These boots were NOT made for walking...

I love my cowboy boots. They are perhaps my favorite pair of footwear, but it was a grave lack in judgement to think they would make worthy walking boots. I guess in my mind I rationalized saying that cowboys walk all the time, so I could handle walking to work in mine.
By the time I reached my destination (only about 4 blocks away) my feet were throbbing. Either these boots were not made for walking (and Nancy Sinatra is a liar) or I haven't worn mine enough to break them in...

Either way, my feet hate me today.

Some of you may be wondering why I walked to work at all. Being that I only work 4 blocks from our house, I would like to be able to say it is because I am very self conscience and want to watch my weight in a country that is on average overweight. Unfortunately, I can't say that. Normally I would take the lazy route and drive, but my walking comes out of necessity rather than initiative.

Yesterday I lost a dear friend of mine, Ben. For those who don't know, Ben is (was) my 2001 Nissan Frontier. I bought Ben in August 2004. We had been through a lot of moving and drive-ins.

Unfortunately, it became necessary to sell my beloved truck. We need the money that would go toward his monthly payment to save for Amy's and my future.

In actuality, we'd been trying to sell Ben for a while now. I'll be honest, I'd been reluctant to sell him and my whole heart was not into selling him. Not to mention, we hadn't gotten much response to the various ads we'd placed (autotrader.com, craigslist, etc.)

In the past week though, I fully realized the necessity of selling Ben and, despite my attachment to my truck, I put forth the concentrated effort to sell him. The biggest problem with selling was that I owed more on the loan than the worth of the truck. Lowbook price was lower than my balance (although, not very significantly). Plus, I didn't want to sell my Ben to just anyone, I wanted to give him a good home.

On Monday I received a phone call from David. He seemed like a nice enough guy. I gave him directions to my house, we weren't going to be there, but I told him where the truck would be so he could look at it if he wanted. He didn't end up coming on Monday, but called again on Tuesday and asked if he could come. I told him I would be there and to come by. He came with his dad. Turns out David just returned from a mission... and his brother lived in our ward. It was definitely a small world moment. I drove around the block with him and he afterward he made an offer. It was the lowbook price, which I was kind of expecting. But more than that, I just felt good about this kid. I could tell that Ben would have a good home with him. So, I agreed to sell.

Wednesday I secured financing for the difference between the selling price and the loan balance. Thursday evening David came back with his dad and they took Ben away. It was sad to clean out my belongings from the Ben and remember all the good times we'd had with Ben. Regrettably, He'd never been so clean as he was that day. But, I'll miss him.

One of the pictures that was on the Cars.com ad.

Look closely, you can see Amy taking the picture in the reflection of Ben...