We're coming home...already?!

February 19, 2014 my life changed…again.  You’d think I’d had enough the last three years..  Almost a year ago, we came to the Dominican Republic on a 2-3 year plan to gain experience, build the resume and even get our living abroad tax deduction as an extra bonus. Most recently we’ve been happy with a two year timeline and set our tentaive departure for April 2015.  Before moving to this country, we checked on Jesus’ US permanent residence status and saw all he had to do was keep that was to travel to the US at least once a year which was already in the plans for Christmas and seemed to be no problem. A month or so ago we realized Jesus’s permanent residence status was expring this year and needed to be renewed.  Again, no problem, we planned to renew it online.

Until now. 

We’ve learned that you have to be in the United States when you apply for renewal and the timeline for renewal is 3-10 months.  3-10 months with no guarantee of how long!  We’ve run through a lot of scenarios on whether he goes to the US solo or we go as a family but there’s only one scenario that works. 

We all have to move back.

It wouldn’t be worth me staying and paying for our apartment here another ten months without Jesus if it takes that long.  Chances are it won’t but it’s not a risk we can’t take.  If Jesus is in the US for that long, he won’t want or even need to come back anyway so again it would be usless for me to wait here.  We also need to sell all of our things, furniture, etc. before returning to the US and this is the only way we can do it on a set timeline.  We’ve tried all the scenarios and with a tentaive return date of April 2015, no scenario makes as much sense for our family and finances as does returning now.

Obviously we’d rather live in the USA but that dooesn’t make this unplanned curve ball any easier.  We both have lives here.  We’ve made great friends, we are very involved with the youth and other things at church, I teach English classes and Jesus obviously has his job that’s going so well.  To pick up and leave with just over a month’s notice is not easy…we’ve been there before and had even more time the last time! 

Our youth we love so much!

It took me 9 months for me to be ok here.  It’s possible I fell into a depression when we first moved.  I talked to Jesus about it months after I pulled myself together and we both recognized I was a different person and didn’t want that to happen again. I remember when we went to Miami for Christmas and the night before coming back to the DR, I was in tears for fear of getting on another airplane ( I loathe flying) and I didn’t want to come back here.  My sweet husband gave me a blessing that night as we sat in prayer and I came back and I was happy!  The big thing that made me happy was I changed my schedule and my lifestyle and I quit doing things that were hard.  I made my life manageable.  For example, instead of walking with Joaquin’s stroller in 90 degrees to pay a cable bill, I only run errands when Jesus is here or Amarily, our friend that cleans once a week. Granted that’s a minor example of what was hard for me. My point is I’m finally happy here and while in the long term we want to live in the US, it’s difficult to just go without a plan…especially when we thought we had a plan for a year later.  The timeline has been sprung on us and we will need a job, a car, a place to live, etc…luckily we have a few ideas under our belt that I’ll blog about when something, anything, becomes final.  Many of you are probably wondering about our home we own in MN as a place to live but we’ve already agreed to renew the lease to the renters and we don’t want to take on that mortgage without knowing our job situation so suddenly, so as a rental property it shall stay.

So that’s the update!  You can all be happy I’m coming back!  We’re happy to move back but it’s not going to be easy rushing to plan and make things happen.  Sometimes I get confused about why everything fell into place for us to come here and why it felt so right only for things since then to have gone a little sour.  Our taxes on our home in MN went up some time after we signed the lease so we lost some money on our rental property the first year and now this…just kind of crazy. However we came for the opportunity and experience and that we definietetly got! For that, I will always be grateful.  Not many people can say they moved to a third world country for a year, not as a missionary, not as a student, not even as a former resident; I moved as a mom and made myself a life.  Now I’m just praying that Jesus’s potential employers will see working abroad on the resume and not care that it was only for a year although he may get to extend that by working remotely...maybe. I’m going to miss so many people and my heart is already sad.  Like I said, it took me nine months to be ok here and I finally am! My tribute to this country and to my friends will also be in a coming blog post.  But…you all know I’m excited to return…just as soon as we get settled…again…but hey, it’s America right??

