Brown's Paper Bag: The Introduction of Ollie

As promised, I've written a post to Ollie.

Husband and I purchased a new car for me, since Big Bertha was becoming less and less reliable every day. Scary. Getting to work was a constant struggle between I-hope-the-car-doesn't-explode-this-morning and I-hope-the-car-turns-on-this-morning. She's been a little rough lately, but that truly doesn't lessen the amount of love I have for her.

A few months ago I made a short list of the cars I wanted to test drive, to see what I liked, what was too big, what had horrible blind spots, and what was just right. We only tested two cars.

We both decided one Sunday that we liked the look of the Subaru Outback, so we decided to take it for a spin. We loved this car! It was bigger than Bertha, but didn't feel like it. We waited around for a few weeks to let the excitement settle, so we could decide with level heads if it was truly the car for us, or if we were just lovestruck.

Ended up, that it was a little of both.

We had toyed with the idea of redoing our budget to make sure we could afford the payment, but never really got around to it, since, truly, budgeting isn't really the most exciting way to spend a Saturday (or any day, really).

Then on a Friday night, as Husband and I were getting ready to go out with our friends from church, I decided that we should take Big Bertha instead of the (P)impala. I think this idea is what got us a new car. As soon as Husband got up to about 60 mph, her steering wheel just started shaking. Uncontrollably. The only way to get it to stop, was to slow way down- close to 50 mph. It was decided. We needed a new car. One that didn't cause us to worry about my safety (or at least not worry about my safety due to the car. No matter how great a car you have, you can never control the other people on the road, unfortunately.).

We did the budget.

We went back to the Subaru dealer for another test drive- this time, an extended test drive. Instead of the lousy 15-minute test drive up and down University Drive (where I never am!), I was able to take the car home with me, over night, and drive it to work. The ability to do this really made me happy- I was able to see how the car would handle in the standard environment of my driving life. It was glorious. (Bonus- I found a radio station that only plays 80's and 90's music!! 93.3 FM)

We saddled up and spend most of last week at the Subaru dealership. Mostly a waste of time, truly, since they kept getting basic information wrong, and I kept finding it. So paperwork needed to be printed over and over again. Oye.

Saturday morning, April 27, 2013, I had a heartfelt goodbye to Bertha. Literally. When I signed the paperwork stating that I was allowing Bertha's title to be handed over to the dealership, I got a little teary-eyed.

But it's OK. Now Husband and I have started our life with Ollie the Outback, and so far she's been great. I love everything about her- especially the details that she came with. For example, she came with a Bluetooth System, hands-free iPod docking, all-weather floor mats (which I know is lame to be excited about, but whatever!), nice side-body molding, all-wheel drive, roof racks, and fog lights. Oh and did I mention the MOONROOF?! Heck yes. The moonroof was literally the only thing I absolutely had to have in my new car, and it has been open every single day (except for when it rained, of course), for every single drive. Love it.

An added bonus of the moonroof is that both of my arms will tan equally. Typically, by the end of summer, my left arm is noticeably darker than my right arm because the left arm hangs out the window while I drive. The right arm would be in the middle of the car, where there is no direct sunlight. But that problem is no more! Now with my super awesome moonroof, both arms can be tanned. It truly is the small things in life :)