Drumroll....

As I mentioned, Mom and Dad came into town two weeks ago, and while they were here, we decided to FINALLY take care of the dead Mitubishi in the driveway, and I decided that it was time for me to buy my first car. We woke up early on Labor day Monday, and made our way over to the Toyota dealer! We started by looking at used corollas, but within minutes we realized that the labor day sale actually made the new corollas only about 1,000 more than the used ones, so my eyes quickly shifted to the 2008 edition!
We got in the car, and I was in love. It smells new. It looks new. It had 7 miles on it. It's navy (can't go wrong with such a classic color). I've been talking about a navy corolla for at least a year, and every time I see one I'm happy.
So we started driving it, and off we were, with Mom and Dad in the back and Oliver (the salesman) shotgun. We went over to the house to see if lil' cloud would start. We jumped her, and she started running. After about 20 minutes, I tried to back her out of the driveway and made the mistake of turning on the lights and putting her in reverse at the same time, and it was just too much for her, and she went kaput. We gave it one last shot, and she feebly made it back to the dealer (barely). It was a sad departure, but I think that the lil' Mitsubishi recognized the need for change and gave us the opportunity to let her go. :) (hee hee).
A few hours later and a few tough conversations with Oliver I had signed all the papers and we were set to go. The next day I went back and picked her up.
It's so empowering to have a car again. I can drive wherever I want, whenever I want! I also feel so comfortable in being able to offer rides to people and help people out. It's....lovely.
Okay, I'm not saying all of this to toot my own horn (haha) or anything, I really just have been waiting for so long for some of these things, and I wanted to share the good news. In case anyone was wondering, money really doesn't buy happiness. :)