7 months later...

I can't believe we've lived in Mexico for 7 months already.  It strangely feels much longer and much shorter than that all at the same time... It's crazy to think we were both working 50+ hours per week, setting alarm clocks for 4:30am, and dreading Sunday nights because they led to Monday mornings at the beginning of the year... It seems like soooo long ago, and yet this year has flown by.  

Let's recap 2016, shall we?

January

• we (I) started freaking out about our "big plan" like literally as the ball was dropping on New Year's Eve because it was suddenly 2016, and that meant we had to start actually checking things off our giant to-do list rather than just daydream about becoming beach bums like we had been for the 4 months prior
• we spent two weeks in Nicaragua because that's where we were originally planning to move to and had already booked a "research trip" that we turned into a relaxing vacation instead... The trip was great, but it made us even happier to be moving to La Cruz because Nica was way too hot!

February

• we (I) decided we should "probably get married before we move" ....as if we didn't have enough to do already!  We got engaged the previous May (while vacationing in La Cruz!) but hadn't set a date yet.  It seemed smarter to get hitched while still in the states because who knows how alla that stuff works in Mexico?!  (Honestly, what it boiled down to is that I am lazy and didn't wanna research how to get married in a foreign country.)

March

• we both left our jobs (after putting in our notices 6 months earlier)
• we finally obtained our Mexican Visas... A major "this is really happening?!" moment 
• I talked a lot about needing to pack and start downsizing but didn't do it

April

• I started giving away my winter clothes 
• I started packing several times and then stopped because I'd come across some sentimental something or other and I'd spend an hour looking through baby photos and then be too tired to continue "packing" 
• we had the most fun wedding / going-away party in the history of ever!!!  Our (my) "vows" were hilarious, and I literally danced down the aisle to a Bruno Mars song.  Because, duh...I'm allergic to being serious.    

May

• we sold our adorable river house for asking price
• we sold both cars and bought a mini van
• we sold, donated or gave away 90% of our possessions with the help of my estate-selling mama
• we loaded up the van and our pup and drove the 2,800 miles from Seattle to La Cruz...making a few stops along the way 

• we moved into Simply Baku for the off season 

June

• we tried to figure out how this whole "living abroad" thing works
• we ate a lot of tacos
• we got tan 
• I nearly died by way of heart attack thanks to the "nopes" 

July, August, September

• Bloo needed minor surgery and I remained totally calm about it
• we nearly died of mosquito bites, suffered through miserable heat, humidity, mud and thunderstorms 
• Ty survived the biggest storm of our lives by being totally manly and not being a scaredy cat at all 
• a lot of restaurants closed down and the town just seemed kinda grim and blah
• we made a lot of friends! 

October

• I got homesick and depressed and cried a lot because I felt purpose-less and essentially homeless and unimportant and I gave up a career I loved to follow Ty to a foreign country that I was struggling to find my place in all because he was having his second mid-life crisis before the age of 40 and I was questioning the "why" of it all........ 
• I turned into an anti-social turtle/hermit crab hybrid and became too anxious and nervous to do anything without Ty 

November

• all of the Gringos showed up at the same time.  Like, we literally went to Mega one day in November and every shopper was suddenly a white person
• we started Spanish classes and I realized how friggen long it's gonna take to become fluent
• restaurants started opening back up after being closed all summer and La Cruz started feeling alive and buzzing again
• my family came to visit us!!!  

December

• we moved out of Simply Baku and into a new place 

Yes, that's right... We moved AGAIN!  This is our sixth move in less than 5 years mostly thanks to Ty...but at least this was an easy move.  When you only have one van-load of "stuff" and you move into a place that's fully-furnished, moving ain't so bad.  

We spent the summer and fall at Simply Baku helping the staff spruce up the place before high season.... We refinished all of the wood shutter windows (20+ panels per house!), repainted the exterior of the casitas, refinished gate doors, helped with yard work, guest bookings, pup-sitting, errands, etc. etc.  The pools recently got refinished, the garage doors are being rebuilt, new pathways have been paved, new bodegas are being constructed... And Baku is looking fabulous!  Our friends are staying there in March and I'm excited for them to see it...    

