New Car!

We have loved this car!

After 15 and a half years, we said goodbye to our beloved 2004 Honda Accord! It was still running extremely well and we had planned on driving it for many more years…but it was taken down by a pothole back in June. A pothole! The cost to repair the damage was just too high compared to the value of the car that we simply couldn't justify it. We were able to drive it short distances, but we started looking for a car to replace it. While some people replace their cars frequently, we prefer to drive them for as long as we possibly can. Our 2008 Honda Pilot has 231,000+ miles on it and we're hoping it lasts for another five years.

What an ordeal to buy a car! Driving to different dealerships followed by forced inane chitchat with pushy salespeople...not our idea of a good time. When we bought the Accord, we did so online with almost no face-to-face dealings with a salesperson; we didn't even meet him until the night we picked up the car. That was in 2004. How is this not the standard for car buying in 2019?!? We buy almost everything else online!

Nonetheless, we decided on the car we wanted, ordered it in July, and picked it up yesterday. The last time we picked up a new car was in November 2007 when we got our Honda Pilot, so it was pretty exciting for us! I was feeling very nostalgic for the Accord, knowing we'd be leaving it at the dealership, because it has seen us through a decade and a half and over 173,000 miles! It will be missed! I cannot even imagine how distraught I will be when we have to replace the Pilot!

My favorite story about our Accord is from many years ago, not long after we adopted Maddy and Ginny. We were having some sort of cable service done in the house, and they always barked liked lunatics at anyone who came over. So we decided to put them in the car in the garage while the cable person was here. Fast forward 45 minutes when the service call was done. I went to get them out of the car and couldn't believe my eyes…they had destroyed the blanket that was in the backseat of the car. Ripped it to shreds. The worst part is that it had been filled with down and there were feathers EVERYWHERE. Including all over the dogs who were standing among all of the feathers, wagging their tails and looking very pleased with themselves. It took us a long time to clean up that disaster! We laugh about it now, but at the time, we were not happy with those two!

We are now the proud new owners of a 2020 Subaru Ascent and we absolutely love it! It is the 11^th Subaru in my family in the past 22 years and surely there are countless adventures and many miles ahead!

The first song we played in our new car...
pretty much our philosophy

Ginny checking out her new seat!

Happy Tails to you!

Summer 2019

This was the summer of family! We did not travel anywhere – shocking, I know! – because we had several huge family happenings take place!

The first piece of big news is that we have a new baby nephew and we are over-the-moon in love with him already! His arrival meant lots of extra time with our niece, so that was icing on the cake, because now that she is two, her personality is shining through and she is an absolute delight to spend time with!

Ginny was
VERY interested
in her new baby cousin!

The second piece of big news is that we now have a new sister, as my brother got married last weekend! She has been a part of our family for many years now, but it is finally official! For a long time, our "pack" was comprised of C, my two brothers, and me; five years ago, my brother got married and his wife became one of us (you might remember we got matching shirts), but the girls were still outnumbered. Not anymore! All tied up! For last weekend's wedding, we had shirts made that were a "Friends" theme because there were six characters on the show and now there are six of us in our pack!

our pack

family is everything

our godkids at the wedding
#friendsarethefamilyyouchoose

My mom had some continued health issues this summer and spent five days in the hospital. Currently, things are ok, so that is a relief. She also sold her condo and is living with us full-time now! It has been a lot of work to get all of her things packed and moved, but now she is settled in and Ginny is very happy to have my mom all to herself!

As I shared a few months ago, I have a new job as a Reading Specialist, so that has kept me very busy since the beginning of August. I am loving it so far! Lots of new information and certainly a different perspective to not be in a classroom! I feel like I am growing as an educator and it is a privilege to work alongside the awesome teachers at my school!

A few random highlights were celebrating Ginny's 11^th birthday, going to a water lantern festival at National Harbor (not nearly as amazing as the Lantern Fests we went to in 2017 and 2018!), and attending some of the events to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the moon landing!

How is she 11 years old?!?

this face!

the water lantern festival

a Saturn V rocket
projected onto the
Washington Monument

50 years since the moon landing!

While we didn't get to travel, it was a jam-packed summer! I am looking forward to things slowing down a bit now that summer is over!

<3

Happy Tails to you!