Mama's Got a New Ride

No offense to those who love their mini-vans, but I couldn't stand mine. It was an ugly tan-ish color, it looked way too mini-van-like, and I'm glad to be rid of it. I've complained about it since the day Husband brought it home. It served it's purpose, got us from point A to point B, got good gas mileage, and totally sucked the youth out of me. Let's say, I won't miss it, and leave it at that.

We have been discussing the possible purchase of a new vehicle for awhile now. We read up on everything new that's out there taking into consideration what will fit 3 kids and ALL of our gear on those long trips home to Wisconsin, and what will be sturdy and reliable once Husband deploys so that I don't have any car issues while I'm by myself.
Then we threw all that out the window, got impulsive, and bought Mama her very own 4-door Dodge Ram 4x4!

I could have easily gotten a different color than black. We already have a black Dodge Ram. However, it was the only 4x4 on the lot, and Husband won't have a 2x4 truck. It's a guy thing.
So we traded in the awful mini-van. Who knows, maybe I'll eat my words someday. I completely understand that a truck isn't very *practical*, but we're impulsive, impractical people.
When we got married, Husband had a red Dodge Ram truck. My car had been totaled in an accident before we were married, so that's all we had to drive. It was nice and I liked having a truck, but after I got pregnant with Drew we discovered that the infant car seat didn't fit rear-facing in the backseat. We had to get something else. The day before I had Drew, after a series of mess-ups on the dealer's part, we bought a Mitsubishi Montero (SUV) with 4x4. Husband was sad to let go of the truck that he was so proud of, but he liked having 4 wheel drive. After we moved back to Wisconsin (from Georgia), we had to get a different vehicle because we were driving more often and we needed something more fuel efficient. We ended up buying one of the dumbest cars I think I've ever owned. A Dodge Neon. It was cute and little and kinda fuel efficient, although because of the really small tank I was filling up all the time. I get pregnant with Hunter and we realize there's no way we can fit a car seat along with Drew and Louisa in the backseat. We start looking around, but we have bad credit and owe way more on the Neon than it's worth. In Husband's defense, I told him to go get whatever we could get approved for. He brings home the mommy-van. Ugh!
Like I said, it did it's purpose, it hauled a lot of stuff, and now I'm done with it.
I'm sad to report that Husband also gave up the Harley. I didn't ask him to! This was all his doing. As he was talking with the dealer yesterday, the idea struck him that maybe he could trade in two vehicles. His main thought was, "Why pay on a motorcycle for 15 months when I'm deployed if I can't ride it?" True, but I'm still sad that he decided to let it go. This is his second bike. He traded in his first one earlier this year for a newer, bigger bike. He stripped the paint and repainted it himself.
Here he is saying good-bye for one last time.


I have only driven the truck once so far, but it handles far better then Husband's old truck (in the background of above picture). I am liking the 4 doors! When I drive Husband's truck, I have to climb in over the seats to get Hunter in his car seat. My truck still needs some kind of step. It's a high climb to get in there, but we are looking at step-rails now.
I also said, that since I have my own truck, I'm going to girl-i-fy it. I got funny looks for that, but I can't have too manly of a truck! I'm thinking Tinker Bell floor mats....