Growing up

When I was 24 my dad took me to buy a new car. Prior to that I had driven two polar opposite vehicles. My first car was a hand me down from my dad. It was a teeny tiny Toyota Carolla that he had driven to and from Lenox Mall while working at Cartier. He was overdue for a "real" car to say the least. I can remember filling that car up in Athens, GA for $6 and driving my friends all over creation in it. The Carolla wasn't pretty, but it was beyond functional. Dad paid for that one completely. For whatever reason he then decided I needed a nice car. So, he leased a Volvo S40 for me. Again, I paid for nothing. I was one of those kids...to some degree. I LOVED that car. It was the definition of pretty, but it wasn't really "mine". When the lease was up dad and I decided it was time. I had a barely paying non-profit job and was living in the upscale Virginia Highlands neighborhood in Atlanta. Dad takes me to buy the car I had picked out all on my own. I was so proud and so excited to not only have picked it out, but to also have the chance to be a grown up and pay for it. I paid for it on my own, insurance and all. I paid for it completely until it was paid for a few years ago. I spent my twenties in that rugged Xterra. I put car seats in it and hated. every. minute. of. it. Not the car, but the car with car seats. Stadium seating in the back seat of an SUV is not conducive to car seats, FYI.

As of today, and rather all of a sudden, I am the proud owner of a 2010 Honda Pilot. While driving to Carmax to make the trade Seth asked me how I felt about it. I didn't expect to feel anything but elated. However, driving there I got a little nostalgic. I drove that Xterra for almost ten years. It had flaws, but I never minded all that much (except for the car seat business). When we got out of it I told Seth I needed a picture. It seems silly, but someday I will show my girls the picture of my first real investment in something. I would hazard to guess that my kids won't be handed a car they don't have to contribute to. Seth wouldn't have that. But, what I can show them is that I bought something big, paid for it all on my own, and appreciated it completely.

I haven't even driven the Pilot beyond getting it from Carmax to my house. Now I appreciate air conditioning that is cold within minutes. I am giddy over getting two car seats in it in less than five minutes. I daydream about my girls watching movies together while we go on road trips this summer. I have VERY distant thoughts of more than two car seats and how that is now an option...should we take that route. I thought I was a grown up when I bought the Xterra. Funny how a person's definition of being a grown up can change so dramatically in ten years.

Here's to the next ten in my new love...which I somehow forgot to take a picture of. Regardless, it's pretty and it's all ours instead of just all mine.