Overdrive

We put my Beetle up for sale a couple months before Lyla was born, just to see if we got any nibbles. It wasn't practical to keep the Bug around, and I knew it—I'd watched my poor friend try to strap her baby's car seat in the back seat and, while she found a way, it looked awful. I bought that car to take with me to my first internship, I'd saved for years to buy it, and it was all mine. Letting go of it felt like letting go of a part of me.

I know. I'm pathetic.

Months went by, and not a single bite. Our car had made it all the way to page 6 on KSL Classifieds before we got a call. The next morning, we said goodbye to my cute little Beetle car.

After we made the sale, Ryan asked how I was feeling. "OK," I said. "Letting go of that car was hard. But I'll be even more sad when we get rid of the Honda."

We drove (ahem, lost) Ryan's black Honda Accord on our first date. Once we found it I sat in that car for literally minutes waiting for him to ask for my number. He never did. (Really, never. To this day, Ryan has never asked for my number.)

We ran to the warmth of the Honda after Ryan proposed in the freezing wind of a Rexburg winter, and I sat in it and cried because I was so happy. We drove the Honda to the temple for our sealing and home from our wedding reception. A couple months ago, we brought Lyla home from the hospital in that car. It has history.

Then, just last Friday (not even a week after we sold the Beetle), Ryan suggested we go "look around" Ken Garff Honda in Orem. We'd met my brothers for lunch and Lyla was still in her pajamas. We thought it would be a quick trip, but three hours, a test drive and some paperwork later, we'd traded the Accord for a 2006 Honda Pilot.

I tend to attach a lot of value to things. Cleaning out my closet is hard because I have memories of wearing the clothes. Getting rid of cell phones is difficult because I don't want to lose text messages. So you can only imagine the trauma I was anticipating as I let go of the car with so many memories attached.

But the night before we went to pick up the Pilot, I couldn't sleep. I was so excited to drive it again. So excited to take it to Texas. Excited for Lyla to graduate from a rear-facing carseat to a booster to a seat belt in that car. Excited to bring home more children from the hospital in a bigger, safer car.

The Accord was a good car. So was the Bug. And we're so, so excited for the Pilot.