Bye bye USA!

Well, the time has come. My appointment is November 3rd. Chris and I will be driving there so... My last day in the bay area is October 25th. Hotel is booked in Juarez, Mexico and everything is coming together. I still need to work on my waiver letter but I'm not to worried about that. First I have to survive Juarez... Then I'll worry about finishing that waiver. I'll have about 3 months or so after my November appointment.

From Juarez we will be driving all the way to Puerto Vallarta, then it's hell from there.... beach, sun, seafood straight from the pacific. I can't wait for the food but... the beach and sun well.. lets just say that I have never had a need to turn on a heater... ever! (sun/heat = evil).

I am loving the weather right now. Rain, thunder, hail! I wish it was like this everyday! I think I'm the only one that feels like going outside and getting pelted by hail and rain (which I did). Or like feeling so cold that your fingers go numb. I love that! I'm going to miss it.

Well my friends... if you want to hang out let me know, if not... I don't really mind. With luck I will be back on American soil in about six months to a year. If it all goes to hell... then I wont be coming back to the US. My backup plan is Canada. I will keep everyone posted and share lots of pictures.

-Roby

What I've Learned:
...hail hurts!

Fishy and NVC

She makes weird faces lol

Newark days... I remember back in high school how fun it was. They had the "graviton" and they would play awesome loud music in there. The wristbands where only $10. Now are $21 and have pretty crappy rides. The parade was always kinda boring. I did like watching my friends participate in the parade. I guess that's what it's about. Seeing people you know march along. My niece faith was in the parade this year! I didn't know that... So, as usual I didn't go lol It would have been cute seeing her. She is a spunky little girl. I did get her a gold fish -that died the next day-.

One year I really wanted a goldfish, Chris ended up getting me one at the fair and we even bought the tiny fish tank. I even named it "Spot". That weekend we left for a trip...we ended up leaving Spot in my room forgetting to give instructions to anyone to feed it... yeah.. it was dead when we came back.

So, NVC told us that October appointments are filled. I guess I wont be leaving until November. Well, at least I get to spend my moms birthday here with her, As well as my anniversary/Halloween. I can't believe it's been almost two years since I got married. I love being married, it's just like dating, except your spouse legally owns you in some countries... lol

-Roby

What I've Learned:
...Having a niece is better than having a kid. I never get bored of her and when I do she is on her way home to her mom. Usually loaded on sugar!

Sleep and Stick Shift...

Hello, it's been a little over two weeks now. In that time... we got a new car, settled into our new apartment with our lovely roommate. Went to Gilroy and ate at "Daves Famous BBQ" - I don't know how famous they are-, and I drove the new car which is a manual! -that was fun-. Oh and Chris did a sleep study!

-Car is a 1998 Isuzu Rodeo, v6 manual (red). Not too bad. I'm still learning how to drive it. I only stalled it 3 times my very first time! yey!

-I think we have officially moved in and got more comfortable in the apartment. It helps to have a cool roommate. We also realized that we are all from different countries! Check out our passports... pretty nifty.

-Daves famous BBQ, if you haven't heard of it.. do question their ego. It was pretty good. I had an awesome pulled pork sandwich. They have this family menu where they bring huge portions of meat on a trashcan lid!

-Chris had to do a sleep study for work. Everything went great. They hooked him up with wires all over his head! it was pretty cool. His doctor said... "sleep more and you wont be tired in the morning"... no shit! lol He was a nice doctor though.  

Oh! also Gilroy's garlic festival is coming up. I really want to go. I haven't been to it since  I was 10 or so. I don't remember anything about it... except the garlic ketchup. To not remember anything about a family outing but the condiments is kinda weird... I really want to go back and try it again.

-Roby

What I've Learned:
...Don't change the oil's and fluids in your car when it's 100+ degrees outside. Just don't.

New plan, new place.

We have been busy! With the move and settling into a new place. As well as celebrating birthdays and independence day. Our main travel plan has changed as well. Here is the new plan: Postpone our trip to Mexico until work slows down. It makes sense, specially when its time for taxes. I also get to work on getting more paperwork together before the interview. The only thing that sucks is that now we might be over there for the holiday season. I don't really like that idea. Being surrounded by yummy food...

We are also looking to buy a new car. So, if you know of anyone selling an SUV (honda, passport or equivalent) Please let me know. We are going to need a bigger car to be able to take more of our stuff.

Well... enough of the boring stuff. I hope everyone had a nice Independence day! We got to see a lot of illegal fireworks from our neighbors it was pretty cool. We also got some of our own -legal- which where pretty and scared my niece lol

She ran into the car and kept asking us to "clean up" because we where "all done!" lol. I gave her some poppers and she was happy again. She liked stepping on them.

For my birthday, I went out to Red Robin for lunch. Then to my mom's for birthday cake. It was nice. My mom kept up with tradition of misspelling names on cakes.I also got a piece of my favorite cake -carrot cake-. I had a good time.

