I know this is really late but I thought I would try to catch up....So for our first Christmas together I was really wanted to make it special for Billy. A couple months before Billy was going on and on about wanting to buy a TV. He kept saying that prices were going down and that it was a good time to buy. I on the other hand really didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on something that we didn't need. We had a perfectly good working TV.
Until one day this is what we saw....
(still waiting on opportunity to take pic...will be updating soon)
Billy researched the problem and figured out the only way to fix it was by hitting it. So every time our "not-working-so-good-TV" had just a line going across the screen we were to hit it. It was quite annoying when you were watching something you would have to get up off the couch to hit the TV and then sit back down. This started happening about a month before Christmas.
Even though I was putting some money back for a TV I still wasn't sure if I was going to get him one for Christmas until we started having problems and I was getting frustrated with it. So I researched and researched for the best TV at the best price. I would even ask Billy what he wanted for Christmas and he would always say a Panasonic, Plasma, Flat Panel, 42" 720p or 1080p TV. My reply would be, "That is a big item to purchase and I would rather purchase that as a couple and make that decision together. I just don't feel comfortable buying something that expensive without your opinion," even though he would constantly tell me exactly what he wanted.
So while searching I found exactly what he wanted on a website from hhgreg except it was a 50" instead of a 42". I didn't think that getting a bigger TV would be a problem. :) It was even a better deal to get the bigger TV. So when I went into the store I saw it but the price was not what it had on the website. After talking with a gentleman, he was able to knock off $200. I was so proud of myself. I first said I would take it and then called my in-laws to ask if they would keep it for me because there was no way I could find it at our one bedroom apartment. He would see it for sure. Of course they said yes. I later came over and wrapped it while Billy was at work. I thought for sure he would find out that I was sneaking around but he didn't.
Up until Christmas I would constantly ask Billy what he wanted and he would reply back with a TV and I would say I didn't feel comfortable buying it. So this went back and forth. Christmas morning I had a decoy gift that I had him open at the Keown's in South Carolina. He was some what excited about it but I could tell there was some disappointment in his face. So I constantly apologized for not getting what he really wanted.
Billy had to work the day after Christmas so we left South Carolina Christmas evening. Before we left, Billy's parents asked us to stop and check on the pets because they would not be returning home until a couple days later. (Billy didn't know that I asked ahead of time for them to ask us to do this.) So when we got back to Raleigh, Billy went to check on the dogs and I went to the spare room downstairs and called to Billy, "Hey what is this in here?" Billy came into the room and found this.
He was so surprised. I was almost crying and I think he was too. He had no idea, but as soon as he saw it he knew what it was. It wasn't until he opened it that he found out that it was bigger than he had ask for. Check out his reaction.
Now the beast of a TV sits in our living room and the other TV is in our bedroom where we still have to get up and hit it once in a while.
As of today, we adopted a new member to our family, a 2006 Nissan Murano. We are still l
ooking for a name for him or her. We did not get to bring her today. We are going back tomorrow to fill out paper work and then we will get to bring her home.
As by my last post, we were researching Santa Fe's and Muranos. I came to the realization that if I got a Santa Fe I would be happy but only because of the price versus a Murano. So after making a trip to Smithfield (about 45 minutes away) to see a Santa Fe, I realized what I really want was a Murano. So I really worked hard to find a black Murano. There was one that I really liked but when I checked it out on the owners website it was already sold. So I saw another one in Smithfield and asked Billy to go look at it
with me. I had already test driven Muranos and I knew how they felt. So we really went to go see how the Murano looked.
When we got there I really liked it. We test drove it and then it came time to talk price. I am so proud of Billy and I. We were really nervous about talking price with the guy. Before we went in to talk with him, Billy and I talked about what we wanted to pay for it. I said no more 15, 500. The car was listed for 16, 988. His first offer was about 15,700 before the extra fees and he asked us what we were looking at. I said 14.5 to 15. So he looked at what he could do. He called the owner of the shop and came up with 15.9 before 
the extra fees. I suggested to Billy that we wait and talk about it. The sales guy said hold on and see what he could do. I suggested 15, 7 AFTER fees, which would be about 14.9 before. He suggested 16 after fees which would be 15.2 before fees, but he had to call the owner again to see if that was ok. The owner came back and said that is fine. We said yes and the car was ours. The place actually had already closed so we decided to come back tomorrow and finish up the paperwork.
So Billy and I have come to the realization that we will need a four door car in the future. (Not any time soon though.) So while both of us are working we are looking into getting a new car. Here are some of the choices we are looking at:
First one up, Nissan Murano
:
This is the pricer of the two. So we are looking the 2005/2006 models to get. I really like this one. I especially like it in black. We will probably get cloth seats because this brings down the cost on the vehicle. It is actually what is called a crossover. A crossover as definied by Wikipedia is, "a marketing term for a vehicle that derives from a car platform while borrowing features from a traditional Sport Utility Vehicle. (SUV)." Nissian Murano actually uses the Nissan Altima's car platform. So it is not necessarily a SUV.
