hands

hands

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Hi Hoe Hi Hoe its off to work he goes!!

My hunny got a JOB!

We are so excited and thankful.  Now along with all of that said, deep down inside there is a little bit of I guess we will call it.... NERVIOS.

Mommy and kiddos will no longer have "Daddy daycare."oooh my what to do???? Looks like imma have some kids for sale!?!?! j/k No really though, he has done such an amazing job staying home and actin' as  domestic engineer of the yr!  Better then I could of ever done. I had no problem with him stayin' home with the kiddos but I really think is was weighing really heavy on him not being able to contribute.

Work in Mexico hmmm, about $15.00 a day if your lucky, drug test, written test, background check, copies of everysingle piece of information under the friggin' sun, more tests, 6 day work weeks with no weekends off oh yeah did I mention $15.00 a day.

In the States it was all about how much and here it is just about havin' one.. get it!?!?!

So movin' forward our days are as follows':

5 a.m. Mom leaves for work
1 p.m. Kids go to school
1:30 p.m. Papi leaves for work
5 p.m. Mom gets off work
5 p.m. Kids get out of school and walk home
6 p.m. Mom gets home and does well hmmm Mom stuff *yuck* cook, clean, homework, etc.
10 p.m. husband catches taxi to the entrance to our neighborhood and mom goes and picks him up.

Needless to say we dont see eachother alot but its for a good cause and the time spent will be spent VERY WELL! *WINK *WINK

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A Little Bit About Me

A Little Bit About Me

This one was started by Lisa from From One Country to Another and is great way to learn a bit more about each other.

1. How long have you been with your husband?
We met in 1992 he was my first b/f and first for a lot of other things.. teeheehee.
He broke my young lil teenage heart and we separated for 7yrs. Then one day in 1998 he showed up @ my aunts house lookin' for me and we have been together every since <3

2. Can you remember one funny miscommunication because of language barriers?

Since my husband had been in the states since he was 6 his English it pretty good... But he has problems with the letter V and using it in place of B.  The letter B is almost non existent when he speak english:

Example:

*Bitamins
*Ban
*Bacation
*Banessa
*Begetables


I LOVE IT<3<3


3. What state / and or city have you relocated to?
Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico

4. Do you and your hubby have any children, How old?

oooh yess we have the Brady Bunch thing goin' on...
6 yr boy old (together) lives with us
12 yr old (together) lives with us
15 yr old girl (his) lives with us
16 yr old boy (hers) lives with dad

16 yr old boy (his) lives with us
19 yr old girl (his) lives with mom

"teenagers will be the death of me!"


5. What is one things thing that your blogger friends don't know about you?
I love tattoos.. I have many and want many more... My husband is not to keen on it but that is my thing.. My lower left calf is dedicated to my kiddos and husband.

6. What are some of your favorite hobbies or past times?

Anything that has to do with Family and Music I am there,  I love to barbeque and crack jokes all night. Yes my family "gots jokes".... gotta have thick skin to hang out with us!

7. How did you stumble upon the blogging community?

My sister told me about starting a blog.. She said that it would help me get everything "off my chest" and @ my own discretion...

8. Have you learned something new about yourself during this whole process that has changed all of our lives?

I have learned that there is a lot bigger world out there then I ever knew...I have proved to myself that I am a lot stronger then I ever knew. And it is now a proven fact that "where there is a will there is a way!" 

9. Something that you love about Mexico and something that you cant stand or miss living without.

I love being able to come home Friday after work and know that I am goin' to have2 DAYS OFF! Havent figured it out yet but for some reason here there doesn't seem to be so much hustle n bustle as in the states.  We actually have time to hang out and do things around the house....

I dislike not having a bath tub and central air....


10. Did you know your in-laws before moving and has it been a big adjustment being closer to them

Yes I knew them and I will talk about it on another blog at another time! Sometimes some situations are better left unsaid.....

