About time!

When we found out we were pregnant with Abi, Aaron, without even a slight hesitation, gave up his Nissan Frontier for me to drive.  At the time I was cruising in style in a 1980-something Buick LeSabre.  It had no air conditioning.  It made some of the worst noises I have ever heard come from a "working" vehicle.  If it was raining, you needed to be careful about using the windshield wipers because they were somehow linked to the brakes and using them both at the same time would cause chaos.  Two of the four windows did not roll down and if you tried, the driver's side window would fall into the door and you would have to take the door apart to get it back.  The lining of the ceiling drooped so low he decided he would just cut it out and leave the foam exposed.  However, because there was no air conditioning, rolling the two working windows down was a must in the summer, so he dealt with the dry-rotted foam blowing around the car if he drove faster than 10 mph.  You can imagine what he looked like after even a short trip, the blizzard of nasty brown foam inside the car, sticking to his sweaty face.  But he drove it, completely content about it, so his pregnant wife could drive the better car.

When Abi was born, we bought a 2001 4-door Honda Accord and he got the Frontier back.  Again, I got the nicer car of the two, but he was happy to be driving a truck again.

When I graduated from nursing school and started finally making money to add to our monthly income, we decided we would sell the Frontier (it was getting older and was beginning to creak and groan).  We ended up getting a sexy little coupe, our first new car ever; a 2009 Honda Accord.  If you are not familiar, it was the newest body style they make and was it sweet!  Abi was out of a carseat by this point and in just a booster.  Again, I got to drive the nicer of the two, and Aaron got stuck with the 2001 Honda sedan, which he never complained about. 

When Brayden was born, my little 2-door coupe was not cutting it, with it's bucket seats and inability to let me get the infant seat out without a fight. Plus, the prospect of taking our family trip to Florida with a pac-n-play, stroller, breast pump, diaper bag, and all of other items crammed into the old Honda put us right back at the Hendrick dealership searching for something else.  We found ourselves a 2012 Honda Pilot and I said goodbye to my favorite car I have ever owned.  Around this time, Aaron and his mom swapped ownership of their vehicles.  Aaron took over the 1999 Ford F-150 and gave up the sedan.  He was just so happy to be driving a truck again! 

Are we seeing a pattern here??

All of our married life, Aaron has sacrificed so that I, along with our children, could drive the nicer car out of every single pair of cars we have owned. And he never complained about it. He would occasionally talk about wanting a new truck, but we could never afford yet another big payment. We were already struggling to make bills as it was. 

 Well, after we took control of our finances finally and were able to pay off all of our debt (except the mortgage), the truck decided to throw a fit and require $2500 in repairs.  It was at this time that the mechanic gently told Aaron the truck would eventually, in the very near future, need much more work, but it really was not in our best interest to repair it because the truck was not worth that much.  After all, it is 16 years old.  So, we started saving.  We saved every extra dollar we had coming in, every penny that was left after bills and food and gas.

For the record, it is a painstaking process to slowly build a new car fund.  We would hit a value milestone and Aaron would start his search, scouring every website, every car dealership, every ad on Craigslist.  And he would give up, disappointed because he could not afford anything he wanted and what we could afford, he did not want.  So, we would just keep saving.  

He drove me crazy researching trucks, motors, reading forums about which engine was better, what year he did not want to go past, which truck would hold it's value the longest, and on and on and on.  I have never heard more about a 6.0 versus a 7.3, a 2003 versus anything newer because that is when Ford stopped putting the 7.3 engine in their trucks and why "bulletproofing" was the only way he would ever buy a 6.0 engine.   See, I have all this useless knowledge!

Every disappointment would make him discouraged and he would get frustrated because we were not saving enough, "Why do the kids need new clothes, why do they have to grow?!", "Do we have to buy a new shower curtain liner?", "What do you mean there's nothing left after bills??"  Each time, I would gently remind him that God knew the desires of his heart.  God had just the right truck out there for him, he needed to only be patient.

Well, today he finally got his wish.  We drove to Greenville to meet with a private seller and this truck was everything Aaron could have wanted, only better.  I have not seen him this happy about spending money since....a while.  He was like a kid on Christmas morning, opening up the one present he had asked for all year long.  I do not think he stopped smiling for a solid two hours.

And the best part is, we were dedicated to our standard of never going into debt again and were able to save until we could pay for the truck outright.  We will not ever pay any bank a dime in interest!

So to my husband I say, I am so happy for you!!  Thank you for putting us first all these years and doing so without complaining.  But now it is your turn babe.  Enjoy your new toy.  You have certainly earned it and more than deserve it!  We love you!