FIVE on Friday

I'm excited to participate in a new link-up this week! I thought I would use this week's link-up to catch you up on a few changes in our world here lately that I haven't gotten a chance to officially share yet and some other randoms!

One-
I'm officially a stay at home Momma this year!! (with a little side gig of working in my Momma's store on our historic main street) This was a long time coming in my desires and I feel so, so grateful that God has gifted me this opportunity.  This desire started when I had Adeline and just longing to not have to go back after having her (as a teacher, I LOVED my students but my heart was being pulled to my own baby).  So after finishing my fourth year of teaching after my maternity leave, I opted (was so blessed by this!) to job share 2.5 days a week as art teacher at my school last year! And then God kept up the awesome blessings by helping us realize we could take this leap of faith after Justin got a new job (see #2)! Mommy is definitely my favorite job!

we lounge

and lounge some more

and play our days away

Two-

Speaking of the above...Justin is now a full-time Youth Minister! (along with working part-time almost full-time in our family's Landscape/Hardscape business). The process occurred in the Spring with his application and interview.  June 1st was his first day, and it has been such an amazing blessing so far! Our summer was a crazy yet fun whirlwind of mission trips, retreats and many other youth functions! We actually grew up in this youth group and our youth pastor (that is now our associate pastor) is a great mentor to us.  I am so proud of Justin for his dedication and perseverance to see God's direction in this phase in his life through to this exciting, culminating change for our sweet family! I am loving working alongside him in the ministry and excited to see where God takes us on this journey! He works his bum off and I'm so proud of him!

Justin's first official Sunday

Three-
I'm currently working on limiting my soft drink intake.  Especially diet (to stay away from aspartame). Mainly because I'm an all or nothing person.  I have a hard time just limiting.  So I went a good month or so with NO soft drinks at all.  Now I've slowly been reintroducing a Dr. Pepper here and there simply because I crave the taste! But that being said, I have turned into SUCH a coffee drinker! I have to have my coffee in the morning or I'm quite the bum!

Four-
I often stay up way. way. way too late chatting it up on Facebook Messenger with Mallorie, Natalie, Beth Ann, Allie and Jordan.  It still amazes me how God can bless you through online friends that feel like you have known them forever and see them daily.  We tend to chat about all things mommy, faith and other random tidbits that could easily make people blush (right, ladies? ;) Gotta love sweet friends you can be real with!

Five-
Adeline is more and more verbal these days (well let me be honest...she has always been such a "talker") but I am LOVING the sweet little conversations we can have these days where she puts a couple words together or a long list of words together that I don't quite understand ;) .  Whether it's if she wants milk or juice, what dress she wants to wear, or who she wants to pray for at bedtime.  These are the moments that melt my mommy heart. And I try to hold onto oh so tight as she giggles back when I laugh at the silly things she says.

 

life lately.

I thought it was time to finally update the blog since it's been a week and a half.  So here goes a brain dump on what's been going on in our life lately...

First of all, as you can tell from the lack of posting and reading other blogs, I've started back to school.  Let's just sum it up by saying this.class.exhausts.me.  Whew.

We finally sold Justin's car, which means a car purchase is now in the works for this momma-to-be.  Yay! I love our truck but I'm ready to hand that over to hubby and have my own (smaller) SUV to drive.

Hubby decided to get sick on me right as I was going back to school.  Poor thing was pitiful for about a week! It started with what we thought was an infected bug bite on his leg...turned out to be a form of staph.  Boo.  He got a prescription cream and an antibiotic.  (Doctor visit number one in a week.) Good news was the staph quickly cleared up.  Bad news...he started running a high fever a couple days later.  (Doctor visit number two in one week.)  He went to doctor, was told it was a fever virus and he'd be sick with it for 3-5 days.  He was pitiful and miserable...and I hated it for him. Now fast forward to a couple days later.  He wakes up with crazy/intense hives all over his body. (Doctor visit number three in one week.)  Turns out he's allergic to the antibiotic he was give for the staph.  He's now on his final days of a steroid to clear up his hives.  Thankfully they cleared up after a couple days.  Whew...what a whirlwind! Little Adeline better not be as high maintenance as her daddy. ;)

