September 2003
Ashley
When Ashley was 10 years old she’d gleefully crawl up on my lap and guide the car into the driveway. Later while she was in Junior High School she’d talked about the day when she would have her own car. “Yea, right,” I thought.
Over the last year Ashley has worked at Fatburger and saved her money. She’d save a check and spend a check until the end of this summer when she’d saved $2,000.
“Ashley, a car is very expensive to maintain, the cost of the car is only the beginning,” I said in a discouraging tone.
“But, Dad do you remember how Eric saved money and don’t you remember how you helped him buy a car,” she begged.
“Okay, I’ll help you, let’s start looking for a car,” I said.
We looked at the local car swap meet at College of the Canyons, where we found many overprices cars that appeared to be dirty, overprices, with altogether too many miles.
After looking for a few weeks we were getting discouraged. However Ashley still poured over the newspaper, made lists and called owners. No luck. When I’d find a car she’d say,
“No dad, I don’t want a boxy car, I want a modern looking car, in either blue or red, and that’s that.” I was really getting discouraged.
One day I was walking through a parking lot at UÇLA and saw a red Honda Civic with a for sale sign in the window. The sign said that the car had been maintained and the price was $1900. That sounded good. I told Ashley about it and she got very excited. We called the owner and she informed us that the car was to be sold over the weekend to a fellow who never owned a car. We told the seller that we would buy it if her friend backed out. I also told the owner that Ashley had saved for a year for just such a car as this, and that she was very excited at the prospect of a sporty little Honda. The owner replied, “Oh I’m torn because I’ve promised it to someone else but your really pulling
at my heartstrings.”
The next day was Saturday and we went over to the College of the Canyons Car Swap Meet as usual.
Ashley said, “You know dad I think I’m going to fast this Sunday for the car. “I’ll fast with you,” I said trying to be supportive. But in the back of my mind I thought, “I think you’re going to be let down.”
Then as an afterthought I asked, “Yes dad came the answer.
On Monday we called the owner and she said the buyer hadn’t showed up over the weekend but he was coming to her house that night. Later that evening the seller called Ashley and told her that the fellow loved the car but she couldn’t find the pink slip and he wasn’t willing to buy it without an official pink slip. Yes, we thought.
So the next day we bought the car with a form the DMV provides on the Internet.
When I drove it into the driveway, Ashley’s eyes gleamed.
Now instead of looking for a car at the COC parking lot Ashley is gently letting out the clutch and pressing the gas as the car lurches forward. The car dies and we try it again. Ashley smiles, after all she is the proud owner of a beautiful red 93 Honda Civic.
July 25, 2012
HI Dad,
I have been meaning to call you the last few days but haven't had the chance and i usually don't seem to be able to catch you at the right time. Not sure if Deborah gave you an update but we had an offer accepted on a house in Riverton. Its a really nice house, it has 3 bedrooms and an unfinished basement, its only 6 years old and its in a really nice neighborhood and down the street from a big park.
Andrew just got offered a job at Property Solutions as an Account Executive, he starts in two weeks. Their office is in Lehi off Thanksgiving Point exit which is where Adobe will be ( same exit Ryan and Stephanie live off of). We are excited about this new opportunity for him and think it will be a great career.
The house in Riverton is about 20-25 minutes from where both Andrew and I will be working. So now we are trying to decide - should we continue with purchasing the home in Riverton or should we try to find something in Lehi so we will be right next to where we'll both be working. I don't think a 20-25 min commute each way is that long, but at the same time Andrew and I both would be doing it and we sometimes think how nice it would be if we had an extra 40 minutes a day together we could spend at the gym or getting things done instead of driving. But there is nothing currently in Lehi on the market that we are really interested in so if we say no to the riverton house we would have to hope something new pops onto the market in one of the neighborhoods we like in the next few months. We also risk interest rates increasing if we wait and hope to find something in the future that's closer to where we both work and right now interest rates are at an all time low. We have also thought about building a new house there by our jobs, kind of by ryan and steph, but it would be a little more expensive (cost of landscaping and a fence) and it would take 5-6 months and by the time its built interest rates could have increased by then as well.
There is also this house which just popped onto the market which is in lehi in Traverse (by Ryan and steph) and close to our jobs: http://www.trulia.com/property/3090305215-1828-Woodview-Dr-Lehi-UT-84043 Its a really nice house inside but the backyard is sooooo tiny, you can't even fit a table out there. Most houses we are looking at have small backyards which is fine but it seems like once we have kids we will want a house with at least a little bit of room back there for kids to play so i don't think this house would really work for us for that reason.
We actually really like everything about the Riverton house and neighborhood except the commute so we wonder, should we just get it or should we wait and try and find something closer to work so we don't have to commute? Obviously its something andrew and i need to decide together but i was curious to hear if you have any thoughts/opinions/ideas/advice. Its stressful because a home is such a huge decision. We have prayed and fasted about it but we feel like both options are good options so it seems that we need to just make a decision and move forward. Just wondering if you have any thoughts on this.
(by the way don't copy the rest of the family on your response, i don't want to hear everyone else's input).
Love you!
Ashley