What A Difference!!

Man, what a difference 10 years can make, huh?

In the summer of 1996 my parents asked me if I wanted to go get a car. "Um, sure." :) They had gotten me my uncle's '87 Tempo when I was a freshman in college I think (around '93) and I loved that thing. It was my first stick and I got it one Wednesday night and stalled all the way to college and back the next day (a 45 min. commute). :) So funny. There was a really steep hill on campus and I avoided that thing like the plague for a good 2 months. :) Anyhow, the Tempo finally just got to the point where it wasn't trustworthy anymore. My parents asked me what kind of car I would want. I had always wanted a Saturn. It seemed like a great company...I wanted to buy American (I'm patriotic after all) and I mean, hello...barbeques for their customers and everything...how could you go wrong with a Saturn?

We went one day (me, Mama, and Tucker) and when we got to the Saturn dealership I picked my car out immediately. What can I say...I knew what I wanted...gold 4-door stick shift. The only problem was that it didn't have a console, so we had that installed and that made it perfect. It didn't have a CD player either, but in the fall of '97 my friends Brock and Brian installed a 10-disc changer for me, so then it was even more perfect.

I was graduating from college the next May ('97). My parents paid the notes on it until I graduated and got on my feet. I was very thankful for that and for a great car. I got a weekly free car wash from the dealership and yes...I even went to a couple barbeques where we not only got free food, but also door prizes.

My Saturn was oh so good to me. We had to replace the engine once in Phoenix, but that could have been prevented by us really. Then, this past summer at the age of 10, we were going to have to replace the engine again (not sure what happened this time). We decided to just donate her to a missions organization instead.

Crazy the differences in the pictures below...like I said...what a difference 10 years makes.


July 1996...when I was about to drive off in my new Saturn. It really is a "Saturn family" like they advertise. When this picture was taken, everyone at the Saturn dealership had just gathered outside, the saleswoman (Jackie Santora...I just saw her and talked to her last summer...we've talked often throughout the years) had introduced me to everyone and told them that I was a nursing student about to graduate and that this was my first new car, everyone clapped and gave a big hoorah, and then she snapped this snazzy polaroid of me.


July 2006...saying goodbye to our Saturn. Yeah, a husband and 3 kids later (I was pretty pregnant with Asa as you can see). That little Saturn had traveled many miles with me (it had close to 180,000 miles on it)...in those 10 years I had lived in multiple homes, traveled to multiple places, met a multitude of people. Fun stuff.



Thanks little Saturn. You did me right.