25 Things you may or may not know about me.
So I did this for a friend of mine on face book and decided since I took the time to type it up I might as well put it on here also. Have fun.
1. The most important goal in my life is that when I die, I get to hear God say, “Well done.”
2. I moved to Mexico because I feel God told me to do it. No because of loe or family or any other reason (I think these are good reasons just not mine.)
3. Im most at peace while reading or writing and hearing my daughter laugh at my husband in the background.
4. Almost every day Mexico frustrates, and exhausts me and then amazes and energizes me.
5. I wonder often why Im here on this earth and why Iv ever been where I was at the time. I know life has a higher purpose that will always allude us and that we wont get to know the truest of until were dead. But its fun to try and figure it out while alive.
6. I love tidiness and punctuality both of which a lot of people close to me lack.
7. I miss the smile on patients’ faces when Iv helped them with my actions, touch, smile or words. And I miss sticking people for IV’s, but that’s all I miss about work.
8. My husband melts me when he tells me I am the love of his life
9. I have picked up backing, I find the challenge it brings me calming, and getting it perfect is rewarding.
10. Im a slight perfectionist in everything I do. I didn’t realize this until I was about 19, because before that I was to stoned to notice. (My husband would make me take the slight off the first sentence. I drive him nuts with it sometimes. lol )
11. I love finding and watching interesting movies that are just well made or haven’t been seen or heard of by most people. Recent example is The Fall.
12. No one has ever made me laugh more hysterically (since a child) than my husband and now my daughter.
13. Alana is the most beautiful ting Iv ever seen in my life and I often wonder how you can feel this way for more than one child. (I shall soon find out.)
14. I love fruit, cheese, and chocolate of all kinds and no not together as my husband would tell you I do.
15. I keep a journal of my life events, feelings, thoughts, and spiritual journey and have since I was 15. I burned my first journal at 15 and this is one of the greatest regrets of my life.
16. I was never a girl to dream of my wedding day and plan it out. (Only that I wanted to be barefooted and I was.) But my wedding was like a fairy tale and was exactly what I would have dreamed of if I had.
17. With in the 1st 2months of dating my husband I head butted him for saying something mean and farted on his lap to see his reaction. He married me anyway. Lol
18. It angers me in the middle of the night to hear my husband snore because I know it means hes getting sleep and Im not.
19. I sometimes struggle with not staying in the present and either trying to plan or worry about the future.
20. A lot of these things my husband is the exact opposite of me. Examples are numbers 6,7,10,15,19,21
21. When catastrophe strikes I somehow always stay calm and collected and this is when I think most clearly. Usually my mind is kinda fuzzy (which is why I want everything in order).
22. I love to read to Alana, play educational games and give her experiences that will broaden her perspective on life. Yes she’s only 2 but she is so smart and picks so much up already.
23. The dearest person to my heart next to my husband and daughter is Shawndra (my sister). NO one else has done more for me physically, spiritually or emotionally. She has made me a better person.
24. My couch is still always open to loved ones even though its in Mexico.
25. My husband and I love to let Alanas imagination take off. If she says there is a piggy in my floor, then there is and we go and pet it.
Monday, February 23, 2009
25 things about me
25 Things you may or may not know about me.
So I did this for a friend of mine on face book and decided since I took the time to type it up I might as well put it on here also. Have fun.
1. The most important goal in my life is that when I die, I get to hear God say, “Well done.”
2. I moved to Mexico because I feel God told me to do it. No because of loe or family or any other reason (I think these are good reasons just not mine.)
3. Im most at peace while reading or writing and hearing my daughter laugh at my husband in the background.
4. Almost every day Mexico frustrates, and exhausts me and then amazes and energizes me.
5. I wonder often why Im here on this earth and why Iv ever been where I was at the time. I know life has a higher purpose that will always allude us and that we wont get to know the truest of until were dead. But its fun to try and figure it out while alive.
6. I love tidiness and punctuality both of which a lot of people close to me lack.
7. I miss the smile on patients’ faces when Iv helped them with my actions, touch, smile or words. And I miss sticking people for IV’s, but that’s all I miss about work.
8. My husband melts me when he tells me I am the love of his life
9. I have picked up backing, I find the challenge it brings me calming, and getting it perfect is rewarding.
10. Im a slight perfectionist in everything I do. I didn’t realize this until I was about 19, because before that I was to stoned to notice. (My husband would make me take the slight off the first sentence. I drive him nuts with it sometimes. lol )
11. I love finding and watching interesting movies that are just well made or haven’t been seen or heard of by most people. Recent example is The Fall.
12. No one has ever made me laugh more hysterically (since a child) than my husband and now my daughter.
13. Alana is the most beautiful ting Iv ever seen in my life and I often wonder how you can feel this way for more than one child. (I shall soon find out.)
14. I love fruit, cheese, and chocolate of all kinds and no not together as my husband would tell you I do.
15. I keep a journal of my life events, feelings, thoughts, and spiritual journey and have since I was 15. I burned my first journal at 15 and this is one of the greatest regrets of my life.
16. I was never a girl to dream of my wedding day and plan it out. (Only that I wanted to be barefooted and I was.) But my wedding was like a fairy tale and was exactly what I would have dreamed of if I had.
17. With in the 1st 2months of dating my husband I head butted him for saying something mean and farted on his lap to see his reaction. He married me anyway. Lol
18. It angers me in the middle of the night to hear my husband snore because I know it means hes getting sleep and Im not.
