It's been a while...

So, it has certainly been a while since I have blogged. I was going to blog about 3 weeks ago, but Cody wanted to use the computer to play "Mobsters" on MySpace. Here is what we have been doing the last few weeks.

While we were driving through British Columbia, Canada, my truck started to shake. then it really started to shake. We stopped at a repair shop and this old mechanic pulled it in, put it on the lift, and said that a few bolts just needed to be replaced on the exhaust and though it would still rattle, it should get us to where we were going. None of it really made sense to me, but it was about 5 degrees outside and I couldn't find the proper clothes to get under my own truck to check. We paid the 25 dollars and went on our way. The truck was still vibrating too much for my comfort, but I was stupid enough to believe what the "mechanic" told me. freakin' Canadians.

Seattle:
We reached Seattle and when we were heading east on I-90 to spend a day in Seattle, the reality of the mechanical problem showed its ugly face. The vibration suddenly stopped. All was quiet for half a second, then, BANG! Bang-bang-bang!!!! We were in the left hand lane and was quite amamzed to find I could get right over all the lanes to the shoulder. I exited the car and looked at the underside of the truck from the righthand side of the vehicle. I was shocked. The front of the driveline was resting on the asphalt. The whole front end of the driveline yoke (where it attatches to the transmission) was gone.

The truly amazing thing was that the end of the driveline didn't dig into the asphalt and pole vault us over the nose of the truck (or even althe way onto the roof of the truck) in the middle of the interstate!!!

My truck was towed to Northgate and we had to rent a car and impose on my parents friends for 6 days and 5 nights. As it turned out, 2 of the 4 bolts holding the driveline yoke to the transmission had worked loosem and fallen out but then finally snapped off the 2 remaining bolts. When we finally did go pick up the truck, we didn't get far before it started overheating. I popped the hood to find that the cooling fan had snapped OFF. The heavy vibrations had thrown the balance of the fan off and thus... it snapped off. We then had to spend another day in Seattle. The guy who fixed the driveline suggested a guy a few blocks from his place who could get us out that day. "That day" was now the day before Thanksgiving. We were supposed to be at Cody's brother Erik's house for Thanksgiving AND if it didn't get fixed that day, we would be stuck there for another 4 days due to Thanksgiving weekend. It got fixed and we were on our way.

We drove to Ontario, Oregon that night and stayed with a friend of ours (Josh Heyrend) from our job in Alaska this summer. We were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. The next morning, I found Josh's mom making us breakfast. We enjoyed a morning of socializing with most of Josh's family before we got on the road.

We got into Utah at about 7pm on Thanksgiving day and visited family before continuing to MamaRine's to crash for the week.


My parents arrived safely in Utah that Saturday and planning for the utah reception got underway. All I really remember about the planning now was chaos, confusion, and not much time to socialize. I also remember being frustrated about all of the restrictions for using the stake center that seemed to be piling up. It seemed like everytime I made a decision about something, it was overridden by some stupid rule. I'm so glad that is over.

The Utah Reception:
All things considered, things went fairly well for the reception in Utah. I was surprised that my friends Amy and Emily (they are twins) both came! I wish I had more time to talk to my friend Megan. At the end of the reception, I was hoarse from chatting so much. My friend Annie and her husband Anthony made out wedding cake. It was the biggest wedding cake I have ever seen!!! Unfortunately, only about 30 of the 150 showed up to the reception, so there was tons of leftover cake. Mmmm.. chocolate cake. I got to finally meet the infamous (they are so famous, they're IN-famous!) Chipping family. I thought they were great and look forward to getting to know them better. (and I'm not just saying that because so many of them have blogs on here!)

Kentucky:
Once we were safely arrived in Kentucky, I had the joy of working on my sister's 93 Honda Accord. The caliper on the left front tire was bad and needed to be replaced, along with the brake pads and rotor. Well, Just my luck that the rotor on this particular car is PRESSED on. That wouldn't be such a big deal, but I was doing this work out in the driveway and had no press. I didn't even have a vice or a workbench! So after a few days of irritation and with the help of Snow's deisel shop on the southside of town, we got all of the parts apart, the new ones together, and finally back on her car. It was warm the first day or two working on her car, but then it got cold and as a result, I got a cold. Ah... just in time for my reception.

The Kentucky Reception:
The reception in Kentucky seemed a lot easier to organize than the one in Utah. perhaps that was because I had already been though it once in Utah. Or maybe it was because I was at home and sometimes things just seem easier at home. The reception was a complete success (as far as I'm concerned) and wasn't too dificult to clean up. i even got the Thank You cards all ready. I need to buy more so I can write out the ones for Utah as well.


the next step:
christmas. Thankfully, I have some time to visit friends and family before then. Christmas dinner will be held at my parents house this year on Christmas Eve. After Christmas, we have to pack up for our long awaited cruise. I was told that I have to post our itenerary on the blog but I'll do that on the next post. this one has run far too long as is.