Tickets

So M and I sat down last night and started browsing our ticket/airline options. He was reluctant to spend our money on them, because it had to come out of our savings. I told him not to worry our savings are there for the big move, and eventually we needed to purchase the tickets before prices go up. So after much site surfing we decided to go with Alaska Airlines, we didn't have too many options but Alaska definitely looked like a decent airline. I know 'looks can be decieving' and 'never read a book' by it's cover, but this is one thing that has me REALLY nervous. I have never been on a plane before..And in two weeks i will be taking a trip (riding a total of four planes; two by myself) with my dad, step mom, and three sisters. 
One thing I don't care for with Alaska is that we have to pay for any checked luggage, they offer free first and second luggage if you go to/from Guadalajara or Mexico City but M said that doesn't pertain to the rest of the flights that go everywhere else in Mexico. And since everything we can carry will go into our checked luggage we may have a lot of bags...


On another note i am very cheap..I'm not a strict coupon shopper, but i do plan out the best price i can get, but who doesn't now adays? So i purchased the tickets directly from Alaska's website, looked through the site and found that if we left on a different day that we'd be paying around $150 less per person... I opted for the different date. Which now makes our flight day to September 3rd, instead of the originally planned September 6th. And means i spent only $500, so far, on our flight :)

Giving Notice

I am a phlebotomist at a hospital. Every day i encounter numerous personalities, some of them truly wonderful, and then others who are not so wonderful... So my job can be a blessing or a real pain in the neck, emotionally and physically. And apparently not to many people like being woken up at 5am in the morning to be poked with a needle haha...


So I'm not sure if this is how other hospitals run or not, but my boss posts the schedule way out in advance. This is incredibly helpful when scheduling my daughters daycare, but not so much when deciding when to give my notice. As of right now, May 28th, the schedule is out until almost the end of July.


With much deliberation, i decided to opt out of the usual 2-week notice, and give it way in advance; I tuned in my notice May 25th. This way i don't have to keep my leaving a secret, and they can attempt to hire someone to take my place before i leave. It's a win win


*My last day will be July 31st. I will have the month of August to decide what to do with all of our junk. Then September 6th we will be making our way, by plane, to Puerto Vallarta with just what our suitcases will carry.*

One step closer

So yesterday I just recieved my new california drivers license, and my apostilled documents! I am incredibly excited about this because it means I finally have all of my documents in order! Passports, Birth/Marrige Certificates, The works!
And the process was unexpectingly fast.

How'd I do it [apostille]? I mailed of my documents, original birth cerificate(s) and marrige license, to the secretary of state with a check of $60 ($20 per Document) and a first-class self addressed envelope for extra speedyness ;p and I got my documents after only 1.5 weeks!

What is an Apostille? An Apostille is a legal document that verifys the authenticity of a document. So basically it verifies the signature(s) to prove its a legal document lol.

And these documents can/will be used to legalize myself and my daughter as dual citizens ^_^


Tosha

Some Q&As

I recently received an email that asked about my plans in regards to moving to Mexico. Because of them i decided it might be a good idea to post them here, along with a few other questions to ask myself.

1. Do you plan to work, start a business, or retire? My husband and I are 20 and 21, so we are far from being able to retire. My husband plans on going to a culinary school, working, and then opening his own restaurant. And I plan on possibly teaching English, being a stay at home mom and painting.
2. How many times have you been to PV(Puerto Vallarta)? I have never been to Mexico, which would explain why i am so nervous, but i have always found the culture to have somewhat of an inviting nature. Like what i would experience with my mother-in-law. I lived with her for a little less then a year, but she always had a way of making me feel like her daughter, as with all of my husbands family, i was already family. It is that sense of love and security that i feel in love with, and makes me excited for this journey. I can not wait to meet all of my husbands family in PV.
3. Do you have any concerns for your daughters safety? I plan on taking the same precautions with my daughter as i would anywhere. Though i am excited about the aspect of PV being very family oriented. I have researched a lot about this topic in the PV area and have never heard of anything of which to be concerned, with that in mind and talking to my husbands cousins regarding the safety (especially for children) i am certain it will make an inviting place to live.
4. What are you planning for her education? My daughter will go to public school, and private school when we are able to afford it. And i will teach her English.
5. Are either you or your husband Mexican nationals? My husband is a Mexican national. So we will be completing the necessary documents to adjust my daughters status to a dual citizen and mine to a permanent resident.
6. Are you American/Canadian? My daughter and myself are American

Thanks again to the young man who asked me all of these wonderful questions. If you have any questions feel free to comment and i will answer you as soon as i can.

The Big Decision

My husband and I have had the idea of moving to Mexico for about 2 years, and after much thought we have decided to make the big move. Now I have never been to Mexico, and my husband's last time there, besides being born there, was when he was in the 4th grade. So we will be fairly new to the area, but luckily with the help of his family i think we will adjust. And where will we be moving? Why to beautiful Puerto Vallarta! (at least from what i can see from the pictures) So because it IS Puerto Vallarta we're moving to, it makes the whole idea that much more satisfying

So with limited luggage and financial savings, we will make our way down to pv in September 2011 from California by plane.


Did I mention we have a little monkey? Our beautiful little girl Maya who is 2 years old will of course be taking this great and fulfilling journey with us.

I look forward to sharing our journey and many adventures with everyone!