We have been looking into purchasing a small to mid-size SUV for almost a year. Once we found out we were expecting, I knew we would need a larger vehicle. Plus, it would just be nice to have the extra cargo space in case we have to move something larger. Definitely would have come in handy moving all of our stuff from Canyon to Amarillo! So, we started the search for my perfect "mommy car." We realized when we make the trip to Tulsa to visit Brian's family for Thanksgiving that it is not easy (nor possible!) to cram all of our stuff for several days plus all the baby gear we need into a compact car.
We looked and looked in Amarillo, and I think I have seen and driven all the mid-size SUVs that I want to see. We discovered that it is much easier to look with a baby sitter. The first weekend we looked, we took Brian's parents with us. Nana spent quality time with Noah while the rest of us look at and drove cars. We also looked a couple of weekends ago when my mom came to visit. We were able to leave Noah with Grammy. When I was in Guymon over spring break, I looked at a few cars and found some nice used ones. So, we headed back to Guymon this past weekend to take a closer look at what they had there. This time, Noah got to hang out at the station while we looked.
Now, Guymon has like 6 or 7 places to look at cars and only 2 lots that sell new cars. The used car lots have like 20 cars max. We drove through a couple of places and looked then we went to look at the ones I had seen several weeks ago. We looked at a Buick Enclave. I loved it, but it just didn't feel like us. It felt like a fancy person's car, and I don't think we are that fancy. We then drove a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe. Every time we have looked at cars, we have looked at Santa Fes. I have always liked the look of them, and I just keep going back to them. (My favorite car I drove was a Toyota Highlander. It's a little bigger and a little nicer. And more expensive. I think the Santa Fe looks like a mini-Highlander, so it must be the right fit for us!). We hopped in the Santa Fe and I told Brian that it was our car. It just felt like us. So, by the end of the day, we made a deal with the lot owner and made plans to sign the papers the next morning. It is a year old and was most likely used as a rental car before the lot purchased it. There are a few little scratches on the outside but nothing major. The rear driver's side door doesn't lock automatically, but does manually, and the floor mats are missing. Those are things that can be fixed though. I have my white mommy car, and I'm loving it. :) Before we left Amarillo, I half jokingly told Brian that we needed to take my car so we could leave it behind if we bought a car. I say half jokingly because I was pretty determined that out of the 100 or so cars for sale in Guymon, we would find ours. Maybe smaller selection is better...it was much less overwhelming to only have 15 cars to look at in one place rather than 50+!
Last Friday night, with the help of Mom, I cleaned out my Chrysler Sebring. Mom and Dad got it for me as a high school graduation gift. Mom took along one of my best friends from high school and drove cars in Guymon for several days. They both picked it out for me. ON the morning of my graduation it was sitting in our driveway with a big yellow bow on it. I drove it for 8 years, back and forth from home to college and visiting Brian in Tulsa and Fort Worth. So, I spent quite a bit of time in it. With the exception of some air conditioner problems that were remedied with a new part, I really have never had any problems with it. It is in need of some door repair on the inside, but that's about it. I'm actually tearing up a bit as I write this. I'm so happy with our new one, but it was hard to leave behind my old one. I think I'm a bit like my mom. Her theory is that we have watched too many Disney movies and as a result, we believe that things have feelings too. I don't want my car to be sad that I am leaving it for a new one! (Oh, and it doesn't help that Grandma wrote an entire story of the life of their beloved motorhome, from the motorhome's perspective...it had a lot of feelings, thoughts, and opinions on things that happened throughout it's life! Guess giving feelings to inanimate objects runs in the family...) Mom took our picture in front of it before we took it to the station to put a for sale sign on it. I had Brian take it away for me
I feel like it symbolizes the close of an era. With the exception of the past year and a half, the whole time I was driving my car I was in school. The past year and a half seems like a transition period. We have moved, started careers, and made the ultimate transition into parenthood. Noah is 6 months old, and I think we have definitely settled into our new lives as "adults" and parents. I know we will make just as many good memories in our new car in the years to come!
Our first time to meet...
Saying goodbye 8 years later....
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