Back in th US

Well Maya and I made it successfully back to the United States last weekend. The trip went a lot better than I anticipated, and Maya slept most of the way. Christmas didn't feel like Christmas this year, at least for me anyway. Maybe it was the palm trees of Puerto Vallarta that threw me off. Or that I really wasn't prepared this year mixed with the fact of having to leave the love of my life in Mexico.

This past week has gone by a lot more smoothly as I focused on keeping my mind busy and away from the thought of being away from my husband. And though it has been smooth, it sure isn't easy. I have been struggling to find work (go figure!), and my "savings" have completely diminished.

Oh and I have another surprise: I'm pregnant! Yes. I couldn't believe it either, and this was totally unplanned. So on top of everything else, I have been scurrying around to get medical insurance for my prenatal care for my babie(s). I say "babie(s)", while stressing the "s", because come to find out... since my last, ectopic, pregnancy was a twin pregnancy my chances for another twin pregnancy significantly rises. And my chances of another are 1 in 12! (I'm talking about fraternal, not identical twins) So stay tuned, I will find out if I am having twins in maybe two weeks. I am also planning a Home birth with this pregnancy.

Immigration
So I had planned on sending in my husband's petition before I came back to the states. But it didn't work out that way. I could not find a money order, in English, in US dollars, in Puerto Vallarta. I found one bank that said they used to, but stopped doing it a year ago. So I had to wait until I was in the States to get a postal money order. Since I finally had everything, I mailed in the petition through DHL on December 27th, it was a whooping $78. Ouch. But totally worth it. I then found out yesterday that it made it to Mexico City and was delivered to the US embassy! Yes! Hopefully it will be approved next week or the week after. *fingers crossed*
FYI: I am filing DCF (Direct Consular Filing), which means that I can bypass the NVC stage by sending my paperwork directly to the US consulate in Mexico City because I legally have Mexican residency with an FM2. It also gets approved faster than if I were to send it to a US lockbox.

If you have any questions, please ask in the comment box and I will do the best I can answering any of your questions. I am Not a lawyer!

My Trip to The Dentist..In Mexico [Insert Horror Music Here]

Okay, so it wasn't that bad. Really...


I have a wisdom tooth that took the place of a molar i had lost. So it was my first wisdom tooth. Well now my bottom row of teeth were too full for another, so the second wisdom tooth (for my left side) had no where to go and decided to cause a lot of imflamation and pain. I was tempted to leave it alone to avoid..the dentist..and after 3 days of it bothering me, my husband forced me to go. Darn that caring husband...


So today we headed down to Pitillal to go to a dentist, who is the boyfriend of my sister-in-law. The things you get by knowing people. He checked my teeth out and said i needed an x-ray of the tooth, but that he doesn't do them in his office. So he directed us where to go. After ariving the woman at the desk tell us that this dentist was at home. So she called her and we were told she would be there in 25 minutes. We decided to go ahead and spend that 25 minutes at Martin's families house. We then headed back to the dentist #2 and she started to take x-rays of my mouth. But her machine wasn't working properly. She did nnot charge us, even though she came from home to assist us. She then told us another dentist to go to. We followed her directions and realized that it lead us to dentist #1.. Dentist #1 laughed about this and told us of another dentist around the corner. At dentist #3's office we were able to get the x-ray. We then procceded to go back to dentist #1. He took us to his torture chamber and told us that the wisdom tooth was coming up straight but there was no room. He then asked me something i was not prepared for.. "do you want me to take it out now?".. Are you serious?! I am totally unprepared for this! (was my thought)...But sadly what came out was a measly, "sure". He began working on my mouth and honestly it wasn't bad. At all. I was so grateful. But thenn come to find out, the tooth was really close to the jaw bone. So when it was finally time to pull it out, i swear i thought he wanted my whole jaw to come out with it! Finally it was over. And i gotta say, that sucker was huge! Lol

(These numbers are based on people without insurance)

Minutes spent in a waiting room (US): 15+
Minutes spent in a waiting room (Mexico): 0*
Cost of x-ray (US, i'm guessing): $200+Cost of x-ray (Mexico): $15
Cost of wisdom tooth removal (US): $500+ (per tooth & totally guessing)
Cost of wisdom tooth removal (Mexico): $50

Amount of pain i was in either way: ... priceless

*Seriously, every place i wen't to today, x-rays and dentist, i did 0 minutes of waiting. I don't count waiting for dentist #2 because we left and came back..you can't do that in the US.


This story was not to scare anyone. Please do not make any reference to my use of horror terms, this is simply how i have always veiwed dentists as a child. And sadly i still do. My experience did go better thenn previous ones in the US.

Dear Mr. Onion

Dear Mr. Onion,

I would like to inform you of how much i hate you.