Prayers appreciated.

I'm 30 and I can finally cook!

If you want to read about my New Years resolution click here:
http://ournewjag.blogspot.com/2014/01/its-cooking-time-new-goal.html

According to Sid Savara (whoever that is), "25% of New Year’s resolutions are broken in the first week alone. Within 6 months, over half of New Year Resolvers will have given up."
Well it's February 11 and I'm still going strong!  That's more than I can say for any gym membership I've tried in the past...this year I'm working my way through Michael Symon's five in five cookbook.  Each week I use the handy grocery list generator that's part of his ebook on the iPad and plan my family's menu.  I just click the meals I want to try and the iPad puts it into a organized grocery list for me.  I have been very impressed with how quick the meals are...while they are more than five minutes, I'm always out of the kitchen in under 30.  They also have been quite delicious.  Many of the recipes use fresh herbs and spices to help me feel like I'm cooking restaurant quality food because we know that's what we'd rather be eating...from a restaurant.  There have been a couple that have lacked a little flavor but I blame those on not having a grill and me improvising.  My favorites have surprisingly been the sandwiches!  You can't go wrong when you buy good quality bread and new flavors of cheese.  With that said, here are some photos of my cooking endeavors...if only I brought out the SLR to do blog quality work...Sorry...I guess focusing on cooking has been a big enough goal and photography will have to come a little later.

Portabella, arugula and blue cheese sandwich

Want to see how easy the recipes are to follow?  Here's an example for the above sandwich...remember all credit goes to Michael Symon's five in five so that if the world goes nuts and I become famous, I don't want to get in trouble for copyright.

Prosciutto, tomato and basil fritatta (fritattas are so easy and now a great way for me to use up any leftover veggies from the week)

Garlic chicken and mushrroms (was supposed to be asparagus but we used mushrooms)

Sausage, zucchini and almond foil packet using an oven instead of a grill :(

The next exciting thing has nothing to do with my resolution is I decided to try flavored water thanks to Pinterest!  I hate drinking water but I know that I need to, we all need to.  Once I made this concoction I downed several water bottles in the same day and yes that's a feat for me.  My first go was cucumber, mint and lime.  I'm so excited to buy fruit every time I go shopping now to make more flavors...I am determined to find one my husband will even like.  He's currently on a break from his precious Coca cola so I have a better chance of slipping one of these new drinks in.  Oh and even Joaquin was obsessed!

Missionary for a day (and photos of my city)

The other night I was taken back when someone asked me if I was a missionary. Taken back because it was at a church event, by a stake leader,  who clearly knows missionaries have recognizable name tags of which I did not, making a perfect example of how shocking it can be to see an American in Santiago. Turns out he must have had some premonition because the following day I think I became one!

Maribel and I are in the young women's presidency at church and set out to visit two of the young women and then have a meeting to plan the year's calendar.  However our afternoon/evening became much more eventful!  On a side note, Maribel has become my best friend here!  In the beginning of living here, I had a few emotional break downs thinking that I wouldn't have any friends for two years especially because of the language barrier and we just left such a close knit group of friends in MN.  While things still aren't the same, I do feel like I have friends and ones that I can actually communicate with.  Maribel is the best and I feel as close to her as I do with my friends that speak English. We have a language barrier but somehow we communicate very well in spite of it. She speaks little English and I know more Spanish now then when I came which I also can't believe! When I left for two weeks to the states Maribel and I missed each other like crazy and when I returned she told me she had been living in Santiago for only two years herself and never had a friend she clicked with as much as me.  She truly is my blessing!  Her husband Modesto is great too and we do a lot of things together.  It's my dream for them to come to the States one day but it's more than difficult to even get a tourist visa for a vacation and even more difficult for a regular visa.  I also can't tell you how many years of them working it would take them to buy a plane ticket but it's still my dream and I'm going to beg my husband to help however we can!

