Photography Observations - March

My only real "focus" this month was to take fun pictures during our trip to Washington D.C. over spring break, which I did, although I candidly admit that's not really pushing the bounds of my photographic skills. I'll be a little more focused in April.

First, from our visit to the Washington D.C. Temple. There wasn't a ton of foliage out yet, but I enjoyed capturing some beauties on the grounds.

And then some good ole tourist-y shots:

Also, Joel really enjoyed the zoo.  =)

I also had good times photographing some of my cooking this month.

And, naturally, I enjoyed capturing my ever-growing boys.

Summer plans

Last week, James was offered and accepted an internship for the summer with the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke. He will be assisting accredited lawyers as they investigate claims of innocence from convicted felons, and pursue the freedom of those they believe were wrongfully convicted. James is very excited about the work he'll be doing!

*I* am also very excited about this internship. I am happy that James is interested in the work he'll be doing. I'm also thrilled that it's local--James has been applying for a number of internships, and not all of them would have been as ideal for our family. For instance, another offer that he received was from a public defender about two and a half hours from Durham. While he would have enjoyed the work, the location would definitely have made things challenging! Plus, the internship at Duke is paid, which is a big plus for a first-summer internship!

James starts work on the 24th of May. That gives us a few weeks after his finals, and we're planning a trip out to Utah. We'll be driving, and we're taking a circuitous route to visit family in Louisiana and Texas, which will be really nice. 

We'll get to Utah the second week of May. James gets to stay for about a week and a half, and then he's going to fly back to NC. But I'm in need of a good long visit, so I'm going to stay in Utah for another couple of weeks with the kids before heading back. James is going to take Shadow with him on the plane. I'm nervous enough about driving by myself from Utah to North Carolina with two small children, let alone a dog!

Then we'll have the rest of the summer to spend with our friends here in Durham. We're also hoping to take a little camping trip to the Smokies, which we passed through on our move out here last summer. The mountain forests were so beautiful, we've been determined to visit ever since. We'll probably just take a little weekend trip sometime in June. 

It promises to be a great summer!

The Saga of Car Troubles Galore 4: Introducing...

I am happy to introduce the newest member of the Holley clan: Gus Gus the Wonder Bus!

We got to our (despised) credit union first thing this morning and ordered a cashier's check. (We are definitely leaving this credit union in the very near future.) We drove straight over to the dealership. Since we had gone through all the paperwork on Friday, we were in and out within a quarter hour--dropped off the check, picked up the keys, and away we went!

Gus Gus is a 2011 Honda Odyssey EX-L, with 44,380 miles (which is pretty good for a 2011!). He's in great condition. With the exception of a few interior scuffs and whatnot, he feels practically new.

This is definitely the nicest vehicle I have ever owned, and now that I have accepted it, I am really excited about all the features. Being able to open the doors and the trunk from my remote is awesome! Vanishing third row? Love it. Built-in window shades? Genius.

It's definitely comfortable; more so than even the big SUVs would have been. (Especially in the third row.) The spaciousness cannot be beat. As a matter of fact, James is on his way right now to help somebody move. Way easier with Gus Gus than with Lola or even Roxanne.

James is on spring break this week, and we're headed to Washington D.C. for a couple of days! I'm really excited to break in Gus Gus on this little road trip.

Toddler approved!

All in all, a happy ending to this sad saga.

The Saga of Car Troubles Galore 3: Farewell Roxanne

Given Roxanne's unfortunate demise, I was uncertain what I ought to do with her. I asked the mechanic if he or anyone he knew would be interested in her, but that was a dead end. My options were reduced to either trying to sell her privately (scary) or sell her for scrap metal (sad).

I know it's just an inanimate object, but I'm emotionally attached to my car. The idea of selling her for scrap metal was really distressing to me. Not to mention I'd only get about two hundred bucks out of it, which was a pretty terrible prospect. (Especially since I'd just spent $600 on a new radiator a week earlier!!!)

So with a little encouragement, I decided to list her on Craigslist and see what would happen. It was hard to know what to ask for her, in this condition. I looked around a little, and somewhat arbitrarily set a price and posted my ad.

It was seriously up for only a couple of minutes when I got my first call. Followed immediately by a second call, during which I received a third call. And several more texts. I was still negotiating when I deleted the ad, 12 minutes after it was posted. I ended up with an unintended bidding war! It was bizarre to me. I guess it was underpriced??

I finally put an end to the back-and-forth and said that the first guy who'd called had first dibs, since he'd matched the others' offers at $1500. Even after I said I was selling it to someone else, one of the guys offered $1800. But I decided to go ahead and sell it to the first guy. So I made arrangements to meet him at my mechanics' Saturday morning.

I went early to clean out Roxanne. Fortunately our stroller fit in the trunk of Lola the Corolla; I was worried! While I was still gathering my stuff, the buyer showed up. After checking her out, he tried to talk me into selling for $1300. But it was pretty easy to refuse, given that I had multiple offers of $1500 or more! So he ended up taking her for fifteen. We signed the paperwork, he gave me the cash, I gave him the keys, I took off my license plate, and away I went.