19. I sometimes struggle with not staying in the present and either trying to plan or worry about the future.
20. A lot of these things my husband is the exact opposite of me. Examples are numbers 6,7,10,15,19,21
21. When catastrophe strikes I somehow always stay calm and collected and this is when I think most clearly. Usually my mind is kinda fuzzy (which is why I want everything in order).
22. I love to read to Alana, play educational games and give her experiences that will broaden her perspective on life. Yes she’s only 2 but she is so smart and picks so much up already.
23. The dearest person to my heart next to my husband and daughter is Shawndra (my sister). NO one else has done more for me physically, spiritually or emotionally. She has made me a better person.
24. My couch is still always open to loved ones even though its in Mexico.
25. My husband and I love to let Alanas imagination take off. If she says there is a piggy in my floor, then there is and we go and pet it.
So I did this for a friend of mine on face book and decided since I took the time to type it up I might as well put it on here also. Have fun.
1. The most important goal in my life is that when I die, I get to hear God say, “Well done.”
2. I moved to Mexico because I feel God told me to do it. No because of loe or family or any other reason (I think these are good reasons just not mine.)
3. Im most at peace while reading or writing and hearing my daughter laugh at my husband in the background.
4. Almost every day Mexico frustrates, and exhausts me and then amazes and energizes me.
5. I wonder often why Im here on this earth and why Iv ever been where I was at the time. I know life has a higher purpose that will always allude us and that we wont get to know the truest of until were dead. But its fun to try and figure it out while alive.
6. I love tidiness and punctuality both of which a lot of people close to me lack.
7. I miss the smile on patients’ faces when Iv helped them with my actions, touch, smile or words. And I miss sticking people for IV’s, but that’s all I miss about work.
8. My husband melts me when he tells me I am the love of his life
9. I have picked up backing, I find the challenge it brings me calming, and getting it perfect is rewarding.
10. Im a slight perfectionist in everything I do. I didn’t realize this until I was about 19, because before that I was to stoned to notice. (My husband would make me take the slight off the first sentence. I drive him nuts with it sometimes. lol )
11. I love finding and watching interesting movies that are just well made or haven’t been seen or heard of by most people. Recent example is The Fall.
12. No one has ever made me laugh more hysterically (since a child) than my husband and now my daughter.
13. Alana is the most beautiful ting Iv ever seen in my life and I often wonder how you can feel this way for more than one child. (I shall soon find out.)
14. I love fruit, cheese, and chocolate of all kinds and no not together as my husband would tell you I do.
15. I keep a journal of my life events, feelings, thoughts, and spiritual journey and have since I was 15. I burned my first journal at 15 and this is one of the greatest regrets of my life.
16. I was never a girl to dream of my wedding day and plan it out. (Only that I wanted to be barefooted and I was.) But my wedding was like a fairy tale and was exactly what I would have dreamed of if I had.
17. With in the 1st 2months of dating my husband I head butted him for saying something mean and farted on his lap to see his reaction. He married me anyway. Lol
18. It angers me in the middle of the night to hear my husband snore because I know it means hes getting sleep and Im not.
19. I sometimes struggle with not staying in the present and either trying to plan or worry about the future.
20. A lot of these things my husband is the exact opposite of me. Examples are numbers 6,7,10,15,19,21
21. When catastrophe strikes I somehow always stay calm and collected and this is when I think most clearly. Usually my mind is kinda fuzzy (which is why I want everything in order).
22. I love to read to Alana, play educational games and give her experiences that will broaden her perspective on life. Yes she’s only 2 but she is so smart and picks so much up already.
23. The dearest person to my heart next to my husband and daughter is Shawndra (my sister). NO one else has done more for me physically, spiritually or emotionally. She has made me a better person.
24. My couch is still always open to loved ones even though its in Mexico.
25. My husband and I love to let Alanas imagination take off. If she says there is a piggy in my floor, then there is and we go and pet it.
Mexico Baby Shower??????
Well the fiesta was supposed to be a split party for his grandmas’ birthday and my baby shower. His sister planned it this way so more family would be in town. In true Mexican fashion the one who planned it this way didn’t come into town (do to finances, which is understood). So we ate lovely of course and sang to his grandma. Then about 3 hours later they sat me at the head of the table and gave me a few gifts. It was all stuff we needed so it helped us out. They also have a couple bags of hand me down cloths which will help out greatly. But no games or anything because like I said the planner wasn’t there. But it was a fun day. Also right before I started to open presents someone showed up with a kitten and said they knew my husbands’ aunt would take it in. So Alana was given a kitten. We had planned on getting her a bunny or something anyway this next coming week to help her get use to being gentler and us instructing her on how to take care of it. This cat is so tiny it can’t be more than a couple months old, it can hardly walk strait yet. But it des seem to be drinking out of a small bowl ok and eating cat food that we soak in milk so it should survive if Alana doesn’t kill it first. Yes the most exciting part of the fiesta for me was to get the cat. He’s all black which is what I always want in a cat, I had one before I left the states and had to leave him with a friend due to issues getting him over here and not know if we would even be able to adjust with it. So my husband is now making a tiny litter box for the new kitten. I’m not sure how long to wait before expecting him to actually use it because he is so young. He is definitely helping Alana understand what babies are like because he sleeps a lot and when awake just wants to eat. He only gets playful for a bit then is tired again. So we have tons to still get for the baby and for me after the baby but are hoping that my tax money from last year will help us to take care of this. Sorry no fun baby shower stories but Iv found to never expect what you expect down here. Usually things never work out the way you plan, if you plan, but they also don’t usually turn out badly so its ok.