11. If you were going back to the states next week where is the first place you would go, of course after seeing your family?
Only if my husband was with me would I ever go back... and the first thing I would want to do is go and take our youngest child to Disneyland!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

25 Things I Love About my "Sanwich de Jamon" (ham sandwich)

This post is based on the below comment "anonymous" cause they do not deserve anymore recogninition then that:
“7:28 PM
Jul 3, 2011
To all the women who marry illegals, or choose to marry down. Too bad if you don’t like what is said about the subject. This format is one of the few places Americans can voice their opinion without fear of job loss or government retaliation. What did you down dating fools think? That everyone would be supportive? Not ! Women love to date losers, can I ask you women the size of your husbands bank accounts? Could it be 4 figures at best, or perhaps zero! It’s not so much that these men have immigration problems that disturb me. It’s the whole package, I’m sure they have zero bank accounts, zero job opportunity, and wives and children in their home countries. A woman will fall in love with a ham sandwich.”


What I love about my Ham Sandwich,

1. He loves me like no other
2. We have no money in the bank and he is still cute at the end of the day!
3. He gave me beautiful children.
4. He is the BEST lover in every way!
5. Patience is his vertue.
6. He can remind me to calm down in any situation.
7. His jokes are never ending...
8. He lets me feel like im the boss as needed.
9. Loves me the same with or without makeup.
10. Takes wonderful care of our children
11. Family is everything to him.
12. Loves me endless even with PMS!
13. God Fearing.
14. Loves my Mom like his own.
15. Let me know, "everything will be alright"
16. Writes beautiful letters
17. Thoughtful
18. Has the biggest <3 ever!
19. Learns to like what I like.
20. Will try jus' about anything once.
21. Tells me the truth when my food doesnt taste good.
22. Doesnt mind cleanin' up the dog crap cuz that is somethin' I will not do!
23. Tells me I not fat when I know i have gained more weight then needed.
24. Speaks spanish so beautifully.
25. And last but not least, he loves Ham Sandwiches!


There you go now everyone knows why I love my "viejo" 25 times over.  So I guess I can concur with the above comment from "anonymous" I will and have fallen in love with my "ham sandwich"

Sunday Afternoons

Sunday afternoons are my favorite days here in TJ.  It is a time of pure relaxation.... It seems all the years I lived in the states the weekends always consisted of runnin' around tryin' to catch up with all the stuff I didnt have time to do during the week. And even though we are right @ the border of the states it is sooo different here.  Especially Sundays, It seems like its a state of mind that is never talked about. If that makes sense?? The whole city just seems to stop and everyone enjoys the day and family.  No worries, no runnin' around in a frenzy, no hustle and bustle... Even the city streets are less traveled.  We jus' get up and slowly but surely decide what we can do together! We actually enjoy the whole day to the fullest and dont feel guilty about what did not get done! It really makes the weekend worth the 5 day wait.. 

Another reason why I still feel that in some twisted way being forced to come here was our destiny. It has forced me in sooo many ways to enjoy our time and family and not have to compete with what everyone else is doing....

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Weenies a la carte....

Hubby and his cousin have invested in a hot dog cart.... It doesnt sound like much to us that have the privilege to make the "American Wage" but best believe you can make a pretty penny here in TJ.  To be able to have something like that here can go a long waysssss.
Sometimes it is a really pain in the ass to find somewhere to buy a BIG, FAT, JUICY hot dog wrapped in bacon..... So with that said we are on our way to becoming the most successful weenie suppliers in Tijuana, Mexico! Shoot before you know we are gonna have lil famous weenie carts all over Baja California=)

Things seem to be lookin' up and we all seem to have a goal that is in arms reach.  I got a job at wonderful company, husband is going to start a lil a la carte, havin' a great start to what IS going to be a fun filled summer.  Such a difference compared to last yr when this journey just began. Now I look back and I was a "hot mess" and didnt have a clue as to what we where going to do or where we were going to end up!!! We are soo much more settled and comfortable now.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

jus for laughs =) "A day in the life of a border crossin' mother"

Thought some of you mothers might get a kick out of this. This is one of my days of crossing the border:

Me and my five yr old lft around 12:45 to cross over to San Diego and. head up to LA. Now this is where the fun starts my baby cries the whole way to the border cause he doesn't want to go with me, then we are in line for about a hr or so and the husband calls me and proceeds to tell me that my atm card is in his pants pocket. I am now down to a quarter tank of gas with no money and I have got to make it to Los Angeles. So we have to turn off the a/c in the car and roll down the windows in 100+ degree weather. The line wasn't that long but it still took almost took 2 hrs to get across. We finally made it and we get to the San Diego border patrol check point and out of all days and time they decide to be open. So we are now sitting in more traffic and my baby decides he has to go peepee. Well to say the least "we didn't make it" ;-( we finally got to a rest stop and I took him in the bathroom and took off his clothes and wash him up, I look in our overnight bag and I forgot underware. So my baby is now walking around with shorts that are a lil too big and NO underware.

