Life-Altering Decisions

We had been talking about it for a while, but just really didn't know when the time would be right. There are pros and cons to everything, of course. Having something new around would be really exciting, but the familiarity of the old is comforting. I'm kind of a fan of predictability and security when it comes to a lot of things. 

Of course, expense was one of our main concerns. How much would this all cost? How much would it change our lifestyle? 

But alas, after doing our due diligence, we determined that it was indeed time...my Jeep Liberty needed to move on to greener pastures...or, more likely, a parts auction.

She had been a great car. In the seven years that I had her, I only had one problem, and it was covered by the warranty, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. But, she was approaching eight years of age, quite a lot of miles, and in need of new tires, a little body work, and some maintenance (read, a car not worth much needed quite a bit of money put into her). Also, after seeing my niece's car seat in the back seat and how little room there was to spare, I knew we would need a different car once we decided to start having children. 

Kyle works in an area with a few dealerships and got a recommendation from a friend of ours. So, in between a few stops last week, he dropped by just to see what they had. Well, it turned out that they had three of the main SUV's we were considering on their used car lot...so I met him there after work to do some test driving with absolutely not intention of purchasing anything that evening.

Long story short, we left the dealership (3 1/2 hours later) with our (new to us) 2011 Ford Explorer. I've had it for a week now, and I absolutely love it. I've always loved how Ford SUV's handled driving-wise, but what sold me on this particular vehicle were the safety features (blind-spot indicator, front crash sensor...hey, it's Houston and I need all of the help I can get) and the power folding seats (which I'm assuming will be invaluable with kids in-tow). Kyle, being the simple male that he is, is infatuated with the ventilated front seats. A.K.A., the crotch blowers. It's the little things, people. 

We took our first road trip in it last weekend to Fort Worth to see my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. [Upcoming post] Our drive there and back was just further confirmation that we made the right purchase for us. It drove and rode well, had plenty of room for all of our junk and then some, and was really comfortable. Being that we were the ones to move the furthest away from both of our families, we knew that we would be the ones doing most of the traveling...so having something that was relatively enjoyable to drive and ride in was really important to us. The only hiccup to our new little traveling scenario is that the car has a fancy little HD radio and Sirius...and Kyle does NOT share my taste in music. This is something we're going to have to work on ; )