Transmission, Temple, T...Volvo

It has been QUITE a while since we have been to the temple...ok like 3 weeks. Our first kid is still cookin so we have no excuse. We set the day and took off in our oh-so noble Subaru. The little guy seemed to be doing just fine. Apparently cars go through a similar process as animals/humans before they die. They start looking really good and acting like they are getting better, but it's a dirty trick!

Flashback: Sacrament meeting a couple weeks prior
Jace and I write notes to each other a lot during sacrament meeting. I always have a lot on my mind and he likes to doodle, so it's a win-win. By the end of the meeting, we had our life planned. Neat! It goes as follows:
Save 1,000 a month until January 2011
With our 10,000 put a healthy down-payment on a shiny new car, get rid of Subaru.
Save Save Save. Have a nice down payment for a house once Jace gets out of school PLUS an impressive credit report thanks to our car payments on the shiny new car.
In order for us to live comfortably in a $200,000 home, Jace would have to get a job with a salary of $60,000/year...not bad eh?

January 2011...that's when Subaru is supposed to die. I forgot to tell him though.

Flashforward: driving to the temple
A sound erupts from Subaru (we could never settle on a name, but let's call him Phil). If sounds could be spelled out, it was something like: eeeeeeee kluck kluck kluck dump ssssssss ptickush ptickush....boom.
Transmission is done...so much for sacrament meeting planning! And so much for going to the temple!

Luckily we are diligent little savers so we bought a Volvo XC. And it is cool! I drove it home completely intimidated by the power it gave me. Cars not only let me merge into their lane, but also slowed and bowed down to the beautiful silver mom wagon. It was on my dream list of my future mom car. This one is used, very used, by very very happy. Volvo and Phil would have never sat at the same table in school. A comparison of the two:
Volvo: Has seat warmers.
Phil: Shivers when it's cold outside.
Volvo: Has Turbo.
Phil: Has reverse...sometimes.
Volvo: Tells me how many miles per gallon I am getting.
Phil: Did about a mile per gallon.
Volvo: Has a pen holder.
Phil: Has a chunk bitten out of the driver seat so you can learn the anatomy of foam.
Volvo: Drives fast.
Phil: Dies Fast.

Some of you may be thinking I am very ungrateful for the transportation abilities Phil offered me. I may be a little infatuated by the new toy, tis true. But Phil will be missed. I did cry when he died, and not just because we didn't make it to the temple. No no, it was tears of true loss. He has been my car for three years. He got me through many Rexburg Blizzards. He was hit by an unknown source, had some very unfortunate hub caps, agreed to long voyages to utah and colorado, and even let me put some stickers on him. He was a good car.

Pictures to follow!