Udated Post for July

Hello all!

The update is like this; Been out of school for the past month while my dear sweet wife has been working very hard at her new hired on position at Wells Fargo as a customer service agent. I am grateful for her and her sacrifice to help assist me at school to let me take on 5 heavy classes and schedules to graduate this September. Also I would like to thank Alan in all he does while we are looking after him to help assist in this matter as well. An extended thank you to all family members in all they do to support us as well and for your prayers. We pray for you as well and always hope that life is treating you fair as it can be. This month I have stuggled with my apnea and thanks to the upcoming insurance from Linda's work I am hoping that new things can be solved in helping me beat this issue. I have lots of dreams and projects that I want to see be fullfilled; however I can not do these things when I am always feeling like a zombie. We have had a great summer and now that things are warming up it has been a bit more enjoyable. We like to bbq meat once a week, go for swim in our pool, watch history and travel channel and go to movies. This past weekend we had the chance to go to Logan for the "Cruise in" - it was nice to get out of the valley and see cool cars. It was nice to eat out with my pops and he was so happy to see us - we do miss Cache Valley and I only wish is that I could work there for a living.

I will keep you updated as best I can - I have updated an old twitter feed and you can learn more about my adventures DAILY at http://twitter.com/#!/ryan_pic76

by for now!

Its Late but what the heck!

Random thoughts and our heritage or legacy... this is a picture of my grandma and my mother (the little girl) - they are both in heaven now and the house behind them I grew up in as well belongs to a new family. Looking back through out our lives we see rare glimpses of what we may become, I hope that I can leave a legacy of my own some day and those that remember me when I am gone will at least get a smile on their face and chuckle a bit. I am not writing my obituary here but came across this picture and see what made me and their sacrifices for me and my opportunity's of a better future.

Current news at the home front is about the same, Chester has been missing again - Linda got a better shift at work and works 9-5pm - I started school for the spring Qtr. Looking at one or maybe two more Qtrs. to go. Working on my portfolio for the 2nd time this year and hope to put some new and updated work. Work is going good and will be celebrating 3 years at Ad Wear this May - Looking forward to my B-day and getting sick and tired of the cold weather. May has to come through for me, its just gotta'.

We are pushing on and the battle wages on! Until next time, so long... (look for updates on my web portfolio to come some time in June officially!)

A New Year (A time to resolve) 2011

Taking the "plunge" and also working out... Yes! there comes a time were you must make a change and resolve. For me walking is very hard because of my back and the wieght I put on it... so the best thing for me is swimming. The about picture is an actual picture of our pool in Holladay, Utah. It is pretty nice and has a resistance walking path jet pool thing that helps in the process. Plus a hot tub, track, and slide. We get the gym and pool and access to the rec center for 40 bucks a month for the both of us! I have been going since last week and it is awesome!!! Linda and I want to make our lives healthy an happy for the good. Great thing too, its only a mile away from our apt.

Just quickly - we have been working hard and playing a bit too. Just ask us about how we like to laugh and see live comedy, plays and do it for real cheap. School is going along and it is going to be spring break in a few weeks and I am way excited about that. Well take care and have a great day. Thanks for visiting.

Is Spring ever to come....?

I took this picture with our new camera (thanks - Terry and Sally!) This is a man made glacier thingy we saw up in Heber Utah. We celebrated Valentines this year with some grub and the Homestead Bed and Breakfast. It was very relaxing and a nice break from all our issues as of lately.

This will be a short post but I wanted to bring you up to speed on whats new and what the low down at the Pilkington household. Linda works at Wells Fargo and does her best to go to school the next morning on hardly any sleep. They reduced my hours but say they are extremely busy and blah blah blah - I am grateful for my job and the steady income it provides. Linda has been learning lots in the culinary class and has made some pretty cool stuff. She loves it when she is awake. She is hoping for a day position soon. Alan is still living in his apartment down on 33rd south and by redwood road. He goes to seniors daily and is making walking sticks for other seniors that need them and it is being sponsored by the University of Utah.

We got our income tax return and was able take care of some loose ends as far as bills and needs and wants. I am getting tomorrow a new software program called Painter 11 and a Stylus pen tablet to start being more creative and making some art, also to give a tablet a go. We also got a 50" HD Flat screen and a new couch! The biggest thing that we are getting is a years worth GYM Membership from our Rec Center down the street about a mile away. Very nice swimming pool and work out facility. I want to swim right now, but Not getting it until some time this week.

Got new clothes and paid some bills and took a break at the Homestead. NOW IF SPRING CAN COME A BIT FASTER and the trees see some green... at least another month.

As far as my school - I have 7 more classes and should be graduated by September - if I can come up with some funding to finish...day by day and month by month and I will do it. I am to close to quit now.

