Right now, we are currently only on one car...and Justin takes it to work. So, unless either my sister stays home from college or my mom stays home from work, I am trapped without a car. And, unlike our home in Sandy, we live in a suburb-y suburb, with nothing really close enough to walk to or bike to. Even the closest TRAX/FrontRunner stop is too far away. So, even though we definitely aren't in a financial position to get a new car, it's been on my mind often.
When we were first married, we had an old '97 Mercury Grand Marquis that Justin had inherited from his grandmother. It was a BOAT--super wide.
But, it was a car, and it was nice to have one that we didn't have to pay for at the beginning of our marriage, especially since I commuted to teach. However, when I switched to teaching in West Jordan while living in Provo, the winter commute became terrible. The Grand Marquis could not handle the snow, and it took me two hours to get to work instead of 50 minutes! There was even one day that the ice caused a tire to pop and destroy it, only five minutes away from our apartment. So, we decided to buy another car that could actually handle snow so I could get to work safely.
We ended up getting a used Nissan Sentra. It was perfect. We loved it and it was super cute. And, it had great gas mileage, as well has handling the snow perfectly! It was "my" car, and the Grand Marquis was "Justin's" car.
Soon, our Grand Marquis started to die. The transmission was on it's last breath, a teenageer had crashed into the side of our car, smushing the doors shut, the pressure of the tires was always off, and other things. We were planning on selling it after the school year ended. Whatever we got for scraps would go toward medical bills. It didn't matter that we would only have one car because I'd be a SAHM.
May 2015 was super rainy and windy. There were a ton a ton of trees around our townhomes, both on the HOA property, as well as the city park right next door. We were sure that one of the swaying trees would eventually fall. But, it never happened. Then, it stopped raining. After a week of no rain, all of a sudden, a tree from the city park fell on the Grand Marquis, completing squishing it. I had to drive Justin to work for about two weeks before school got out. But, honestly, because it was the city's tree, the city paid for damages...and gave us more than it was worth. Far more. It was a blessing in disguise.
I have lived almost 9 months without a reliable source of transportation for Rhys and I, since Justin takes our car to work. And, honestly, I get a lot of cabin fever, especially lately.
So, if I could have a new car, without money being an issue, I'd want a nice, brand new, not used car. I would still want a 5-seater. I don't know what kind, because I'm not really a car person. But, I'd want it to be blue and shiny. I'd want good trunk space, and to be able to work the radio from the steering wheel. I'd like to be able to sync my iPod to the radio and listen to my own songs, as well as use voice commands to make calls. I'd use the car to go out to lunch with friends. I'd walk the mall a lot with Rhys. I'd find places to go with Rhys during the day.
What would you do with a new car, if money was not an issue?
Link up with your WWYD for a new car! The link will be open for a week. Grab a button to put on your post!
March 16th is WWYD with a Pinterest Pin.
Grab a Button and Link Up
I am super excited to be a new host for the What Would You Do linkup! Once a month, the hosts deliberate on a theme, and then we do it. For example, what would you do with a bunch of apples? What would you do with gold glitter?
This month, the theme was What Would You Do With one hour of time to yourself.
I thought and thought and thought. I can get lot done in 60 minutes. I work very well and productively with deadlines and time limits. And, it really depends on what I want/need to get done.
But, then I realized, I actually have 1.5-2 hours of free time every day while Rhys naps and I typically do the same thing. So, even though it's a bit longer than an hour, I'm going to use that!
So, a little background...we have lunch around noon, on the couch watching one of Rhys's shows. Immediately after lunch, I give him a bottle, lay him down, put a blanket on, and he falls asleep after a few minutes. As he's drinking his bottle, I use the bathroom, grab my laptop, planner, book, water bottle, and a snack. I let Rhys take his whole nap, typically between 1.5-2.5 hours, on the couch. The reason for this is he typically wakes up after an hour or so, but sees me next to him and rolls back over to sleep. He'll do this once or twice. But, if he were to nap in his crib, he'd still wake up after an hour and then scream and not go back to sleep. So, I hunker down and do blogging/virtual assisting stuff while he naps.
This is the order in which I get things done during his nap.
1) I check and answer emails.
2) I work for 45-60 minutes doing my virtual assisting gig. (I don't have to work every day.) If I don't have any VA work, I make sure that all my posts for the week and connecting tweets, Instagrams, etc are all scheduled and completed. I also participate in linkups.
3) I read and comment on blogs that I follow every day.
4) After an hour, I take a short 20-30 nap. Sometimes, Rhys will wake up after this.
5) If Rhys is still asleep, I continue to read blogs or read a book.
What would you do with an hour for yourself?
Grab a Button and Link Up