"Robby"

woo... this post was all over the place.. lol

-Roby

What I've learned:
...Don't try and move Ikea furniture. Actually, Don't buy Ikea furniture.

Laptops and Kittens...

Open this up and play find the kitten!

Before Chris -best husband ever- left on his trip he let me open my birthday present! A new laptop! I have never had my own laptop. The one I had was a hand down from my mom. It was broken and would only run linux -until it broke completely-. I love my new laptop. I feel so spoiled.

There is something about new electronics. When everything is working the way it should. It's an awesome feeling for geeky people like me -Yum yum gadgets-.

On other random news: The kittens are ready to leave! I locked them in the bathroom all night long with lots of food and water so they would see their mom using her litter. Next day, they where using theirs. Kinda sad seeing them go, but at least they are going with people who really want them -would you pay $100 for a kitten?-.

Giles

This little guy is "Giles" as My friend Georgia named him. He is a sickeningly sweet lap kitty. He just wants to be pet all day. Everyone wants playful kitties... Or the "cutest" this guy needs an old lady to pet him all day.

Mustashio

I call this one Mustashio because... well... look at him. He is just a Cat's cat. Likes to play, eat, sleep regular cat stuff... he is just a cat. Poor little guy. I hope I can find him a good home.

-Roby

What I've learned:

...Nice cats finish last.

Fathers day and birthdays...

Took this at Santa Cruz

Another Fathers day has come and gone. Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there.

I have always had issues with my father. I guess not now since I haven't seen him since I turned 19. I don't know if he is alive or dead. My only wish for him -if he is alive- is for him to be free from his demons. With all the pain and torment that he caused that's the best I can say and think of him.

My birthday is on monday. Ever since I turned 18 I start getting somewhat depressed around this time. It's just a sense of the years passing by and I'm still stuck in limbo. Not being able to accomplish anything that I wanted to accomplish by this age. To make matters worse my husband had to go Washington for work. He wont be back until next weekend.

Oh well... I'll blast some music and dance like crazy. That usually makes me smile.

-Roby

What I've learned:
---Make sure the windows are closed before dancing like crazy.

OCD and Hoarding...

Yes. This was my room.

I haven't posted in a while. After watching an episode of "Hoarders" I thought I would share my experience with it. Yes, I have OCD tendencies. I didn't even know I had OCD until someone pointed it out. That was after they watched me wash my hands and face for the billionth time.

OCD is like being stuck in a loop. You have to keep doing things until they are just right. It's horrible. I have been able to control it without any help. However, there was a time in my life when it was pretty bad.

I used to shower and wash myself with bleach to disinfect myself -why take a shower at all if you aren't doing it well?-. I used to hold onto EVERYTHING until I had to start sleeping in the closet because I had so much crap. I used to obsess about organizing and cleaning all of my stuff that it never got done.

I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the realization that I could never be the perfect person that I pictured. Something just clicked. I stopped with my obsessive washing -I only wash my hands about 30 times a day now!-, I stopped showering with bleach -it hurt-, I throw useless things away and only keep minimal things.

I got a great tip recently it's helping me cope with throwing even meaningful things away: Take a picture of it. Once I heard that... a lightbulb turned on. I am a bit of a shutterbug -probably due to the ocd- so having pictures is actually perfect for me -thank you! G!-. This week I have been packing and taking pictures of things and throwing stuff away.

I'm really proud of myself... I have come a long way. Very few people know about this problem. I think only my family has actually witnessed it. If you know someone who has this problem. Please, know that it's a horrible demon, it makes people with it very lonely. I am very lucky to have come out the other end. Some never do.

This isn't the worst it got.

-Roby

What I've learned:
...Not all memories are worth keeping.

Blood and Long trips...

One of the easiest way to give back is by donating blood. I have been trying to do it whenever I can. Last time I gave blood it was a bad experience. One of the techs couldn't find my vein and I got stabbed in the muscle couple of times. After a while the main doctor came over and did it. They gave me a whole box of cookies! lol

Saturday I went back after putting it off for a while. Luckily the same doctor lady was there. She remembered me lol "I always remember the difficult ones" she said. She got it right away this time! It was quite painless and I was done within 15 minutes. I would suggest everyone try and donate if possible. When they called me to set up my appointment they told me that I have helped saved 12 people so far. I thought it was just B.S. until I asked the doctor how would they know? She told me that they just looked at my ID number lol so I guess I have helped saved 12 people!

Later, we headed to Dos Palos to pick up the car tittles. Now we are able to sale Chris' car -yey!-. We didn't get home until late, So, sunday we had a late start. Someone came over to look at the kittens. Two kittens have a new owner now! They won't be able to leave yet but maybe by next week they will be.

