Almost up and running

If there is one thing I have learned in the past week, it Is that things take ALOT longer here in Mexico. In the U.S. you can call and order or internet and cable TV within a day or two you are hooked up. Here .... It takes a couple weeks. So, I have been checking in on my phone. Ryan told me I just have a wireless thingy that can plug into the computer to get internet. Who knew! So, I  fired up my computer and plugged in the thingy and here I am!

Okay ... going off my list from my last post, I will elaborate a bit more. 

We arrived around 8:00 pm last Wednesday and lucky for us, ALL 27 bags made it! The only problem we had was my cocoa powder that lid came off in one bag so everything was covered in cocoa. Which means everything from that bag smells like chocolate! That is such a horrible problem .... NOT! We made it to our hotel around 10:00 pm, and they told us that we reserved the two rooms (one with a king and an adjoining room with 2 queens for the kids) weren't available next to each other. So, we all went into the room with a king bed. The 3 older girls slept in the bed, and Ryan, Abbie and I slept on the floor. WOW, after you have kids, your hips HURT When laying on a hard surface. Needless to say, the next night we all slept in beds. The hotel knew that we were NOT happy about it. But it was so late that first night we did not really care. 

Day 2 we got the keys to our house. It is a beautiful house, with incredible views. We spent most of the day shopping for beds and furniture and things. We decided to spend night 2 back at the hotel, the house was not ready for us. On our way to the hotel, Ryan pulled a u-turn in the middle of the intersection, which is against the law, but everyone else did it before us and after us. I guess we just did not do it quite as smooth as the Mexicans. The police here always have their lights on and they run their sirens for no reason. So, we asked "how will you know when you are getting pulled over here." We were told that we would know. And ... we did! The cop was on a motorcycle, and he pulled up right next to us, honked his horn, banged on the van and told us to pull to the side. Ryan just told him we were lost and we were trying to find our hotel. He told Ryan that he has to get the ticket cleared up first. Ryan paid him 200 pesos which is like $15. He told us where to go to get the hotel, and sent us on our way.

Like I said, our house really is beautiful. Not bragging. I just remember coming down here in November, and I was thinking "there is no such thing as a pretty and nice house in Mexico for a decent price." Well, we scored, big time. Ryan did a great job! It is a 3 bedroom home, HUGE bedrooms. Each bedroom has a nice big walk in closet and it's own bathroom. We have a formal living room, a dining room, a little sitting room next to our bar (which we are actually using this space as an office / school room.) We have an office / study which we are using as a toy / craft room. Hey ... a girls' gotta have her craft room U.S. or Mexico. It has the maids quarters which are actually pretty nice, considering the other maids quarters in other homes we have seen just disgusting. The maids quarters have their own stairs, and my girls think That is just the coolest thing. They are small spiral stairs and they just love them. It's lovely.

Marble floors are BEAUTIFUL! But, a nightmare to clean. There is ALWAYS dirt on them that you can not see, until you look at your kids feet. I LOVE being barefoot in my house. I guess not in Mexico. It is so nasty. I have been told that you you have to mop floors a couple times a day to keep them clean. That is SO annoying. I would rather give my kids a couple wipes at the end of the day to wipe off their feet before they jump in bed. It's been working for us. If I had to mop this house every day, it would take me all day, no lie.

I live as close to the shopping areas here as we did in South Jordan to the District or Jordan Landing. It is about five minutes away, 10 minutes in bad traffic. SOOOOO happy I am about that. The driving here is NUTS. You do not have to take a driving test or anything to get a license, you just go pay the money and start driving. Which explains a ton! I feel okay-ish driving to the shopping area, but I have my hands on 10 & 2 and looking in every mirror all of the time. Anyway, when we went shopping the 1st day here, we went to Costco, Walmart, Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond. There really is not a huge difference. Walmart is just the basic needs. It's like if you were to go to Walgreens to get milk, cheese, eggs, corn starch, flour. Yes, Walgreens has those things, but not everything and certainly not a selection. Ryan dropped me off at Walmart to do our basic household shopping. I told him I want to be alone to think and to just soak it all in. I was frustrated when I saw that a crockpot was $60! Can you believe that. That thing better pull the food out of the fridge and make itself for that price. Needless to say, That was on the top of my "Mom, would you bring me" list for when my parents come visit. I could not find any pyrex dishes, cookie sheets or mixing bowls there either. So, that's where Bed Bath & Beyond came in. It looks JUST like the states. I actually said to my girls ... WE ARE HOME! Shopping is not going to be as hard as I thought. It is just REALLY expensive here, and you have to go to several places to  get the things you need.

My brother called me on day 3 and asked how I was doing. He said, "I was worried you were going to have a "FOR THE LOVE' moment in the store. " Which he explained that he just imagined me looking for something, then trying to explain it to someone who does not speak English and me getting frustrated and screaming out loud .. "FOR THE LOVE!" I laughed. That would be totally something I would do. But, we already look like a bunch of crazies with 4 young daughters, as white as can be walking around. We are totally getting stares. It is really funny to me. So, that's why I did not "for the love" in the store. Instead, I drew pictures in a notebook (the wonderful artist that I am not) and I used google translate to ask for the things on my list. 

A man came to my door yesterday, he mentioned the home owners name. So, I used google translate to tell him we are renting the home from her. He said some funky sentence in Spanish into my cell phone Which read, "I am looking for the Pinto." I told him, "I am sorry we are not selling a car." in google translate. He laughed and looked at me very puzzled. So, I got a handyman who was here fixing a few things to talk to him. Apparently he was saying, "I am looking for the painter." Pinto.... Painter, meh. 

Alright, this is getting lengthy so I will stop for now. I need to get stuff ready to start home school. My girls keep asking when we are starting. I guess I need to get going on it. I am sure they won't be asking for school in a few weeks once we get going on it. 

Adios!