Yesterday was the lovely glucose tolerance test. Yummy.  The nasty stuff tasted like a Sprite with three times the sugar and minus the carbonation.  Thankfully my momma took me because I did get really light-headed and felt like I was going to pass out like they warned.  (I've never done well without eating breakfast...and pregnancy is definitely not an exception!) Hopefully everything comes back ok.  It was also exciting because my mom got to hear Adeline's heartbeat for the first time...and boy was the sweet baby hyped up on that sugar!

Justin, our brother-in-law, and Justin's dad finished up our master bath project....turning our tub only into a shower/tub combo.  I'm beyond thankful for this! (Our only shower was in our basement.)  Now I don't have to go downstairs!! Whoo hoo.

We continue to make progress on the nursery.  We now have baby girl's crib (it was given to our nephew when he was a baby by Justin's grandma that has passed away...so we are blessed to have such a sweet sentiment in her nursery that was passed on to us).  We have all the major furniture.  I have sketched out my final plan for the nursery and I have my painting planned for one of her walls.  I love progress!

That's all for now.  Hope to be back soon more regularly! Have a blessed rest of the week!

two things...

One--

Monday is our monthly savings link-up where Ashleigh and I share our savings from the month! Make sure to come back tomorrow (the 31st) to link-up any savings tidbit you would like! It could be a month's worth of savings, a great shopping trip, savings tips you have, whatever it may be! Grab the button and link-up!

<br /> <a border="0" href="http://www.cait-theblessedlife.blogspot.com" _mce_href="http://www.cait-theblessedlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5575605478_84ee822740_m.jpg" _mce_src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs170.snc3/19765_265054143834_265050838834_4530250_4491090_s.jpg"/></a><br />

    Two--

 Ashleigh at Thankfully Thrifty is hosting an amazing giveaway for a Jeep Liberty Sport X Stroller!! Check it out!! Giveaway ends August 14th.

Happy weekend, friends! :)

odds and ends

I have found three things lately that have made my life a little more complete.  Okay, maybe that's a little over-the-top...but if you haven't heard of any of them...you will thank me.  I'm sure of it.

one.

{pinterest}

What I need is something else to distract me.  ;)

This is a website where you can post all of your inspiration you find online by "pinning" it to boards that you created (i.e. "for the home", "baby", etc.).  You can also re-pin things other people find.  (You will need to "request an invite" from Pinterest which will take a couple days, and then you can start pinning!) 

Warning:  This may be more addictive than Facebook.  Actually I'm sure it is.

I would love to follow you!

Find me @ www.pinterest.com/theblessedlife

two.

{instagram app for iphone]

waterpark on the 4th

our backyard

@ Lowe's doing the homeowners thing

fresh fruit salad I made. yum.

I took all of these pics with my iPhone and then edited them using Instragram.  This awesome app lets you post your pics and those people that you "follow" and follow you can see your pics.  You can also post comments and "love" pictures of those you follow.  Find me @theblessedlife19

three.

{dropbox}



via



oh. my. word.

I'm thanking my little bro big time for sharing this with me.  You can download this on your computer and there is an app as well.  Let's just say that I no longer will need to hook my phone up to my computer to save pictures! Amazing.

You can upload documents to your dropbox either on your computer or on your phone...and then you have those documents at all times.  The best part is your documents are backed up electronically!

Housekeeping

First of all, 

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you each have a wonderful holiday weekend celebrating with family and friends!

Second, I wanted to let you know that Ashleigh and I let the end of the month sneak up on us! We will have our "How Much Can I Save in a Year" link-up posted on Tuesday, July 5th! Come back by and join in!