Back to my day...As we passed the security guard of my apartment, Maribel handed him a pamphlet about Jesus Christ and our church and said if he had questions he could as me.  She wasn't pushy or anything.  She simply told him what it was, gave it to him, smiled and walked away.  I told her how brave she was and she said: "of course, I used to be a missionary so it's easy!" The reason people should share the gospel is not for any worldly gain. It's because it is something that makes their heart so happy that they just want everyone to know what they know!

We then hopped in a standard local crazy driving concho (the cars for public transportation) and headed to the neighborhood of Gurabo.  Upon walking to the young woman's home, we passed another one of the girl's home who was sick and not in church that day.  We decided to visit her apartment with get well wishes but she wasn't home.  Only after knocking did Maribel open the side window and scream inside for her to find out maybe she really wasn't home.  That's another cultural thing that you can practically enter someone's house, backyard, window, whateves to look for them besides a simple ring of the doorbell.

We continued onto the house of the two young women.  This was in a very poor neighborhood and if I were a tourist I would have considered the homes shacks.  I know better now that they are actual homes but yes there is no real ceiling as you can see the roof from inside and there are curtains for bedroom doors and a very narrow living area with an old concrete floor.  While it's not much, it's sufficient and I like that.  Not only did the homes interest me but so did the cows outside.  I'm not used to seeing them in people's backyards in the city but these people happened to own some.  When we arrived, some of their neighbors were meeting with the actual missionaries.  The missionaries invited us to stay and share a message with them and I understood everything and even contributed all in Spanish!  We talked about the scripture that says, come all ye that labor and are heavy laden and God will give you rest.  It was so cool to see the girls learning and showing faith in the scripture.  Then inside we met with our intended young women and just asked her how she was doing and helped her with her personal progress.  The missionaries stayed with us, as well as two of her family members, being two young men in their early twenties.  They were not members of the church but participated in our conversation and the missionaries asked if they could visit with them again and they said yes!  Just like that, again nothing pushy.  The missionaries simply asked, and the young men said, why not?  So if you can't tell...missionary work is obviously scary for me but on this day I watched how incredibly easy it can be! I was so so happy to be there.  I think sharing the gospel is easier for me in Spanish because since I don't understand everything, I won't know everything they say if I get rejected so who cares?  Last week I was talking to a neighbor who told me he was Mormon but no longer attends although he still reads the Book of Mormon.  In Spanish, I told him, when he wants to come back to church, he can go with Jesus and I!  Really? I did that?  I'm telling you it's easier in Spanish!  I better take these skills with me back to the states.

The neighborhood we visited

The cows

This is just another area to show different parts of the city.  I love these houses with the Spanish/New Mexican style shingled roofs.

And one of the houses closer to my neighborhood but up a big hill so I don't venture there often...check out the mountainous view!

We then had our planning meeting at another woman's home and her mom made us fresh chinola (passion fruit) juice.  Everyone makes the best fresh squeezed juice here! Our final stop was to visit a friend who just had a baby.  While waiting outside her door, Maribel stepped in a huge ant pile and started running away and stomping her feet!  When we left the apartment, we ran as fast as we could and jumped as far as we could to clear the ants and avoid all the bites!  Then we headed home in another concho, being a small 5 passenger car, but there were 8 of us! I was on the end in the back and you better believe I locked the door and held onto the handle above to make sure I didn't fall out!  What a day!

It's cooking time! A new goal.

In my church there is a program for all of the young women to complete called Personal Progress.  It helps teenage girls come closer to Christ in their life through scripture study, prayer, living Christlike attributes and life skills.  Since I am a youth leader and never completed this program when I was a youth, I am now doing it  and only have one project of my choice left in addition to finishing reading the Book of Mormon again.  So what have I chosen for my final project?!  It’s cooking time!  This could even be a New Years Resolution I suppose.

