Blessings!

Wow, can I just say, we have learned a WHOLE lot over the past couple of weeks. For me, I've definitely learned that the Lord works in mysterious ways. He has a plan for us, we just need to remain faithful and trust that it will all work out, as long as we are doing all that we can do. I've also learned patience. BOY, have we had to be patient with working out this whole motorcycle ordeal. I think I've realized that I much prefer things being in my hands, and then I can get them done when I want and how I want. Haha, I sound like a total control freak, but I guess I kind of am. Sorting out everything with the bike, we had to make a few phone calls here and there, but for the most part, things were out of our hands. I think I can finally say, though, that everything is all sorted out, and we're even better off than we could have hoped for.

Let me back up just a little bit...

About a week or so before the bike got tipped over, Todd and I were really starting to stress out about our finances. We were also starting to really stress out about time. Squished in to our short time in Utah we would have to: 1) drive up to Idaho, then take and pass TWO paramedic exams; 2) find a job; 3) find an apartment; 4) sell the motorcycle; and 5) find/buy a car. Not only would we have to do all of those things, it had to be in that order because we couldn't get an apartment nor get a car loan without any proof of income. We were both really starting to worry that we wouldn't have enough time for all of these things, and that we wouldn't have enough money for it either.

Todd suggested that we start doing something he did on his mission a lot, and that is to pray for miracles. I didn't tell him this, but at first I kind of thought that praying for miracles was a kind of selfish thing to do. Then I started to think about that just how we're asked of the Lord to do everything asked of us, if we do all of those things, it's okay now and again to ask for blessings in return. It's only hypocritical or selfish if it becomes a one-way street, where we're constantly expecting miracles to occur but neglect to do our own part.

So we started praying for miracles. Then, not even a week later, the bike was tipped over. RIGHT before we had to move, and sell the bike. So much for miracles... or so I might have thought at the time. As we did all that we could to work out the whole issue, we started praying more fervently that things might work out. As soon as we got to Utah, we took the motorcycle to a shop to get an estimate. The insurance said that in order for it to be considered a total loss, the repairs would have to cost more than $2700. That would be the miracle that needed, we started to think. If the bike were totaled, the insurance would just give us the $2700, and then take the bike. Then we wouldn't even have to sell it. So after about 3 days, the estimate came back from the shop as $3500! I started to get really excited, but we still had to wait to see if our insurance agreed with their estimate. So then, we had to wait about a week or so for Progressive to send out an insurance adjuster to do his own estimate, and come up with a figure that both the shop and progressive agreed with. Finally, we got the estimate from Progressive, and at first, it was disappointing. Progressive's estimate was $2540... just $160 less than it being considered a total loss. I was so frustrated that Progressive wouldn't just round up, and let us call it a total loss. After that, we started brainstorming some more ideas. We contacted our insurance again, and found out that we didn't actually have to get the bike fixed. Progressive would give us $2290 ($2540 minus our deductible of $250), and then we could do whatever we wanted with that money. That was already a great start. On top of that, we would get to keep the bike, and we could try to sell it as-is!

So that's what we decided to do. We picked the bike up from the shop, took some pictures of it with the damage, and posted an ad online for $2000, and explained what happened to it. Not even half an hour after posting the ad, there was a lady SUPER interested in buying it for her husband. They were so excited about it, that they decided to drive down from Salt Lake (30-45 min away) that day to see it. By the time they got here, it was dark out. We pulled the bike in the garage so her husband could see it well enough. He looked over every inch of it, and then took it for a little spin. It didn't take long for them to decide that they wanted to pay us full price for it!

The most amazing part of this whole bike experience, is that before it got tipped over, we had been planning on just trading it in at a dealership and probably getting a maximum of about $2500 for it. After the whole ordeal, we got $4100 for it, which is $900 more than we even paid for the bike a year ago! This was a miracle for sure, but definitely not in the way I could have ever imagined. I thought I already knew that the Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes, but I'm definitely more convinced of that now.

So another miracle we witnessed was our housing all working out. Our friends, Kelli and Rodrigo, live in a really nice apartment complex that we were even considering moving into in Vegas. Right now though, the rates are super high, and almost all complexes need proof of income. Since Todd couldn't even apply for jobs until he passed his paramedic exam, we couldn't prove that we had any income until after we moved there. Two days after the incident with the bike happened, we decided it was definitely time to go to the temple. We definitely felt at peace, and comforted that everything would work out when we were there. Just a couple hours after we left, I got a text from Kelli asking if we wanted to take over her contract since her and Rod are moving to Colorado at the same time that we're moving to Vegas. We're WAY BUMMED that they won't be there, because we were super stoked to hang out all of the time, but it is also a huge blessing because now we won't have to prove income, and their monthly rent is super low. Not to mention, their apartment is SO nice :).

Big miracle # 3 is how we decided on our car! We were having a hard time narrowing down our options for a car, and were really debating between a few Mazda 3's, and few Altimas, and a couple Civics. We had been praying that we might be guided in one direction or another, to find the most reliable car. We were planning on going out and buying a car today, or tomorrow, so we needed to narrow it down soon. This morning, Todd and his dad swung by a tiny dealership to talk to a dealer that his dad had worked with a lot. Thankfully, this dealer informed Todd about a vehicle background check (like carfax, but better), and also showed us that a lot of dealers sell their cars under a clean title, but those cars will have still either been in an accident, or had major frame damage. Don't ask me how those cars are still considered clean titles, but somehow they are. Anyway, we paid for a month's subscription to this website, and checked a lot of the cars we were interested in. It also turns out that the car we would have most likely bought had had major frame damage! So we checked all of our favorites, and found the ones that were totally clean. We went out to test drive, and we found a winner! Todd also cut us a really great deal on a 5 year warranty for the car. I'm so grateful that we found out about those cars, and feel really really good about the car that we got.

So this is the pic of the car we bought. We never thought that we would buy a white car, but this one was by far better than any of the others we could find. We do actually like the color too :)

That's about all! Sorry about the novel, I'm sure there will be more novels to come!

Keep Todd in your prayers, that someone will see his application and hire him!