Cars, Cars, Cars

Cars.  A necessary money pit.

This past Friday afternoon as I was driving downtown for orientation at my new job, I experienced something that seriously got my heart beating.  I was pulling off the freeway when my car started jerking around.  At first I wasn't sure what was happening, but noticed after only a block that my check engine light had come on and the RPMs were way too high.
Oh no!  Transmission? Yep.  A couple more blocks confirmed it.  I could feel the transmission dropping gears while I was driving.  That is a terrible feeling!  I just kept praying that I would make it the last few blocks to work because how horrible would it look to be late on your very first day of work!  Thankfully my car stuck it out and got me there just in time.  Unfortunately, on the drive home after orientation, the transmission just kept getting worse.  I had to pull over several times and put my hazard lights on because my car wouldn't shift out of neutral or first.  It took me 45 minutes to drive a typically 20 minute route.

I, of course, then had to ask my dad to take me back to work that night and pick me up again after the shift.  Flash back to high school!  Wow.

The next morning, my dad took my car in to the shop to get it checked out.  The check engine indicator actually came out with three separate readings.  To fix all that is wrong with my car, including the transmission as expected, it would be nearly 5X the worth of my car...darn.  Part of me is really excited about the idea of driving a new (to me) car since I've been driving my accord since I was in high school.  But, now that I'm back in school again, I simply cannot afford the kind of car I want. This is absolutely the worst time for my car to fail me...right before the holidays...I'm no longer working full time...I do have a job now, but I'm only working part-time because of school, etc...  But, at least I'm living at home so there is usually someone willing to share a car or drop me off, and I can now walk to church, even in the snow.

So, together with my dad, we're deciding whether to fix the car and continue driving it further into the ground, or switch it up with a different car.  In the mean time, I'm stuck at home, borrowing my mom's car, or bumming rides to and from work.
As far as a possible car hunt...my dad keeps teasing me with the idea of an '89 Yogo.  [See right]
I tell him no and he simply laughs at me.  Even though he appears to be joking, I'm sure he secretly would love to see me drive it! 

Well, today I am very thankful for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday which is allowing me a few days off of school; which also consequently means I don't have to leave my mom stranded at home while I have her car.  I guess I didn't realize that when I decided to go back to school that I was signing up for all the other struggles that come with being a student!

Oh, and for the record, I am now working for the Temple Square Hospitality Corp as a host at The Roof Restaurant!  Feel free to come down and see me anytime.  We have a great view of Temple Square which will be lit up for the holidays starting this Friday!

Festival of Lights

My favorite things to do is something I've never done.  Literally.  I love trying new things!  Or going new places, or experiencing something new, or learning about a new [fill in the blank].  It doesn't matter the time of year, the company or where it is, I just love it!

Most recently, I headed down to Spanish Fork, UT with some friends for Diwali - Festival of Lights at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. 

This is the same place that hosts Holi - Festival of Colors every March (see this post for some great pics from Holi).  This festival is not as popular as the Festival of Colors, but it was very interesting to me.  Below is some information about it.

The Tradition
Diwali is a shortened version of Deepawali (deepa=lamps, wali=row: rows of lamps). Households in India put lamps in every window, and temples brightly illuminate their altars to bring in the best for the upcoming year. The date of the festival coincides with the return of the avatar of God, Sri Rama, to His ancestral kingdom after 14 years of exile and many adventures. All the citizens welcomed Rama home by brightening up his home city of Ayodhya and setting off fireworks.

The Festival of Lights occurs during the lull between fall harvests and the onset of the monsoons. Thus it is a time of thanksgiving, and that corollary festival is called Anna Kuta (literally meaning “heaps of food”). Lord Krishna inaugurated this festival by inspiring the inhabitants of His village (Vrndavan) to worship the cows on this one day per year and to prepare a huge celebratory feast consisting of no less than 108 preparations.

Guests are encouraged to prepare vegetarian dishes at home (without onions or garlic) and bring them to the temple to augment the devotional offerings. Optionally, one could bring fruits, or flowers.

We didn't take any food offerings, nor did we arrive in time for the cow worshiping.  But, we did arrive in time to see some  

classical Indian dancing...

I didn't take any pictures myself because I didn't want to be obnoxious

the lighting of the lamps and wishes for the new year which each person placed in the pond as they made their wish... 

and of course the fireworks!

It was really fun for me to experience this celebration.  I think it is important to understand other religions and respect the things they believe.  The more I learn about other beliefs, the more I can appreciate the people who believe it, and the better I am for it!

"We...have a great responsibility and opportunity to show to others our love and tolerance and respect to those who believe in other faiths. This attitude makes friends out of  strangers..."    -Gerald E. Jones

Halloween

So I'm a little behind in my blogging.  It seems everyone else has had their Halloween pics up for an entire week already and I'm just barely getting around to it.  Oh well.  At least they're coming, right?

I only dressed up once this year.  I originally planned to make some elaborate costume but about 2 weeks before Halloween, I realized I had other things I'd rather do with my time than sew, so I got online and bought one.  WAYYYYY easier!

That's right.  After my nephew's "Anga Birds" tantrums, I thought the funniest costume would be just that.  Here I am with my sisters.  Left to Right: Me, Dairy Queen (Deb), Scarlet O'Hara (Cath), Princess Leia (Sarah), and Amelia Earhart (Bec).

We had a blast at Deb's annual Halloween party as usual.  There were some pretty great costumes.  I'm always impressed by the quality of costumes I see there.  Everyone goes all out which makes it so much more fun!

The hosts, Burger King and Dairy Queen, with their homemade, life-size Cabbage Patch Doll pinata.

Princess Leia and Hans Solo, the costume contest winners.   

FYI, their costumes are HOMEMADE.  I seriously need to learn to sew better!

The Angry Bird and King Pig

Taking out the pinata!

 Halloween.  One of my very favorite holidays!