Big Green

Lots of things have been going on around here lately. Boxes stacking up, and voices going hoarse (that would be me), and kids wondering what to make of it all.
Recently though, my minivan let me know that she wasn't planning on continuing our relationship and making the trip across the states to Iowa.  She said that she had no desire to travel that far, nor could she, and that she was going to retire in sunny So. Cal.
Hmmm.

I wasn't surprised by this news, because little miss minivan had been having problems since way back in our Texas move days.  The problems were fixed, but had started recurring, in just 2.5 years.
We didn't want to rely solely on the request of a vehicle (because we all know vehicles don't really talk), so we had the old girl looked at, and it was confirmed. She needed more in repairs than she was worth.  This is always fun news, 1 week before the moving van arrives.
But it was all good in the hood, because that was just one more fun little number to add to my to-do list, and let's face it, who doesn't love shopping for a used car, when your budget is miniscule and the inventory is low. Right, right?

Putting all sarcasm aside, the kids were totally into it. For about 3 minutes. They touched all the vans, and looked inside, and Emma exclaimed excitedly, "We need this one right here! It is only $2!"
When we told her it was the year, '02, she was slightly dissapointed. I was too, because a $2 van would have been pretty awesome.

We listened to "How about this one? " and "What about this one?" and "Ohh, look at this one, we could put a horse inside," for about 30 minutes. 

It is so funny because I remember being a kid, and going shopping for a new minivan with my folks. I am pretty sure I brought a notebook, and made a list of all the vehicles we saw, and all the features they had, and then put them in the order of most likely to be purchased to least likely.  I was such a strange kid.


Kevin and I drove up and down the streets, doing our best to look for any vans that appealed to us. Since we couldn't see any, (like, we didn't even see any vans on any lots at all) we kept pulling into lots and driving through, and then back out again. Lots of trucks, and SUVS and even some minivans, but not what we were after, and certainly not in our price range.

Due to some stress in the household right now, and what appears to be a few nights of poor sleep, Kevin and I have somehow developed these really bad kinks in our necks.  As luck would have it, Kevin's kink is in the right side, and mine in the left.  This came in handy while driving, because Kevin can only look to the left, and I can only look to the right. So as we drove along, he was able to keep watch out his window, and vice versa. The real problem arose when we needed to talk to eachother, or even worse, say something to the kids. If you have ever had a horrible stiff neck before, then you understand our plight. The pain to just simply turn your head is insurmountable. Periodically, Kevin and I would want to say something to one another, and we would have to turn our entire bodies, stiff as a board, so that we could look at eachother to talk. It was so pathetic that it was hilarious. Just the looks of us, sitting up straight, shoulders and heads turned completely to the side, just so we could have a conversation. In the midst of everything else going on right now, how could we not laugh at that? That's funny stuff right there.

But in the end, God came through BIG time, with a van we loved but didn't think we could afford. Without having to fight over the price tag, $7k was just magically dropped off the price of the car without us even asking.   I love how God works.

Everybody, meet Big Green. Big Green, everybody.

When Kevin was growing up, we had the pleasure of driving around in his family's car Big Red (Big Red fit 15 people, 3 more than ours).  Kevin and I went on our first date in Big Red (country line dancing/bowling, whoot whoot) and we also used to take Big Red over the train tracks on Gothard. And by take, I mean, speed over, and go flying.  We pushed Bid Red to the limits at over 100MPH, while flying down the freeway, coming home from The Harvest Crusade. We liked to see Big Red go!
I don't think I can stomach the thought of flying over those same train tracks in Big Green, but, I think that the McClain's are going to have some fun in this van, what do you think?