I have completed several cooking challenges in my life from taking cooking classes to finding several new recipes online and while that has all been fun, nothing has turned me into a home cook that enjoys cooking and stops eating out/ordering in.  Today I have a new idea!  Instead of trying various recipes online only to not save and forget about, I’m going to work my way through a cookbook!  I’m not saying I’ll try every recipe in the book but I’m saying I’ll try and stick to just one book to keep myself focused and not forget the things that actually turn out good!  I researched specifically cookbooks that are good for beginners or that are quick and easy.  The one I’ve decided to try is Michael Symon’s 5 in 5.  He claims to have meals you can prepare in five minutes with five ingredients.  I plan to get the ebook on our new Christmas present IPad. I'll be able to prop my Ipad on the kitchen counter and he includes a grocery list generator I can simply email to myself.  After reading reviews, I realize there may be prep work in addition to the five mintues and pantry ingredients in addition to the five fresh ingredients but all in all it still sounds like one of the easier books I found…let’s hope!

Image taken from: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kkAmAk-vL._SX258_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
You won't see me getting in trouble for copyright.
This doesn't even have to be in MLA, APA, XYZ format 'cause it's MY blog.  Take that University of Minnesota! ;)

So here’s to a new goal!  To be honest, I really stink at finishing my goals, which doesn’t typically bother me, but I always have fun starting so I can’t wait to see how I do!  This goal is for myself to finally enjoy cooking at home and for my family to eat healthier and save money. With all the cooking challenges I’ve tried, I’m just crossing my fingers this can be the one that works!  C’mon 5 in 5!

***Check in on the last goal I documented***

Do you remember the thirty minutes thirty days no electronics challenge back in September?  You can view it at: http://ournewjag.blogspot.com/2013/09/30-minutes-30-days-no-electronics.html

Well that only lasted a couple weeks (perfect example of me starting and not finishing).  However the goal was to spend uninterrupted time together as a couple and while we didn’t stay consistent with the exact plan, it still helped us to realize the problem and helped us to remember to focus solely on each other without texting, video games, open computers, etc. in general. We still remember this today and I think the goal created an overall change of consciousness so I am happy with that.

USA Christmas Vacation

“I just want to taste everything!”  This was one of the first things Jesus said to me during our trip to Miami.  I had this same feeling for weeks leading up to our Christmas vacation.  The both of us wanted to buy and taste everything so we really had to pace ourselves and our wallets.  We had so so much fun this trip!  We stayed with Jesus’ aunt and uncle just outside of Fort Lauderdale along with his cousin Eli and his kids and his cousin Uki and his girffriend Karen.  The two bedroom house was packed!  We did so many cool things together!   It feels like too much to list but to name a few, we rode an airboat in the evergaldes, walked on South Beach, shopped at the malls and Best Buy and then Best Buy again, ate sushi and then ate sushi again, ate thai food, seafood and fancy cheese, walked on the pier/boardwalk, visited several beaches, went to the Seminole Hard Rock and even made a day trip to Orlando!

Miami Beach

 

Florida gator

Ready to ride the airboat

One of many sushi experiences

Cute!

Trending at South Beach

Joaquin wasn't scared of anyone in costume!

In front of the Dominican display at a Christmas program

Outside of historic landmark Viscaya

Rare to see my serious husband being silly in public!

Orlando was very special because we met up with Martin and Katy, some of our best Minnesota friends! We got to spend time with their sweet little twins who are 9 months now.  We walked around downtown Disney and had Italian food together for dinner.  The day went by much too quickly because so much of it was spent stuck in Orlando Christmas tourist traffic.  I learned my lesson to not go to Orlando at Christmas again…but still every minute of it was worth it to see our best friends!  We just love them so much and were so happy they were visting Florida the same week as us!

Spencer, Madi and Joaquin!

Spencer and Joaquin at the splash pad

My favorite!