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 Finally, hubby and I will be serving on a mission trip this coming week with our church family.  We are beyond blessed to be able to do this each summer! We started out going as part of our youth group (kiddos ourselves) and now the Lord has blessed us for the past seven years to serve in a more leadership role as adults.  Due to my current "state" ;) I'll be staying away from the work sites next week and be the "designated blogger" for the trip with my dear friend, Cheri's help with the photo/video side of things! You can check out our daily activities on our mission trip blog found here!

So other than a couple scheduled posts, I won't be around this blog much for the next week.  I'll be back to blogging here next week and getting caught up on your wonderful blogs! Y'all have a joy-filled, blessed week!

oh the simple things

Yesterday, my mom, aunt, grandma and I went out shopping for the day.  I love these ladies and the precious time I so often get to spend with them! One of our main missions was to find the fabric that would be used in the nursery for the curtains, bed skirt, and possible a couple pillow covers.  Well we had tons of luck in that department, plus I found some other things that made me oh.so.happy!

First things first....the nursery.

I found material a week ago at a fabric store that I loved, but was extremely disappointed yesterday when we made it there to purchase the material before their sale ended on it and they were out.  Then, with my grandma's (an amazing seamstress) help, we determined that in order to do what I wanted to, it was going to be at least $70 just for material for the curtains.  On sale.  Um...nope.

So being the creative women they are, my mom, aunt, and grandma started explaining to me that you can use sheets to make curtains, etc.  I had never thought of that! So we went on a sheet hunt! I lucked out at one of our last stops...TJ Maxx.  Loved the store before.  Love it even more now.  For $39.99, I found the perfect King size sheet set that will have enough material to make the curtains, a bed skirt, and pillow covers. (That's almost half the price that just the curtains were going to cost.) And should I add that I actually like this material better?

the material next to a frilly pink pillow I snagged at Home Goods!

the material and pillow next to the wall color (although the pic doesn't show it too well, the color combo together makes my heart so happy.  Love it!)

Other simple finds that made me so excited were the goods pictured in the next photo...

-a free Bath and Body Works Moonlight Path travel size spray (love the scent!)
-a new planner (from Target) that is spiral bound and lime green.  perfection. (my heart leaps for joy when it comes to planners.  weird. i know.)
-a floral website password organizer (again, from Target, of course).  This was a guilty pleasure I had to have.  It will make my pregnancy brain a little less annoying.

Plus...

Since Miss Adeline will make her debut a little over a month before Christmas, I decided to get started on my Christmas shopping.  I made a nice dent in my list already just from yesterday! yay!

Okay, I think that's all for now.  My heart was overflowing with excitement over these simple things.  Aren't the simple things the best?

a perfect evening

After a crazy day at work where my emotions were up and down, I was so relieved to have such a nice, stress-free evening at home tonight.  I don't know what it was about me today...but I know that my poor kiddos sometimes saw the "not so nice" side of me.  That probably is still pretty nice compared to some teachers...but I was off, so therefore, as you other teachers know...they were off.  Tomorrow will be better.  I'm determined.  It must be.

So a perfect evening was exactly what I needed...

Grocery shopping that I dreaded turned into a great trip where almost everything that was on my list was on sale, most things I also had a coupon for, and I purchased three items for free.

I came home to a clean living room including a vacuumed floor and my sweet hubby had pulled out some of my artwork today and found a spot for it in our living room.  He's too sweet.

We had an amazing dinner of homemade chicken pot pie.  Yum.  (And there are plenty for left-overs!)

While dinner was in the oven, I cleaned the kitchen.  (Yes, cleaning makes me happy when I have the time and energy to do it.)

Our dessert (which isn't a common occurrence around here) consisted of these yummy little things that yep, were on sale too! Dessert for less than $1.50? Yes, please!