Expectations
Net- expectations
I actually had some time the other day to read some blogs, two of which are from women in my situation. You see living in Mexico and working for an American company, or living off US dollars and living in Mexico and working for pesos and truly knowing this is where you are to live now, are two totally different situations. Both of these women happened to be writing basically about expectations of life and how when you really look at what counts being here is ok. I realized the other day when napping with my husband that I’m actually happy. Seriously if you knew me before I came you would know I kept a good attitude about the move. But inside I knew I was doing it because it’s what God wanted me to do, and I always wondered if I was truly going to be happy. You see I had built my dreams in the states; I had my dream job of being a nurse, my house, my car, ext. But I was also sad, lonely and felt out of place without my husband and the man I know God has me to be with. I also was stressed to the max seeing my daughter kiss a computer screen and trying to play feed her Papi through a web cam. So we packed up and came, so far I have just been trying to adjust and hadn’t taken a whole lot of time to see how I was feeling about living here. But I know now that I’m happy, not sad, not stressed, and not angry anymore. Sure we are tighter than I’ve been since college on money but who in the world isn’t right now. I look around sometimes at the differences in what my kids will grow up in here and it really is ok. As long as I stress how important school is and keep them homeschooled well on their English and American history and lit. they will have no trouble to go to college in the states. I’ve always known that what goes on at home means so much more than what goes on at school or at church and now my life will be that example. So this post is just to say that I’m happy and have just realized it.
I actually had some time the other day to read some blogs, two of which are from women in my situation. You see living in Mexico and working for an American company, or living off US dollars and living in Mexico and working for pesos and truly knowing this is where you are to live now, are two totally different situations. Both of these women happened to be writing basically about expectations of life and how when you really look at what counts being here is ok. I realized the other day when napping with my husband that I’m actually happy. Seriously if you knew me before I came you would know I kept a good attitude about the move. But inside I knew I was doing it because it’s what God wanted me to do, and I always wondered if I was truly going to be happy. You see I had built my dreams in the states; I had my dream job of being a nurse, my house, my car, ext. But I was also sad, lonely and felt out of place without my husband and the man I know God has me to be with. I also was stressed to the max seeing my daughter kiss a computer screen and trying to play feed her Papi through a web cam. So we packed up and came, so far I have just been trying to adjust and hadn’t taken a whole lot of time to see how I was feeling about living here. But I know now that I’m happy, not sad, not stressed, and not angry anymore. Sure we are tighter than I’ve been since college on money but who in the world isn’t right now. I look around sometimes at the differences in what my kids will grow up in here and it really is ok. As long as I stress how important school is and keep them homeschooled well on their English and American history and lit. they will have no trouble to go to college in the states. I’ve always known that what goes on at home means so much more than what goes on at school or at church and now my life will be that example. So this post is just to say that I’m happy and have just realized it.
Finaly Done with FM2 until Dec
Yesterday we made our last trip to Guadalajara for awhile. Let me tell you I am not a city girl. Yes I know I lived in St. Louis for 5 or 6 years but for the majority of that time I was in North County and didn’t go into the city unless I needed to.
Our first stop was to the immigration building to pick up my FM2 booklet. It looks like a brown passport and has the most horrible picture of me in it that I think I’ve ever taken. But hey what are ID pictures for but to laugh at right? As soon as we got off the elevator on the floor we needed Alana recognized the place and begged to leave. Thankfully we only had to stand in line for about 15 min or so long enough for her to eat a candy bar. lol I gave the lady my papers from the last trip there and she brought out my papers. I had to sign and date about 5 pieces of paper and the booklet, and then I had to put my right and left thumbprint on about 3 pieces of paper and just my right thumb print into the booklet. The thumbprint is done a little different here. Its nothing to big but it is different. If you have ever had to get fingerprints done in the states you know they make you roll your finger a bit to be sure they get the whole print, they do this even with the digital image ones that they have now. But when I went to roll my thumb on the paper she stopped me and said just to lay my thumb on the paper, I didn’t even have to squish it. I always thought the rolling thing was excessive so I was glad about this. Then it was done she sent me off with my booklet and I don’t think Iv felt that relieved in a long time. I’m now legal until December of 2009, they start from the date that you originally start any paperwork. So we have been going back and forth since December, but if you have ever done any immigration stuff with the states you know this is nothing.
We had 2 hours to kill before we could go into the embassy so we found somewhere to eat and took our time with it. Then after finding the embassy we napped in the car for an hour. It didn’t take us to long to find it and only a few turn abounds but by now we were pretty beat and sick of being in the city.
The embassy is far from convenient. My husband and daughter opted to wait outside and I left everything but my papers, ID, and money in my purse in the car. The restrictions for going in are worse than going into the airport, and no I’m not exaggerating. For example; no remote control-including car remote controls, no electrical devises at all-including cell phones, One pill of medication, no liquids ext. The list was pretty lengthy and could really be considered a ride variety of things like at one point it says no sharp objects. I understand this is for safety but I’m not looking forward to going back when I have to get the babies paperwork done because you can’t bring anything in. I’m just gonna have to be sure I’m still nursing at that time. We were going there for a notary which they only due mon-thur from 2-3pm. So you have to show up at like 10 till 2 and stand in line outside. There are 2 lines one for Mexicans and one for anyone else. They admit one person from one line then one person from the other line every few min. I have no idea what they were waiting on between people because when you get inside they give you a number no matter why your there. Then a lady calls out the numbers and asks why your there. At this time she says ok sit back down and someone will call you. OMG you have got to be kidding me, ok remember your dealing with the wonderful US gov now. I’m proud of the US for a lot of things but come on this is crazy. Anyway after about 30 min in there I managed to get my notary done and was on my way out to look for my daughter and husband.