When we moved into Baku in May, we knew we'd have to find another place to live before high season started because we'd be taking up a rental space meant for guests to book.... We assumed we'd be renting a small place nearby, but then we were approached with an opportunity too good to pass up.  Marianne's long-time friends own a stunning, beachfront, vacation rental property on the outskirts of La Cruz and they needed someone to manage the property and live onsite, so they could stay in the states and not have to come to Mexico as often.  So, instead of paying too much rent on a cramped apartment in town, we're renting out the main house of a sprawling, magical "estate" smack dab on the beach and renting out the other units for the owners.  

We've only been here a week and a half, but things are going well enough so far.  We're getting settled into our new digs and new routine, we're getting to know the staff and the resident pup, Luna, has turned into my little shadow... Someone please pinch me, because our life doesn't seem real.  

Sappy side note:  As a creative person who loves to customize/design/remodel/decorate houses, it is very strange moving into someone else's house.  Yes, it's convenient to rent a place that is fully-furnished and already decorated, but it's also very weird having no control over your "home" and your surroundings and not being able to customize spaces to your liking. 

I was a homeowner by the age of 21, so for the past 10 years I've had that really comfortable feeling of "home" and pride of ownership and privacy and all that... But, I've essentially felt "homeless" since we moved here and it's a really depressing feel for me.  (Ty, of course is unscathed and fluid as always.)  There have been many times where I've broken down in tears and said "I wanna go home" only to be reminded that we have no home to go back to... It's definitely been a big downside to living in Mexico for me... I feel like I'm been tiptoeing through someone else's house for the past 7 months.  I honestly don't feel like I have fully relaxed since I've been here because of it.  But, don't tell anyone that I actually have feelings!  

Jardin del Mar, as our new place is called, has been mostly unoccupied for the last two years while the family took a break from the rental business, but now that we're starting it back up again, Ty and I are in the process of thoroughly checking each of the six rental units to upgrade outdated, rusted, broken or mis-matching items and deep-cleaning everything.  Never ever did I think I would be scrubbing mold off a fridge with bleach and a toothbrush, dusting palapa rafters, doing loads of laundry and pulling (someone else's) hair out of drains on Christmas Eve.  But... that was my day yesterday because we had guests arrive from Canada last night and I wanted Casa Palapa to be as clean and comfortable as she is cute! 

The owner's family is here for the holidays taking up most of the other rentals and we have two other bookings arriving for New Years Eve weekend, and we've been handling all of the behind-the-scenes goings on that are required to run a rental business...so we've been very busy since moving in.  We (I) have been acting as graphic designer, webmaster, writer, booking manager, photographer, social media manager, interior designer, problem solver, and just all-around badass boss lady.  Because...have you met me?  There have been several days where I've sat in front of no less than 3 screens all day like a multi-tasking rain man working my nerdy magic all over the place while Ty brings me food and water as if he's a pit crew boss and I'm racing in the Indy something or other.  

It's been such a strange way to spend the holidays though... It doesn't feel like Christmas in the slightest.  Ty's going to the airport today to pick up some Baku guests and I plan to do more room inventories and admin work.  I'm currently sitting on the couch in my (Ty's) pajamas with wicked bed head like I would any normal Christmas morning, but I feel like I gotta make myself presentable here soon since we have guests around and whatnot.  Weird.

I hung up our stockings about a week ago (the only holiday stuff we kept) but they're looking pretty sad and empty this morning.  I plan on being doted on and spoiled and snuggled with and kissed and cooked for and treated like a Christmas queen today though because Ty loves me soooooooooo much and his gift to me today is undying love for his awesome wife!  (Actually, I've been threatening him for days with homesick tears if he doesn't make my day special and he'll do anything to keep me from crying, but whatever...same thing.)  