Needless to say we made it ok ;-) we had no money, no a/c, no underwear but we had a lotta laughs and good music with the wind blowing trough our hair weather we liked it or not!

Full of Celebration... Feelin' jus friggin' smitten=)

We had soooo many things that was celebrated this last week so hold on tight here i go:

Our Baby Girl turned 12 and we had the best birthday party ever for her. It consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers, music and the greatest friends and family. (and of course a couple drinks for mom... teeheehee.  last yr to the day was a doozy for her bday cuz it was the day her Papi was deported and I wanted nothing more then to over come that day with a wonderful day of celebration with us ALL together.  How good it felt to see her sooo happy and content and its only been one yr.  So with that said, we also celebrated our yr anniversary living in TJ and on top of that I got a job!!!! Best believe the next blog entry will be about the "day in the life of a border crossin mother" Im sure there will be some interesting stories to tell...

I am sure that life is not done throwing us curve ball but It is such a incredibly good feelin' to know that WE have been able to make such good out of what was a really shitty situation. What an accomplishment.. and it is such a relief for me to be able to assure my family and friends that live in the states that all is good with us and there are no worries=)

Friday, March 18, 2011

Husbands Tears

Husbands' tears=(
we will be in Mexico for quite awhile if not forever... I have come to terms with the whole thing and I have more good days the bad

My husband on the other hand....

Tonight we where drivin' home from a friends house and we where listenin' to a song that brought back a very special memory for him. One night about 6 yrs ago we had gone on a date and went out dancin' to one of our favorite grupos and it was jus' me and him and was one of the most beautiful nights ever. Well while he was listenin' to that song he began to cry with big tears and all and I asked why, he said " I will never be able to go to that place with you again!" I told him that its ok cuz @ least we got to experience it together and that i was never goin' to leave his side!!!! He continued to cry and I said nothing else....


I dont know if I should of said anything else???? Should I just let him go through that in silence??? DAMMIT I dont like it when my husbad cries over this immigration crap!! He is so much more then that! It makes me sad to see him soooo upset=(


AWWWWWWWWW *SCREAMIN*



 
 
 
The below was very well said by someone that know our situation very well:
t/y: Emi

When we married it was for the good and the bad, sickness and in health, etc... There are billions of people in this world who do not live in the US and who never could. The US is not a direct factor in their lives, nor does it's acceptance define their relationship as it should not define yours. It is unfortunate that you and your husband have had a taste of the US. And fortunate. It's difficult because now you may hunger for the US and it's benefits, but the reality of the situation is that is does not define who you are, or who he is. You are a couple. You are in love. It doesn't matter where you are. Tons of people only wish to find their soulmates. And because you are lucky enough to have found each other, you are lucky. Life is so much more than citizenship and extreme hardship and applications and countries and borders. Life is about love and family. You have both of those things and for that you are among the few lucky ones. Enjoy it. Appreciate it. Celebrate it. Life is beautiful. Forget borders, forget the law, remember your love.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Comin' up on 1 year...

God is Great and Life is Good!!!!
Well we are coming up on our one yr anniversary being in Tijuana together.  WOW sometimes its hard to believe because time has gone by sooo very fast... Well we are all together and still happy so it seems we are on the "right path.."  Dont get me wrong we have very hard times and struggle sometimes but nothin' that we have not any struggles that we have never dealt with before.  I think the hardest thing being for us is not having the convenience of being able to see family and friends=(  But we have become very creative and skype has been a great investment for those of our friends and family that have it.  It makes my husband feel so good when he is able to see people that he knows he wont physically be able to see for a lot of years to come... I love being able to see his smile when he makes that contact with others.

As for the the kids:
Our 2 youngest kiddos are now goin' to school here in Mexico and the 2 teenagers are doin' homestudies for now=)  The kids love goin' to school here it has been such a wonderful experience for the both of them!  We now have a 5 yr old, 11 yr old, 14 yr old and 16 yr old.  Life is GREAT! But i will have to tell u the truth, "teenagers really SUCK sometimes!"


