crisis of credit

ok, not sure if you guys fully understand this whole “why are economy is in the toilet” thing. i get the basics, but never fully understood what was behind the housing/financial market bust. well this video does an incredible job of detailing the situation, it’s 11 minuites, but it really explains things well i think.

Valentine’s Day Firsts

Well, this past Saturday was Valentine’s Day, and since we just recently got married, this is our first as being ‘married.’ It seemed sort of weird that it fell on a Saturday this year, funny thing is, the last time it was on a Saturday was 5 years ago back in 2004, which was our first Valentine’s Day to spend as boyfriend and girlfriend. I remember that was my first visit to Florida, and it was the first time we said, ‘I love you,’ and we gave each other our first gifts. That trip was so funny, I remember I got there on a Thursday afternoon, and I tried on outfits for like a week to determine which one was the perfect outfit to be in when he picked me up from the airport. We went from the airport back to his apartment, “The Collegiate Village Inn” and we exchanged Valentine’s Day gifts a couple days early. He gave me this acrostic poem that was so cool, the first of my increasingly thoughtful, artistic and creative gifts. I gave him this collage type of thing, we were so ‘in love’ and gooey-eyed it was ridiculous, but so sweet. And I’m not ashamed to admit I still get those feelings to this day. Anyways, enough sappiness, we went to go play our first round of golf after that. For some reason I figured I would magically learn to play golf in one game, that was my first actual game, and might I add it was really short too. The rest of the weekend went by fast, Valentine’s Day night we went to Carrabba’s and since we hadn’t made any reservations and because it was incredibly crowded we went to eat at the bar, it was fun and really sweet. I remember I wore this horribly ugly pink with black polka dot skirt, what was I thinking, I thought I was so cool. He wrote a little poem on the back of our reciept which I still have in a box to this day. (We are so cheesy) The rest of the weekend went by too quick, and we were so sad when I had to leave, we seriously considered for like 5 minuites skipping my flight back to Houston and going to Vegas to get married, HAHA, we were silly and quite blinded in our ‘love,’ but thank the Lord I got on the plane and came home. So it’s funny to think about all that and then our weekend together this past weekend. We woke up Saturday and made waffles, there was talk of making Bananna Pancakes, but waffles just sounded better. That afternoon it was rainy, we cleaned the house, watched some TV and Adam studied for a test, it was perfect. Valentine’s Day night, we cooked a great dinner, had some good wine and watched The Princess Bride which Adam had never seen. He laughed while I quoted all the movie lines. It was a good night, nothing special, no romantic poems or long cards, just simple, spending time together, enjoying each others company. It was a great weekend, gosh how time can change things, but only for the better I think. I hope you had a good Valentine’s Day.

Goodbye Old Friend

Well today Adam and I are saying goodbye to a car that has been very much a thorn in our side. Adam bought his VW Passat about a year before we got married, and I remember the first time we laid eyes on it. It was a mint green, nice leather, turbo, heat seaters (my favorite function) and the price was perfect. And then about 2 months later and for every 2 months after that something would go wrong. At first it was the breaks, then the radiator, then something else, and on and on it went. Finally about a month and a half before we got married the thermostat got stuck and it kept overheating, so we stuck it in his parent’s driveway until after we got married. There were so many things wrong with it (thermostat, continuous check engine light, brake light, front light gasket thing, headlights, etc) that we just didn’t even think of how much it would cost just to sell this thing. And then one Sunday afternoon, leaving his Sunday nap aside, Adam and his dad just started working on the car and they fixed everything!! I think we spent like $7 for some vacumn hoses, isn’t that amazing?? The Lord does answer prayers. After the insides were fixed, Adam and I began working on the exterior, cleaning it, shampooing the carpets, cleaning the leather, and then we started working on selling it – again. Mind you this is like the 5th or 6th time Adam has tried to sell this car, and I definiltey had my doubts about getting a good price for it in this failing economy. Well, the Lord blessed us with a buyer within a couple weeks of putting the “For Sale” signs up. He got quite a few calls on it, the car really did look great. I drove it one day and was a little sad that we would be selling it soon, but that’s the trap of the Passat, I’m convinced. You put all this work into it, get it working, and bam! something else fails. I am praying for the buyers that the Lord would heal this car so that they have better luck with it then we did Adam and I have a lot of good memories in the car. It has a sunroof, and it was so perfect on great sunny days. I remember driving with Adam on Sunday afternoons around town, getting it washed, walking down to Beck’s Prime, and then getting the car back all nice and shiny with the sunroof and windows down. Adam is meeting the guy today at the bank to tansfer the title and give him the keys, I want to say good ridance, but I am a little nostalgic.

