The Day I Got Over Myself And Became A Soccer Mom

If you happen to follow me on Instagram (thecrainsnest) you may have seen that we made a "big" purchase. If not, well, surprise! We bought a minivan.

Now I will have you know I've never been a girly girl. I'm beginning to embrace my femininity a bit more, but sometimes I surprise myself with my less than girly ways. Growing up I loved cars. I knew which ones were the best, which ones were the worst. I was a total car snob. My dad taught me how to take care of my own car so if my car broke down in the middle of nowhere I had the hood up right away investigating the cause.

My car snobbiness meant I would never ever ever be caught driving a minivan. I was going to be the cool suv mom. I never judged those that found themselves driving a van at all, they just weren't for me.

Fast forward to a few years ago. I married a van enthusiast. He loved their space and organization and promised that one day I would drive one. I said he was crazy (not so politely) and stomped off. I'm super mature like that.

About a year ago as we discussed having the desire for many kids versus my original 2 kid only plan (ha!) I started to open my mind to new options. It may have helped that I was driving a 20 year old car that we got when we were first married that has zero working interior lights (yes we tried adding new lightbulbs), only one car door that unlocks (unless it's cold then good luck getting in), no radio, and that had a damaged front end. Add to that the fact that only one seatbelt worked for a carseat and a van was sounding greater everyday.

When we became pregnant with baby 2 we knew it was a necessity to upgrade. While I would have happily driven the Camry until baby 3 comes along, it just couldn't happen. I could never have two kids in one car. Ummm that's just not going to work.

So after lots of prayer and discussion and consultations with my parents we figured out a way to get a "newer" safe vehicle that could last us for all of our kids school years in a way that made the most financial sense for our family. Despite my desire for an suv, the gas and insurance costs were not practical for us..we needed it to still be cost effective.

Enter the 2003 Mazda MPV with 21,000 miles that we were able to buy for over $4000 less than its worth. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of my highly coveted Honda Odyssey, but after owning a car that had few working parts, I think it's a dream come true. God totally had His hand in this purchase. The van was owned by an older couple for one year until they sadly passed away and then passed on to another sweet grandma (who had the most incredible family) who only drove it once a week. I mean, what a huge blessing. It's like getting a new car even though it's technically 10 years old.

I wasn't looking for beauty, but I think "Greta" is pretty cute. I am now a van enthusiast and will happily give you 50 reasons why it's the best thing ever. A true organizers dream...I'm excited to start organizing her :) anyway just wanted to share the new addition to our family! God never ceases to stop blessing our family and we are thankful.