Feliz Navidad to you and yours!  Much love from your favorite weirdos south of the border!!  And also...book your vacation for 2017 and come visit us!  Duh. 

Fun Facts

I've decided to compile a list of semi-interesting facts for your semi-entertaining pleasure of our new life so far:

• My face (aka wrinkles and dark circles and acne) look awesome and I've quit wearing makeup all together and using any face products.  However, the 79% humidity has NOT been kind to my naturally curly hair and I'm tempted to shave it off...but whatever.  
• We can eat really healthy (healthily?) for really cheap... We've eaten mostly local produce and same-day fish for a fraction of what it would cost in the states (I'll be posting our itemized budget and expenses at the end of June for comparison.)  And Ty, the foodie, has already made his own hot sauce, salsa, black beans, salad dressings, fish dipping sauces all from scratch and has plans to make sourdough bread, dill pickles, and tortillas in the very near future.  (As I type this I'm eating tempura-battered white fish, black beans, cilantro lime rice and a fire-roasted poplano sauce... It doesn't suck to be me!) 
• We've been drinking fresh-pressed orange juice every morning because we can buy 11 pounds of oranges for like 2-3 bucks and Ty's brother bought us a badass commercial citrus press as a going-away present right before we left.  Yes, please.   
• Our perfect puppy LOVES his new home and that makes me so wonderfully happy because I was so worried he'd be too hot and out of his comfort zone.  Ironically, Ty has been the most miserable and whiney about the heat even though moving to Mexico was his grand idea.  He has yet to wear underwear (and rarely shirts) in the 10 days we've been here.  The heat has been a non-issue for me so far because it's only about 85 during the day and about 75 at night.  I can't wait to see how whiney Ty gets in July and August.... 
• I can get fance lashes in Puerto Vallarta and for about half the cost as the states. Wooooot!
• The view from our couch never gets old.

• We're having our house cleaned (really well) three times a week and having our all our laundry done for about 44 bucks per month.  (Say, what?!?!  This is reason enough for me to never come home.)
• It's surprisingly hard to buy good coffee in grocery stores here... The fields must be owned by corporate giants like Starbucks and McDonalds or it all gets exported or something, because it's mostly cheap junk here. 
• The selection at Home Depot is disappointing!  And there are so many products that aren't even available here.  Did you know you can't even buy steel wool or Soft Scrub here??  Marianne asks guests to bring her items she hasn't been able to find in Mexico.... She has steel wool from Canada and we picked up Soft Scrub in Arizona for her on our trip down.  It'll be interesting to see what we ask our friends to bring us next spring!
• Our feet have been really sore since we've been here... We're not used to walking on cobblestone streets in flip flops every day!  (I'm sure we have your sympathy, right?)
• In an effort to acclimate to the heat and save energy and expenses, we have yet to use the air conditioner in our house... I've been totally fine without it, but again, whiney Ty is dying and gets annoyed if I come within a foot of him.  Snuggling is officially off-limits in Mexico, apparently!
• Much to Bloo's dismay, he has learned to swim in the pool... He's always been timid around water when he can't reach the ground, but Ty's been calling him over to the edge and awkwardly pulling him in simply to cool him off.  He looks totally terrified until he finds the stairs and crawls out about 20 pounds heavier...because his curly hair is like a sponge.  But as soon as he's out, he starts running laps and acting cocky, like, "Mama, did you see I just survived the scariest ocean ever?!?!"  Needless to say, he's less trusting of Ty when he's in the pool now... 
• AND JUST AS I THOUGHT I WAS DONE TYPING THIS POST....the biggest, nastiest cockroach I've ever seen just scurried across our living room floor!  I yelled, "NOPE" over and over again until Ty squished him.  GROSS.  

Happy Martes... And good night! 