A relaxing bath where I was able to read two...yes, two...chapters of my current read! And the relaxing sound of rain hitting our home added the nice background music.

Paid a stack of bills including tuition for this semester.  (The happy part here is just checking it off the to-do list.)

Now I am relaxing on the couch, with a moment to blog, and looking forward to sitting still.


Pure bliss.


What does it take for you to have a perfect evening?

simple things

I've been really exhausted lately.  It seems like I can't keep up with anything.  And it seems like I have so much to take care of that I'm almost frozen and can't seem to take the small steps to get big things accomplished.  Is it fair for me to blame it partially on this long, cold winter we seem to be having?

So right now, it's the simple things pulling me through.  The simple things that are bringing joy.

-A weekend of fellowship,worship, and laughter with our youth group and some of my church family for a Youth Conference.
-Having dinner with my hubby and parents tonight at a local Mexican restaurant.
-Sunshine.
-Reading blog posts from you awesome ladies.
-Watching Boone smile when we picked him up from a weekend at his "grandparents".  Yep, our pup smiles.
-A new book I'm reading that I'm positive was an answer to prayers.

How about you? Do you ever have those times where the simple things pull you through?

a checklist

I make lists.  I make lists of lists.  I list like crazy.  And now what am I doing?...listing about listing.  In honor of my love of listing, I am making a checklist of things I plan to do soon to keep my sanity.  Things that I just don't get around to enough anymore that really are a must in life to settle my soul and ease my mind.

-take Boone for a walk (more than just maybe once a week...poor pup)
-read blogs more often...they encourage and inspire me
-comment and encourage you lovely blog friends as you do me.  I'm so thankful for you!
-spend time with my hubby with nothing in the way.  no computers.  no homework.  no papers to grade or drafts to edit. just us.
-maybe go to a pumpkin patch.  pick a pumpkin.  carve a pumpkin.
-"blog ahead" (you know what I'm talking about if you schedule posts)
-read more of my current read...Radical by David Platt
-catch up with a friend (s)
-plan some nice meals instead of just the same ol' ones
-paint.  as in a landscape.  or a portrait.  something...anything to get the artist side of me rolling again.
-spend more time in silence with God
-bake cookies
-make some lemonade and tea for the fridge
-send a card to my brother who's away at college to let him know I think of him and pray for him daily
-soak in every ounce of fun that my 4th grade team has planned for our kiddos the week before fall break.  allow their joy and "carefree-edness" to rub off on me.
-laugh more
-make more jewelry for my etsy shop (to window or "real" shop...see tab at the top of my blog)
-get my hair cut (yay for my appointment tomorrow!)
-plan a fun date or two with my handsome hubby

And the big one...stop putting off things like the ones on this list.

what I'm loving...

Is a blank [work] week in my planner.  Sigh. 

That is enough to overjoy me.  This never happens.  Never.  Usually, I'm having to cram in everything that I need to do/remember in order to fit it in the box.  This is lovely.  I will thank God for this time now...because the reality is that summer break is nearing the down slope and those blank weeks will be absent from my planner in the near future.

Does this sorta thing make anyone else happy?

a nice surprise

This morning I finally started cleaning out my childhood bedroom at my mom's and dad's.  Seriously...I have worked so hard to fight my hoarder tendencies as an adult.  Really, I'm pretty sure it's in my blood.  My old bedroom is full of stuff.  Tons of stuff.  I'm just thankful to get a grip on this hoarder thing after only being in our home a couple years...the main things that are helping me keep perspective on this are:  1) I do not want to leave a house full of stuff for my kids and grandkids to have to go through when I pass down the road.  2) My true treasures are stored in Heaven....and I should be gathering up those treasures...not earthly treasures.  (Now I'm not quite the crazy cat person you see on TLC on reality shows where they have dead cats in their home they didn't know about and a freezer packed with nasty old red meat from five years go. Yeah, I'm not like that.) However, I do know one thing...if I was writing a letter to me as a teen like Brad Paisley sings about...it would include.  "Throw things away.  Only hold on to the true keepsakes that you want to stay in the family.  You're 24 year old self will appreciate it."

