Car Quest

About a month after we were married we found ourselves in our first crisis as newlyweds.  One Friday I was traveling my normal commute home and the vehicle's transmission overheat alert lit up.  I pulled over and asked R to come meet me so we could figure out what to do - I was only about 20 minutes from home.  He called me about a half hour later to tell me that his vehicle was making noises and he had to pull off on the side of the road, then it wouldn't crank.  We were on opposite ends of town completely stranded.  I was able to make it to him and we were able to get the vehicles towed to a safe place, thank goodness, but we had to rely on the generosity of our parents to lend us a vehicle until we could buy a new one and get one of ours repaired.

oh my.

Three weeks of car shopping later I am now driving one of these:

We were planning to buy a new car this fall and we had started to compare cars for safety and efficiency.  We compared the Passat, Jetta, Camry, Sonata, Altima, and a few of the hybrid versions but decided on a Honda Accord EX-L V6.  It is one of the most common cars I see on the road so obviously it's a popular choice - it tested well in reliability, safety, and customer satisfaction.  We are planning to start a family in the near future (not right away) and this is a car that I feel I can trust.  I drove it off the lot last Tuesday and I've been extremely happy with it so far, though I'm not learning the features nearly as fast as R has, I have figured out the air conditioning and the radio.

The moral of the story:  Just when you think you have a plan, God throws you a curveball.

PS - I've named the car Gracie.