New Van Baby!

We went this morning to look at a new van. Ours is a 2002 Kia Sedona and has just over 120,000 miles on it, needless to say it was time. We decided to hold off on buying until after we went to Florida and back, didn't want to rack up all those miles on a new car. We bought the Kia in Dec 2002 and it was a program vehicle (all we could afford at the time) and it had 18,000 miles on it. In the last 5yrs 3mths we have put over 100,000 miles on it. It has been in an accident, it has been from KY to KS, KY to MA, MA to FL, MA to KS (twice), MA to PA (5times or more), KS to South Dakota, KS to TN (more than a few times), and most recently KS to TN to FL. "Bye Bye" as Aidan named the van when she was 3 has done well for us, but it was time to say goodbye. It wasn't sad, it was a relief. Relief that we were able to get so much use out of it without too many major issues.

Our new van is AWESOME! It's a brand spanking new (36 miles when we drove it off the lot) 2008 Chrysler Town & Country Touring edition van. The only thing I didn't get that I wanted was the DVD system and I will have that put in this summer. I have my Stow N' Go seats, my power doors, power lift gate, power 2nd row and 3rd row vent windows, MP3 plug in, 2nd row captain's chairs (this was a must for me, our old van had two benches and I hated it), and as an added bonus it was the only color they had that I liked, Sandstone.

My MIL was very nice and said I deserve it. Nais said I own a spaceship and now calls me Captain. My mom said I could have bought a house for as much as we spent (yeah 30yrs ago) she clarified and said trailer home and I retorted with "It wouldn't be as nice". I think she is jealous :P We have all (my dad, my mom, my brother, and I) recently purchased new cars, they all bought program and we choose not to (for once I wanted NEW). We all bought Chrysler products, mom has a Dodge Caliber, dad has a Dodge Avenger, and my bro has a Jeep Compass and they all had to pay for their Lifetime Power Train warranty, because we bought new we get it for free. Plus we bought the 5yr 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. We are very competitive in our family (I am not sure if it's unconscious or just unspoken) but we seem to always want to "out do" each other when we buy things.

Example: When we moved here they broke our TV so we bought a 27" LCD TV (it was 2yrs ago before they were cheaper), then that Christmas my mom bought my dad a 34" LCD, then my bro got a 51" projection tv for his b-day, and then we bought a 40" LCD TV this past Christmas. My bro argues that his is bigger and therefore better, but I say mine is better because his screen is not seen clearly at any angle and mine is. My poor dad isn't allowed to have a bigger TV even though he likes mine better than his, my mom won't let him (his barely fits in their TV stand now). So yeah basically we all have some major issues with bigger is better. That's why I am taking Rosy into the jewelry store with me next year and telling the sales person it has to be better than hers, because I have been married longer DAMN IT! :P