What's that you said, a minivan? Yes, please!

I have spent so much time on Autotrader in the last 2-3 weeks that I feel like I should be getting a pay check from them and Matt has probably logged more hours than me! It's crazy! 

This all started when we babysat for a friend of ours who has an 8 month old. We had him on a Saturday night and took him, in our Corolla, to a softball game. The interesting thing was that the car seat would only go in the middle meaning neither front seat could go back very far. For me, not such an issue, but for my 6'0" husband who barely fits in the 'rolla as it is this would prove tricky if we had to ride like this day in and day out. Thus, the countless hours spent on Autotrader recently. We have decided to sell my beloved Corolla and buy a minivan! Yes, you read that correctly, a minivan. 

Pick your jaw up off the floor and hang with me as I explain our logic. At first, we too were appalled at the thought, ha! Matt had, on many occasions, said we would never be minivan people. I was a little more open to the thought of someday being that "soccer mom" with a van full of kids and sports equipment, but I too was very much hoping to skip the minivan and move straight to an awesome SUV. So, that's the route we have taken. For the past 2-3 weeks we have been searching the online world and local car lots for SUVs that we felt suited our needs, our finances, and I hate to admit, but our egos it would seem. We had narrowed it down to a couple different options and were thinking we'd buy soon. The excitement was building, but the confidence in which vehicle to choose was not. As we left the dealership last Saturday, where we had driven a couple SUVs, we just couldn't really choose. On some we felt like we were sacrificing features we wanted and then on the ones with the features we wanted we felt we were possibly getting a little in over our heads price wise. Neither were sitting right. As we drove home in the trusty Corolla with no more of an idea of what we truly wanted than 3 weeks ago my precious husband uttered words I never thought I'd hear...

"Ok, so maybe we're gonna be minivan people."

My head whipped around to face him at what felt like warped speed and my jaw dropped as a smile came across my face. I just giggled a little and responded with a simple "ok". The conversation continued as he explained his reasoning. I agreed with all of it. It would seem that the Lord, even in something as simple as the purchase of a new vehicle, was leading us in the same direction (this is not at all surprising since we trust Him to be in every little part of our lives-even minivans). 

We got home, fired up the website we had learned to type in with muscle memory-like speed, deleted the SUVs in the search box and replaced them with models like Odyssey, Town & Country, and Sienna. It was a whole new world! Features were right on point with what we wanted, price range was suiting us just fine, and it was as if we stuck a push pin in our over-inflated egos about becoming "those minivan people". (To all my minivan driving friends, please don't be offended, haha! Most of this is thick sarcasm although there is much truth in the fact that Matt and I never thought we'd drive a minivan. We love all of our minivan rockin' mamas and daddys out there! You drive them well and now we hope to be in your great company!) 

At this point Matt was supposed to head to Nashville with a friend to go to Bass Pro and I had a little time before meeting some friends for an afternoon of visiting. I decided I would go back to the dealership we had been at and snap some pictures of a van we saw online that we liked. I was full of fresh enthusiasm and looking forward to getting some more information about this new possibility. I ended up talking to a guy at the dealership for a while and then drove a Town & Country, which I loved! I couldn't believe it. The price was spot on and we wouldn't have to sacrifice some of the options we thought we'd need plus we'd be getting options we could never afford in an SUV. I felt good behind the wheel of a van and could almost hear kids screaming in the back seats, ha! When finished at the lot, I immediately called Matt and couldn't say enough about the van. He said "ok, you sold me." 

The hunt is on! We kind of had to start from square one, but we don't mind. It's been a fun process and we've both been level headed about the whole thing in terms of what would be fun to have versus what our reality is. I love getting to do these life things with Matt. He's so fun, makes solid decisions for our growing family, and knows his stuff. 

So, who knows...next time some of you reading this see me/us we will likely be rollin' down the streets of BG in our minivan. Great thing is, if it's before baby gets here (and even after, of course) we'll hopefully have it loaded down with people we love....cuz they seat SO many people!!