Riding in style!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 is a day that will live on forever in our hearts. Not only was it my first half day back to work after maternity leave, but it's the day the original Rav4 turned it's wheels for us one final time.  I got a call from Kevin at work. He was stuck on the side of Highway 217 - the Rav had broken down. We learned really quick what our insurance would cover as far as roadside assistance and towing (thankfully we have both!) and Kevin was taken care of in no time. A couple hours and bags of popcorn at the dealership later, they revealed that the timing belt had snapped and broken other necessary car parts in the process. It was an estimated $700-1000 minimum to fix it. Kevin left the Rav for a few days and we shared one car. Luckily, trusty Charlie-the-charcoal-Jetta stepped up to the plate.

A couple days later, Kevin sold his broken down car to his friend who owns a body shop. They plan to fix up the car and get it running again. We were thankful to walk away with a couple hundred bucks in our hands, knowing that the '97 Rav had lived a good life. It took us on our first date and our first road trip to Las Vegas. It drove us all over the campus we love so much and to my first drive-in movie. Lots of memories in that car. Oh, how Kevin loved that car!

So, with no other choice, we finally did it. We bit the bullet and bought a new car. Or, to be honest, we were incredibly blessed to be able to buy a brand-spanking-new-and-beautiful 2012 Toyota Rav4. It's just beautiful! And, of course safe for our little Claire Bear. Did I mention beautiful!?! And that new car smell - be still my heart! :)

Our first car dealership process took 3.5 hours but went relatively smooth. We were very fortunate to have my parents present to make sure we (and our baby credit as they called it) weren't taken advantage of. After signing all the documents, we left without one iota of buyers remorse. Now, one week later, we still couldn't be happier with the choice we made. And here she is, in all her beautiful glory:

I'm thinking her name may be White Lightning. 

I suppose we'll see what the hubs has to say about that :)