What’s next? Well, my parents have very graciously allowed us to use their Expedition they aren’t using right now so that we can have a second car, and in the mean time, we are working on the old Mustang. That’s right, who needs a sunroof when you can have a convertible!! Hopefully it will be running soon, they are a few things that we need to get fixed, I always loved that car. So that’s it for today, we are so thankful that the Lord provided a buyer for this car at a good price and that we were able to fix everything without paying a ton of money. And another good thing is that’s one less bill to pay every which really gets us heading in the right direction for paying off debt, wahoo!! Goodbye little VW.

Guess who is blogging now??

Adam just started his blog! It’s so funny how different our blogs are, speaks to the differences between us for sure, check it out:

http://www.xandwhich.com/

Enjoy!!

PS – Ok Stac, your turn now.

Vegas Baby!

So I just found out yesterday that my company will be sending me to Vegas for a few days at the end of March. Better yet the meeting ends Friday morning, so Adam will be joining me Thursday night and we will be spending the weekend in Vegas. I’ve never been before, and I’ve heard that you really only need a few days to get the feel for the city, but Adam and I are really excited. He hasn’t been back since he moved back in December of 2003, so he’s going to show me all the cool hang outs only the locals know. Anyways, should be a nice little trip, we are super excited. Anybody have any great tips or things to do in Vegas??

Grace & Mercy

So I haven’t written in awhile, what else is new, but I’m back on the wagon. So here’s today’s post. I feel like everywhere I am being given an opportunity to extend grace and mercy to others, and at first it was a small tugging on my heart, but now I feel like the Lord is proclaiming it loud and clear. You get what I’m saying? I am reminded of Micah 6:8 -

       “He has showed you, O man, what is good.
         And what does the LORD require of you?
         To act justly and to love mercy
         and to walk humbly with your God.”

I feel like this verse pretty much articulates what I feel is going on in my life right now – in that the Lord has so richly blessed me and shown me what is good, and he requires (not asks or tells me to think about it) to act justly, love mercy, and be humble – all things that don’t neccesarily come natural to me). And sometimes I feel like I’ll have this big ephiphany and then I only apply it to those areas of my life that I want to. Like I’ll choose to be gracious to the woman that cut me off, but have a hard time being gracious with the people I’m closest with. Which is funny because as we all know, it’s easier to show grace to those people that we aren’t as close to. I think I am finding this to be especially applicable at home with Adam. We are going through the “Sacred Marriage” devotional book, and each week compounds upon the last of serving and being patient with your spouse no matter what. Acting more as Christ would then what you feel you deserve, and I think this is where most people in marriages (including myself) have gotten hung up. We find it so easy to serve and be patient when the other spouse is serving and being patient, but what if they aren’t? Does that give me the right to react? Or what if I’ve ‘just had a long day and I’m tired,’ does that give me go ahead to be irritable or self-serving? According to scripture that answer would be, ‘absolutely not!’ Which goes against everything we naturally feel we deserve. And this not only applies in marriages, but in friendships as well. I remember a pastor a long time ago was talking about forgiveness, and how there is never a point in life where we shouldn’t forgive. But sometimes we feel so totally justified in our bitterness and unforgiveness that I think we don’t know what to do without it, so we cling to it, and hold on, allowing those emotions to fester for no reason, when we are commanded to let go and forgive. Because if Christ forgave us of every sin, and we are commanded to love as Christ has loved us, then I should forgive others, I should serve others, I should love others. Anyways, enough preaching for today, but I would challenge you to be show grace and mercy to others and to love them.