Tonight i had to use you for a dish, and even though i have had to cut you before, i still have no idea how to properly do it. As if that wasn't bad enough, you made me cry like a baby. Or like i do when i watch the happy and sad parts of disney movies'; because the pregnancy hormones from having my daughter forever changed my emotions and still haunt me today. To add to the embarassment of crying over you, litterally, i sliced the tip of my thumb.

Once it was all over, and i added you to the pot, it was to my horror that i needed more of you...

P.S
My dear limes, don't feel left out. I hate you too. After my run in with Mr. Onion, you were sure to add your own fun into the mix. So you squirted my eye with your juices.

I would like to add, that i will enjoy you more then usual tonight as i devour you both.



Love,

Tosha

Think in Pesos!



80 pesos! I'm Rich!

One of the many things i loved about Mexico when i first moved here (2 months ago) was how cheap everything was! I mean come on, $200usd for rent?! Food to feed three mouths $250 usd a month?! It's amazing! Who could complain?


Well.. I guess I can now lol.. Luckily my husband and I had eachother to remind at every turn, "Think in pesos..". It's true. Everything is in fact cheaper here, at least when compared to the US Dollar. But when your earning in pesos, that 2000 peso monthly rent starts looking pretty steep. Especially when your relying on a single income. And savings only last for so long.


It's great for those who have social security checks, or retierment savings, and they can have a decent living in Mexico. Even young expats can. But for me and my family, we're completely starting over here, with a minimal savings. I know that wasn't too smart, but in my defense, i love my husband very much and would rather come from my ownn free will then have him be deported. And hey if life was easy it wouldn't be as much fun.


So for now i will write my blog and pray one day it will bring in income, as my husband works cooking for pesos. Hasta Luego!

Mañana

Over the past two weeks we have moved out of my in-laws and into our own apartment, and have since been making it into our home. In the beginning we had some issues with the kitchen sink, where i learned "Mañana"... Often times when we would wake up in our apartment we'd find the kitchen floor with random water everywhere. It wasn't untill some investigagting that led us to find that the kichen sink was leaking whenever we used it. We told our landlord, Martin's uncle, about the issue and he assured us that in "mañana" he would have somebody come by and take a look at it as well as fix some tiles that were loose on the counter. The next day came and went with no sign of him. When we saw him the day after, Martin brought it up again. "Oh mañana." He replied.. And in mañana.. nothing. I have to admit i was getting a little frustrated, it was to the point he would'nt even say hi so to avoid us mentioning the sink. Finally i decided to take a look at why it was leaking, don't ask me why i didn't do this sooner, and found that the plastic tube (thats usually metal in the US) didnt fit into the hole it went into in the wall. It kept being pushed enough to let water slowly drip out. So we positioned it to where the tube got "stuck" so it would'nt leak. And it worked. So about a week and a half after us telly Martin's uncle, he shows up out of nowhere with another man to fix the tiles. We let him know that we did a temporary fix on the sink, and because it was "fixed" for the most part, he didnt even look at it. Which as long as it works for now i'm fine with that..


If that wasn't enough, we bought a living room set. At a good price and new. So i was very excited about it. And it would be here in 3-5 days. But then those five days came and went. We found the number to give the company a call and found out that they didnt check to see if the had it on the truck that diliveres them to the store, so the soonest we'd get everything is 8 days instead on 5... So for now its another waiting game.


At least i'm exercising my patience...

It's Hot! And Wasn't it Supposed to Rain?

I thought it would be a good idea to move to Puerto Vallarta towards the end of it's summer season for two reasons:

1. We could experience some of Vallarta at its hottest, but only have to deal with it for roughly a month, so we'd have an idea of what we got ourselves into..
Tcfcvvvbk
and 2. So that i could have a chance at all the rain, lightning, and thunder storms (the pics of them i've found are amazing!)

..and my husband and i did discuss this of course (i won..), but now i'm thinking it was a HUGE mistake! The first two days were'nt too bad, and i have no idea what the temps been at but im toasting- wait scrath that! Im steaming in my own sweat here! Lol. But every night it does cool down enough for me to enjoy it's splenders.

The rain... what to say about your obscure tantrams and odd beginings...For starters i think it's funny that on a clear day, it starts to rain, with little to no warning whats so ever. But on another where the skies were covered with grey rain clouds not a drop falls (this day was especially horid..). And today it rainned five times! Not sprinnkles either, but a downpour! And don't even get me started on the mosquitos you bring...

(For anyone traveling down here or moving or whatever, i would go to the nearest pharmacy apon your arival and buy a container of mosquito repelant. Seriously, i look like i have the chicken pox!)

We're Here!

Ok so here's a round up of the last two days.

