TGIF and new kitten

Howdy all! This past week has been super long and busy, I´m so happy it´s finally Friday! This was my first week teaching at my husband´s family´s school. My normal schedule is morning classes only, but because I am such a wonderful human being (haha) I also taught in the afternoon to cover for my brother-in-law while he was on vacation. So I went from being unemployed to working 30 hours this week. I´m pooped! I´m so excited to just relax and enjoy this weekend. It feels good to be working again though, and I really enjoyed all of my classes and students this week. I think this new teaching job is going to work out great for me!

On a different note, we have a new member of our family! A little kitten named Mona :-) She is about 2.5 weeks (we think) and is just the most precious thing ever! Her mom abandoned her and left her all alone to die, so we rescued her and took her home. She is doing great. She´s starting to get a little belly and is now eating solid food instead of just milk. She is very sweet and playful and I´m falling more in love with her every day! :-)

Here she is:

¡Viva México!

Today represents 200 years of independence for Mexico! They became independent from Spain in 1810 and continue to grow stronger and better as a country. I am proud to call my second and current home Mexico. It is a great place to live and work. Is it perfect? No, but is any country? Are there dangerous places? Absolutely, as in any country. Are there corrupt politicians? For sure, just like in every country. I am proud to be Mexican gringa, as my friends here call me :-)





This is my third Independence Day here in Hermosillo and I really enjoy this holiday. Usually on the night of the 15th, there is a big party in the main square downtown with lots of music, food, fireworks, lights, etc. We went my first two times, but we didn´t go last night because we were tired (yeah, we´re old!).





Also, our church here has a Fiesta Mexicana on the night of the 15th where everyone brings delicious Mexican food, we have a talent show, people dress up in costumes, and of course we pray for Mexico, all it´s leaders, it´s people, etc. Last night we didn´t end up leaving church until 11:30pm so we were both tired and decided to go home, since we both had to work today. Even though today is a national holiday recognized by the government and most places and schools are closed, Abe´s worked today and will have a half day tomorrow. (My ¨work¨ is teacher training at Fast n Easy, the English school that is run by my brother-in-law and mother-in-law. Starting next week, I am going to be teaching again, part-time, from 7-11 in the mornings!)





Here is a picture from the Fiesta Mexicana at church last night (I´ll try to add more as I find them from previous years...): I had green and red earrings, my hair in braids (typical old school Mexican) and a shirt with the Mexican flag that said ¨¡Viva México!¨ I totally look Mexican, right? :-)

P.S. I know I mentioned this on Facebook, but for all those who don´t know, my brother Michael got engaged last weekend to his girlfriend Sam! Not sure when they are planning on having the wedding, but I´m so excited and happy for them! My little brother is all grown up now :-( That must mean I´m getting old!!!

2 years and sick

Well, I wanted to write this post yesterday, but I was too sick. So here I am today (still sick) but writing it anyways.

Two years ago, 9/8/2008, I came to Mexico. When I came, I had no idea what to expect. I was completely alone, very nervous, scared, anxious, excited, etc. In my mind, I was going to be here for one year teaching and then go back home and figure out the rest of my life from there. Funny how life turns out. God decided He had other plans for me. Because two years later, I´m still here. Except now I´m married to someone I met here, I have my own house, I´m not working at the school I originally worked for and so many things have happened and have changed me.

I really can´t believe it´s been two years already (which means it´s also been two years since Abe and I first met, since we met my very first week here!). Some days it feels like I´ve been here forever! And other days it seems like it was just yesterday that I was packing up my life, saying bye to my family and friends, and coming down here. Crazy what all can happen and how much life can change in two years! There have been many ups and downs, but I wouldn´t change a minute of it. I´m so thankful to be where I am, who I am, to have what I have, to know what I know. I am just super grateful for all the experiences I´ve had in the past two years and the many more that I know will come. I have truly enjoyed living here and have learned so much in the past two years. Thanks to God for bringing me down here :-)

Now, onto the sick part...I think it´s highly ironic and coincidental what´s going on with my body right now. When I first moved here, I got really sick (as did most of the new teachers). Not sure if it was from drinking the water (yeah, yeah, I know, a big No-no), the climate change, stress, traveling, new culture, etc...who knows. But I had a fever, severe dehydration due to loss of bodily fluids (I won´t go into any more details than that...), body aches, and a headache for several days. Funny (well, not really) how here I am exactly two years later and I have the same exact sickness!!! Hilarious, body, really, great joke...NOT! So, for the past 3 days, I´ve been on a purely liquid diet, which is great if you´re trying to lose weight (which I´m not) but sicks if you love food and love to eat (which I do!) I have had limited energy and have spend lots of time resting in bed...BORING!!! I really hope this ¨thing¨, whatever it is, clears up soon. I hate being sick. Especially with something that I already dealt with two years ago and I thought wouldn´t happen again :-(

Now here are some pictures. The second one is of me and Allison (another girl who came down to teach that I met at the Phoenix airport) on the bus from Phoenix on the way down to Mexico. The first one is of me and Abe only a few days after we met, at the beach :-) (the date on the picture is very wrong, obviously)

Tuesday

Hello everybody! Sorry it has been a while since my last post, sometimes I forget that I have a blog and that a few people actually read it! Haha Not too much new going on here, but here is my past week.