Our First Week

So, we've only been living in La Cruz for a grand total of 5 days, but we're already settling into our new digs nicely... I keep saying, "Vivo en La Cruz" to myself, but it still doesn't feel real yet.  I'm sure the fact that all of our friends and family are like 2,600 miles away will hit me soon enough and that may or may not come with a bout of homesickness, but for now...we're just in shock and awe that everything we've planned over the past 9 months has finally, and pretty seamlessly so far, fallen into place.  It's hard to feel sad over dreary Seattle when you're in a place this beautiful...

We're currently shacked up in "Jardines" one of the beachview casitas at Simply Baku for the off season and we're helping Marianne and her staff spruce up the place a bit over the summer.... Baku is already stunning, but Marianne wants to make it even better by giving it a bit of a "face lift" this summer before the busy season starts up again in the fall.  

Our casita is perfect and exactly what we need for right now.  It has a large kitchen overlooking the swimming pool in the front yard, two huge sliding glass doors that open up completely so during the day you feel like the inside and outside are one big space.  Every room is decorated with authentic Mexican decor, tiles and colors.  We also have our own covered, locked parking spot, we're surrounded in palm trees and tropical flowers...and Bloo totally loves his new home and new best friend, Pancho.  Todo bien en Casa Engvall. 

We arrived at Baku late Sunday evening to a generous spread of cold drinks, dinner and breakfast items for the following morning... Monday and Tuesday were spent unloading the van, unpacking, going to Mega (about the equivalent of Fred Meyer) and Walmart for groceries, food staples, dog food and household items.  Wednesday we made the 10 minute walk to the marina/fish market next door and bought 800 grams of camarones for about 148 pesos (almost two pounds of shrimp for about 8 bucks) and sauteed them up for dinner.  Last night we went to our favorite taco place in the entire world (Tacos on the Street!!) to celebrate our house funds (aka retirement funds) coming through....  

Today we made the 20 minute drive into Puerto Vallarta to pick up a few things at Home Depot and Ty wanted to check out Costco.  Funnily enough, when we walked into Costco this afternoon...I felt like I was back at home.  It looked exactly the same (minus the surfboard aisle, of course.)  The surprising thing about Costco here though, is that everything is the same price, if not more expensive than, back home.  Needless to say, we don't really have any reason to go there anymore...we can get everything we need closer to La Cruz for a better price.  (Which is fine with me, because I've always hated crowded, chaotic, sample-happy Costco!)

We've also been practicing our Spanish with flashcards, label stickers, workbooks and Google translate for an hour or two every day, and purposely ordering and speaking in (really bad) Spanish at restaurants, stores and with the staff at Baku.  And in an effort to live and thrive here long-term, Ty has quickly adopted the Mexican way of driving which is about the equivalent of "wingin' it."  As a person who likes organization and calm, the drivers and traffic "laws" here stress me the hell out.  Hopefully I get used to it quickly...

Tonight we decided to wander around the cobblestone streets of La Cruz until we find a bar with live music and pop in for some dinner and entertainment before coming home and falling asleep to waves crashing and birds chirping.  Yes, life is rough indeed!!  Adios! 

From Nogales to Navojoa

Let's recap, shall we?  We left Seattle on Monday afternoon and drove to Tigard, OR... The next day to Twin Falls, ID...then Cedar City, UT....then the Grand Canyon (which turned into a huge letdown of a day)...next to Flagstaff, AZ...and finally arriving in the border town of Nogales, AZ yesterday afternoon.  A total of 1,964 miles in five days.  Wowzers. 

We purposely planned to arrive in Nogales during "business hours" because we had a few things we needed to take care of before our border crossing the next day.  We checked into the nastiest friggen motel (yes, I said MOtel) I've ever stepped foot in, then got to work.  And by "got to work".... I mean Bloo and I moped in our cigarette-smelling, wifi-less, disgusting turd of a room while Ty went to buy Mexican car insurance and to have the car serviced.  (There are limited lodging options in Nogales to begin with, but it gets even trickier when you have a big, hairy fur baby in tow....Motel 6 was the only place that would allow a dog over 25 pounds.  Boooo.)

