ML: To All the Cars I've Loved Before

Memory Lane ...

I have very specific chapters of my life tied to some very specific vehicles and every time I see one of them on the road, I take a stroll down memory lane.  So today's Memory Lane is dedicated to all the cars I've loved (or not) before:

1. I learned to drive in TX at 16 in a navy blue '89 Toyota Camry.
2. With my parents' help setting up the financing, I bought my first car in TX the summer after my freshman year in college.  It was a used pearl '94 Saturn SL2 with a sunroof and a spoiler and I loved her.  I named her Journey.  I worked all 4 years of college to pay for her as well. She saw me through some COLLLLLLLLD Virginia winters and my carefree college days with only one dramatic breakdown and only 1 and half speeding tickets.
3. After college, I traded Journey in for a newer model car. I set up the financing all by myself this time.  Josh, my new boyfriend, was with me when I bought this car in GA- a brand new gray '01 Toyota Corolla.  
4. It wasn't long til I was BORED with my little Corolla.  About two years later, I was itchin' for a new car, and with my trade-in and a great teacher financing special, I bought car #4 with my husband - a brand new foresty charcoal colored '04 Jeep Liberty.  So. Cool. Looking.  That's where the magic ended though.  I ended up hating this car for about 4 years.  It was quite cramped no matter where you sat in it.  It did have a great 6 cd disc changer.  And like I said, it WAS cool looking.  And this was the car that we brought Noah home in - when it got even more crowded.
5. Finally, in AL just before Anna was born, we were able to trade that bad boy in and get a MUCH roomier, also pretty, brand new black '08 GMC Acadia.  This was an especially fun purchase because it was the first time we were able to pay cash for a vehicle ... thanks to a generous gift from his parents.  Since then, there have been a few growing pains with this vehicle, but now that we don't have to manage giant infant carriers/car seats, those have subsided greatly.  There have been numerous reliability issues with minor things as well, but thankfully GMC has been quick and faithful to correct these things along the way and make amends, thus keeping our business so far.  

Josh has had several cars since we've been together as well.

1. When I met him, he drove a big, black Monte Carlo that he bought from his parents, I believe.
2. Our first year of marriage, he traded that in for a big, beautiful, red, used SMC Sierra truck with heated seats. :)  We didn't have a garage then, so that was a nice touch ... literally.
3. When Josh started working for Pearson a year or two later, he got a company car, so he made the tough call to sell his beautiful truck rather than have us make payments on a vehicle that was never being used.   His first Pearson car ended up being... a white Jeep Liberty.  So we had two of these ridiculous vehicles at the same time.  You can chuckle about this right now.  Ok.  Moment's over.
4. When Josh accumulated enough miles on the Jeep Liberty, they sent him a new car - a black Toyota Camry.
5. When he had accumulated enough miles on the Camry, they sent him a new red, hybrid Toyota Camry.
6. And, as you know, when Josh switched jobs this summer, he had to return that car and we got him a very efficient, very cool, around-town kinda car.  A brand new gray 2011 Hyundai Elantra that we adore almost as much as the fact as this is the second car we have been able to pay cash for ... except this time it was solely cash we saved up ourselves.  We feel like such grownups now. :)

And for once, FINALLY, we don't have our eyes on any other "next car" at all.   I think we are good to go for awhile.