The past 7 days in review...

Last Thursday was when my 1996 Pontiac died on me on the BW Parkway with a little over 190K miles. Exactly 7 days later, I am driving a 2006 Nissan with a little over 27K miles!. I upgraded my car by 10 years, although I downgraded my features.

I forgot how much fun, and nerve wracking, it is to drive stick! When I test drove the car at the dealership, I had a little hesitations about the car, but once I was in it and driving all the 'memories' of knowing how to drive stick came flooding back and I had no hesitations about choosing that car.

Going through finance was interesting. First, Greg and I waited for nearly an hour. Poor Amelia was so tired. It was after 9:30pm by the time we got to talk to the finance people. The first 'offer' was for a 48 month payment at $458 a month! Greg and I were like, what the hell! Because, when we arrived at the dealership, we told the sales person what price range of a car and payment we can afford, all at the very beginning of the whole process. So, when the finance lady said her first offer, we were kinda pissed because we didn't want to waste our time with something we weren't going to be able to afford. After a little more negotiation, the finance lady made a 'final' offer of $305 for a monthly payment. Again, Greg and I were telling them what we could afford and even bargained for a monthly payment of $275 max. The finance lady asked if we could put an additional $400 down and we said no since I increased my initial down payment of $800 to $1000. After they hemmed and hawed, Greg and I were like, "it's late and we're tired. We can't afford your payment option and we can't increase our down payment. We'll try Carmax since we know that there is a lender out there that will finance me." At that point, the finance lady told us to wait for a few minutes and she came back and took $400 off the total price in order to get my monthly payment to $278!

By 10:30pm, Greg and I were leaving the Antwerpen Nissan dealership and heading home (Greg was driving the rental car and was driving back to his office since he forgot his overnight bag in his car). I got home around 11pm and brought Sean and Aaron out to check out the new car. Currently, of all the people in my family, I drive the most current car (by year). Usually, I was the one that drove the oldest car.

This morning, I called the bank to check my balance. I was expecting it to be in the negative but to my delight, it was in the positive and well over any amount I was expecting! My ING withdrawal came through hella early! I was expecting it to come in something next week or the week after! I closed the account on Tuesday and had the money Thursday! Way to go ING!

Just to recap:

The bad in the last 7 days:

- Sitting on the side of 295 for 4 hours
- Learning that my car needs a new engine and that it would cost $5200
- Having to pay over $300 for a car rental
- All the stress that I went through about the car

The good that has happened in the last 7 days:

- Greg and I finally finding a place to live together
- Sean and Aaron moving to the same complex
- Actually being approved for financing a car
- Buying my very first car (and doing so all by myself)
- Receiving my IRA 2 weeks sooner than expected
- Paying everything with the IRA check AND still have more than enough money at the end of the month for the move and expenses related (security deposit, first months rent, u-haul rental, etc)

So, in review, even though the week started out horribly and I was very miserable, it has ended amazingly. I am feeling really good right now.

Want to hear something funny? Ok, well I have this magic 8-ball. I'm sure I've mentioned it before. Anyway, on Monday night, I asked the magic 8-ball if I should finance a car and it said 'yes' (or something along those lines), then I asked it if I would be approved for a finance load and again it said 'yes'. I was skeptical, of course. But, lately, that damn magic 8-ball has been pretty accurate. Remember the condo Greg and I were considering to rent? Well, after Greg and I checked out the place, I asked the magic 8-ball if Greg and I were going to move to the condo and it said 'no'. I asked that question and other variations of it numerous times over a few days and each time the response was 'no'. Greg and I were really hoping to get the condo, so it was kind of a bummer to keep getting the 'no' response. I believe on the 29th of May, Greg called the condo guy to check on the status of the application. Condo guy never called Greg back. Then, on Wednesday, I was approved at the townhouse complex and Greg and I checked the place out on Saturday, June 2, and decided to move there instead of the condo. On Sunday, the condo guy calls Greg and asks if we were still interested in the condo and Greg said no. Freaky, isn't it? Also, I've asked the magic 8-ball if Greg is going to propose to me in the next 12 months and every time I ask that, the response is always 'yes' or positive. Now, do I actually believe this.... mmmm... a little yes and a little no. It's nice to pretend but at the same time I am being realistic. I won't be upset if Greg doesn't propose to me within the next 12 months, but it is nice to day dream about it.

Speaking of 'surprises', over the weekend I told Greg that I haven't heard from Denise in a while and asked if he had. He said that he's talked to her off and on, via email, during the week. She's helping him with some sort of surprise for me!! Of course I thought it was for her opinion on a engagement ring and he knew that was the first thing I thought about but said that isn't what they are talking about. Then I asked if they were planning a trip to MD or if we were planning a trip to Michigan and he said no to both. He won't tell me what they are planning!! I am thinking it's a trip of some sort. But, it is exciting to know that Greg is thinking about me in that sense. Especially since he wants to really surprise me! I can't wait to see what it is.

We finally have a crib for Amelia and a dresser all of her own! My Grandma's brother and his wife gave Greg and I the crib and dresser. My mom picked up the other day and she's painting it for Amelia. She's going to do a garden motif. I can't wait to see the end result. My mom is a wonderful artist. When Greg and I get our own home, Mom is going to paint murals in Amelia's room and the bathroom. At the house in Churchton, Mom painted the bathroom as if it were under the water. There where whales, sharks, fishes, starfish, plant life, all of it. It looked really amazing. I think Mom could start her won business painting murals for people.

I really hope the next three weeks go smoothly.