I know, Emily, it's about time!

Well, Emily has been on my case long enough that I figured the least I could do is to post on the blog with some updates...

As you all saw, Celeste and I took engagement pictures and are working on getting the invitations out. The two she sent out were a couple of goofy ones...well, I want to post a couple of my favorite.

I wanted to find a way to send these two out with the invitations, but Celeste and I determined they wouldn't be the best pictures for that purpose. So, pretty much, you'll just have to wait and see the pictures we chose.

We took the pictures outside the Utah County Mental Hospital...I thought that was pretty funny. I think they turned out great. I like the plain white backgrounds in most of them...and the trees are nice too.

In other news, if you all don't know, I got in a car accident in which my beautiful Sentra was totaled...luckily no one was hurt. I mean, I jumped out of the car steaming mad without a second thought after the crash. I was a little sore afterward, but nothing too bad. I guess you're probably wondering how it happened, so I guess I can tell you.

I was driving back from the International Auto Expo (go figure!) held in Sandy. Now, it had snowed the night before, but the snow had been cleared from the roads the whole day. It was around three in the afternoon and I was traveling south on State St in Provo when it happened. I was approaching an intersection where, for whatever reason, traffic was backed up in the left lane. I was in the center lane going 35 mph because there was no one in front of me (posted speed limit was 45, so I thought I was still being safe...). As I started passing the backed up traffic in the left lane I noticed someone 6 or 7 cars ahead of my position pulling into the center lane (my lane) from the left. I hit the brakes as hard as I would have needed to in order to stop (which was lot regardless of the road conditions) and my car slid into his...he had a Chevy Avalanche, so my car went under his and you can see the damage. Then as we slid to a stop, a third vehicle hit my back bumper and she went into the wall on the right side of the road. Luckily, between all of us there were no injuries and we all walked away fairly unshaken.

Needless to say, my car was totaled and my insurance company (Geico) has taken care of me well to this point.

Which brings me to my next topic...my new car. Because I got a really good deal on my Sentra, I actually owed less on the car than it was worth, so I am going to get some money back from the insurance company after they pay off the remainder of my car loan. This caused me to start thinking about what I should do about a new car. While I had the option to wait until I move to Florida to buy a new one, I decided this wouldn't work because I would have to find a way to get my stuff to Florida when I graduate and I don't think flying would allow me enough room to fit everything (to which Phil and Emily can attest...that I have a lot of stuff). I thought about it and decided to make a decision that would benefit me for a long time, so I decided to upgrade a little. I got a little bigger car, with more interior space, and a bigger but still practical size engine.

Because I'm not working much at the moment, I had to fight for financing, but because of my job after I graduate and the money I got from Geico, I was able to make it work to where I make the same exact payment I made with my Sentra and I didn't have to put anything down. So, anyway, I realize these are extraneous details that y'all probably don't care about, but I'm kinda proud that it has all worked out as well as it has, and I dare-say this crash has been a little bit of a blessing in disguise...although I wouldn't recommend the hassle and headache involved to anyone. So here are some pictures of the new car:

I know it looks really fancy, but I got a really good deal on it, so I'm really not paying all that much more than I was before. That's another story; the owner of the dealer where I purchased the car just happened to be the only one there when I came to look at it and we chatted a bit and he talked about the time he spent as a Bishop of one of the student wards at BYU and then he told me what he could do with the price of the car and since I had been looking around, I knew it was a great price. All I had to do was drive it a couple of times and I was sold...that's all I got. I'm sure my mom and Celeste can talk more about the wedding plans if anyone is interested, but I will leave all of that to them.

Thanks Emily for staying on my case...I guess I wrote a little more than I expected, so I would say that I've pretty much taken care of my share of blogs for a couple years! Whaddya think? :)

I love you all, I'm doing well, and looking forward to seeing you all as the year goes on.