Five things I love about my van :)

If you've been paying close attention to my "Five things I love about..." posts, you may have noticed that these posts fall into either of two categories. The first kind are things that I actually love. These are the easy posts to write and include posts about Peanut-lover, KK, JJ, my mom, my dad, my brother, my job, and Spring.

The second kind are things that I tend to complain about. But, in my quest to learn contentedness, I am trying to focus on the positives about these things or situations. These are the harder posts to write and include living in a condo and still living in this city. Today's post also falls into this second category. I actually have a hard time writing these kind of posts because after listing two or three items, I can't think about anything else to write. So I have quite a few drafts waiting to be finished. Today's post is quite timely, because I didn't have my fifth reason until yesterday morning. If nothing else can be made of a bad situation, at least it gives me something to blog about, right?!

Today, I want to talk about five things I love about my van.


1. No monthly payments.

We bought our van about 18 months ago. We paid $1000 for it and about another $1000 for my FIL to fix it up for us. It has about a 100 billion kilometres on it, but we don't care. We're going to drive it into the ground anyway and instead of being tied to a car payment, we are just building up money in savings to have ready for when it dies.

2. It's a Ford.

Forgive me Dad, I know you raised me right. And part of that raising included shunning Fords. But... Peanut-lover's dad is a mechanic. A Ford mechanic. Our very trusted and reliable mechanic. He likes working on Fords, so it works out well that we drive a Ford. He has saved us thousands of dollars by being able to fix up our van for us.

3. Captain's seats in the middle row.

When we were looking for a van, I was adamant about having these and I'm so glad I fought for them. For the kids to be able to touch each other, they both have to cooperate. Which they do quite well. I'll often look back to see them holding hands across the aisle. Or passing food or toys to each other. But they can't hit, poke, or tickle each other, so until staring at each other becomes an issue, our drives will remain pretty peaceful.

4. It's shared.

Peanut-lover and I share one vehicle. It is challenging, but very good for our communication. We have to plan ahead together for who needs the vehicle and who can take transit. It's also eco-friendly. I like that.

5. Adding another scratch or dent doesn't matter. It just blends in.


It looked like this until yesterday. A little dent in the bumper and a key scratch on the sliding door. Then I misjudged a corner in a parking lot and scraped the entire right side across a BMW bumper. Oops. Instead of having my husband completely freak out about a new scratch on his precious vehicle, he just shrugged it off (and then held me while I hysterically cried for hours). The worst damage that occurred from my little accident? KK learned some new words that she's not allowed to use. (Oops).

Isn't this van a great thing? Who needs a new vehicle, right? (Work with me here people!)

Now it's your turn. What's your five things this week? Write a blog post and link up to join the fun. Or, if you don't have a blog, leave me your list in the comments. You don't have to copy my topic, but feel free if you need a little direction. I can't wait to hear what y'all have to say!