The Suburban is Gone

Well, we've done it, finally. We have traded in the suburban. I know all of my friends can breathe a huge sigh of relief. We were still experiencing more problems with it, took it to the dealership mechanic, and they correctly diagnosed the problem. It would take another $1000 to repair it. We did not want to put that into it, considering that it's barely worth more than that.

So, off to the dealership we went yesterday, "just to look". Well, by the time we left, we had bought a used Odyssey, oops, "pre-owned" is the correct term. Now, remember who is writing this. This is not all of the bells and whistles Odyssey. Please recall that we often joked that our Suburban had the Amish package for upgrades: manual window, vinyl floors, vinyl seats....... We are very excited to bring it home today. I will be thankful for something reliable again.

Now, we did have some progress when we brought the sub to trade it in yesterday. When I was pregnant with Jake, we traded in my Miata for a Mazda 626. When I brought my Miata in for the trade in, I saw the sales people standing off to the side laughing at it, b/c it was looking a little rough. Just because I had a duct tape on the plastic part of the convertible top, b/c it had started leaking. AND just b/c I also had to keep a plastic bowl back there to catch the water dripping in, in case the duct tape didn't work. I really don't think that's any reason to stand off to the side and laugh at me as I drove in.

Driving the Suburban in, the salesmen were actually a little more in awe of the truck. If you're into trucks, it really is pretty "cool". So, that's better than them laughing at it! We were just thankful that it started for them once we were there.

So, all of you can relax knowing that the suburban is gone.

Friends and more friends

I had a great weekend catching up with friends. A life-long friend of mine from Kansas drove to Texas to see us Thurs-Sat. Her name is Stacey, and she has two beautiful girls named Isabelle and Johanna. They are 2 (in October) and 8 months old. Needless to say, she is super busy.



We have been friends since Kindergarten, and I love her dearly. When I moved away after fourth grade, we began writing letters to each other. I saved all of my letters, including the Garfield picture she painted for me on notebook paper that she can't even remember! We have gone through a lot "together" over the years. Although we did live semi-close to each other at one point while we were both in the Houston area, most of our friendship has been long-distance. I am amazed at how consistently God puts people in our lives. He is so faithful to take care of us through our relationships.

Thanks, Stacey, for coming to see me. Now it's my turn to drive your way. However, I will never get the bonus points you racked up in your trip here. Somehow traveling with a two year old and an 8 month old gets more points than a 5 and 8 year old.

Another friend I had the chance to see over the weekend was a friend Jennifer from high school. We had not seen each other in fifteen years, but I found her on FACEBOOK! All of the non-facebookers can laugh now. Anyway, it's amazing finding her and learning that she will be traveling to Thailand in the spring time to be a missionary! Wow! We've come a long way since high school. She's such a great girl. I have lots of fun memories of Jennifer, so I'm extremely thankful to have reconnected. I pray that I'm able to support her in this next adventure in her life. Over the weekend, she had a jewelry party to raise funds for her trip. The jewelry is made by people in Thailand where she'll be living. They had amazing jewelry. I think I was supposed to be buying gifts for other people, but instead, I bought two necklaces for me! haha

I can hardly wait to hear more about her testimony of how she came to know the Lord in college. I realized how naive I was in high school, somewhat assuming that everyone went to church and knew the Lord. It was also eye opening to realize that I had missed an opportunity to share my faith with someone at that time. However, God is faithful to bring the right people into our lives to bring His Word to everyone. I am excited to hear more about it.

That's what happened over the weekend. That's all folks!