Some items I have come across:

-my old Girl Scouts pens

-journal entries pouring my heart out about silly boys that make me laugh at myself now

-pictures, pictures, and more pictures (what do I do with all of those?!)
-clothes, clothes, and more clothes
-cards from Justin
-notes from my mom that she left for my brother and me every morning when she left for work before we were awake in the summer
-my elementary school writer's notebook
-the sash to my wedding dress that has been lying around since we changed to leave for our honeymoon the night of our wedding (two years ago)

I could go on and on....

However, the best surprise that I found was one of these:

image source

Yes, that's right.  A $100 bill.  Still taped to the inside of one of our wedding cards.  I am never that careless with cash.  So I would like to claim this as a true blessing from God...a little, "Here you go, Cait.  I told you that I even take care of the birds of the fields....why you still worry, I don't know.  But here you go.  Here is $100 cash just because.  I will always take care of you.  Always."  (It especially comes pretty timely after Justin and I had just had a conversation that stemmed from my worrying nature and lack of trust of all our recent surprising expenses that have stretched things a little.) God is so good.  I love His little surprises and the way He pours love all over His children. 

I texted Justin a picture of it, still taped in the card.  He enjoyed the surprise too.

Here's to hoping God surprises you in a sweet way today to remind you to trust in Him.

murphy's visit

Justin and I have been homeowners for a little over two years now.  We closed on our little bungalow the spring before our July wedding and moved in right after our honeymoon.  So we have lived in our home for a little over two years.  We've been blessed to not have Murphy (as in Murphy's law of "If it can go wrong, it will") pay us a visit.  However, Murphy finally decided to visit barge through our lovely little front door.  And I totally don't believe the whole "it comes in three's lingo".  In the past couple months....

-our water heater went out
-our ac went out (same day as the water heater I might add)
-our water company notified us of a water leak
-our washer went out last Friday

We're just praying that's the end for a while.  We'll see.  We were very blessed that our lovely washer and dryer had lasted 10 years...it was a hand-me-down from my aunt that then washed many loads of clothes for three girls in our townhouse during college and then moved with me when Justin and I got married.

So, needless to say, this weekend we surprisingly got to shop for a new washer and dryer.  We found a fabulous deal that we couldn't pass up on a combo washer/dryer deal.  Since our lovely little dryer is 10 years old, and seeing that Murphy has seemed to take up residence here....we decided to go ahead with a dryer also.  We are now the owners of some lovely little Frigidaire front loaders that make me excited less whiny about doing laundry.

Things I've learned or re-learned during this whole shebang....

-it really is worth it to be diligent about saving so you have an "emergency fund" for things like this (thanks, Dave)
-ac is very nice....but not a necessity (I guess)
-God provides
-things are just things


Here's to hoping that Murphy gets lost on his way from my home to yours!

farmer's market fun

I have a new guilty pleasure.  It's our local farmer's market.  So wonderful! We recently purchased, Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution.  I knew these books were pretty amazing, but had no idea just how amazing until we bought it and I started reading it cover to cover, literally.  This book has completely changed how I will grocery shop and the specific foods that we will put on our table.  (And let me just add that you will want to buy this on Amazon....much cheaper!)

