Carrie's Happy Moments

Everyone may be sick of hearing about me and the things I do, but I decided that there were aspects of my life here that I want to remember, so I'm going to blog myself anyway.

First, most of my routine is the same as at home. Cook, clean, drive, homework, grocery shop, read, exercise, church, and play. Those things will probably never change as long as I have the kids and Dave to take care of.

But some additions since moving to Mexico have brought me extra joy.

I love it on the days when after Charlie goes down for a nap, I get to take my book outside with Amelia and sit in the sun. As a teenager I used to love to take my homework out into the backyard and lay out while I studied. I remember Freshman Year in High School when I had honors Geometry and English, I got my best grades and my best tan ever. (Remember I lived in California.)

I love to try to perfect recipes from restaurants when I like one of their dishes. Mexican recipes add extra challenge. Currently I am trying to perfect a Chicken Tinga Tostada recipe. I usually try a few different recipes from the internet. This dish actually was served to me at a church activity, so I could break down and ask the chef for the recipe, but that would take some of the fun out of it, and I'd have to embarrass myself with my broken Spanish.

Here is my latest attempt. Not bad, but not the same as the one I love.

I have also been spending time the last month trying to track down a good photographer for a family picture. I asked Dave to give one to me for my Birthday, but have yet to find a photographer that I like that doesn't cost a fortune. It's very few times when I wish we were wealthy, but this is one of those times. If I had the money, I'd fly down one of my very talented friends to come shoot us. Looking for the photographer is not what brings me joy. It's picturing how wonderful the picture will be to look at in 10 years, when I remember how cute my kids used to be before they were teenagers and how much I loved Mexico.

Believe it or not, driving in Ajijic also brings me joy. But only when I'm doing the driving. First, it reminds me of driving in England as a missionary. There are one-way streets everywhere and streets too narrow for 2 cars to drive even though they are 2-way. I told this to a native Englishwomen, and she was slightly offended, because the drivers in England are very polite and follow all the rules, while Mexicans don't follow any rules except try not to get hit. But I love driving down a narrow road and having to pull way over to the side and wave another driver past. It challenges my peripheral vision and makes me feel like I did a good deed that day.

This brings me to walking around Ajijic. I also love to walk down a street and say Buenos Dias, or Buenas Tardes to everyone I pass. They always smile and say it back. I don't have to really talk in Spanish, but I feel like a local.

And on to running. Like Dave, I have been trying to run along the Ciclopista every so often. I'm not going to say that I don't prefer or miss the aerobics I used to do at home (Hi, aerobics girls), but I do feel pretty healthy after running a couple of miles (My record is 2) and coming home super sweaty.

I almost forgot to add blogging. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do, but it replaces my scrapbooking hobby very well and I feel like it will help us remember this year even better.

As the song says, these are a few of my favorite things.