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.