Chin up, buttercup.

So. As you all know if you have been following my updates about the big move, we had some car trouble last Friday that prevented me from leaving as planned on Saturday, and then the hits just kept on comin'. 

Well, we finally got the car back in seemingly perfect working order yesterday! They had ran it for about 6 hours straight with nary a hiccup, engine shudder, or the engine shutting off. Finally. After almost $2000 worth of car repairs and 5 days!

So I tried to leave for SC yesterday. Honestly, I just couldn't wait any longer. I wanted to get to SC, and see my family. I miss them so badly. We left at 3pm and drove for about two hours before making our first stop at mile marker 98, at a Conoco not far off from I-70, around 140 miles into our trip.

Snapped this picture of Gauge when we got out of the car to walk Ripley at the gas station!

When we were getting back on the highway, G dropped his can of soda all over the backseat, so I pulled off the entrance ramp and handed him a towel, as a wave of semis went by. He cleaned up the mess, and after he was finished I pulled back onto the entrance ramp. When I tried to merge on the highway, the car died. The engine just shut off. Luckily, there was no on-coming traffic at the moment and I was able to guide it onto the shoulder of the highway before it came to a complete halt.

Gauge probably saved our lives by spilling his drink - if he hadn't, and I had continued to get on the highway in front of those semis, and the engine had died and we stopped moving, we probably would have been in a huge, disastrous wreck. I am so, so thankful for that spilled drink and our safety. ♥ Someone is looking out for us, and we are so blessed.

I tried to crank the car, so we could drive it to the next exit on the shoulder and call for help. It made it a few yards and died on the shoulder again. Tried again, made it a few more yards, and it died again, and after that, would shut off as soon as it cranked. At this point, we had made it around a mile from the gas station. I called the mechanics who had worked on my car last. I won't lie, I burst into tears when I told the mechanic what had happened. He apologized profusely and told me they would foot the tow bill (146 miles), and all future repairs on the car would be taken care of for free, and they WOULD fix the car if it meant replacing the entire engine and fuel system at this point. 

BUT the tow had to come from KC, and we were almost two hours away. EVERYTHING I owned practically was crammed in our car, but it was 91 degrees and we were barely off the highway, so every car going by at 75 miles an hour was totally terrifying so I decided to hike the mile back to the gas station with my six year old and the dog, which in itself was an adventure.


Luckily, I have a friend who lives about 30 miles from where we broke down, so I called him and asked him if he would like to come hang out with us while we waited on the tow guy. He obliged, and showed up about 30 minutes later. We bought snacks and sat in the parking lot, and he was kind enough to even drive me home when the tow guy arrived.

So, we left our house at 3pm, and got back to our house that night around 9:15. It was quite the ordeal. The drive back was actually really nice, all things considered. Lots of laughing and talking, good music and jokes.

But... Where do we stand now on our move to SC? I'm not even sure. But school started here today, so we went ahead and enrolled Gauge in first grade. 

Add caption

 
And I am in the process of setting my studio back up so I can restock luanded.com. When we find out what is going on with the car, and the house buying process in SC, then we will know what's happening. For right now, though, it's a great unknown, even to us. And there's nothing we can do about it, so we may as well make the best of it. ♥

Thank you all for your kind words and support through this very, very trying time. I appreciate every ounce of kindness you have all shown me and it has helped me get through this with my chin up.