I on the other-hand keep myself busy being a pyscho crazy mother and wife! I have a new found respect for stay @ home moms. It is the hardest job in the world and really not for me.=( I drive my kids crazy.. It is time to go back to work, like now!  So I am now on that *wonderful job hunt. *sarcasm*


My husband has not been able to find work yet, so 2-3 times a week he goes and sells things @ the swap meet.  Yea its a lot to swallow but he has dealt with all of this very graciously.  We have a lot of wonderful family and friends that give us clothes, shoes etc that he is able to sell @ the swap meet.  yea, we are not going to get rich off of it but in the couple of days selling at the swap meet he makes what the average citizen of Mexico makes working 40-50 hrs a week @ a warehouse.  And it keeps him busy too!!! With the money he makes he goes and buys me all the FRESH fruits and vegetables I could possibly want=) its good stuff!

I sometimes really wish I could get in his mind and find out what really goes on in his head?!?!  I mean how does a man go from ALWAYS working and makin' decent money to sellin' stuff @ the swap meet and maybe makin' thirty or so bucks a day???  WOW!!!!!  I guess then again maybe I dont really wanna know what hes thinkin'......  Sooner or later we are goin' to try and invest some money and get a lil business started for him based on his past experience.  He would be a Happy Deported Mexican then!!! lol  Sorry if you dont find that humerous but this is my blog and we have to find humor in out situation. Humor and Laughter has got us a long way=)  Until next time!!!!

Monday, January 10, 2011

04/01/2010 As the Gates Turned..

ok soo much for all that sad stuff.  3/30/2010 Was his last court date and our daughters birthday.  The day before the kids and I drove from Reno, NV to Long Beach, CA with only our clothes and prayers that all of this would soon be over....

the morning of the thirtieth I was the first one up with barely any sleep the night before.  I got up and gave out baby girl a big kiss and hug and told her Happy Birthday and I would be back later to celebrate.  I left to go pick up my brother in law to help me drive and support.  We drove about 1 hr to the detention center and I was a "HOT MESS...!"  We waited around forever and finally my brother in law had to go use the bathroom and that is when they came out to call me in the courtroom.  Now mind me this is the first time in four months I have been able to be that close to my husband without a phone and glass in between us and it was amazing!!  There are actually no words to explain how excited I was just to be that close to him and having nothing in between us but air.  I sat down behind him on the left hand side of the court room and he turned around and looked like the saddest man I have ever seen.  I kept looking around and I his Immigration Attorney was nowhere to be found.  I started flipping out because I already know that without an attorney we where going to get nothing accomplished.  The judge asked my husband for his attorney and my husband said he was a "no show".  Thats when things started to go downhill.  The judge proceeded to tell us that since he has no representation we would have to push his court date out and the next available was not until 4 months from then.  I bursted out in tears and the judge asked who I was, I said I am his wife and " I cant do this anymore."  "We just want to end this and throw in the towel, so we can all be together again, even if it is in Mexico."  The judge worked with us and before you know it Felix fired the attorney signed the paper and the next day he was on the bus to Tijuana, Mexico.... Before Felix walked out of the court room the judge stopped him and said, "Mr. Rodriguez, i know your a good man and you have a wonderful family, so you walk out of here and be together and never look back!"

This all couldnt of happened on a better day because I was able to go home and tell my daughter, "Happy Birthday Mija" we will be in Papi's arms by tomorrow evening!"  I had not seen smiles on my babies face that big in months=)  And they did not care that the next time we where going to see him that it was going to be in Mexico!  That is good stuff....

The next morning we where all up, ready and packed by 7 a.m. went to pick up my brother in law and we where off to Tijuana. Crossing the border was one of the most exciting but intimidating things ever!  Emotional Rollercoaster to say the least. My kids for once where just about speechless..  We arrived @ my mother in laws house to be greeted by all new faces except for the in laws.  Everyone wanted to know our story but I just wanted to see my husband.  Previously he had called me around 6 clock in the morning to let me know he was in Los Angeles, CA for processing so we knew that he would be dropped off in TJ around 6 p.m. 

I told my mother in law I wanted to be down @ the border waiting for him around 4 p.m. just in case he got there a lil sooner.  I had decided not to take the kids because I had no clue what the environment is like down there and I did not want anything to happen to my kids so they stayed and I promised them before I left that I would be bringing the Papi "home"....

