My Heaven

Does anyone really know what Heaven looks like? We know what the Bible says...streets of gold. But is that what Heaven really looks like? I saw this picture today and I thought to myself, "This is what Heaven would look like to me. Two of my favorite things...the beach and a jeep! What a beautiful thought!I currently own a jeep wrangler, but I need to sell it. Sad! Why? My family consists of six people. How many people legally fit in a jeep? Four. Let's do the math...hmmm...that is two too many. This is the second jeep wrangler that I have owned. The first one was black. It was a 2002 Sahara, which was the best at the time. (Until the Rubicon came out a few months later) It was loaded. It had a soft top and a hard top. It had a hide-a-trunk in the back. Which for those of you who don't know, jeeps don't have trunks or places to hide or store your valueables out of site. So this hide-a-trunk was GREAT. You could lock cds or whatever you wanted to in there! Then I got pregnant with Piper and for some reason I thought I needed a four door vehicle. Jeremy and I started looking around and I was trying to decided between a Volkswagon Jetta or a Jeep Grand Cherokee. They were both the same price so it was a really hard decision for me. I finally decided on the Grand Cherokee. I really enjoyed sitting up higher than in a car.

A few months later Jeremy and I moved out to Carlsbad, New Mexico because he got a job out there. Piper was born two months after we moved out there. The weather in Carlsbad is much like the weather here. Warm most of the year except for those occasional cold fronts. I kept seeing Jeep Wranglers and missed mine. Oh to see them with their tops off made me drool! The more I saw them the more I missed mine and wanted another one. I told myself that my kids wouldn't be in carseats forever. It wouldn't be that bad to only have two doors. I wasn't thinking that I knew I wanted three kids and three kids would not fit in a jeep! The Grand Cherokee was nice, but it wasn't what I wanted.

For my birthday, Jeremy traded in the Grand Cherokee for a 1999 Red Jeep Wrangler with a black soft top. It wasn't as nice as my first jeep, but I was happy because it was a jeep. Alot of people don't like driving them because they are rough and don't have a smooth ride. I love how it feels driving or even riding in a jeep! I LOVE JEEPS! Have you figured that out yet? Well, Finn was born the next July. And it would have been easier to have a four door vehicle, but I really loved my jeep. So I just dealt with it. Then a couple of years later Seven was born. Now we were too many as a family to ride in my jeep. My days of driving my jeep became fewer and fewer. Unless I went somewhere without kids, which was pretty rare being a stay-at-home mom, I didn't get to drive my jeep. I drove Jeremy's Toyota Tundra. Still a nice vechicle, but not my jeep. I came to realize that a jeep is not a family vehicle. It is only a fun vechicle.

Fast forward two more years...now we have a fourth child and we will not all fit in Jeremy's truck. This means we need a different vehicle. One that will seat at least six people. I want an SUV. I DO NOT WANT A VAN! Jeremy is willing to get a van because it will be cheaper and get better gas mileage than an SUV. I am adamant, I do not want a van! Jeremy keeps pushing and pushing about all the pros of getting a van. We have a friend who was going to finance his van to sell it to us for an extremely low rate. Jeremy was really upset that I didn't care how much of a good deal this was. I didn't care, I did not want a minivan. I mean, I drive a Jeep Wrangler; how can I go from a cool jeep wrangler to a minivan. I finally realized it was a really good financial decision and it will be paid of within two and a half years. At least it has a sunroof. I really like that! And the kids love the "magic door". It has a door that opens when you push the button.

One day I pulled up to a stop light in the minivan and low and behold a jeep wrangler pulls up beside me. Sniff, sniff. I can't even bear to look at the two young guys in the jeep. I felt so sad. That used to be me! I felt like rolling down my window and telling them to enjoy it while then can. One day they too could very well be driving a minivan with their four children! I felt like telling them "don't make fun of me guys! I used to drive my jeep and make fun of all those minivan driving people too." I am one of you. I really am!

I still enjoy driving my jeep on the rare day that I get to go somewhere without my wonderful precious children that I now drive a minivan for. It feels so good to drive it. I know soon (hopefully soon, so we don't have three car payments), I won't be able to drive it anymore. The last time I drove my jeep, I passed a fellow jeeper and got to enjoy the wonderful feeling of the jeeper wave that only jeepers know how good it feels to partake in.

One day in the not so near future I will own a jeep again. Once my kids are all in college, which will be eighteen years from now, I plan on taking a year of hibernation to sleep. When I wake up from that year's worth of sleep, the first place I will go will be to the jeep dealership!