We finally have our internet back! We've been going a couple weeks without it due to a network change, hence my lack of blogs.
Last weekend, David and I went to "Chicago" (really Geneva, Il.) to celebrate KG and Gretch's wedding. It was so great to see so many of our friends again but also bittersweet because we're not sure when we will all see each other again. It's really hard living so far away from all of our friends. We have truly gone back and forth with the idea of moving to the midwest.
Here's our pros and cons list for moving out there that we made in the car. (speaking of car, I have an interesting story about our car which I will get to.)
Pros:
1. We love our friends and want to see them way more than once a year.
2. The cost of living is SO much cheaper than NJ. We could be living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath with a backyard for way less than our 1 bedroom, 1 bath, small apartment.
3. With Dave's experience at his job now, he could probably land a job in Chicago. (but then again with the job market, you really never know.)
Cons:
1. We really, really love living a hop, skip and a jump away from the ocean. We take advantage of living near the water any chance we get.
2. Both of our families live near us. When we want to start poppin out the babies, we definitely want them to be near their grandparents...(even though that will not happen for quiteeee some time.)
3. We both LOVE our jobs. David comes home with a smile on his face after driving a 1 hour commute just because he is so happy with his job. I really couldn't ask for more. AND don't get me started on my job. I had no clue what I would be doing after I received my diploma and God has placed me in the perfect job. I really feel like this is the place where I should be and I love the work that I do each day.
4. It's JERSEY! Everyone knows David and I are the big "New Jersey Talkers" but it's true! This state has everything you could need.
So it looks like were staying, at least for the moment, unless God has other plans for us.
Now onward to our car story. (Boy this is a super long post...I wouldn't be offended if you just stopped reading, but my office is being used for an interview and I don't have anything to work on without all of my work materials in my office..so blogging it is!)
David and I drove out to Chicago in our "reliable car." We planned on leaving Saturday night after the wedding and stopping in nowheresville, Ohio for the night. As Saturday night approached, we decided to stay at KG and Gretchen's apartment and drive back in the morning due to tiredness, not wanting to say goodbye to our friends, and saving money on a hotel. We began our trek at 8am on Sunday. At 8:20am we decided we should stop for gas. As David got out he noticed steam coming from the hood of the car and some leakage under the car. (not cool) David looked under the hood while I asked him a hundred questions about the car, none of which he answered. I knew right then and there, we were in trouble. We just had the water pump fixed so we didn't think it could be a big issue. We passed by about 10 closed mechanics (because it was a Sunday) and finally found an open Firestone. After some time we received the diagnosis. The timing (not belt but some other word that I cannot think of at the moment) had a huge leak in it. "This is the biggest leak I've ever seen," were the wonderful words of our mechanic. That made us feel terrific. Oh wait, the best part was that it would take $1150 American dollars to fix.
Thankfully Justin, Katie and Kyle stopped by to give us some support before they drove back to Indianapolis. We all decided that we had no other option but to fix the car. (and trust me, we went through all of our options.) Oh and another great thing, it was going to take the mechanic the entire day to fix so David and I would have to miss work on Monday.
On the upside, the 5 of us went out to breakfast and then to IKEA (my first time!) The store is amazing and brightened our day. It was also a plus to spend some more time with our friends. We also bought a really cool 10 dollar lamp. The lamp is now up on our bookshelf in our living room. Everytime we look at it, we say to each other. "It's ok our car broke down and cost us a ton of money because we got that awesome lamp at IKEA."
At 7pm our car was finally ready. We made it to Cleveland, Ohio and stopped at a hotel. The next morning we finished the trip and FINALLY made it home. We have never been so thankful for our little apartment. Needless to say, next time we're flying.