Well take care and remember to check back often. Peace out!!!!!

When dark times come upon us, isn't it great when the sun shines again! That warmth on the face and the heart. During these trying times I look unto a similar strength that shines like the noon day sun - My God and Savior; I know that he will help us if we truly are doing our best and move onto the next journey. The blessing we can share is - our cat came back, the car was fixed for free, burns heal, and broken bone mend. We still have jobs and can pay our bills, we have a roof over our heads and great friends that help out and family too. This month even though Linda did burn her hand at school and is wrapped up like a cute mummy, I think we are going to be o.k.

We are going to be able to get some things because we are getting a return this year from the IRS!! We are going to get a year membership to our Rec. Center - so we can have unlimited access to gym, pool and walk track. I need to lose wieght and Linda too so that we can live happier lives and less stressed ones too. Might get some other things to and pay off some bills. We know what we want out of life but getting there is the hard part. May we remember our blessing with in the storm is my prayer this day and have a great day!

The tale of 2 cars and our stress - we are very blessed.

Well it all started out as a means to an end, a way for Linda to get to work and school and take care of her step father-in-law. So we set out to purchase a new car way back in March 2010. Frankly I do not know what we did until then...however we set out for this new car in achieving a better credit score by showing forward payments and such - we were so happy as we drove our new Cavalier home. The picture above is not a Chevy actually it is a Kia Spectra and the tale tell about its involvement will be explained in a moment. So one day I met Linda for a late dinner at a favorite place called - THE BELGIUM WAFFLE - Linda took the new car home and I took the Jeep, although I thought I would until it did not start. It got towed the next couple days later and after we sat and waited for 3 hours - It needed a new battery and we paid it - YEAH!!! But as we were celebrating that small victory our new car was experiencing a major hick-up. It was acting weird but do to the holidays, and such I never got to a mechanic, in fact I had a appointment for the next morning when the Chevy died.... I just put gas in at Maverick and turned on the car when I heard a loud bang and then It was dead. I sat and waited for the tow truck to pick it up for 3 hours again.

This is were it turns ugly folks... the next day we were told it would cost $2000.00 to fix it because it had a blown engine and needed a new engine. So I said that we will call them back and let them know what we can do. So here we are with a dead horse and payments on top. Linda needed a car that day because of our busy schedules.. we sat and brain stormed for some time when she decided to call Larry H. Miller and see if we can trade it in and get a car...by theory this made a lot of sense so there we sat from a new dealer and was placed into a new car - THE KIA -

THE CONDITION WAS... we were to wait until the loan went through and have the Chevy repo'd and returned to the bank. So 2 weeks went by and then we were told that we need to put some money towards this to help the loan go through - we decided to put a post dated check for $750 by January 14th (The car broke down in Dec 1st) - So we waited and waited and received threats from our bank because we needed the money for the down payment and not the dead horse car payment... in the back of my mind I knew that we needed to return the Kia and deal with our problem, but having a new new car felt wonderful and I knew that it was too good to be true. It was fix the car or repo it and deal with that monster later and possible get sued or garnished. We both decided to take back the Kia - there was a new offer on the table, while the loan is still pending because of Linda's job - Larry H. Miller told us to pay the payment for the other car (dead horse) and we will lower the down payment and we should know by Saturday...
Well - we paid them, the loan was still pending and my nerves were on edge, so we decided to take back the Kia no matter what and deal with the other car based on new info that the Chevy dealership could help us out. On the way to returning the Kia I drove the Jeep and was to meet Linda at Larry H. Miller; I stopped by McDonald's to get a coke because I had just spent the night at the Hospital with Linda in the ER for her women issues (She has suffered so much; that's another story) - So me being sleepy, and upset I backed into a car in the to go line. No injury's and no damage and no cost to me. But it made me so mad and upset at myself.

So to make a long story short... we returned the Kia with no issues or strings attached. The dealership for the Chevy kept stringing us along, day after day and then the situation was like this; If I could show 2 proofs of oil changes they could get us into a new car or fix the Chevy - but I only had changed the oil once... we were looking at putting down $1000 dollars down to fix that we really didn't have.. but it went back to the service desk at the dealership with there final say. Well, along with more sleepless nights (CHESTER in HEAT, Linda's Women issues) I got information about our car and the final conclusion this now almost 2 month ordeal. Here came the news...

THE BANK AND THE DEALERSHIP PAID FOR OUR CAR TO BE FIXED!!!!! So tommorow the 26th of January we are going to get our car back with a new engine. Linda is feeling better and I got the cat fixed.

Lesson learned is - you can never run from your problems and the best solution is the one we might fear the most - it is time to buck up, suck it up and move on.

Have a great day.

A good chuckle for a COLD JANUARY...Brrrr!!!