Prayer

Prayers for my brother please...

Fly

So, this week has just gone by quick.  A lot of stuff has happened.

Jared and I flew to Georgia Saturday morning to visit my family and pick up his 'new' old car.  It was Gizmo's first time in an airplane and he did fairly well.  He didn't understand why he had to stay in a small bag on the floor instead of just sitting in my lap.  He was a little scared at first.  But as long as he saw me and knew I was there, he did fine.

Georgia was hot!!  I should have brought shorts with me.  But considering a huge nasty storm had just barely left the Madison area before we went to the airport, it was only 50 degrees here.  It was nice saying hello to my family.  But the visit was too short.

And then come Sunday morning at 4 in the morning, we began our 14 hour drive home.  It was interestingly long.  At the beginning of the drive, Jared and I switched driving shifts every couple of hours, so the other person could sleep.  This left the effect of the drive feeling a little shorter than it actually was.  But we arrived in Madison at 6 pm and were glad to be home.

Then I find out that my brother was hit by a car Saturday night.  He was walking his dog when the car hit him.  He went unconscious and the next thing he remembers is being in the hospital.  You could see his skull in some places on his head and his knee took a lot of the impact.  He's lucky to be alive.  And (note this is all second-hand information and I am completely biased when it comes to the police department in the West Jordan/Murray area), it sounds like the police aren't planning on further investigation into this crime since there is little information to go off and why on Earth would good, perfect police officers want to soil their shoes over someone they consider to be a low life and not something to concern themselves over....  Mess up once, and you're a screw-up for life as far as they're concerned.  Anyways, I'm very suspicious of this incident truly being an accident.  I do think it was intentional, but I don't know the motive (but I can guess and speculate).

And then my work week came along.  Right now, we're hosting a lot of clients.  It's like a big super conference.  There's over 9000 people on the campus.  It's super-super busy.  I've been helping with some of the transportation volunteer shifts.  And let me tell you, directing traffic and telling cars to stop is scary.  Number one, they're a lot bigger and can cause a lot of damage to you.  Number two, drivers do extremely stupid things around people directing traffic that can scare the hell out of them without the driver ever realizing they did something worrisome.

Oh, and did I ever mention that I am considering getting another reconstructive surgery done on two of my fingers on my right hand?  The fingers are partially webbed, and I want to remove the webbing to give my fingers more functionality.  My doctor said she'd approve the consult to the hand surgeon when I'm ready to pursue it.

My life in a nutshell...  Hahaha.  Too much going on.

Gran Torino

This was a movie I wanted to watch, but I didn't fully understand what it was about.  But it's definitely worth watching.  I recommend it, and I can't truly say how good it was without giving it away.  Disclaimer: there is a lot of swear words and racial slurs.  Clint Eastwood's character is a racist, grumpy old man.  I didn't think anything of it because my grandpas are both grumpy old men who tend to say racist things also.  So, his character fit right in with how I view old men...  Anyways, the movie deals with the older generation accepting the newer generation and finding out that race is only skin deep.  That's not doing the movie justice, but I recommend it anyways.  I can also state the fact that this movie brought tears to my eyes (yeah, I'm an emotional girl).

Perspective

So, I happen to overhear someone talking about how she caved in and finally bought a car.  She went on to say it's a Hyundai Sonata.  And then, "It's nothing fancy, but at least it'll get the job done."  It took all of my strength and then some to not turn around and give her the bug eye (I'm assuming her car's relatively new - <5 yrs).

Jared's getting a new car too.  And when I say new, it's only new in the fact that we've never owned it before.  Want to know the difference?  This car is nothing fancy, but at least it'll get the job done...  It's a 1992 Honda Accord.  Why am I buying it?  Because I trust my dad when he says, "It's nothing fancy, but it'll be more reliable than your current car [1997 Nissan Sentra]."

I guess it's all a matter of perspective...  I can also thank the way my parents raised me with never taking anything for granted and not buying crap you don't need.  So, while I would love to buy a 2-year-old Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, or Toyota Camry, it's not practical for me.  Cars depreciate in value, and I can't guarantee that nothing bad is going to happen to my car when I drive it.  Also, I have a car that works just fine (other than the fact that the lights now turn on when I brake).

I guess it's all a matter of perspective.  Some people enjoy new cars and think they're completely worth it.  I just don't.

But just in case I were to splurge...  My dream car is a red Cobra Mustang from the 90s era.

Arboretum

We went and explored the arboretum yesterday.  I know I was expecting trees and a lot of nature, but it truly wasn't what I expected.  It was very reminiscent of going into the mountains in Utah to see the sites and hike.  Only, the ground's flat; so the hikes are a lot easier.

Yeah, it was a little anti-climatic for me.  But oh well.  It was nice to get out and explore.  I'll have to go visit it again in the middle of fall to see all of the awesome colors.  Next up is the zoo.  The zoo here is completely free and it's an actual zoo (not like the one in Logan that has mainly birds).  It'll be exciting...

Speaking of fall, the corn stalks are beginning to brown.  Summer is ending and fall is coming.  I'm excited to see the colors.  And I'm a little anxious about the winter.  But we'll see how it turns out.  This weekend has been fairly cold.  Our high has been around 65-70 degrees this weekend.  It's supposed to warm back up tomorrow, but we'll see.

Today

Jared and Amanda

We have been married for 1 year.

We have lived together for 4 years.

We have been a couple for 6 years.

We have known each other for 11 years.

Happy Anniversary Jared!  Who would have thought two kids could have made it this far and still be happy?  Me, of course!!  I'm so glad I have you in my life Jared.  And I look forward to many more awesome adventures to come with you.  We're at the best part in life to have these adventures...

If you had asked me 8 years ago whether or not I would have considered dating you, I would have rather have eaten dirt than think about saying yes.  You were just a guy who gave me a black eye and didn't back down on my dares and taunts (like most gentlemen *sissies* did).  And look at me now.  I'm married to you and the happiest person ever.  You make me happy.