I find that living in the Dominican Republic and the US are like night and day and it’s true that you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.  I almost forgot how different things were until I left and came back.  There is so much in the United States I took for granted!  The first thing I noticed once back in the US was the level of cleanliness and maintenance of yards, streets, etc.  I remembered what it was like to be in a car driving around as a family with our baby safely buckled in his carseat.  In the DR we have to taxi or walk and drag the carseat everywhere. Since he is now in the convertible carseat that no longer fits in strollers, it’s quite the task to bring him out.  However I do walk a lot there and while it’s scorching hot even in the winter, I’ve become accustomed to putting my groceries  or whatever I need in the bottom of Joaquin’s stroller and trekking along.  Other things taken for granted in the US are road safety and the obedience of laws.  Do you know in the Dominican Republic you do not have to turn in the turn lane?  You can cut the whole turn lane off and just turn from any point in the road.  It’s normal and is not enforced as being illegal.  That’s just one example of how difficult driving is there.  While we were stuck in back to back traffic in Orlando, that didn’t compare to the amount of crowdedness and traffic in the DR.  I’ve even taken for granted the ability to pull over during a road trip to buy water for the baby or to go pee.  When traveling on the “highway” in the DR, you can’t just pull over.  Gas stations are few and far between so pee before you leave and you better have everything you need prepared.  Not that road trips in the DR aren’t their own experience with the fruit stands, people selling candies on the side of the road and the restaurants to stop at with fresh food cooked right out of people’s homes. 

Many people that we’ve visited here have commented on how brave I am for making this decision to live in the Dominican Republic with my family.  These particular people happen to be Dominican but have have become Americanized and recognize with me that it really is night and day.  I love the people, the rain and a lot of things in the Dominican Republic but let’s be honest, I like convenience in America and I never had dreams of living internationally.  If I was single or studying abroad things might be different, but it isn’t the easiest of places to raise a baby and have no car.  However it’s an experience we will never forget and are counting our blessings.  While a large part of me would like to just stay here in Florida, another part of me is ready to return home to a routine and structure in my life.  I have English classes to teach, a church calling to fulfill, my little puppy and I want to see my friends!  It’s good that I recognize that I live there and being here in the US is now vacation.

Oh I can’t forget to note about Christmas!  Jesus’ aunt cooks the best Dominica food, actually she can cook everything.  We had some traditional Dominican items and a ham for me just like my mom makes with pineapple on top.  After dinner we danced the night away starting with Merengue and bachata but finishing with American hip hop.  And the best was Joaquin opening presents!  When we clapped, he clapped too with the biggest smile!  And who doesn’t love a baby rnuning around in new pajamas each night?!  We are flying home on New Years Eve during midnight and celebrating New Years on the plane.  Domincans always clap when the plane lands so we are pretty sure they’ll have fun ringing in the new year on board as well!

A medical update

http://ournewjag.blogspot.com/2013/02/turns-out-i-have-miracle-baby.html

The above link: "My miracle baby" will be necessary for this update.

Once again in my life, I left the doctor’s office in tears.  I kind of hate going to the doctor here.  There are no appointments and it’s all first come first serve so I have spent countless hours waiting in line for appointments and insurance questions while everything has been in Spanish and it’s all been a bit stressful.  For the past ten months I have been waiting to receive a test to see if my left fallopian tube works before having abother baby, because we know Joaquin was born completely on the right side of my uterine septum.  I was meant to get the test in MN but ended up sitting alone in a hospital gown afraid of the pain of the test only to be told my doctor was called into emergency surgery and couldn’t complete it.   Then my family moved to the Domincan Republic. After insurance leading us to believe they would pay for this test after 6 months of my arrival here, they now told us they wouldn’t pay at all because it’s a pre-exisiting condition.  Jesus and I decided to foot the bill and my doctor said I could just show up for the test at 7:30 in the morning and it would be done.  Well I showed up at the lab and not only did they say I needed an “imaginary” appointment, but they said the machine was broken.  This test can only be done one day out of the month so now I’m moving onto month 10 of not getting it done and not knowing what to do in regards to any surgery.

Luckily both the Doctor in Minnesota and the Doctor in the Domincan Republic recommended the same thing  for surgery.  That I do not remove the uterine septum, since I had a successful pregancy, because at this point it can do more harm than good. They both suggested I remove the part of the septum that makes my life with Jesus uncomfortable.  You can fill in the blanks.  I decided I really wanted the recommended surgery but just wanted the tube test first to make sure they didn’t need to do anything else while they were working on me. 

This whole process of any potential surgery is taking way too long and I'm tired of waiting for when I can even start trying to have baby number 2. While it's kind of breaking my heart, I know I shouldn’t complain because Joaquin is the greatest blessing in my life!

