200,000 miles

This last week our van hit 200,000 miles! I always said it would die once it did. I watched the meter climb slowly to 200,000 miles and then slowly to 200,001. It didn't die! I know that sounds silly but this van has been a champ. It's been a huge blessing to have a vehicle to have it with no payments. It is the van that my parents had when we were growing up so it has had some good use.

Well the following day we headed to Albuquerque to go to the temple. The van ran great on the way down. We didn't have babysitters this time so we did a switch. Jared went in first while I had the kids and then I went in once he was finished. We had finished up at the temple and we were on our way to our friends house to help them out. She is pregnant and has HG during her pregnancies. We like to go visit them and help out any way we can. On the way there we get a text saying that today may not be a good day for us to come. I try calling her right away, no answer. We get closer to the freeway to head home. We didn't have much left to do in Albuquerque so we thought that maybe we should just head home. When it came time to get on the exit we decided to just keep going towards their house. I'm thankful we did.

We stopped at walmart to get dishwasher soap, bananas and minutes for my phone. We were out of dog food but petco was in the next parking lot so we went there next. As we were pulling into a parking spot our steering wheel became hard to turn and was making a grinding noise. Jared thought right away that maybe the steering fluid was empty. He ran in, bought the dog food, and headed back to walmart again to get fluid. He came out with a couple containers of steering fluid and a couple containers of oil as well. That ended up being a blessing too.

He filled up the steering fluid and it was a lot better so we headed up to our friends house about 10 minutes away. By the time we got there we were having problems again. After searching for the problem in more detail we found that it was a hose that had a leak. Jared worked all night trying to replace it. It took a lot of hours... and he didn't have a coat.... and it got dark. It was cold. I felt bad for him. He finally gave up and decided he would try again the next day when there was light.

He fixed one hose to find that another one was leaking. He started working on that one as well. He spent a couple more hours trying to get the dang thing off. The hose would NOT come off no matter how hard he tried. He finally gave it up and decided it would be worth to just get it towed and have a mechanic fix it. As he was cleaning up his mess he showed me our tires. The tread on the tires does not exist. They are so bald! And as he was pointing that out we found a nail in our tire. I don't believe in coincidences. I'm not for sure what the reason is that Jared couldn't get that hose off but I know it will work out the way it needs to. It might cost more money this way but maybe it is the safest way.

It was a little stressful to begin with. We have a New Years goal with our finances and I have been doing SO GOOD at keeping it. Which means I have not been spending money. (which is sometimes hard to do.) I was a little annoyed that all the money that I had worked so hard to save would go do something dumb like this. ha ha! But I realize what a blessing that we do have the money to get it fixed. If we had not made this goal, we would not have the money to do so.

Another tender mercy was that since my friend is HG she is on a ton of medications. She has not been able to drive her van for a long time. She doesn't go anywhere without her husband taking her so her van has just been sitting in the garage. They were so kind to offer it to us. At first I declined. I hate borrowing big expensive things because we have been taught to replace anything that we damage. A vehicle can be very expensive. I pray that nothing happens while we have it. I finally accepted their offer when we saw that there was no other option. It was such a blessing to have a vehicle that we could use to get home and to use. They are not in a rush to get there vehicle back so it is now less stressful to figure things out in a hurry. I'm so grateful for these friends. (and not only because of the van... they are great people!)

Before we left in their van they decided to check the fluids. The oil was EMPTY! The oil didn't even touch the dip stick. I was so grateful that Jared and bought some oil! They filled it up and we were able to be on our way. What a blessing!

The van is still stranded in Albuquerque. We still have not figured out what we are going to do. It is still a bit stressful not knowing what is going to happen but I know it will be alright. It's just material things right!?! We are safe and blessed. I'm grateful for all the tender mercies that we have had this last weekend. I'm grateful we were able to make it to the temple and that all the van problems started after we had attended. If it had happened before I don't know if we would have gone. I'm thankful for that temple trip. It was good and much needed. The spirit is so strong there. I felt peace and happiness. There are so many blessings that we have been promised. We are given so much from a loving Heavenly Father. I love that it doesn't end after we die. The blessings and promises carry on into the eternities. What a blessing. But of course since I'm living here and now... I'm so grateful for those blessings in this life. It has really blessed, strengthened and supported me in my life. Life is good.