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta at 4:58pm yesterday. The flight went a lot better then expected with my very hyper toddler. Although i would have prefered going into security a little smoother. Maya decided to go back into security after we had just gonne through it, stopping to drop her baby doll and say hi to the officer. Luckily martin was able to coax her, meaning swoopinng her up as fast as he could, im just glad security was helpful of my runaway baby. Arriving was amazing! We sailed right past everything, security and customs was easy, and we got the green light to go through so we didnt lose any more money for our baggage.
We were greeted by Martin's parents, and drove to their home in el pitillal. Which is a downtown Vallarta suburb. We then proceeded to to have a carne asada dinner with family. At first Maya wasnt sure what to think, and by the end of the night she was asking "bye-bye" windering when we were going to leave. But this morning, to my surprise, she's totally fine! Martin's little brother has taken her as though she were his own sister, and she is loving doing almost whatever she wants with her uncle and cousins. I even swore i heard her say "gato".
Today we went to an aunt's house, it was a lot of fun! More people, and more food! They even had a cake, it was a turtle's birthday! Gotta love Mexico! They celebrate for birthdays, holidays, and everything inbetween! And now we're relaxing at home, so i decided to take some pics!

This is our washing machine! lol We have an actual one, but we use this for dishes and certain clothes. You use the left side to clean, and you use the right to rise of the item. The right is filled with clean water as you need it. (Nothing dirty goes in this side!)

This is a picture of the backyard! It is positioned between the two parts of the house.



Well there you have it! So far so good. But don't worry there will be more to come. With more pictures, and more stories of our everyday life in My Little Puerto Vallarta!



Two Shakes and a Wiggle and We're in PV!

Ok people, we're almost there! 2 and a half more days and we will be flying into Mexico! We've gone through our suitcases several times, once more and I'm sure we'll be set. We left our little apartment in Lake Tahoe exactly a week ago and headed down to my dad's until our flight. So this past week we have been chilling with family and doing any last minute rounding of things we may need. Oh and we also sold our car! That cleared a lot of last minute worries, I was getting scared that we weren't going to sell it by the end of the week.

Our little Maya has kept us on our toes all week! She's growing up so fast, and she has sooo much energy that I really wish she would share! I'm hoping she handles the move well. I have been trying ever since the decision to move, to tell her what was going on. This was especially hard when she saw our little apartment slowly empty. Towards the end we were only occupying the livingroom, besides the uses of the kitchen and bathroom of course. But I'm wondering if all the change is slowly getting to her, she had a nightmare last night were she was kicking and screaming but she was asleep! Eyes closed and everything... But I could be wrong, I could of sworn she was screaming, "is mine bread!". (???). Though I'm sure that she will feel better as soon as we finally arrive and she goes back to her normal schedule.

On another note, as soon as we arrive and I unpack the camera, I will be posting photos and videos of life in Puerto Vallarta. So 'My Little Puerto Vallarta' will get a little more interesting.

An update on the babie(s)

I must apologize for not updating until now. As you may know, i found out in the beginning of July that i was pregnant.
For at least 3 weeks after i found out i was pregnant, I've made a couple different stops at the Emergency Room. The doctors there put me under as a "Threatened Miscarriage" status. During one of my visits a doctor told me that it was probably too early to get a heart-beat on the ultrasound, and that i needed to let nature take its course and i would know if i were to miscarry within a couple days. I was in excruciating pain every other day or so after that visit for a little over a week.


Finally i thought to myself; it might be appendicitis. I decided to go to the ER again. This time, a different doctor, had another ultrasound done and told me he was glad i came in. I was hemorrhaging. What the previous doctor had failed to tell me was that the baby wasn't too early to get a heartbeat from, and he was destined to miscarry. There would have been a heartbeat if the baby were alive at 6.5 weeks. This latest doctor asked me if i had been on any fertility pills. I was in shock and almost laughed at his question. I had been carrying twins. He continued to tell that the baby that was there last week was gone, miscarried; but there was another baby. A baby that was still living and growing in my left fallopian tube, and had caused it to tear. So i had emergency surgery, and at the end of this journey i lost both babies. I wish them both well...




I am truly grateful for such a wonderful husband. He stayed beside me the whole time. With the help of my mom and dad, my DD was well taken care of. This experience has made me feel even more blessed with my life.

Still Counting

I am still counting down the days until our big move. As of today there are 66 days left. The more I say it in my head, the more i don't believe it. It seems surreal to me to think that in just 66 days I will be starting my life; in a different country non the less. And still so much to do... My last day of work is July 22nd, from then till roughly August 28th  I will be selling and getting rid of most of our belongings! and we will then head down to Visalia California to my dad's until our flight on the 3rd of September... 
... All I can say is: Bring It On! haha



On another note, I had my vacation time in June, in which i was able to enjoy a wonderful two week extravaganza! Spending a couple days in Vancouver Canada, B-E-A-utiful!, and then spend a week on the Disney Cruise Alaska! It was a very memorable experience, Thanks Dad!

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.*

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!