Check Out My New Wheels

Sorry this took so long (the battery in my camera has been dead) but as promised this is the post about my new set of wheels and I must say that I LOVE my new car and I feel kind of cool driving around in it.

I have known for some time that I was going to need a new car sooner than later. My old car was a 2001 Malibu and it was pushing 100,000 miles on it and was starting to have some issues that were just getting too expensive to fix. Even before Shawn died we had talked about getting a new car. At the start of last summer Shawn and I said that as soon as I got pregnant we would suck it up and buy a new car. Towards the middle of last summer we started "looking" and pricing out cars that fit our budget. The main car that we looked at was the Saturn Vue. We both like it because it was bigger than a car, but not as big as a van and I have told myself numerous times that I will not drive a van under any circumstance. Anyways as you know we didn't get to buy our new car together.

Since I have been driving a lot back and forth by myself to Youngstown I knew I was going to have to start looking for a new car sooner than later but I wasn't sure how fast I was going to have to move on the project of finding a new car. I also knew that Shawn would not like the fact that I was driving 5 hours in car with 95,000 miles on it by myself. (he was a bit ummm shall we say protective of me) Although I know he is proud of me for learning to travel on my own I also know he wouldn't like the fact that I was driving an older car with "issues". So within the last month or so I started looking and researching cars once again. I really know nothing about cars and neither does anyone in my family so as I mentioned earlier Chris who is Jennie's fiance helped me look for cars and helped me with all the technical stuff that you need to know when purchasing a new car. We first looked at the Chevy Equinox and I really liked the first one we saw. It was a 2005 and had very low miles on it and the price was lower than I was going to pay so that was a good thing. However, it didn't come with a warranty and with my luck I was looking for something that had one. It was also a little older and I figured if I was going to get a new car I wanted it to be at least a 2007. So we decided to keep looking. Then on Monday I went with my friend Lora and her father in law to the local Saturn dealer to look at the Vue's. As soon as I started looking at them I realized that I liked the Vue much more than the Equinox. I took 2 different Vue's out for a test drive. I fell in love with the car while driving it. I don't think I have ever been in a car that has such a smooth ride and it was for sure different than my old Malibu.

After spending what felt like hours and hours and hours in the dealership I left with a final price. WOW is all I had to say. Somehow Lora's father in law worked his magic and I got an exceptional deal on the car. I ended up getting a few different discounts and it put the car just over what I was originally willing to pay. So after taking the car back to Lora's for an "over night visit" I thought about what I wanted to spend to get the car that I really wanted. After talking to my parents back home and my friends we all decided that if I liked the car and had the extra money then I should get what I really wanted. My friends told me that I deserved something really nice for all that I had been through. They also said the same thing about Shawn and the fact that he would want me driving a car that was safe and new. That night I while trying to fall asleep I really thought about what I should do. It was a lot of money and I wanted to make sure that I was ok with everything. I didn't want to ever regret spending that much money for something, and it was the first really big purchase I have had to make on my own since Shawn died. I wanted to make sure it was right and that I was doing the right thing.

I woke up in the morning with a very peaceful feeling about buying the car, so I knew that it was the right choice for me to make. I really had no doubts about it. So on Tuesday afternoon Lora and I made our way back to the dealership so I could buy myself a brand new car. We got to the lot at 2:00 I told the sales guy that I had been working with that I was going to be getting the car. I then filled out some paperwork and was told to come back in a few hours so they had time to work on their paperwork. We returned to the lot at 4:00. For the next hour I signed my name over and over again. Who would have thought that buying a car would require so many signatures! At 5:15 I signed my name on one last piece of paper. The next thing I knew I was the owner of a brand new 2009 Saturn Vue!!!!

Now some details about my car. (like you care, but I'm going to tell you anyways)

*It has OnStar which I think is a great safety feature and it really does make me feel safer driving alone.

*It also comes with 3 months free of XM radio. At first I didn't think I was going to keep the XM service after it expired, but I'm really enjoying flipping through all the stations and I LOVE the 80's and 90's stations. So I just maybe keeping that service.

*The car only had 13,000 miles on it.

*It has a V6 engine (still not so sure what that means, but I think it means it has a lot of power and get up and go...which it does, so I think that is good)

*I can control the radio on my steering wheel. Man I love that feature.

*It also came with all wheel drive and ABS brakes. These were the two features that I knew I wanted to have because Michigan and Ohio winters can be very snowy and slick.

*Other features is that it is fully loaded with every other type of feature you could think of. I'm still not so sure what a few of the buttons on the dashboard do. Guess I will have to take a quick peak at the Owner's Manual.

Now for the pictures (sorry the first two are so small, they are from Lora's Blackberry and I couldn't make them any bigger)

Here I am standing next to the car that I officially owned at this point.

I call this picture "Signing My Life Away" I had no idea that buying a new car involved this much paperwork. I swear to goodness I was in this guys office for almost 45 minutes just signing my name on the dotted line. After I signed the last piece of paper this is also where Lora told me that she was proud of me. She told me that Shawn would be really proud of me too. With that we both sat in the guy's office and shared a few tears.

Here it is my brand new 2009 Saturn Vue XE!!

And here is the front view of the car.

I drove back to Michigan yesterday driving it was the best 5 hours I have had in a car in sometime. The radio is AWESOME, the ride was smooth, there is lots and lots of room inside and it drives wonderfully. I LOVE my new car!! Although this was the biggest purchase I have ever made in my life I must say I feel very good about it and I'm glad I picked out the car that I did and I got exactly what I wanted. I'm also happy because it was the car that Shawn and I originally began looking at, so in a way Shawn helped with the purchase. I also know that Shawn was with me helping me every step of the way and that Shawn is proud of me as well.

So there you have it a few pictures of my new car!


And just because he is just so dang cute here are a few new pictures of Bo as well.

I don't know why he looks so pathetic in this picture. We had just got done playing and he was having a really good time.

Looking up at me, trying to get his treat.