Now we have a car payment.

For a while now we've suffered in the car category. We had older cars (10 and 13 respectively) but we didn't mind because we didn't have a car payment. It was only recently that we thought of getting a new car and that was only because we'd been having tragic problems with our cars. Last Thursday the truck broke down. This wasn't a little break down either, this was a $1300 break down. Derek was driving and the poor thing started smoking and shaking. So we took it to Dave's Automotive (who I highly recommend, they're awesome) and the verdict was that the air conditioning compressor blew up. So with the truck down, we had the van left. That same day the van started giving me whiplash when it was shifting. It seemed like a transmission problem, one that we most likely couldn't and didn't want to afford. So, we decided it was time to have a car payment again.

I've never had a new car before or a newer car either. When I turned 16 I drove my dad's mustard colored truck. Until a certain someone crashed into me while I was going in reverse to pick up a friend who will not be named at this time. Since I totaled their truck, my parents decided to give me the ultimate humiliation, a car my friends and I named "The Green Beast". This car was huge! We could fit about 8 people in there and it was pretty fun to drive too. One day the transmission went out and the beast was no more. After that my parents bought me a car my friends and I named "The Egg". Mostly because it looked like.... an egg. I loved that car. I have some really fond memories that go along with that car. After school, before play practice, my best friend and I would sit out in the car with the stereo turned all the way up, listening and singing along to REM and The Cranberries. I still can't listen to that music without going back to that time. Holy cow, I got sidetracked! So, I had the egg until I got married and then it also died. Wow, I don't have really good luck with cars. After that I had a light blue Nissan Sentra. We traded that in and got the truck and I drove the two door Saturn. I thought I was cool having a sports car...until the kids came along and then I hated it. That's when we got the van. I figured that we'd have more than 2 kids and the van would last forever. I guess I was wrong. So since we needed something reliable we decided to get a new car.

My ultimate dream car would have to be the 2009 Dodge Voyager. It has compartments in the seats, a cooler in the floor, and a computer in the dash. You could live in there! But, it's not really practical in the mile per gallon type of way. When we went looking we decided we would get a car. We only have two kids and we wanted something that got really good gas mileage, since they want an arm and two legs and your first-born child for gas. So on Saturday we headed over to Washington Auto Sales (who I also recommend, very honest) to look at a few cars. LaVon (who I love) showed us a few cars and then said, "or I have a car in the back that I just got off the truck today". We walked around back and I fell in love. It was a 2007 Hyundai Elantra. We took it for a drive and I was definitely smitten. The blinkers worked and the passenger side door opened without getting stuck and there was a sunroof (which Kendal says makes it much better than the van) and an aux output so I could plug my ipod in. Holy cow! Who thinks of amazing things like that? We decided that that was the car for us. We told him that that was the one we wanted and on Monday we picked it up. I couldn't be happier. I'm not thrilled about having a car payment but I feel safer knowing I can get from point a to point b without any worries. And, the gas mileage is great! We put in 5 gallons and went 187 miles. That's approximately 35.5 miles per gallon! I'm amazed that's even possible. Here's the newest car I've ever had in my life!

What? I can plug my ipod in here and the music
comes out through the speakers? How ingenious!

A sunroof? What's that?
Oh, it's for you to stick your head through?
I completely understand now.