Then we celebrated by going to the Zoo. We had a blast there and its actually a really nice Zoo and the animals have great landscape to live on. Alana loved the herpateriem (sorry for spelling here not sure on it) and her favorite animal was the bears. This of course made me so happy because I love bears and always have. We stayed there for two hours then took our tired buts back 2hours to our small town and crashed. We are so glad to be back to Smallville. lol So for all you city people out there in Guad we hope to see you next time but it will prob not be until my sister comes for her vacation in June. And I think at that time we are going to do one of those tour buss things so we don’t have to mess with the traffic. Any ideas on those things??
Our first stop was to the immigration building to pick up my FM2 booklet. It looks like a brown passport and has the most horrible picture of me in it that I think I’ve ever taken. But hey what are ID pictures for but to laugh at right? As soon as we got off the elevator on the floor we needed Alana recognized the place and begged to leave. Thankfully we only had to stand in line for about 15 min or so long enough for her to eat a candy bar. lol I gave the lady my papers from the last trip there and she brought out my papers. I had to sign and date about 5 pieces of paper and the booklet, and then I had to put my right and left thumbprint on about 3 pieces of paper and just my right thumb print into the booklet. The thumbprint is done a little different here. Its nothing to big but it is different. If you have ever had to get fingerprints done in the states you know they make you roll your finger a bit to be sure they get the whole print, they do this even with the digital image ones that they have now. But when I went to roll my thumb on the paper she stopped me and said just to lay my thumb on the paper, I didn’t even have to squish it. I always thought the rolling thing was excessive so I was glad about this. Then it was done she sent me off with my booklet and I don’t think Iv felt that relieved in a long time. I’m now legal until December of 2009, they start from the date that you originally start any paperwork. So we have been going back and forth since December, but if you have ever done any immigration stuff with the states you know this is nothing.
We had 2 hours to kill before we could go into the embassy so we found somewhere to eat and took our time with it. Then after finding the embassy we napped in the car for an hour. It didn’t take us to long to find it and only a few turn abounds but by now we were pretty beat and sick of being in the city.
The embassy is far from convenient. My husband and daughter opted to wait outside and I left everything but my papers, ID, and money in my purse in the car. The restrictions for going in are worse than going into the airport, and no I’m not exaggerating. For example; no remote control-including car remote controls, no electrical devises at all-including cell phones, One pill of medication, no liquids ext. The list was pretty lengthy and could really be considered a ride variety of things like at one point it says no sharp objects. I understand this is for safety but I’m not looking forward to going back when I have to get the babies paperwork done because you can’t bring anything in. I’m just gonna have to be sure I’m still nursing at that time. We were going there for a notary which they only due mon-thur from 2-3pm. So you have to show up at like 10 till 2 and stand in line outside. There are 2 lines one for Mexicans and one for anyone else. They admit one person from one line then one person from the other line every few min. I have no idea what they were waiting on between people because when you get inside they give you a number no matter why your there. Then a lady calls out the numbers and asks why your there. At this time she says ok sit back down and someone will call you. OMG you have got to be kidding me, ok remember your dealing with the wonderful US gov now. I’m proud of the US for a lot of things but come on this is crazy. Anyway after about 30 min in there I managed to get my notary done and was on my way out to look for my daughter and husband.
Then we celebrated by going to the Zoo. We had a blast there and its actually a really nice Zoo and the animals have great landscape to live on. Alana loved the herpateriem (sorry for spelling here not sure on it) and her favorite animal was the bears. This of course made me so happy because I love bears and always have. We stayed there for two hours then took our tired buts back 2hours to our small town and crashed. We are so glad to be back to Smallville. lol So for all you city people out there in Guad we hope to see you next time but it will prob not be until my sister comes for her vacation in June. And I think at that time we are going to do one of those tour buss things so we don’t have to mess with the traffic. Any ideas on those things??
