Who is Jeep Girl?

Jeep Girl here...

 On this exact day seven years ago I borrowed a red Jeep Wrangler from a friend to surprise someone for their birthday. Before the big birthday surprise, I got to drive the Jeep around for the afternoon. With the top down, radio up and wind in my hair, I experienced a sense of joy. Well, it was really more than that. It was a sense of freedom that I'm not sure I'd ever really felt in my life. I felt brave and almost invincible!

I started to ponder how riding around in a different vehicle could affect my confidence this much. I guess it made some sense. When I put on a pair of high heels I felt sexy. When I wore sunglasses, I felt cool. When I wore hiking boots I suddenly believed I could climb Mt. Everest even though I hadn't been to a gym in years; but I had never put on a Jeep before, and once I did, I realized THIS is what I wanted to feel like every day for the rest of my life.

The same friend I surprised with the Jeep ride, surprised me with a special gift some months later. It was an adventure bag full of things one might use while camping or getting into a little bit of trouble.  🤣 🙊 With it, he wrote a sweet note affectionately addressed to Jeep Girl. While I appreciated the sentiment, I didn't feel worthy of the title. My life had pretty much been the same for the past 10 years, and I didn't see any signs of it changing, but I couldn't get over that feeling of freedom I had in the Jeep. I decided right then and there, I wanted to become a Jeep Girl!

 Shortly after, I looked into purchasing a Jeep, but as you may or may not know, even used ones can cost a pretty penny. It wasn't in the cards for me then, but it's still a dream for my future. I finally realized that I had the ability to make that feeling happen within myself even without the wind in my hair every morning on my way to work.  So, I took some time down by the lake one day to write down who Jeep Girl was to me so I could become the kind of girl who drives a Jeep even if I currently drove a Honda Accord. The most common, boring, albeit dependable car out there. This is what I wrote:

1.  She is full of joy, she laughs a lot!
2. She has great hair, and great skin, and cares about herself.
3. She is carefree, not because she ignores reality, she accepts it but believes it can change.
4. She is caring and thoughtful toward others.
5. She takes big risks.
6. She loves easily and with an open heart.
7. She is generous.
8. She doesn't hold on to grudges.
9. She doesn't judge people. She is a safe place for others.
10. She travels and goes on grand adventures, and she writes about them.
11. Her life is filled with romance whether or not a man is present, because it turns out romance doesn't have anything to do with love.
12. She is happy and peaceful and she makes other people feel that way.
13. She is creative in many ways and is brave enough to share that with the world.

Well, I'd love to say that I jumped right into becoming that person, but truthfully it took me a year to get up the courage to get out of my comfortable box enough to try.  Over the past 6 years, I've made quite a bit of progress on this little list though, and I can honestly say even though I still don't have a Jeep, I am at the very least, an honorary Jeep Girl!

I haven't quite hit all 13 points, but I've had enough adventure to make me feel that feeling of freedom on a regular basis, sometimes daily, and the rest will come with time. :) This blog is meant to help me accomplish #10. She travels and goes on grand adventures and she writes about them. So here I go! I hope you'll come along. Not just in reading, but I hope I challenge your perspective of adventure and inspire you to go after it. Other than making the choice to be a Christ follower, which is actually the grandest adventure of all, becoming Jeep Girl has been the best decision I've ever made.


So who do you want to be?


 XOXO

Jeep Girl