Needed. Done. Love.

In the last couple of years my daily battles have been so minimal I hate to even mention them. Yes, the heater hates me. Yes, the water heater needs replaced too. Only two of the four burners on the stove work. The washer and dryer are ancient. ( hey I DO have a new fridge finally! ) But these are little this’s and that’s that everyone deals with. They are just life and not really a big deal in the scheme of things.

My biggest daily complaint of all has been my car. Now don’t get me wrong. I Loved my little car. It didn’t have power windows. It didn’t have power locks. Nothing electric. It was simple as simple can be. But I bought it with only 6,000 miles on it, got a great deal and was so proud to own it paid in full.

Sometimes though,, almost daily, I felt like I was driving this.
Add a couple of dogs hanging their tongues out the window and it about sums up how I felt driving my car.

Pre-Covid, Stephen and I worked on craft booth displays, purposely buying small fixtures that we could fit in our tiny vehicle. It really was a challenge! We met the challenge and made it work for a season, but he sold felt toys. Flat felt toys.
Those fixtures are not going to cut it for the clothing displays that I need.

Asking on fb for some ideas, several friends suggested things like rent a truck/ trailer/ uhaul, etc. Those are great ideas… BUT….

We needed a DAILY solution. I do haul my dogs around all the time. One goes to daycare once a week to allow him to run off steam. And then there is the doordash situation. I had to keep the dog area of the car completely separate from the dash area of the car, and it was a real pain. DAILY. I had these seat covers that I bought that I would take in and out and drape all over the car, back and forth. It wasn’t that hard; it’s not that I am lazy…it’s just that it really didn’t work very well.

To make our everyday life easier, I had to have a car that worked well for all the different kinds of “work” that I do.
So, I did something about it.

This evening I purchased a 2017 Kia Sorento.

It is the exact same year as my Nissan Versa that I traded in , and it has 10K less miles on it. It was a single owner, leased car before me, so that means it was well taken care of.

I purchased it for this space.
I can slide in all the craft displays that I need.

I can keep the dogs in the back, away from the seats always. I do need to buy one of those nets to keep their little curious noses in the back.
(putting that on my list for tomorrow).

And we can even camp in it. The space and a blow up mattress will allow us the opportunity to go on low budget road trips. A dream come true!

This little outlet may not seem like much, but I about jumped for joy when I saw it. We have a handy little water heater thing that we take with us on short trips. It’s kind of like a coffee maker, but just a little water heater, with a bowl.

It allows me to eat healthier meal choices in which all I have to do is add hot water. (Trust me I eat a weird diet, and this little handy device means I can heat a meal any time I want. )

Of course, Stephen was thrilled to know his laptop could be charged anytime he wants as well.

The car is loaded with other wonderful things too, such as back up camera; little detectors that tell me if there is someone in the other lane; heated seats; pull down window shades in the back, usb ports everywhere.

I didn’t set out looking for the fancy stuff. I just wanted space. But, it turns out I was able to get exactly what I needed and then some.

I did cringe a bit about having a car payment again, but the amount that they gave me for my trade in on my little Nissan Versa, and the fact that I had financed the versa through carmax and paid it off already… they were very willing to work with me again. They got me a great price.

Folks: two days of dashing. Literally two days a month will make my new car payment.

And we can haul craft displays.
And dogs.
And Scuba gear.
And bikes.
And books.
And door dash groceries.
And go camping.

This is going to make life so much easier than it already is.

Oh wait! I forgot! I wanted to show that this car has Apple carplay.
Doordash game changer.
Road trip game changer.

I am so thankful for my new ride.

#Blessed.