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Hello out there
This is just a blog to try and get in contact with a few gals whose blogs Iv been reading and would love to comment to. Refried Dreams and Girls+3 I cant seem to figure out how to leave you comments. You may have it set up this way for a reason but Id love to get in contact let me know how. :)
Friday, February 6, 2009
FM2 almost done
Net-FM2 almost done
We headed out Wed morning around 7am towards Guadalajara, and got to the office around 930 right after it opened. It took us a bit to find parking because there was a market on the street we usually park on. But our trip there is getting smother because we are familiar with that section of the city now. I was so proud of our daughter we just started potty training a couple weeks ago and she waited until we got there to go to the bathroom. No wet pants all day. Again as we are walking to the building I realize I don’t have everything we think we need. I had forgotten the paper they gave me that proved that I had indeed applied for the FM2. My stomach sank and my husband was a bit upset also, not at me just at the fact that it happened. Being 7months pregnant and worrying about getting everything else together was my excuse but it didn’t change the obvious, we didn’t have the paper. But I kept cool, actually cooler than my husband for a change, because the time I forgot my passport they were so cool about it. We actually only had to wait in line for about 30 or 40min before we got the window and he told the lady why we were there and that all I had was my passport. She grimaced a bit but not to much and asked for my passport. After looking at the computer a min she turned toward file cabinet. I literally out loud, with hands in the air, said “Shes going to the cabinet.” Relief showed on Issacs face and he smiled at my reaction. She pulled out a stack of papers, the ones we had turned in previously, that were joined by nothing more than one of those big clips at the top. The first two papers where identical printed sheets stating that we had been approved and stamped with a seal. She had me sign and date both of them and directed us to the information window. We then got in line there and thankfully it was not that long yet either. The lady at this window gave us a list of items we needed to get and turn in with in 10 days. Due to the baby coming soon we decided to get it all done that day and she told us where we could go close to the building to get all the items we needed. Conveniently on the street right behind the office was set up a little place that did all the necessary stuff in one little place, not just for FM2s but even stuff like hunting lic. These people probably make a killing for doing next to nothing. Here is what we needed and the prices for it all:
-We made our copies at the immigration office but later realized we could have done it at the same place we did the applications. They wanted 2 copies of the first page of my passport, and 2 copies of the affirmation sheet that I mentioned they gave me. We also had to turn in the original so we made an extra copy for ourselves. This totaled $6p.
-they had given us 2 applications which had to be filled out by typewriter only. No you cannot get the form on line, fill it out and print it off. It has to be the ink from the typewriter. This is absolutely crazy to me but what ever we did it. The lady sat down behind her desk and with a carbon sheet between the two forms filled it out with my husband answering most of the questions. Most of which were name and address info, what I looked like, my profession.
-4 frontal pictures and 2 side view pictures. No ear rings or jewelry of any kind, and no glasses.) This is irrelevant but because of the move I needed so badly to wax my eyebrows and Im prego with a fat face and my hair was in a pony tail due to the car trip. I look horrible in the pics. Lol Good thing I have to renew in one year.
-The pics and forms being filled out cost us $130p
-We then walked to the bank to pay the two fees, which were $2,500p and $660p (the bank doesn’t charge for the service). The immigration office had given us two forms that we had to put my name on to give to the bank so they knew exactly what we were paying. You sign two receipts that they keep and they give you two receipts to take back to the office with your other paperwork. But when we went to turn it in she had us make copies of the receipts and let us keep the originals.
And that’s all they needed by this time it was only about 1130 and we had to get a number and wait for our turn to turn in our documents. This was the long part although it only took a little over and hour. We have found its best to get in there early, we were number 29 and they were on like 15 when we got our number so it wasn’t bad. After turning in all our stuff at the window the lady gave us a different affirmation sheet saying we had in fact turned all this in and that we could come back to get my actual FM2 document in 10days and no more than 3 months from then. This form also makes me legal. By now it was almost 1pm and we were hungry. We had planned on checking into getting the approval for a Mexican wedding while there but decided we will do that next time we got to pick up my FM2.
We then got to go to McDonalds (we decided next time its Burger King again, MicyD’s sucks), but Alana had fun playing. And we went to Wal-Mart both of which were a treat because there are none where we live. After getting home my husband had to go to work until midnight because his job is crazy like that. (It was suppose to be his day off)
So, Im legal and will soon have proof of it. The FM2 is good for a year we have to renew it three times and on the third time we apply for permanent residency. Someone at the civil office here mentioned that after we do the marriage in Mexico thing I could get duel citizenship with that but she was a little confused about some other stuff we asked her so were not sure we believe her. We are going to get the Mexico marriage lic though to make any future paperwork easier and because my husbands work will give him 2 days off work and a small bonus for getting married.
Hope this info is helpful, or interesting to some.
Thanks for reading.
We headed out Wed morning around 7am towards Guadalajara, and got to the office around 930 right after it opened. It took us a bit to find parking because there was a market on the street we usually park on. But our trip there is getting smother because we are familiar with that section of the city now. I was so proud of our daughter we just started potty training a couple weeks ago and she waited until we got there to go to the bathroom. No wet pants all day. Again as we are walking to the building I realize I don’t have everything we think we need. I had forgotten the paper they gave me that proved that I had indeed applied for the FM2. My stomach sank and my husband was a bit upset also, not at me just at the fact that it happened. Being 7months pregnant and worrying about getting everything else together was my excuse but it didn’t change the obvious, we didn’t have the paper. But I kept cool, actually cooler than my husband for a change, because the time I forgot my passport they were so cool about it. We actually only had to wait in line for about 30 or 40min before we got the window and he told the lady why we were there and that all I had was my passport. She grimaced a bit but not to much and asked for my passport. After looking at the computer a min she turned toward file cabinet. I literally out loud, with hands in the air, said “Shes going to the cabinet.” Relief showed on Issacs face and he smiled at my reaction. She pulled out a stack of papers, the ones we had turned in previously, that were joined by nothing more than one of those big clips at the top. The first two papers where identical printed sheets stating that we had been approved and stamped with a seal. She had me sign and date both of them and directed us to the information window. We then got in line there and thankfully it was not that long yet either. The lady at this window gave us a list of items we needed to get and turn in with in 10 days. Due to the baby coming soon we decided to get it all done that day and she told us where we could go close to the building to get all the items we needed. Conveniently on the street right behind the office was set up a little place that did all the necessary stuff in one little place, not just for FM2s but even stuff like hunting lic. These people probably make a killing for doing next to nothing. Here is what we needed and the prices for it all:
-We made our copies at the immigration office but later realized we could have done it at the same place we did the applications. They wanted 2 copies of the first page of my passport, and 2 copies of the affirmation sheet that I mentioned they gave me. We also had to turn in the original so we made an extra copy for ourselves. This totaled $6p.