So I emailed my doctor the drama of the visit to the lab for the test (and the drama of the past 10 months) and suggessted I do everything in the US when insurance will pay. She said that's fine and maybe I'll have a great pregnancy just like the last!  Can I just say that I love my doctor here?  It’s the medical system that has problems but not her.  She knew more about my case then my US Doctor and put me at so much ease because it’s so common here!

If we do have a baby here, I am frustrated that for every pregnancy appointment, I may be in line for two or more hours. It’s also scary that we don't have a clear timeline on when we're moving back to the US but all in all none of these are excuses to not have another baby.  I always dreamed of having five kids but now that dream has shrunk to three and now with the high risk pregnancies I'll have from here on out, I don't want to shrink my dream anymore. There are high risks of pre-term labors and miscarriages with a uterine septum and while that’s scary, if I had one baby successfully I can have another right?!

  

Thanksgiving on the Island

Jesus and I had been toying with the idea of hosting an American Thanksgiving at our home or taking the weekend he had off work to go to a local resort.  As much as I wanted to cook, the resort won out.  We went to the Riu Merengue in Puerto Plata.  This resort was so nice!  Sometimes I wish I lived on the beach.  If I had to make one complaint...just one...I'd say the beds were super un-comfy but the resort wasn't designed for you to be sitting inside. It had a large pool with a kiddy pool for Joaquin.  It also had a very large beach which was nice and clean and a little Caribbean street (Calle Caribeno) full of shops and souvenirs.  It was all inclusive so all our meals were paid for and you could eat pretty much whenever you wanted as well as unlimited pina coladas.  And while it was no use to us Mormons, even the rooms were stocked with unlimited alcohol.  Over they years Jesus has taught me to be cautious of buffets.  He always reminds me of how long the food may have been chilling outside and whether or not is is fresh.  However the buffets here did not disappoint, even for Jesus!  The breakfast was so good and the international dinner as well!  And dinner was different each night making it extra fun.  OK OK if I had to make one other complaint...around 11:00 pm one night, Jesus sent me out to check out what they had for snacks.  This is where the food HAD been chilling!  It was lunch's leftover pizza and hotdogs and it definitely did not taste fresh.  I'm pretty sure it was snacks for all the people who partied a little too hard and had some kind of munchies.  Needless to say the trash in our hotel room's bathroom smelled like hotdogs and poopy diapers the rest of the night.  But again, the breakfast and dinner buffets were fresh and delicious!  It was interesting to meet the tourists at the hotel.  Joaquin was outnumbered by all of the Eastern European grandparents but that kept things nice and calm for the little guy.  The resort had lots of activities including, kayaks, jet skis, volleyball, horseshoes, aerobics and whatever else but we split our time between eating, the beach and the pool.  It was so relaxing and so perfect!  I'd recommend this place for a vaca to the Dominican Republic if you are in need!

first sand castles

mountains

no fear

the pool

coconut tree

what a view!

the resort housing

love!

So many nice people offering to take a picture of the tree of us, we didn't even have to ask!

My husband's a good photographer 

I've never seen a tree in this country without leaves!  I guess every tree needs to bud...

Dessert buffet...need I say more?

My Haitian tourist braids!

These two love to play!

So cute!

Turns out my cooking endeavors and showing off an American turkey got to happen as well!  Everyone in my English class I teach at the church, chipped in a few pesos so that I could buy a turkey for them! We had turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.  I didn't want  to fork out any more cash to make any more than that so it was just a sampling of the American tradition and I think we hit the main points.  The celebration went so well.  I gave a brief, very brief, history of where the holiday came from and then we all took turns saying one thing we're grateful for.  I told them how grateful I was for them.  I teach this class week after week without a steady curriculum, coming up with so much on my own.  I don't know if they are learning it and most don't even have an opportunity to use English but still they come.  Their desire to learn is so special and they come, even when it's me, just volunteering to do what I can.  Some of the students even said they were grateful for me and that too was very special.