Some wake-up call bits of information I've learned:
*organic fruits to buy vs. fruits to not worry about buying organic
*specific reasons on why to buy grass-fed beef (wow! cows with stomach ulcers, intestinal issues, etc. for being fed only grain, corn, and animal buy-products....no thank you.  I won't support farmers that do that and I won't allow my family to eat that.)
*poultry with higher fat content than actual protein due to not being free-range and not being exposed to enough sunlight (yes, this is your typical chicken you purchase at the grocery store)

Back to the farmer's market.  We live in a wonderful small town.  Some people would call this the boonies.....that's fine by me.  However, with the crazy growth in this town lately...I'm thinking quite a few people have ventured out to the boondocks to settle down.  This little town booms.  And it especially booms on the weekends.  Last summer Justin and I started going to the local farmer's market that is off of our main street, nestled under the huge trees on our courthouse lawn.  I thought it was neat then.  The food looked yummy.  We enjoyed the atmosphere.  However, this summer...I'm going in with a whole new attitude! Purchasing food here not only helps our these wonderful local farmers....but it also helps out the one body that God so graciously supplied us with here on this earth.

This Saturday morning we met our dear friends, Chad and Cheri, at our local farmer's market.  What a fun way to spend a Saturday morning! Beyond the fun found in these pictures below...I also loved watching young kiddos flock to the sample table where the local farmers were cutting huge chunks of fruits and veggies for sampling.  (Oh my...so good, I might add!) I loved seeing these little sweeties running to eat things so good for them.  It just shows that if it's available and they're exposed.....they'll try it!

baskets of yummies

courthouse lawn

My plan is to buy all our veggies and fruits from the farmer's market this summer....beyond things we don't have in our own garden (we were slow going with our garden this year).  We even purchased some free-range brown eggs.  You can even buy fresh poulty frozen and ready to cook with! Can't wait to try that!

love the vibrant colors...just screams "healthy"

(If you're wondering about trying this out and how it can fit in the grocery budget...all of this cost us $17 [all organic...and the chicken is free-range]....just a few dollars more than what it would cost at the grocery story...not organic.  We felt like it was definitely worth it for the quality of the products and knowing exactly where and how these were grown.  I love knowing our money is going to the "little people".)

Oh how summer is so full of fun things like fresh fruits and veggies and Saturday morning trips to the local farmer's market.  \

Thank you Lord for the sweet gift of summer.

the famous question

Recently I have been getting this question from just about everyone that knows me:

"So...what are you gonna do this summer?"

And really...you can't get the tone of this question through bloggy world.  But know that this question is always asked with a tad bit of a tone...a tone that bugs me to be honest.  But I know that people just care and want to know just what an individual does when they have a couple months where they aren't "working".

Here's what I'm not going to do that so many people seem to think that teachers should do with this time off....take on another job and work because I have this "off" time.  period.

Justin and I are at an understanding that as long as God is blessing us with our jobs the way he is, we're not going to stress each other out by expecting the other one to take on a second job during their "off season."  (Justin has a lot of days off in the winter due to his career being outside.)  Of course this can always change according to God's direction and will for our lives.  But that's where we are right now.  We take this time as blessings where our home is less stressful, we can make money here and there on our little side-hobbies, and it is a gift of time to focus on our relationship and faith.

But now that I'm stepping off my soapbox, I do want to share my little list of "to-do's" or "hope-to's" for this summer...

-make homemade treats for Boone

-explore nearby shelters and non-profits for ways I can serve and places I can bless with some of these freebies and great deals I find

-start an exercise routine....daily walks/jogs with Boone and.....hello 30-day shred

-daily bible reading and studying

-read books from my reading list here

-starting a little writing project that's been on my heart

-start my etsy shop

-add curtains to our living room and bedroom

(can't wait to pass-on this thrifty, adorable idea I have found from another blogger)

-paint our office and kitchen

(the kitchen involves taking down gross wallpaper...any tips out there for me?)

-get away with Justin for a mini vacay

I'm sure I'll add more.  But that should suffice for the "down" time.  Oh my soul is longing for it right now....

8 days!

miscellany monday....yay!

One--We finally decided this weekend to sell my car.  I wrote a letter to it here if you're interested in the history I've had with my car and our little "spiff" right now.  The best part of this....we're not making payments and we're not going in debt for this.  I'll clue you in on all the details on how to get on track yourself to do this once we work through all the details and the new gently used, shiny, automobile is parked in our little bungalow's driveway.