-they had given us 2 applications which had to be filled out by typewriter only. No you cannot get the form on line, fill it out and print it off. It has to be the ink from the typewriter. This is absolutely crazy to me but what ever we did it. The lady sat down behind her desk and with a carbon sheet between the two forms filled it out with my husband answering most of the questions. Most of which were name and address info, what I looked like, my profession.
-4 frontal pictures and 2 side view pictures. No ear rings or jewelry of any kind, and no glasses.) This is irrelevant but because of the move I needed so badly to wax my eyebrows and Im prego with a fat face and my hair was in a pony tail due to the car trip. I look horrible in the pics. Lol Good thing I have to renew in one year.
-The pics and forms being filled out cost us $130p
-We then walked to the bank to pay the two fees, which were $2,500p and $660p (the bank doesn’t charge for the service). The immigration office had given us two forms that we had to put my name on to give to the bank so they knew exactly what we were paying. You sign two receipts that they keep and they give you two receipts to take back to the office with your other paperwork. But when we went to turn it in she had us make copies of the receipts and let us keep the originals.
And that’s all they needed by this time it was only about 1130 and we had to get a number and wait for our turn to turn in our documents. This was the long part although it only took a little over and hour. We have found its best to get in there early, we were number 29 and they were on like 15 when we got our number so it wasn’t bad. After turning in all our stuff at the window the lady gave us a different affirmation sheet saying we had in fact turned all this in and that we could come back to get my actual FM2 document in 10days and no more than 3 months from then. This form also makes me legal. By now it was almost 1pm and we were hungry. We had planned on checking into getting the approval for a Mexican wedding while there but decided we will do that next time we got to pick up my FM2.
We then got to go to McDonalds (we decided next time its Burger King again, MicyD’s sucks), but Alana had fun playing. And we went to Wal-Mart both of which were a treat because there are none where we live. After getting home my husband had to go to work until midnight because his job is crazy like that. (It was suppose to be his day off)
So, Im legal and will soon have proof of it. The FM2 is good for a year we have to renew it three times and on the third time we apply for permanent residency. Someone at the civil office here mentioned that after we do the marriage in Mexico thing I could get duel citizenship with that but she was a little confused about some other stuff we asked her so were not sure we believe her. We are going to get the Mexico marriage lic though to make any future paperwork easier and because my husbands work will give him 2 days off work and a small bonus for getting married.
Hope this info is helpful, or interesting to some.
Thanks for reading.
The move
Wow that was stressful.
We found an apartment that was open and in our price range last week. We have been looking for something cheaper for some time now in order to reach a workable budget. Im not sure if its like this everywhere in Mexico but in this town the apartments go like crazy. People are constantly looking for something better or cheaper I suppose. When living at our last apartment we constantly had people stopping to ask if there was someone living in it or the one below. On top of this there is no apartment guide. This I know is true in most of Mexico except the biggest of cities like Mexico City. Here there isn’t even a community board with listings. You just have to drive around and look for “SE RENTA” signs in the windows. If you see one don’t get to excited someone may have already rented it and just didn’t take the sign down. So when this one came available and the guy said he would let us move in if we brought him the deposit the next day we did it. This was on last Tue. Mind you that was the last week of Jan and to make good on our contract on the other apartment we had to be out by Sunday the first day of Feb.
My husband cant just take days off work at last min and on top of that they work him extra hours right now because he is familiar with two departments at his work both of which need to hire more help and haven’t. So it took up three days to get all our belongings moved and he did it all in the few hours he was off work. I did all the packing but because Im almost 7 mo pregnant no one would let me lift anything and if my husband saw me scooting a couch across the floor he would get very upset. Im a working women and don’t know how to sit and watch others do what I feel I should be helping with. So this coupled with my husbands’ long hours and just the stress of everything being in boxes and bags for 4 or 5 days built up some stress and tension for me and him.
The new apartment is much smaller, but we like it and we fit. The kitchen, dinning room, living room is all one open room which is the size of my kitchen in the last apartment. But with some thinking and rearranging we got everything in and its actually quite cozy. And I keep looking at the floor thinking how much less time I will spend mopping. We did have to hang shelves in the kitchen because there is very little cabinet space and two bins for the stuff that we had on those shelves previously. The problem with the shelves is that the walls here are stucco (I think that’s the name of it.) and concrete. No wood studs to find and hang stuff on. So there are few places you can hang anything heavy. We had the same issue in the last place but because there was so much more room we just moved the shelves until we could find a good solid spot in the wall. We are once again on the third floor which is ok also I figure Ill keep nice looking legs. Also there is a bar on the first floor that Im glad IM not directly over. There hours seem to be short and mainly during the weekends, it’s actually quiet after about 1030 even then.