So, while I was sitting in our nasty room wondering how many felonies had been committed in it, Ty bought a year of full-coverage insurance (for like 200 bucks!), and he got the oil changed, brakes checked, tire pressure checked, blah, blah.... We walked to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then went to bed early to be at the border when they opened at 6:00am.   Ty fell asleep in like 23 seconds as per usual, and I proceeded to lay there for hours and hours totally mortified by the general nastiness of my surroundings.  The cigarette smell alone was keeping me awake.  It actually caused me to have my first real wave of home-sickness knowing the home I loved (and my clean, comfy bed) were a million miles away and no longer mine... Long story short... Ty slept like a baby and I got a whopping two hours of sleep last night. 

This morning we got up early, loaded the car and drove the 3 miles to the US International Border and waited in line.  I'm the first to admit that I've been super nervous about crossing the border and about driving through Mexico in general.  I've seen too many Mexican drug lord and kidnapping movies not to imagine every worst case scenario possible.  I envisioned us at an inspection point with some machine-gun toting officials ripping our luggage apart and questioning everything (even though our mini van only has clothes, fitness equipment and golf clubs in it.)  I was especially worried about Bloo being let across the border even though we had all his documents in order.  In fact, we have a very neat and tidy binder full of all our official documents and were ready to produce them in an instant.  What nerds.  Nothing even close to that happened.  All 374 miles we traveled today were anti-climactic, really.  (Deep breath, mom!!)  

After we paid our toll at the border, we went about 12 more miles to the tourist visa center and where vehicle permits are obtained for visitors driving past the "free zone."  We already have 4-year temporary resident visas so that part was simple enough, but we needed a vehicle permit which may turn out to be a pain in the booty.  The clerk who helped us (who seemed very certain and spoke English well) informed us that we have to drive BACK to the border within 30 days to complete our permit process.  Uggggghhhh, say what?!?  Considering that would be a very expensive 4-day, 40-hour round trip drive, Ty's determined to find another way....we'll worry about that later.  We were given our temporary permit and were officially on the highway by 7:00am this morning.  

Highway 15 South is pretty well-maintained, much better than we expected, and large stretches of it are actually brand-spanking new or currently being redone.  I would say about 80% of the roads we drove on today were comparable to the United States (as far as smoothness goes.)  Again, not at all what I was envisioning.  Every so often there would be little "rest stops" where semi-trucks seemed to take breaks...complete with street vendors, beggar kids, and lazy, unleashed dogs.  Aside from these little blips of life in the desert, and the occasional toll booth....our ride was uneventful, at best.  It was mostly never-ending hot asphalt, vast desert in every direction and listening to the same playlists over and over.  And a LOT of boredom.

The most entertaining thing we did today was use the Google translate app to translate road signs... We practiced pronouncing them and tried to think of the U.S. equivalent...  "No Tire Basura" (Don't throw garbage)...."No Maneje Consado" (Don't drive tired....they really love this one for some reason!)  We probably learned 25 new words today just trying to entertain ourselves.  Only like, one million more words to go and we'll be all set. 

The hardest part of our trip was driving for 8 straight hours with only one 15-minute break halfway through!  There aren't real "rest areas" here like there are in the States, and we wanted to minimize being pulled over as much as possible.  So, we stopped at a bright, clean, new-ish gas station to use the facilities, grab a snack and let our poor, tired puppy out for a minute...and then we were right back on the road for the second 4-hour stretch.  

As I type this, we are currently lounging in a very comfortable, air-conditioned Best Western in Navojoa, Sonora for the evening...complete with room service and a pool.  Arriving here was easily the most wonderful part of our entire week.  We're all so exhausted and tired of the van.  Captain Ty has driven a total of 2,338 miles so far by himself without a single complaint!  

Tomorrow will be our hardest, longest and last day of driving.  We're going to wake up at sunrise and hit the road by 6:00am...and drive the 12 hours to our little La Cruz.  I'm already dreading the drive but looking forward to our final destination!!!  

We're off to the pool!  Buenas noches!