He-e-e-e-e-e-e-r-e's JOHNNY!!!

Hello friends. Big news this week...I got a new car! He is 2006 Toyota Corolla LE. It's been a month or so without a car and I am so thankful to finally have one again. No more trying to find rides or taking the bus. =)

His name is Johnny. Let me share how he got his name. To start off, his color is described by Toyota as "phantom grey pearl". Don't you just LOVE how they make normal colors sound so amazing? So anyway, the roomates were saying I should name my car after someone in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie (one of my favs) because the ship is called the Black Pearl. We decided to take the car out for a spin and head downtown for a celebratory ice cream at Coldstone Creamery. On our way there, we were trying out names: Orlando (no), Captain (no), Jack Sparrow (no), Barbossa (no), and on and on. Finally someone said "Johnny" after Johnny Depp and hmmmm...that wasn't too bad for a car name.

So we go into Coldstone and were greeted by a friendly male worker. Probably 19 or 20, Coldstone hat with a l-o-n-g ponytail in the back, a black shirt that said "Friends don't let friends buy grocery store ice cream", and SUPER chatty. He was talking and talking with us. So nice and eager to serve. He and the other workers sang for us when we tipped them. We sat down with our ice cream and were still trying to think of a name. (Johnny was still high on the list) Finally, one roomate said we should go out on a limb and just name my car whatever our 19 year old server's name was! I was like, "No way! What if his name is Skippy?!"

Then we went into this whole tirade of guys' names he might be: Hank, Stuart, Rodney, and more. We were cracking ourselves up. Then we had to figure out how to find out his name because he didn't have a nametag on. So boldly I just went, "OK! I'm going to go ask him!!" I walk over while he's ringing someone up for their ice cream and say, "Thanks so much for your help tonight....what was your name?" He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Johnny."

I KID YOU NOT!!!

Out of ALL the hundreds and hundreds of guys' names in the world...his name was Johnny. Not even John. Johnny. It was too perfect. We HAD to name my car that. It was meant to be.

On the ride home we came up with fun ways to use the name Johnny. The "Johnny Rocket!" or "Johnny Angel" and "Johnny Be Goode" (old songs from the 50's) Or our favorite was when I pull up to people's houses I can shout out, "He-e-e-e-e-e-r-e's Johnny!!!" The possibilities are endless.

So there's the story. I've had him for four days so far and I love him already! He drives so smooth! It is quite comparable to how my poor Saturn was driving. And Toyotas last forever, so it will be nice knowing I don't have to worry much about him. When I brought Johnny home, we prayed a prayer of safety and protection around him. That was really cool. It's also cool to think how this car is part of my ministry, too. I drive college students around in my car all the time. On trips, out to lunches or coffee, to meetings, etc. I've had some great talks with students inside my car, too. I am excited for that to continue.

Anyone wanna go for a drive???