Our kitchen sink didn’t work the first couple days which was kinda a pain and the outlets for the washer didn’t have the right attachments so I was washing my daughters pee cloths Mexican style. But hey that’s not to big a deal just a pain. (we just started potty training a couple weeks ago, we had nothing going on at the time and it seemed a good time, then the last min move, but she’s doing well with it) The Plummer was suppose to come the first day we moved in and true to Mexican style didn’t show, but I was being patient and trying to keep a good attitude about it. When he did make it a few days after the move he was very nice and it was obvious the land lord had mentioned my lack of Spanish. This was actually a relief. In our old apartment the roof was for us and it was guarded so my daughter could play and ride her bike up there and I had lots of space to do laundry. Although I don’t have much laundry room here, I don’t miss the upstairs because there are 2 parks within a block of our door. One of which has lots of dirt and rocks for Alana to dig in, she love it. The other park has a lot of open concrete for her to ride her bike, and all the necessary play equipment of course. She use to get board quickly with the roof and her toys, I couldn’t get her to stay out side for much more than 30-45min at a time. Since we have been here we have been spending hours at a time out side. There is also a large grass square right out front that she loves to go run jump and roll in. But we are not letting her at the time because she showed up with a rash that we are not sure if its from the elastic in the undies or the grass. There is also a tienda (store) down stairs which has a lot more stuff than the ones that were close to my old apartment. All of this lends to using less gas money for the truck. Also we are only about 6 blocks from my husbands work instead of across town. This means if we get to broke for gas he can walk to work. Our neighbor has already struck up a couple conversations and said to tell her if we needed anything. She seems really nice and I think is a grandma. She has a lot of young adults and children in and out of her place a lot. Also on the first floor is a taco place that makes boiled tacos, they are supper yummy, and a Bar. The bar is only open from like 5pm-1030pm so its not much of disturbance, but during those hours we are plagued with horrible music and sometimes even Karaoke. But hey they have beer and a pool table so we may check it out one night after Alanas in bed. (and after Im not prego of course)
The one thing Im sad about is the store owners that were up the street from out old place. They were my saving grace when I first moved here. When I told her I was moving she made me promise like three times to visit. I told her it would be no problem. We use to have to drive that far all the time and Alana loves to play with her girls. So we plan to go there and hang out every couple weeks on Saturdays when the girls are not in school.
So Im thankful the move is over it was tense but we are done and I have made the new place our home. Oh and moving in Mexico is no different than in the states except that you never know when people will show up to help or not show up at all. Which Iv had to deal with in the states also.
We found an apartment that was open and in our price range last week. We have been looking for something cheaper for some time now in order to reach a workable budget. Im not sure if its like this everywhere in Mexico but in this town the apartments go like crazy. People are constantly looking for something better or cheaper I suppose. When living at our last apartment we constantly had people stopping to ask if there was someone living in it or the one below. On top of this there is no apartment guide. This I know is true in most of Mexico except the biggest of cities like Mexico City. Here there isn’t even a community board with listings. You just have to drive around and look for “SE RENTA” signs in the windows. If you see one don’t get to excited someone may have already rented it and just didn’t take the sign down. So when this one came available and the guy said he would let us move in if we brought him the deposit the next day we did it. This was on last Tue. Mind you that was the last week of Jan and to make good on our contract on the other apartment we had to be out by Sunday the first day of Feb.
My husband cant just take days off work at last min and on top of that they work him extra hours right now because he is familiar with two departments at his work both of which need to hire more help and haven’t. So it took up three days to get all our belongings moved and he did it all in the few hours he was off work. I did all the packing but because Im almost 7 mo pregnant no one would let me lift anything and if my husband saw me scooting a couch across the floor he would get very upset. Im a working women and don’t know how to sit and watch others do what I feel I should be helping with. So this coupled with my husbands’ long hours and just the stress of everything being in boxes and bags for 4 or 5 days built up some stress and tension for me and him.
The new apartment is much smaller, but we like it and we fit. The kitchen, dinning room, living room is all one open room which is the size of my kitchen in the last apartment. But with some thinking and rearranging we got everything in and its actually quite cozy. And I keep looking at the floor thinking how much less time I will spend mopping. We did have to hang shelves in the kitchen because there is very little cabinet space and two bins for the stuff that we had on those shelves previously. The problem with the shelves is that the walls here are stucco (I think that’s the name of it.) and concrete. No wood studs to find and hang stuff on. So there are few places you can hang anything heavy. We had the same issue in the last place but because there was so much more room we just moved the shelves until we could find a good solid spot in the wall. We are once again on the third floor which is ok also I figure Ill keep nice looking legs. Also there is a bar on the first floor that Im glad IM not directly over. There hours seem to be short and mainly during the weekends, it’s actually quiet after about 1030 even then.
Our kitchen sink didn’t work the first couple days which was kinda a pain and the outlets for the washer didn’t have the right attachments so I was washing my daughters pee cloths Mexican style. But hey that’s not to big a deal just a pain. (we just started potty training a couple weeks ago, we had nothing going on at the time and it seemed a good time, then the last min move, but she’s doing well with it) The Plummer was suppose to come the first day we moved in and true to Mexican style didn’t show, but I was being patient and trying to keep a good attitude about it. When he did make it a few days after the move he was very nice and it was obvious the land lord had mentioned my lack of Spanish. This was actually a relief. In our old apartment the roof was for us and it was guarded so my daughter could play and ride her bike up there and I had lots of space to do laundry. Although I don’t have much laundry room here, I don’t miss the upstairs because there are 2 parks within a block of our door. One of which has lots of dirt and rocks for Alana to dig in, she love it. The other park has a lot of open concrete for her to ride her bike, and all the necessary play equipment of course. She use to get board quickly with the roof and her toys, I couldn’t get her to stay out side for much more than 30-45min at a time. Since we have been here we have been spending hours at a time out side. There is also a large grass square right out front that she loves to go run jump and roll in. But we are not letting her at the time because she showed up with a rash that we are not sure if its from the elastic in the undies or the grass. There is also a tienda (store) down stairs which has a lot more stuff than the ones that were close to my old apartment. All of this lends to using less gas money for the truck. Also we are only about 6 blocks from my husbands work instead of across town. This means if we get to broke for gas he can walk to work. Our neighbor has already struck up a couple conversations and said to tell her if we needed anything. She seems really nice and I think is a grandma. She has a lot of young adults and children in and out of her place a lot. Also on the first floor is a taco place that makes boiled tacos, they are supper yummy, and a Bar. The bar is only open from like 5pm-1030pm so its not much of disturbance, but during those hours we are plagued with horrible music and sometimes even Karaoke. But hey they have beer and a pool table so we may check it out one night after Alanas in bed. (and after Im not prego of course)
The one thing Im sad about is the store owners that were up the street from out old place. They were my saving grace when I first moved here. When I told her I was moving she made me promise like three times to visit. I told her it would be no problem. We use to have to drive that far all the time and Alana loves to play with her girls. So we plan to go there and hang out every couple weeks on Saturdays when the girls are not in school.