-Roby

What I've learned:
...Don't drink too much water/soda before a two hour trip.

Paperwork and Stomach pains...

"Calm down"

I received an Email from NVC (national visa center) today. They informed me that they got all my paperwork and that I just had to wait until my paperwork was scanned into the system.

I am getting so nervous and anxious. Usually when I get anxious or nervous my stomach starts hurting. It's hurting right now. I wish for all of this to be over already. However, it's an experience that I'm happy it's on it's way. Imagine not being able to start your life until politics decide for you. It's annoying. I'm glad though. I can't wait to start my life with my husband by my side. I just need to relax now and calm down.

On other news! The kitties are having no problem being adopted. We already have people set up to come and meet them. They aren't ready to leave their mom yet, but they will soon. They are already drinking water by themselves and are starting to rough play. It's really awesome seeing them develop. They all have their little personalities. I'm willing to bet that's how parents feel about their kids. I'm just glad I get to give them away lol.

Today, we will be heading to Dos Palos. We got the Chris' car title mailed to his aunt's place. Maybe we can stop by Casa De Fruta and get some of their Yummy BBQ sauce for a BBQ tomorrow. Yum Yum.

-Roby

What I've learned:
...I love seeing my kittens learning how to pounce.

Bitching and barbecuing...

Yesterday Chris asked me If i wanted to go for a walk. After a little bitching on my part I agreed to go with him -I had just taken a shower and I hate being sweaty or feeling dirty-. We found a trail in our own backyard! it was quite nice. Next time I won't be so bitchy about it. Poor guy lol

For those who don't know, Chris' and I started eating Low-carb since april 4th. I have lost 14 pounds since then and I'm still losing -yey!-. If you need to lose weight or get healthy.. look into it! and think about this: Wheat bread spikes your insulin higher than table sugar.

The other day we finally had someone over! -Yo G!- it was really nice having someone over and being able to use the living room -we had a roommate before-. With the TV and Couch there I have been spending more time just hanging out reading on the couch, watching netflix. It's been a dream.

We had a nice little barbecue, Ms. Georgia -friend- showed me how to make barbecued asparagus! it was delicious! and she got to see how we eat during week on our low-carb diets. We had: Tri-tip, Mushrooms, asparagus, and some cauliflower rice. Yep, not much of a "diet" lol it really is just a way of eating very much like vegetarians but the complete opposite.

-Roby

What I've learned:

..When my husband asks me to go on a walk with him. Just go. Oh, and butter is awesome.

Passports and Kittens...

"Look at my face!"

I am now the owner of my very own passport! Now I can travel anywhere in the world. Except for where I want to go -Ugh!-. The San Fransisco embassy had a "Movil" -mobile- day in redwood city. Hurray for not having to go to S.F. I even got it the same day. Chris is still waiting for his in the mail.

Speaking of mobile. The kitties are very active. They started walking/stumbling around. They are so precious and cute! -look at that face!-. One of them is so furry! with a little bit of brown on his face. He looks like a little bear.

Well... this was a short post. But a post non the less.

-Roby



What I've learned:

...Last night I learned how to de-bone a catfish. It wasn't fun. It was delicious though!

First post madness!

This picture has nothing to do with the rest of the blog!  I did take it though.

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a long time. I am usually a very private person and my introverted ways get the best of me. However, Some of my friends and family want to keep track of me during my travels -more on that later-. The best way I can think of sharing my experiences and pictures is through a blog! -not really-.

In the coming weeks I have to prepare for a trip to Mexico. I'm not going explain the entire situation but lets just say that the US needs to tweak their immigration laws just a bit.

Luckily! I have an awesome husband that is going to be taking the trip with me. So where in Mexico are we going? Ciudad Juarez. Also known as OHSHITWEAREGOINGTOGETKILLED valley -it is!-. It's okay, it's only for 3 days. If I live maybe I'll get a t-shirt that says "I'm alive!" which in turn would be hilarious if I die while wearing it.

My aunt and uncle are letting us stay at their place afterwards since we have to stay anywhere from 1-3 months -hopefully not longer- They live in Puerto vallarta. Also known as OHSHITWEAREGOINGTOGETSUNBURNED valley -it's not-. For those of you that known me I hate the heat and the sun in general. This is going to be hell for me. My hubby will love it though.

Before we leave we have to do the moving thing... packing, wrapping, selling of furniture and all that good stuff that makes moving fun -or hell-.

So.. Would you like to see some very rare Kittens?! and I really mean rare. The mom is this lady

and the dad is this guy...

Someone please explain why the kittens turned out l ike this....

Yes. We are sure he is the father. He is a purebred Ragdoll Cat. The kittens are adorable, there is six of them. If you are interested let me know.

...and with that bundle of cuteness I'm going to end my first post. Hopefully I remember to update.

-Roby


What I've learned: 

...Cat genetics are just as complex as ours.