been to a BYU football game for forever, his last one was at Stanford, when BYU was still occasionally playing Stanford. So it's been forever, not to mention that he hasn't been in LaVelle Edwards Stadium since his college days when the stadium was way smaller and as he told me "the lucky guys brought little radios so they could hear the play-by-plays". So it will be a boys night out deal with my dad, Brad, and Brad's dad. Then I can hang out with my mom and Robyn.

I just can't believe summer is over. That deserves a whole nother "Crazy". But we have had fun this summer. We are pretty tan from floating the weber, lake powell, and Brad working outside. We have had to have things fixed on our car (like the brakes today) and I have taken my CNA test. I know, finally right?! And I have read the Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I have to say, these are not my favorite books. I honestly think i would read twilight over them. But that's because the hunger games are so dang political and the girl does not develop, change. It's just bad new after bad news. Sure, I will probably eventually read that last book, Mockingjay, but I can wait. I'll just stick with Harry Potter and be a happy camper.

Keebler and Crafts

So, I love thin mints, but since girl scouts aren't selling them all year long, I long ago discovered grasshoppers (which are keeblers version of thin mints). I love them, I mean, come on, mint and chocolate go so beautifully together. So on saturday when brad sent me to the store with lots of coupons, and one being a coupon for keebler cookies, I totally planned on coming home with 2 bags of grasshoppers. Low and behold, Keebler has made a new cookie: Cheesecake middles! For anyone who knows me, I love cheesecake and I love chocolate. So obviously, this was a match made in heaven. So, just in case they weren't good, I brought both the cheesecake middles and a bag of grasshoppers home. I have been converted! They are so delicious, you should try them. Granted, it's not like legit cheesecake, but still really good.

My favorite season is fall. Spring is a close second, but I just love fall! The leaves change colors, the air gets cooler and crisp, carving pumpkins, I can wear my beloved jeans again, and all the leaves I can jump in. So, when I went to Maceys today on a hunt for chocolate, they had this craft display out in front. And basically I got hooked. There were all these fall crafts. Now, I like making crafts, but I can never think of what to make, or it doesn't turn out how i thought. Plus, I don't have my mom's craft supplies, so every craft means i need to by paint, brushes, paper, etc. So when I saw these cute crafts, and they were cheap, I just couldn't resist. But, I do need to build up my craft supplies so I can make stuff and try to be like my crafty mother. As for today, yeah for cute things I don't have to put together! Now, I'm totally ready for fall!

For Real?!

So, tonight we went to Red Robin cause I really wanted some clucks and fries with ranch :) Well, as it was raining, thunder, lighting...I was freezing cold. Which of course means that the restraunt had there fans going. Fabulous. But hey, good food is worth it. Too bad our waitress decided we did not deserve the time of day. She brought us our food really quickly, but left without asking if we needed anything (like more ranch, napkins, and more water). This was especially no bueno because I got one ranch and Brad wasn't given any ranch for his fries and burger. So we had to share mine. Well, clucks and fries use a lot of ranch. So after running out of ranch, we waited for our waitress to come back. And we waited and waited, I ran out of water, my hands were salty, no bueno! Then she comes over and asks if we want more water. I tell her that we do as well as more ranch and a couple napkins. After waiting for an even longer period of time, in which I'm just sitting there freezing to death and staring out into the pouring rain outside, she finally brings 1 ranch, 2 lemon slices, and some fry sauce. Hello! I asked for water and napkins to! So she finally brings us water and then our check. We never saw her again. Honestly, I felt like she was rushing us and obviously not paying attention to what we asked for. So when we finished, where out of water, and after waiting a few minutes for her to come run our card, Brad asks me if I have cash. So I pull out some cash and we leave. Brad gave her a 5% tip. I told him that was way too much and I would have only done 25 cents. If you work in customer service, serve your customers!