Car.

Okay, it’s not a car. It’s an SUV. And I bought it. After months of deliberating, researching, talking, pondering, worrying and saving, I was more than tired of talking about it and took the plunge.

But first, let’s take a trip down memory lane to my first car, the Camaro. It was orange. Why? Because I’m not your typical girl, and it wasn’t your typical color car. That car made many trips to Hazard on the weekends in high school and countless trips from Jackson to Richmond and vice-versa for college. The Camaro had seen my entire dorm room packed in it (and then had a flat tire… haha) and countless friends played rock, paper, scissors to see who had to crawl in the back. There was lots of loud music played (probably why one of the speakers stopped working). The Camaro has been known to drive over entire curbs, hit speed bumps way to fast (thank you, Blackwell Court), attempt four-wheeling through Keenland and Cliffview, and once backed all the way down my friend Amanda’s hill in attempts to get out of her driveway (I actually feared for my life a little bit on this one). Thankfully there were no speeding tickets (didn’t mean I didn’t deserve them) but at one point close to $500 worth of parking tickets—thank you, EKU police department. I laughed, cried and probably even screamed a few times in that car. It was—and still is—a good car to me, and hopefully will continue to be to its’ new owner.

So the day after I purchased my new vehicle, it emails me. Yes, you read correctly—my vehicle emailed me, to let me know how many miles I had driven, my tire pressure, oil levels, etc. As I was scrolling down, I was anticipating it to list what I had for lunch in it that day and the decibels of sound that happened when I tried to hit a Whitney Houston high-note. (Neither appeared. I know, I was disappointed too.)

It beeps a lot and I don’t know why just yet. One beep means I’m too close to something. But then there’s another beep that I’ve yet to figure out. It also made me jump when it magically paired up with my phone and when a call came in, turned down the radio (right in the middle of a good Lady Gaga jam) and started ringing loudly. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do or what button to push. Apparently I pushed something correctly because my mom’s voice magically appeared out of nowhere. Not sure how I feel about hands-free talking. Safer? Yes. Popular? Yes. For me? Not sure.

I am extremely thankful for this new gift to myself. A good friend told me that I worked hard and I deserved it—and I am going to try my best to believe that. If you know me at all, you know that a large portion of my life is spent in a vehicle, thus I feel blessed to be able to have something reliable, safe, and enjoyable.

So if you are one of the many who got stuck in the back seat of the Camaro, this blog post entitles you to a ride in the front seat—or more comfortable back seat—of the new SUV. And even if you’re not, I’d be happy to give you a ride anytime!