Jeep.

Rob bought his bright red 1997 Jeep Wrangler in 2002. It was the only vehicle he wanted and the only vehicle he has driven since then. He had senior pictures taken with it in high school. He moved a dorm room worth of furniture to and from college with it more than once. He towed a friend's Yukon XL with it. He took me on our first date in it. If it was warmer in December when we got married, we probably would have driven away in it! Rob loved his Jeep.

Yes, loved. In the past tense. 

Now, of course it will always be "his" Jeep, but it will be his in memories only. Last Thursday, we traded in the Jeep for a new vehicle. A lot of Rob's job is on the road now and the Jeep was no longer making the cut. I'm sure you're all thinking: "Steph! What did you do?! You made him get rid of the Jeep!?" Not at all. You can even ask him. The time had come. 

 

Call us sentimental, but Rob has had a lot of fun with the Jeep and we have had a lot of fun together with it as well. But, even though we both still love the idea of it, it was old, slowly falling apart, and not practical for every day use. I took a few picture of Rob with the Jeep before we brought it away to trade in. I love the picture on the right. He thought I was setting up the self timer on the camera - which, I was, sort of - but I snapped a quick picture of him in the process. I love my husband.

We were talking about how having a Jeep gives you a sort of personality. There's the "Jeep Wave" - special to Jeep drivers only. Or the way that Jeep drivers can somehow talk to other Jeep drivers [for what seems like hours] even if they'd never met until they parked their Wranglers next to each other in the parking lot. It's kind of a strange vehicle, but everyone seems to love them. What other vehicle allows you to take the doors and windows and roof off of it and still legally drive down the road? Too fun!

But, enough with the sentiments. We are now the proud owners of a 2008 Saturn VUE. 

We lost a little bit of flair in our lives when we traded in the bright red Jeep for this silver VUE (especially seeing as my car is silver too), but I do have more peace of mind knowing that Rob is safe when driving down the road and knowing that his vehicle won't just shut off randomly when waiting at a red light. 

I know it's just a car, but we are thankful for all the fun times the Jeep brought us and hopefully someday Rob will be able to have another Jeep. But for now, I think this will do.