My highs for the week:
-I started researching/looking into all the steps and paperwork that need to get done for Abe to get his visa to work and live in the US. We are going to get started on this long journey in the next few months. We hope to be back in the US within the next year or two. But we´ll see how it goes. I´m just excited thinking about it! I know it will be a long, difficult, and expensive process, but I have faith that everything will work out perfectly.

-I received a message from a girl I worked with at Lutheridge last summer who was with me on one of our road trips (I was the road Area Director). She had to write a paper for one of her classes about leaders that inspired her and she picked me as one of the people she wrote about! She sent me a copy of her paper and I was just touched, honored and flattered. She had such sweet things to say about me, it really made my day. You never know who´s life you will touch. I thought I was just doing my job, but I made an impact in her life and that makes me feel great!

-One of the online message boards that I am a part of decided to have a gift exchange. I just received my gift this week. It was a beautiful silver necklace with three things on it. The first is a big silver circle that says 12-25-10, which was my estimated due date for the baby. The second is a smaller circle with two little feet on it in memory of the baby. And the third is a beautiful blue stone, the birthstone for December. I love the necklace and it is such a sweet reminder of my little angel. I will try to post a picture of it soon.

My low for the week: Hmm...Nothing really jumps to my mind, I guess it´s just super hot and dry, like always and money is a little tight. Nothing too major though.

Where I saw God this week: I felt like He was speaking to me through my friend and her sweet message, saying ¨Good job, Megan, you served me well and spread my Word to others and touched their lives¨. It made me very proud to be His servant and worker and I pray that I will continue to reach others´ lives because of His presence in me.

I hope everyone is having a great week! To all my family and friends in the US, I miss you and love you and can´t wait to see you and be home for a few weeks at Christmas! :-)

Weekend

This weekend was a pretty busy one for us. Friday night we celebrated Alan´s birthday (Abe´s oldest brother) at his house. We were going to have a cookout, but it was storming (WHOOOO! We needed the rain!), so we ended up just eating the other side dishes inside. We had a good time. It was Abe and I, Alan and Debbie, Paty (Abe´s mom) and Francisco (Abe´s dad).

Then on Saturday we had a new air conditioner installed. Here they are called mini splits, but the little ones that you can put in individual rooms...because right now we have central air and it is just so expensive. (Our electricity bill for this month was ridiculous!) On top of having the new air put in, we also decided to switch our bedroom with the guest/baby room. So now we have more space and are in the biggest room. It took quite a while to make the switch happen and we worked on it for hours! I was exhausted afterwards.

This morning I woke up feeling terrible. I think it´s a cold/allergies but I missed church today and a family lunch with Abe´s aunt :-( I´m just resting at the house, relaxing and taking it easy. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Here are some pictures from the party on Friday:

This week

Hey all, sorry if I´ve been slacking...I am actually doing some teaching this week! Abe´s brother runs an English school here and one of their teachers is out this week, so I am substituting for her. Luckily, it´s a class I´ve already taught before and I´m familiar with the material. It´s a TOEFL class, which means Test of English as a Foreign Language. It consists of Listening, Reading, and Writing. So this week I´m just going over the practice test with the students and getting them familiar with it. It´s a good class so far, 4 students, all around my age. They´re a little on the quiet side, but I´m sure that´s just because I´m new to them!

So, here´s my week so far:

My highs for the week:

-Two of my friends (who have both had previous miscarriages) just found out they are pregnant! I am very happy and excited for them!

-I am enjoying teaching again. It´s nice to feel productive, needed, and useful. I haven´t taught in a school since the end of January, so it´s been a while. I love the feeling I get when I explain something to the students that they didn´t understand before. I love being able to help them, using my gifts and talents! It´s a great high!

-Abe sprayed our house with pesticide so hopefully no more cockroaches or black widows! And yes, we do have lots of black widows. I see some probably every week. Our back patio is covered with dead cockroaches. And when I say there are probably 80 dead ones out there, I´m not exaggerating at all! It´s an interesting sight to see!

My low for this week: Two friends who were pregnant (one who has had a previous miscarriage), lost their babies this week. It just breaks my heart that this kind of thing even happens. It´s something that I don´t understand, but I just have to trust that God has it under control. They will continue to be in my prayers.

Where I saw God this week: This week I felt God in my marriage. I felt Him giving me strength and patience, even when things got frustrating. I really feel like He is in this with us and always present.

Well, I´m off to cook dinner before class tonight, until next time! :-)

A little late...

Sorry I missed yesterday´s post. I had some stuff going on. So here goes:

My highs for the week:

-Spending time with a friend who I haven´t hung out with /talked to in a while

-Receiving lots of positive feedback/support/love from my loss story and about my blog in general (thanks to everyone who reads and who sends support!)

My low for the week: I don´t want to get into detail, but I just want to say that life is tough sometimes. And that includes marriage. Specifically the first year. But I have faith in God and I know that He will get us through anything that comes our way if we just trust in Him. I love my husband deeply and that will never change.

Where I saw God: This week I saw God in my friendships. Being able to talk/vent to a good friend here in Mexico, I really felt His presence through her and I appreciate her being there for me and listening. And I also saw God through two good friends that I´ve met online. They have been there for me since I´ve ¨met¨ them and they have been sending lots of love, prayers, and positive thoughts my way and I am very thankful for them. I think we all need good friends in our lives and I´m so thankful for all the great friends that God has given me.

Here are some pictures of me and some of my friends: (If there isn´t a picture of you on here, please don´t be mad at me or offended! I promise, you are my friend, I can only post so many photos on here though!)