I do feel a little sad. I loved Roxanne. She was such a great car. But this is definitely a better way to have things end. I am cheered by the thought of her having a second life with her new owner, who said he was going to fix her up for his daughter. I hope it works out very well for them!

To be continued...

The Saga of Car Troubles Galore 2: Car Shopping

On Thursday we went to three places and test drove a few vehicles. I was mostly interested in Honda Pilots and Toyota Highlanders. We found some decent options, but nothing we were thrilled with. So we called it quits for the day.

I was encouraged by several people to consider minivans. This was a hard thing for me to swallow, friends. I have never liked minivans. I have said on more than one occasion that I would never get a minivan. Candidly, I think they're ugly. And I struggle with the stigma of being a "soccer mom" or whatever. But I decided I should at least test drive one.

James decided to skip class Friday so we could search for a vehicle in earnest. (We are just not cut out to be a one-car family. I don't know how people do it!) We left the house at 9:30am and drove to Raleigh. Several sisters in the ward recommended a dealership called Hanna Imports, so we went to check them out. I test drove a Toyota Highlander I'd found on their website, but it was not in very good shape.

And then I asked to test drive a Toyota Sienna.

A minivan.

And I liked it.

...

It's still ugly as sin on the outside. (Sorry to anybody who thinks minivans aren't ugly. If you exist.) But beyond that, it's everything we wanted and more. Minivans are just so much more spacious than SUVs. The gas mileage is better. The price is better. And minivans are just more suited to kids: the auto-sliding doors (than can open from the remote, or a button from the driver's seat), and the lower clearance! Joel could climb in all by himself (which he did as soon as the door opened) which he couldn't come close to doing in the SUV.

I was deeply considering the Sienna. But if I was going to cave and consider minivans, I also wanted to test drive a Honda Odyssey, and Hanna Imports didn't have any. So after grabbing some lunch, we headed to the Leigh Honda dealership. (Way better pricing than Crown Honda in Durham, btw.)

After test driving the Odyssey, I was convinced. It had everything the Sienna had, and then some. My favorite feature? The third row folds down flat. In the Sienna, the seats are removable. But the folding down is WAY easier for me to deal with, especially by myself. And it had a DVD player. Not on our must-have list, but definitely nice.

So it began. Much discussion. Some decent haggling (if I do say so myself). And finally an agreement. Then much waiting for paper-shuffling. (Why does buying a car take so long???) We were at the dealership for 4+ hours. With our kids. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it still wasn't super fun.

We finally got into the financial manger's office to sign and pay. We got pressured to buy add-ons we weren't interested in. And then pressured some more. We had liked our salesman, but the financial guy was pushy and downright rude.

And when all was said and done...our withdrawal was denied. James had already called our credit union to let them know we were making a large purchase. He called again, and was told that they wouldn't actually let it go through. They "couldn't take the risk" because his debit card "might have been stolen" and it was "too great an amount" to allow. James was on the phone for half an hour or more trying to get them to cooperate; he answered every single verification question they had, and still they would not let us have our money. AND our credit union isn't open on the weekends at all. So we were given no choice but to leave without the van and return on Monday with a certified check. We were SOOOOOO frustrated! We have decided to close our accounts with this credit union and be done with them. Urg.

To be continued...

The Saga of Car Troubles Galore 1: The Unfortunate Demise of Roxanne

Oh, car troubles. I have been living one of my worst nightmares over the past few weeks, and it has not been fun!

Driving home from Costco on February 29th, I pulled off the highway and suddenly white smoke erupted from the engine of my car (beloved 2004 Honda CR-V named Roxanne). I pulled into a random parking lot, which happened to be a muffler shop, and a nice guy who saw the smoke pulled in after me. He and the muffler shop owner scoped out the engine and told me the radiator was probably damaged, and that she wasn't safe to drive. Boooooo. Fortunately I have awesome friends who live close by who were able and willing to rescue me and the children and take us home.

The next afternoon we had Roxanne towed to a mechanic, who confirmed that it was indeed the radiator, along with some connecting parts, which would all need to be replaced. Ouch. So I was carless for 2 1/2 days, and got my Roxanne back thinking everything was fine and dandy.

Fast forward to this week: suddenly she started acting up. Shuddering, stalling out, smoke from the tailpipe. I feared the worst. I took it to a different mechanic this time (not that I had a bad experience with the first, but this other mechanic had been recommended by a friend, and I trust good referrals). It was only a couple of hours later that I got the call: blown head gasket, and likely a damaged cylinder head.

I honestly had no idea what that meant. But I was talking to my mom, and when I told her, her reaction told me to expect bad news. And it came while I was on the phone: $3000 for the head gasket, and if the cylinder head was damaged, another $800-$1200 on top. I was heartbroken. I had looked up my vehicle on Kelly Blue Book, which said that in good condition it would be worth $4200. There was no way we would get Roxanne repaired. *sniff*

James and I very rapidly assessed the situation. We had been planning to get a larger family vehicle after he graduates from law school. We briefly debated just purchasing a get-by-for-now car, but ultimately decided to invest in the long-term vehicle we'd been planning on.

Commence car shopping! To be continued...