One thing I will never forget is the sound of the revolving gates as people walked across the border into Tijuana.It made this creepy squeeky noise everytime it turned as though to tell me that,, "you will never forget this night!" It was kind of cold that night but my mother in law and I stood right in front of that gate while my father in law stood in another area to be sure not to miss him....It seemed like hundreds of people  After 2 hours I was getting very impatient, so I walked to where my father in law was and still nothing.  I turned around to tell my mother in law that I didnt see anyone and turned back around.  I was standing there staring at a tall, hispanic (go figure lol) in cacky pants and a black jacket not recognizing him until he said, "LeAnna!"  Its like I snapped out of it and there standing was my husband! I ran to him and hugged him and just cried.....He hugged me soooo tight and I could feel his whole body shaking and feel his tears on my neck. It was the most incredible moment of my life.  I had my husband back and I kept my promise to my kids.  Nothing else mattered, I do not know how long we stood there but when I turned around there where a couple guys that he had gotton off the bus with that had tears in their eyes too. 

The drive to his mom's i sat in the back with him and and we just held eachother the whole way and I just kept crying as he kept telling me, "its ok now I am here.." I felt as if I where to let go someone might take him away again and I had to get him home to the kids as I promised.  As we pulled into the drive way to no avail there standing was, Nana, Jr and Chito just waiting.  Of course Nana was the first one and she ran to her Papi and just cried and cried.  Jr walked up to him in shock with the biggest hug I have ever seen between the 2 of them and chito jumped up into his arms and said "Papi I always cry for you.."


And there we where "back together again...."

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Deported

I decided to start this blog my life as I know it so it can bring a lil bit of highlight/understanding to changes that have happened in the last year or so.....

I am goin' to back up this blog to about 1/2010.

We finally had all we wanted, we had the beautiful house, relocated closer to family, kids loved their new home, schools and friends, husband had a good job and I was actually able to stay home for once and be a mom and wife.... then everything changed 1/21/2010. 
 
January 21st my husband (legal permanent resident) was detained by 4 ICE officers.  I was lost and did not no which way to turn.  As they brought my husband out and walked him in front of me in hand cuffs with 4 men walking behind him, his head down and tears falling from his cheeks all that would come out of my mouth was "I love you."  He looked at me and said "everything will be ok"...
 
I proceeded to ask one of the officers what was going on and he threw me a card with just a phone number (no name) and that we was being detained for deportation processing.  He then told me to stop talking to my husband as he is standing with him right in front of me!  I replied very aggresively and told him to get him the "F#%$ out of my face with him" then and ran to my car.  I looked in my rear view mirror and saw them standing there putting him into a suv.  I turned on my car to leave and had no clue where to go or what to do.  I remember banging my head against the window because I just wanted them to leave already!  Then my children started running through my mind and how was I going to go home without their father.  So I called my mom and from the pieces that I can remember I was just screaming to my mom, "help me mom they took Felix..."  And begged her to not say anything to the kids.  Somehow I ended up @ my mother in laws house and started to call attornies.  About 1 hr later I got a call from my husband and all he could say is, "please get me out of here."  By this time I have everyone calling me wanting answers and I had none to give.  I felt so alone, my mom and kids where @ home 8 hrs away and I was scared.
 
After hiring attornies I had to finally get back home to my kids... It was soo hard to leave because I felt like everything was unfinished and i was abandoning my husband.  I finally worked up the courage and made the drive home.  Meanwhile he had been transfered to a detention center in Lancaster, CA.  and that was the beginning of our fight for our family!
 
After months of driving a total of 12 hrs every saturday to visit him and not missing a visit and fighting for a "stay" we finally realized along with the attornies and thousands of dollars later that we where not going to come out winners in the good ol' US OF A=(   on 3/30/2010 his last court date and also our daughters birthdate we decided to throw in the towel and his deportation to Mexico began.  I went home talked to my kids and all 3 of them where ready to go to Mexico to be with "Papi.."  I wasnt even able to get to the part of asking the kids.  After I told them what happen to court our oldest (15) yr old, said ok when do we go to Mexico.  Our poor babies had never been parted from their dad and from January 21st up to 3/30/10 they where not able to see them.  That was not an option for him, he said he did not want the kids seeing him in the detention center.  So they could not wait to see him..... 
 
My next blog will be the day he came home (to mexico) 4/1/2010