You got a fast car, I got a plan to get us out of here....

Ok, before I tell you about the newest addition to the Nelson family, I have to ask- do you know the reference in the post title? When you read it, does any specific tune come to your head, or can you sing the rest of the lyrics? I know my mom will know it, and probably dad...who else? This was the song that was running through my head when I thought about writing a car post, and I was reading over the lyrics and remarked to Jonathan that it's actually quite a sad song. Jonathan looked at the lyrics and didn't recognize the song. So I played it for him, he vaguely recognized the guitar part that goes between the verses and chorus, but he didn't know the song at all...and I could sing along with it entirely. So, I'm wondering who else knows this song, and were the 2 lines enough to have you know it. (In case you don't recognize it, it's Fast Car, by Tracy Chapman.)

Anyway, enough of that, on to the good stuff. We are officially a two car family! It was no problem having just one car when we lived in Provo and Jonathan was either in class or work, which was only a 5 minute drive. If I needed the car, I could drive him to work just fine, and he always walked/biked to class, so I had the car then. Also, I could walk anywhere I needed to go. The library, grocery store, and park were all a 15 minute walk or less. I could even walk to Peter's doctor if needed. It was great.

Then, we moved to Bountiful, but we chose the house we did because things were still in walking distance- even though there were more hills involved, it was still doable. Then, I got pregnant, and my doctor is in Salt Lake City....can't walk there quite so easily. Then, we got kicked out of our first Bountiful house and where we ended up is not really walking friendly. Also, I'm still pregnant and after my appointment next week I have to start going every 2 weeks, and things were getting really tricky trying to switch the car and figure out a different way for Jonathan to get to work and such. So, we started car hunting. 

The car search was one of the most stressful things for me.We didn't know if we wanted to get a good family car, a cheap car that we could sell before we move again, if we wanted to spend more money and get something that would last as a commuter car for Jonathan, or this or that. We weren't narrowing down, which meant we were looking at every direction instead of just specific things. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I wanted a car that we could rely on, even if we spent more money on it...and if we got a loan, then we could build up our credit. 

Narrowing it down helped things be less stressful...until we had to take the one car that we did have into the shop- where it stayed the whole weekend, due to a fuel leak (and a couple other things) which when the mechanic said "Your car could have caught on fire." we decided it was best to leave it with him until the piece to fix it came in. We were car shopping without a car...gah. Luckily our lovely neighbor let us use her car that weekend to look at cars. So, the hunt continued. We found cars we loved that were out of our price range. We found cars I loved, but Jonathan didn't fit well in. We found cars that Jonathan felt great about, but I was on the fence. It was a joy.

Jonathan and Peter with our new ride.

Then, we found it. I kept seeing this car- the Nissan Versa- on the road, and every time I loved it. But, it was a little guy. I thought for sure it would feel too cramped for Jonathan. We went to go see one I'd found that was for sale. It was a miracle! We sat in it and we both felt comfortable. Jonathan could put the driver's seat back far enough and still fit Peter's car seat in, which is a big deal since we will soon have 2 car seats in there and one of them will have to fit behind the driver's seat.  It's a hatchback- which I love, and it's a lot roomier than it looks. Also, it gets pretty good gas mileage. Right now, Jonathan drives it to work everyday (since he drives more, he gets the car with better mpg), and we have the red car at home. But when baby #2 comes, then we'll switch and I'll drive the Versa since it fits the boys better. 

We train 'um young.

Jonathan modeling the trunk space.

So, we have 2 cars, and it's beautiful. I love that Peter and I can get out of the house whenever I'm feeling stuck. It's great that we can run errands during the day and I don't have to save them up until Jonathan comes home. And, something that we didn't foresee, when something on one of the cars needs to get fixed, Jonathan can do it and we don't have to pay the mechanic. There isn't a time crunch to get it fixed because we have the other car we can still use in the meantime. He has already fixed a 2nd fuel leak in the red car (let's pray that car is done leaking gas), and the windshield wiper fluid sprayer. I'm glad everything worked out great, and we found a car we love and will be good for our family for a while. Here's to many years of life for the red car and the Versa!