Here are some stats we are looking for in a Nissian Murano:
Mileage 40,000-50,000
Body Style Sport Utility
Exterior Color Black
Engine v6, 3.5L
Transmission Continuously Variable Automatic
Gas Mileage 17 city/23 highway/19 combined
Next up, Hyundai Santa Fe:
The Santa Fe is a little cheaper vehicle than the Murano so we are looking at getting maybe a 2007 or 2008. I like the Santa Fe but it is definitely a vehicle that is more basic. It is also a crossover. I would like to get this car in black as well. This vehicle is not as popular as the Murano so finding the right color has been a challenge for us. Billy has told me to branch out and look at other colors, which is what we are going to have to do . Here are some stats we are looking for in a Hyundai Santa Fe.
Mileage 20,000-40,000
Body Style Sport Utility
Exterior Color Black
Engine v6, 3.3L
Transmission Automatic
Gas Mileage 17 city/24 highway/20 combined
There is no rush on our end. We are just looking for now. But if we find something for a good deal we will get it.
So when we got back from the honeymoon, things didn't go exactly as planned. Before the wedding my car broke down. My dad spent a lot of time around the wedding trying to fix whatever was causing it not to want to start. He had to go back home and still the car was not working. My dad had changed the starter but that wasn't the problem. He changed the ignition switch but that wasn't the problem. Then he tried the neutral switch but still it would not start. My dad was able to get it started but you had to lift the hood and use a screw driver to start it.
So when we returned from the honeymoon that was our first item on the agenda. Upon arriving back into the US, I got a voicemail from Amanda, my old roommate, saying there was a note on my car that said that my car would be towed if it was not moved immediately. Amanda thankfully called the number on the sticker and explained that we were on our honeymoon and we would be back to get the car. When we got back we moved the car to the driveway of my old place. Dad suggested we try something that had to do with the security system in my car. When we tried to do this, we killed the battery and had to take it take the battery out and take it to Auto Zone to get it charged. We found out that our battery was bad so we had to get a new one.
When we got it to run at least again we took it over to Billy's parents. Billy and his dad worked on my car for a week straight while Billy and I used one car to get back and forth to work. After it was said and done we had replaced the battery, the security system, replaced my keys twice, and changed the alternater. Don't know exactly what caused the problem but my car was running.
While this was going on, I was having bad allergies from our new apartment. He ran 2 mold tests and found mold was growing but the tests didn't show a whole lot of mold. All places have some amount of mold but our tests were not showing a lot out of the ordinary. But if you were to step in our apartment it smelled moldy. We had a dehumidifier that we ran 24/7. We would empty every day when we came home from work. If we were home all day, I would bet we could change it at least twice a day. Our carpet was always wet. Our dryer was not working. It took 2 cycles to dry anything. We thought it was our dryer but ended up being the pipes in the apartment were clogged.
I finally went to the apartment complex and complained and asked them what they could do. They gave us the run-around for a very long time. Until.....
Our ceiling started leaking. It leaked all over our new bed sheets. Billy's parents took our sheets to the dry cleaners for us to get 
them cleaned. Thanks you guys for doing that!!! But we could not sleep on our mattress because it got wet. So we slept on an air mattress in the living room until the mattress was completely dried. It took a week for it to dry. We set up the dehumidifier next to the mattress and ran it full blast. So finally we had had enough. I kept on the apartment complex until they moved us into another apartment. When they finally agreed after giving us the run 
around again, they gave us 4 days to move, Tuesday to Friday. Billy and I both had to work so I packed as much as I could at night and Billy took off Wednesday. We had a lot of great friends and family come and help us move in such a short amount of time. That is how amazing our friends and family are.
Then it came time to get my car inspected. There had been a service engine light on for a very long time. We knew it was the EGR value and we replaced the EGR value and still that did not fix it. The light kept coming back on. We tried everything. Until it came to the day when if I didn't get my car inspected and paid for the registration by the end of that business day my registration would be taken away. Billy had exhausted all of what he knew. So he and his dad took it to a shop and they took a piano wire and cleared out a huge clog in my engine. Billy had tried to do this with a guitar string but it wasn't thick enough. Billy was so upset that what he was doing was right, he just didn't have the right tool. I was happy just to see it fixed. The car was fixed by 3:30 and as soon as I got out of school we went over and got the registration paid for. That was a miracle, only God could have let all that work out so smoothly.
This all happened in the first 2 months of our marriage. Man, if we can get through this, we can get through anything!!! =)
The Front of the House
The living room when you first walk in
The living room looking back at the front door
The dining room next to the living room
The kitchen (the door in the background goes to the laundry room and then to the back yard)
The kitchen take 2
The kitchen take 3
Master Bedroom (Their bed was huge. We think it was a California King.)
Master bathroom..to the left is the dual vanity to the right is the walk-in closet...go straight and you walk into a room with the bath tub with the toilet (see below)
Master bath (has a garden tub :) )
Bedroom 2 (This room has a nice size walk-in closet.)
Bathroom 2
Our back yard
