officially 'that family'...

So this summer we were taking 2 VERY long road trips in May one was 7 hours and one was 16 hours!  It got us thinking about the fact that because we want 3 kiddos we knew soooome day will will have to jump on the 'mini van' wagon so why not go ahead and get one before our road trips (other wise we would have to rent a van because Heather would be travailing with us and Heather affectionately called our car the 'clown car'....yeah it was REALLY small).  So in March we put our car on craigs list, months went by and we had NO interest!  So jakes dad rented a car for all of us and we moved on with our trips.  We got home and jake kept it on craigs list on and off, but since no one ever called on it, i completely forgot we were even 'trying' to sell it!  Then the night before labor day a lady emailed jake wanting to see it!!  Jake spent 3 hours the next morning cleaning it up for her while i scowered the internet for vans...but she NEVER showed!!  Then just a few days later another man called and came to see it...he loved it...but didn't offer us a very good price so we turned him down (we weren't even REALLY trying to sell the car anyway;)  then that night another family came to see it!!  SO weird right!! 6 months on and off craigs list with no interest then 3 people in one week!!  Anyway, they loved it and made us a great offer so jake met him at his bank the next day (yesterday) and BOOM my car was sold!! Well thankfully I have always kept a 'cars' savings account through ING and had been saving for this 'someday' van for quite a while (that's obviously savings that is on top off the money we would get from our payed off car)... so of course my late afternoon was searching all over auto trader and Craigs list...i found 3 i seemed to like, 2 at one place in south Dallas and one RIGHT down the road at David McDavid Honda (a HUGE dealership here in the area). So around 4:30 yesterday afternoon we head down, though Dallas traffic to see these 2 vans that were in our price range that were AWFUL!! grr i was pretty discouraged and by this point it was getting late.  But we go see the one at the dealership and it was AMAZING!!!  we probably played the 'game' all wrong...even piper during the test drive was saying "Mommy my like it! can we take it home!?".  So after the test drive and the back and forth game to get the 'right price', and the explaining to about 8 people 'no, we do not want to finance, thank you' (ugggg i HATE it!) and one LARGE personal check later...we are officially a mini van family!!!

i told jake...now all we have to do is fill it up;)

a dream of ours...

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer"

I found this quote on pinterest months ago and i could not agree with it more!!  Jake has learned in our 7.5 year marriage is that i am not a possessions kinda girl, obviously i have to buy stuff to make our home a home, and i need clothes on my back (although 90% of mine are sissy-in-law hand me downs)...but i'm not into 'stuff'...so when it comes to gifts, Jake has learned that what i love is 'experiences'...tickets to a concert or theater production, a massage, a family trip to a museum, etc...aaaaaand we are just ITCHING to add traveling as an option someday!!!  Looking back on my childhood most all my most favorite memories were traveling with my family...my dad traveled with his job quite a bit...so my mom, brother and i would just tag along and do tons of sight seeing while he would be in meetings and then we would always stay a few days later so that he could join us.  I was SO blessed to basically travel all over the US with my family and because of those experiences i feel as though traveling needs to be placed high on the priority list!  Unfortunately we haven't gotten there yet:(  Jake and I got married young and poor;)  I was still in school and only working part time and jake was working as a land surveyor while searching for a ministry job. Then once i was done with school and working full time and finally making money, we put EVERYTHING into buying our first house, then we got this crazy idea to get completely out of debt, THEN we decided to have a baby and for me to stop working, THEN we decided to have a second baby and move to another town where the cost of living is cough just a little higher cough....so needless to say this dream to travel is still just that...a dream.  Thanks to my father-in-law we were at least able to go on a WONDERFUL honeymoon to Disney World, but that was the one and only 'real' vacation just jake and i have ever been on...I don't want to sound ungrateful...we have has some AMAZING vacations with our family's over the years (Vegas with my mom, Hawaii with jakes family, numerous lake trips with my family...and OF COURSE the YEARS jakes family has taken us to Destin, Fl!!) but jake and i a SO ready to be able to travel with our little family and be able to give our girls the experiences that it brings...and of course jake and i look forward to taking a trip again someday with out kiddos too;)  so here is our dream list...

Family Trips...

-Disney World (would love to be able to take the girls at different times in their lives too, like when they are little because its so magical, then when they are older and can ride everything, then maybe when they are teenagers and do more of Universal Studios)

-San Antonio (sea world, the Alamo, the riverwalk, etc)

-Washington DC/Colonial Williamsburg (the obvious sights... probably when they are pre-teens to teenagers)

-Boston (because i'm one of those nerdy moms who loves history;)

-San Francisco (would LOVE to go for the 4th of july, they have one of the BEST shows in the country and of course the trollies, golden gate bridge, Alcatraz and to teach them the history of 'full house' ;)

-Grand Canyon (and other Arizona sights)

-Branson (someplace that is near our family's that we both grew up going to...its kinda cheesy, but we like shows, silver dollar city, and good clean family fun;)

-K LOVE family cruise (yup i said it....but come on, think about it...you go on a CRUISE with concerts by your favorite christian artists all week!! yes please!)

-Seattle/Portland (i remember being on of my FAVORITE vacations as a kid!!!)

-Nashville (to go watch a live taping of the Dave Ramsey Show!, all the music museums, Graceland, National Civil Rights museum, etc)

-Family Camp (www.pinecove.com)

-Alaskan Cruise (i've just heard they are amazing and i think a good learning experience for the girls!)

and the big ones...

-London (never really thought i would care to go...but after this Olympic games and the fact that Pipers 2 favorite stories right now involve London (Peter Pan and Mary Poppins) I really want to take them!:)

-Australia (honesty jake and i really want to go to Hillsong Church...but im pretty sure there are one or two other things to do while we are there;)

-Holy Land (i've always seen this as a trip that i would want go on with my kids when they are like college age...it would be an AMAZING experience!)

Just for Jake and I...

-Vegas

-Caribbean type Cruise

-Los Angeles

-New York

-maybe a 2nd honeymoon to Disney ;)

Where do you dream to go!? or where do you remember going as a kid that was memorable to you?