Back From Utah...

We made it back from Utah... It took us 13 hours on the return trip with all the weekend Labor Day traffic... but since SCB didn't have any vacation hours, we didn't feel right asking them to give him Tuesday off when he was getting Monday off already for the holiday.... so we bit the bullet and boy was it rough sitting in the car for 13 hours, even with our ample breaks for Roxy...

We got to visit with family and celebrate our nephew's 5 year birthday a couple days early... but this trip was really about getting things done.

Shopping.... Sewing... and Driving.... That's really what happened when we went out to Utah.

First, Shopping:
Since getting to go through the Temple last month, I have been having a lot of issues with my closet... which is a fairly common problem for most church Converts as I now wear more modest clothes to accompany the garments I received in the temple. My closet wasn't scandalous or anything like that before... but since i'm so short (I'm only 5'1"), my garments tend to run a little longer on me then they would on the average girl... even when I select petite sizes (petite sizes offer a shorter distance from the waist to the seam which is greatly appreciated, but they do not shorten in leg length from the regular ones).... and to make it worse, the fabric I like the best doesn't shrink in the wash like the others do so these things come down to my knee almost. I'm making it work and trying to make this a pleasant experience... but for the time being while I figure out what really works and what doesn't, we wanted to take the opportunity we had in Utah to shop and pick up some clothes from a few stores that cater to a more modest philosophy. Things like Cropped Shirts with a cap sleeve made for layering (they stop after your bra so they just add a sleeve without the bulk around your belly)... some Capri pants since I can't wear any of my shorts at present and its HOT in California... and a few tops I could toss on without having to layer...

Second, Sewing:
My whole shopping experience in Utah surrounded around wanting and needing a dress/skirt extender. if you have no idea what i'm talking about, here's a picture.

Photo from this etsy shop for $33.00

I wanted something to add just a little length to my dresses... but since my garments run longer, everywhere I looked I found the length was fine... if the added fabric WASN'T a see through Lace. Since I ran out of luck, I bought some fabric at Walmart and was able to make one in Black and one in White for only $25.00 for both!!!

Driving

Roxy hanging out in Wanda while we head out to Utah...
She was such a good dog and a little trooper the whole way

Oh ya, and yours truly drove a stick shift! I had about a 30 minute driving lesson with my brother in law on Sunday in an empty parking lot, and then back to his parents house... and then on Monday I drove around 140 freeway miles on my own!

• 140 freeway miles as in leave the gas station, hop on the freeway, get to fifth gear and just maintain speed for 130 ish miles, then slow down, get off freeway, navigate a "round a bout" and pull into a gas station... 

I'm proud to say that I not only was able to start the car on the first time (I peeled out a bit... but hey it started!!!) I ended up only stalling once when I had to stop on a hill and wait for cars to go by to get into the gas station... but I was able to start it up again on the first go... (I just burned a little rubber in the process... )


So i'll be learning more about how to drive a stick shift...

But we managed to trade cars, and get "Sally" back to California in one piece... We're still waiting for this "emission sticker" to come in before we can register her in California... but that should be coming soon. We ended up paying $2,000 for her and $1045 in repairs on the old car (his parents paid to fix the AC in the end, saving us that $600).

The Car aside,  Utah ended up costing us $551.50.

• $152.97 of that was clothes for me.. 
• $82.00 Clothes for SCB
• $38.81 on Eating out
• $46.04 on a trip to Walmart for fabric, a birthday present, and some odds and ends...
• $231.68 was gas, tolls and other car related expenses... 

Were taking $200 out of our vacation fund to cover the gas and the tolls (we rounded up since we are still waiting for some of the gas station pending fees to disappear)... and the Clothing money we were able to work into the budget since we didn't put any money into savings last month...

But with buying the car and doing the unexpected repairs to Wanda... our emergency fund is a bit sad...

6 Months of expenses for us is $12,227.94

• Monthly Mortgage: $771.99
• Dog: $50.00
• Groceries/House Items: $275.00
• Insurance: $143.00
• HOA: $270.00
• Cell phones, Internet, Electricity: $150.00
• Gasoline: $200.00
• Health Insurance: $178.00

Our Emergency fund is now at: $9,968.54... $2,259.40 Short... (We keep $1k in both our checking accounts as a buffer and that isn't included in this number...)

So were back in Savings Mode... Ideally because we are both working, i'd love to start working towards 6 months of base income set aside... which is a little shy of $35k... So we'll be working on a new budget soon.