Rugs & Bar Stools

Last Friday, we decided to run some errands as a family and pick up a few things for the house. I was really looking forward to bringing home some rugs to add a few soft spots on our wood floors and maybe finding some bar stools for the kitchen counter.

We made it to Lowes and were able to pick up a few things. One of which included a piece for our shower. The handle on the shower wall that once held up the second shower head (with the hose) broke, so we were looking for a piece that could hold it up, keeping it from dangling at the bottom. Jon couldn't get a part connecting the main shower head to budge, so he had to be a little innovative and connected the new piece to the old. (Hopefully a temporary fix.) So now you can see that the main shower head sticks out quite a bit and there is an extra place to screw in another fixture.  We laugh at our "fancy" shower connections. :)

After Lowes, we were headed to find rugs that I was so looking forward to getting. But something unexpected happened. Our faithful, reliable, never-had-issues, family car... died. And unfortunately, it truly did die. We've learned a very expensive lesson: you should have your timing belt replaced every so often. Ours ended up breaking and horribly ruining our engine, causing it to need to be replaced.

How ironic that earlier the very same morning, Jon and I were discussing how much longer we thought the car would last our family.

We debated on whether we should bring our car back to life or replace it. We decided it was best to put our money towards another vehicle that could last our family several years. We also quickly decided that car shopping is not so fun when its not on your own terms!

Rugs and bar stools are currently on a long hold so we can welcome our new, used family car. May it be even more reliable and faithful than the last! 

Let's pray that no other unexpected, expensive surprises come our way for a very long time! We could use as much time as possible for some savings recovery!


I want to mention that during this sort of stressful weekend of losing a car so unexpectedly, we feel so tremendously blessed. So if you're up for more text... keep reading.

What a blessing that Jon was with us when the car died, rather than a time when Koen and I were alone... or even after baby #2 is born. We felt so blessed that it died where it did, which was extremely close to a side road that went down hill (giving Jon much relief from pushing) and a dealership that could check out the car. What a major blessing that our car died after buying our home. Had it happened before hand, we would have likely spent our money differently, buying a different vehicle that wouldn't have allowed us to have the 20% we needed for a down payment on a house - at least not anytime soon. With it happening after we bought the house, it saved us from a lot of hassle than if it had happened while in the buying process, which would have made things very difficult in the home loan process . Heavenly Father helped Koen to be so patient and good for us during the many hours that were so boring for him as we dealt with our car issues. We feel blessed that we were able to find a vehicle that we feel will be a good car for our growing family, in good condition, that should last a good while, and that we could work into our budget so we can continue to save some money each month.

We are so thankful that this happened at the time that it did. It really could have been a much more difficult and stressful situation in so many ways! I know that Heavenly Father continues to watch over and protect our family.