1 year

James and I have been living in Mexico City for 1 year today. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year. It's even harder to believe how much has changed in that year.

A year ago today, James and I were hugging my grandma goodbye, packing our backpacks into our friend Andy's truck, and crossing the Tijuana border to the airport.

We arrived in Mexico with just one bag of clothes each and little clue as to what our future would hold. James' job with the Micro Finance company wasn't working out and I was jobless. Each day was a guessing game; would we have enough money to stay, or would we be heading back to the states with our tails between our legs.

I quickly got a part time job teaching english which was our sole source of income for about 3 months. We slept on an air mattress in our empty apartment, carefully considered which food items we really needed, and hoped that things would get better.

February came and I found myself with a wonderful new full time job with a consistent paycheck and benefits. James enrolled in a grad school program and we welcomed our dog, Lila, into our family. Our apartment soon became filled with furniture and our food budget now allowed us some "going out money."

Now, a whole year later, we are preparing to move into a new house, both working on our masters degrees, and in 7 months, we will welcome our first child into this world. Yes, that's right. I am pregnant.

Life is unexpected and wonderful. It's ups and downs and spins and twirls. It's messy and beautiful, often at the same time.

I am thankful for this past year. I am thankful for Mexican street food. I am thankful for my husband. I am thankful for the life growing inside of me.

I am thankful for that air mattress.

One of those days...

Today is just one of those days... a day when life seems to catch up with you and decides to lay it's fat self right on top of you so that you lay there uncomfortably, having a hard time breathing, just waiting for it to get off of you. Kind of like being stuck in traffic in Mexico City.

Like that time James and I were stuck in traffic in a taxi for 2 hours... in the rain... with a driver with a lead foot... with a car sick dog on our laps... a dog that proceeded to vomit all over James... with 1 hour still to go in the ride...

You know... those days.

But today, life made the kind gesture of reminding me that I have the most amazing husband on earth... possibly the universe.

So thanks for making it up to me life. After the vomit there's always a hot shower waiting.

Rest

I have officially finished my first class as a graduate student. Well.... the in class part, not the actual class. I still have one hefty group project ahead of me, but the long days are over. It was only 8 days, but it managed to suck all the energy out of me.

My grad school situation is unique. I am getting my degree in International Education through Buffalo State SUNY, but the program is designed specifically for international teachers. There are 2 classes a semester and the professors are flown down to Mexico City to give an 8 day intensive course. Intensive is a great word for it because every day this week I got to work around 7:15, finished work around 2:45, started class around 3, finished class around 7, and got home around 7:45.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted. I took a 3 1/2 hour nap today and am already feeling better. I look forward to a restful Sunday and a work week that won't be quite so long.

I look forward to REST. Rejuvenation. Time with my husband. Walks in the park with my dog. Baking cookies. Listening to music. Reading for FUN. The little things that make life so good. I will leave you with a picture of what this afternoon looked like for me.