Asher Pants

Sometimes I feel like we have fewer photos of Asher. I blame this mostly on the fact that he is CONSTANTLY moving. Levi is more content to sit for at least 30 seconds, while Asher will stay in one place for approximately 3 seconds.

However...

I did manage to capture this photo of Asher.


Be still my heart.

Then there are these eyes. They're pitiful...bordering on pathetic.


Wow. I love these boys.

On a different note, yesterday was a wild ride to say the least. Just a warning, this is going to be a long one.

On Monday night, we put our gas-guzzling 2005 Durango back up on Craig's List in the hopes that we'd finally be able to sell it now that the stupid "Cash For Clunkers" thing is over...don't get me started on that program, it's a whole different post in and of itself. Anyway, I got an email from a guy named Sam simply asking us to call him, which we did. He offered us $1500 less than our asking price, but in cash, and asked us to meet him in Tualatin (40 miles away). We accepted his offer, acknowledging the fact that very few people are looking for a car like a Durango.

When we got to Tualatin, he proceeded to offer us $200 less than what we agreed on, giving us a raft of crap about it needing detail work, different tires (the tires are in great shape), etc. Needless to say, after having packed the boys into the car and driven two vehicles 40 miles to meet this jerk, I got ticked. Eventually it came out that he was in fact a dealer, not a private buyer. Lame. We finally all agreed on $100 less than our agreed priced, with us keeping the studded tires to sell later. We drove away with the biggest fist full of cash that I have ever held.

After that, we decided that we'd really like to look for a Subaru while still up in the Portland area. After dropping the boys off at Nathan's mom's house, we found an Outback that looked liked it was exactly what we wanted...until we got to the seller's house, when we saw that it was a wreck. Paint spilled in the back, torn fabric on the doors, stains all over the place...and that was all before the test drive. Once we started driving the darn thing, we could tell the clutch was about to go out and that the seller was asking about three times as much as the car was worth. Sorry Dave Ramsey, but this was a little extreme.

With no plan of action, we started driving towards Milwaukie on 217 until I found a 1999 Subaru Outback for sale in Multnomah Village. Where in the world is Multnomah Village? We called the seller and realized that he lived back the way we had come...about 2 miles away from the first car we looked at. Doh! It was worth it though. It was in great shape and exactly what we were looking for, not to mention within our desired budget. The test drive went great and we talked the seller down $500. We shook on it, and it came time to sign the papers...

...which happened to be at the seller's restaurant across the Hawthorn Bridge.

REALLY?!

At this point, it was 7 pm. Jan had had the boys for about 4 hours. The boy had eaten the last of their food we had brought with us -- we didn't think we would be gone that long -- and mild panic was setting in. But we didn't want to walk away, so into downtown Portland we went.

Papers signed, car paid for in CASH.

CASH!!!!!!!

Man that felt good. We beat feet back to Jan's, fed the boys, and finally got home at around 10 pm. Like I said, long day. We love our new car, but we love the fact that it's 100% paid for even more. Oh, and the better gas mileage is a perk too, ha ha ha. It need a few parts replace, but nothing to major. It's so nice to have a Subaru again! Here's a photo of it from the ad on Craig's List.


Even after buying the Subaru, we had enough left over from the sale of the Durango that we were able to complete our 4 Month Emergency Fund...did you catch that? We have a savings account with enough to cover our monthly expenses for FOUR MONTHS!!!

But that's not all...

There was also enough to start a savings account for a house down payment. Being smart about our money rocks!

To top that all off, I've started Weight Watchers again. Today is my 6th day and I've already lost 3.9 lbs. Love it. Life is good.

And now?

Bed.