So Im thankful the move is over it was tense but we are done and I have made the new place our home. Oh and moving in Mexico is no different than in the states except that you never know when people will show up to help or not show up at all. Which Iv had to deal with in the states also.
pottie training.
Net-Blog post
My daughter is potty trained. Well basically. I brought her to the potty every hour for about 4 days still in diapers. By then she was use to it and just saw it as part of her day. On my husbands day off we went diaperless. She loves her big girl princess panties. The first day we went through 7 pairs, but the next day on 2 and yesterday she went all day without an accident. She even went on the big potty when we were at the store. And for the most part she tells me when she has to go. Man I’m so proud of her she has done so well. So this process obviously doesn’t go much different here than in any other country. Although there are a lot less public restrooms and even fewer that are adequate to sit a 2 year in. So far we have limited our trips out to less than an hour unless we were going to the grocery store which is somewhere she can use the bathroom. But again not much different I really just wanted to brag about the accomplishment for my daughter.
Also other news is that I’m now a baker. I had been playing with bread here at home and my husband loved it so much he kept talking about it at work. Finally they talked him into bringing in samples. He did and got 12 orders the first day. So we have found us a way for me to help a little with income which is desperately needed. Basically when we added everything up I will be making close to $150p for 6hours of work. This is a good paying job here. It’s obviously not full time hours because that would be a lot of orders for one week. For example my husband works 8hour days and after 3 raises and being with his company for 7 months he’s making about $140p a day. Yes that’s about $14usd. I’m excited to find more ways that I can increase our income from home. I love to do crafts and to bake so maybe both combined will help us out. We may invest in a small portable sewing machine, mainly for me to make cloths and stuff at home but hey if someone likes something I make I could make a little profit. None of this would ever be a lot of income because I can only do so much with Alana and the up coming baby but hey its something and I actually feel like I’m helping some with the income again.
My husband often day dreams about us owning a business some day and I’m just not sure about that. I’m a nurse not a business women, although the reason I was good in management was because of my organizational skills, and my people skills. Both of which a good business women needs. So who knows maybe after some dabbling in selling things I may change my mind. I just feel there’s a lot about figures and junk that we would both need to learn before going and starting our own business. Also all the legal ramifications, of which I think are less here than in the States, but its still something I would need to learn a lot about first.
My daughter is potty trained. Well basically. I brought her to the potty every hour for about 4 days still in diapers. By then she was use to it and just saw it as part of her day. On my husbands day off we went diaperless. She loves her big girl princess panties. The first day we went through 7 pairs, but the next day on 2 and yesterday she went all day without an accident. She even went on the big potty when we were at the store. And for the most part she tells me when she has to go. Man I’m so proud of her she has done so well. So this process obviously doesn’t go much different here than in any other country. Although there are a lot less public restrooms and even fewer that are adequate to sit a 2 year in. So far we have limited our trips out to less than an hour unless we were going to the grocery store which is somewhere she can use the bathroom. But again not much different I really just wanted to brag about the accomplishment for my daughter.
Also other news is that I’m now a baker. I had been playing with bread here at home and my husband loved it so much he kept talking about it at work. Finally they talked him into bringing in samples. He did and got 12 orders the first day. So we have found us a way for me to help a little with income which is desperately needed. Basically when we added everything up I will be making close to $150p for 6hours of work. This is a good paying job here. It’s obviously not full time hours because that would be a lot of orders for one week. For example my husband works 8hour days and after 3 raises and being with his company for 7 months he’s making about $140p a day. Yes that’s about $14usd. I’m excited to find more ways that I can increase our income from home. I love to do crafts and to bake so maybe both combined will help us out. We may invest in a small portable sewing machine, mainly for me to make cloths and stuff at home but hey if someone likes something I make I could make a little profit. None of this would ever be a lot of income because I can only do so much with Alana and the up coming baby but hey its something and I actually feel like I’m helping some with the income again.
My husband often day dreams about us owning a business some day and I’m just not sure about that. I’m a nurse not a business women, although the reason I was good in management was because of my organizational skills, and my people skills. Both of which a good business women needs. So who knows maybe after some dabbling in selling things I may change my mind. I just feel there’s a lot about figures and junk that we would both need to learn before going and starting our own business. Also all the legal ramifications, of which I think are less here than in the States, but its still something I would need to learn a lot about first.
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