Nathan's Toy

We decided that we don't have enough debt yet, with the new house and the student loans, so we went out and obtained some more debt.

In all seriousness, we didn't just go spend-crazy now that Nate is done with school and making pharmacist salary. Many of you might remember that Nathan was in a bad car accident in February (or March?) of this year and our other car was totaled.

His seat was broken on impact and he was sent flying backward.

These were his glasses after the accident...he's not sure exactly how this happened but thinks that it may have been from the air bag. He was lucky to walk away with some minor bruises and scratches.

Anyway, we tried to last as long as we could with only one vehicle, but planned on buying a second vehicle after we purchased the home.

We also decided that we wanted a truck for several reasons. First, Nate has wanted a truck for close to forever. Second, we like the convenience of being able to haul things (especially with the new house...we've had to get a lawnmower, pool vac, etc. and will need to buy lumber and other things for some projects we have planned). Third, we both like camping and a truck will make that more convenient.

Once we decided a truck was the way to go we got more specific on the details of it. We wanted something smaller to try to get better gas mileage. We wanted something that would hold a carseat for obvious reasons and we wanted a camper shell if at all possible. Nathan did some research on Consumer Reports and found that one of their top ranked small trucks was the 2003 Nissan Frontier. So we just started looking and once we found one that met all our criteria (4 door, crew cab, camper shell) we snatched it up. And I have to say, I am quite the haggler. We talked the guy down pretty good and feel like we got a fair deal. Anyway, it's been fun and Nate is just in love with it...I'm starting to feel a bit jealous, actually. :D