Two--I'm slowly attempting to get over my like obsession of Diet Coke.  I so love the bubbly, fizzy goodness of this drink.  Boo to that nasty fake sugar i'm pumping into my body, though.  I mean really...it causes awful headaches when weaning myself from it...doesn't that say enough in itself about the crud I've been drinking for the last 7 or 8 years of my life? My alternatives....water and unsweetened tea with lemon.  I am convinced I will get my diet to the place I want it to be before trying to get pregnant in a few years...not when we're already there.

Three--My puppy is scared of me.  Seriously.  I am the "meany parent" that gives him his flea and heartworm medication each month.  For some reason now, that's all he thinks I want when I tell him to "sit".  He lowers his ears, tucks his tail between his legs, hunkers down, and fastly walks to the nearest table to get underneath and hide from me.  Used to it was just when I started to get into the cabinet where he knew his medicine was....but now....he associates the word "sit" coming out of my mouth with, "oh no...mean mommy is ready to give me that nasty medicine."  I would probably hide from my mom too if I thought she was going to put nasty oily stuff down the whole spine of my back.  Justin loves this and the fact that he now gives his daddy more loving and has recommended Boone and I take time to really bond this summer and build our relationship back up.

Four--After today, I have 9 days left of teaching this year.  I am beyond ready to let one of my kiddos tear that final link off of our summer countdown paper chain.  I jump for joy inside each afternoon when we take one more off the chain before going to the buses.  Don't get me wrong...I will probably cry like a baby on that last day of school when all of us teachers stand outside and wave to the buses as the kiddos leave us for the summer...because I'll be waving to my first group of kiddos that I have taught for two straight years in a row.  I know them so well and, in a way, I feel like I have sorta raised them during the days the past two years.  We do spend more time in the classroom than at home.  But oh my do I need a time of relaxation and rejuvenation.

Five--I love randoms! And I love that the sweet Carissa at lowercase letters by carissa graham. has opened up her "miscellany monday" to other bloggers out there in bloggy world.  Go check it out and link up too! It's always fun to be a part of a little bloggy party.


Blessings on your miscellany!

because I'm sometimes a follower....

I love reading funny letters that people post on their blogs to "things" that normally you would not write a letter to.  Hence the name of this post....i'm being a follower.  A follower of this idea.  So here goes...

Dear 2002 Honda Accord,

It really makes me sad that you have decided to start shifting funny.  The whole jerking when you shift from first to second thing just isn't cool and often scares me when pulling away from a stop sign or stoplight. You seem to have ignored the fact we have given you first aid for this problem and seem to insist on the fact that your transmission is nearing the end whether I like it or not.  It makes me sad because we've had about five great years together.  Five years of fun times with the windows down and music blaring.  Fun times even on road trips to visit friends.  You've saved me from jumping deer and took the blow...oh, let's say at least three times.  You've safely parked in our awfully steep driveway and haven't complained one bit.  I have taken up for you in discussions on foreign made cars and know deep down you are worth far more than some others think.  However, all of the sudden, when it's just not a great time money-wise or time-wise, you've decided to start putting on a show.  Now, back in the single days, I would have been just fine with this, but you know that I married an American-made loving guy.  A guy that adores Ford and adores anything made here in the US.  I love him for that.  He's even grown to love be okay with driving you and the fact that his name is on the registration of your hunk of metal.  I've fought for you.  I have convinced pacified him to the point of at least pretending he likes you for my sake.  Isn't that enough?

So what do you say? Would you like to put this whole mess behind us and just fix yourself? I know that's not popular in car world...but it would be oh so lovely if you could go against the norm here and go back to your smooth-shifting days.  Although your two-door characteristic causes me concern, I would look past that, and hold onto you for a few more years if you'll just cooperate.  Please take this into consideration.