Destination Paradise

It has clearly been an eternity since my last post and much has happened. Let's do a quick review for the benefit of those who have been following and wondering, or for those who are new to our story. A lot of this will come from the perspective of my Facebook account. January 2014 Just to recap, our last visa interview was in Seoul in 2012, where we were denied a visa and the opportunity to file a waiver. Since then policy has changed indicating that people in Carlos' situation SHOULD be able to argue for the chance to file a waiver. So that's what we were doing at the start of the year. I finally gathered the necessary documents and shipped them off to our lawyer so she could file our I-601 waiver.  Here's a picture of the stack of evidence of hardship I sent. Keep in mind this is just a portion of the waiver, as our lawyer then proceeded to construct a thick brief to give all of this context. A major undertaking. February 2014 Our lawyer finished con...

Saying goodbye to Daddy's airplane at Incheon airport/Seoul So yeah. It's been awhile. No, the title isn't referring to a new baby, as thankfully our lives are quite full with the two we already had as of my last posting. But in the nine months since I last updated this blog, I guess we've had a lot of eventful moments anyway. Most notably, we said goodbye to Korea. Korea was a gracious host. Certainly not without its challenges (goodness, were there challenges). But it was the one country that offered us visas, a job, a place to live, our son's first school, our daughter's birthplace, and for two years, a home. We made lifelong friends. We gained new food addictions. We discovered just how much we could accomplish all alone, half a world away from our friends and families, with no one to depend on but each other. And we learned just how much we really needed each other. Lucas and his friends take a final stroll through Seoul's historic center ...

So here goes Part II in my rapid-fire blogging spurt to catch up to the present... Summer 2012 kicked off with Carlos taking part in his country's political process for the first time, sending in his absentee ballot to vote for Mexico's next president. Although there was widespread discontent and distrust in Mexico over the general management and final result of the election, at least we know Carlos did his part. From Summer 2012 in Korea Carlos and Lucas got to spend Father's Day together for the first time, I believe. :) From Summer 2012 in Korea Baby G #2 started growing and making her presence known From Summer 2012 in Korea Although it took another ultrasound to really confirm her gender, this one was pretty cool, if you're into ultrasounds: In a later post, I'll write about the experience of being pregnant and getting medical care in Korea, as I have plenty of things to say on the subject (mostly positive!).  In early August, I final...

Today's blog is about a belief that I often hear repeated in US culture, a belief that was recently re-affirmed by Honda CR-V commercials like this one. The premise is this: Once you get married or have a baby, that's it. Your bucket list is basically dead. So make sure to pack it all in before you take the plunge. Also, buy a CR-V to help accomplish it all. A fabulous high school friend who is a mom of two pointed out the absurdity of these commercials on Facebook and it really struck me. Nothing against the CR-V, but what a terrible message, that marriage or parenthood changes your life so much that you no longer get to do the things you dreamed of beforehand! Add to this the recent viral video parody, " We're Not Young ", which mourns the loss of the younger, vibrant days when we had goals and enthusiasm for life. This makes me sad because I believe that marriage, or even having kids, is no death sentence for adventure or accomplishing yo...

Preparing to embark on a 14-hour flight across the ocean, who's panicking? Flying with a little one, especially by yourself, can strike fear in a mom. Recently, a few people have asked about my experiences flying, especially internationally, alone with a child. I flew by myself with Lucas nearly a dozen times before he reached age 3, which means I've seen some of the best and worst of it. I am by no means an expert, and there are braver moms than me who fly alone with not one, not two, but three or more children. Much of what I do when traveling I've learned from them. I figured I'd share my view and the things I do in case any one else is nervous about the prospect. I know I definitely was the first time. Bear with me here - this stuff might be obvious or well-known to you, but for the benefit of those new to flying with kids, or flying in general, I wanted to include info on everything I've been asked by other traveling moms. Experienced travelers, what su...

Here is about 3 months' worth of video footage and possibly some previously unseen photos related to our new life in Korea. I finally strung them all together thanks to the wonders of iMovie. It's a bit on the long side, but hopefully it will give you a bit more of a taste of our life here. Everything here was shot either on an iPod, an iPad, or MacBook iSight camera (and a few random LG dumbphone camera shots, too).  So it’s pretty unprofessional, but I think it tells the story pretty decently. :) Glad we’ve finally reached this stop on our journey.

So maybe I exaggerated when I said the blog re-design was just about ready to be rolled out.  Sometimes I think I'm more capable of awesomeness than I truly am.  And sometimes I wonder why I insist on doing things myself, and having them come out *JUST PERFECT*, and waiting until that elusive standard of perfection is achieved before I release my project to the world.  This statement applies to my approach to our immigration battle, by the way, and I think it's unfortunate. I'm not sure where things changed.  I remember a time when I was a lot less concerned about things.  Let's start with Barcelona, where Carlos and I discovered that our original goal was not going to be attainable.  So we said, "Hey, let's explore Europe and then move to Mexico."  I actually remember the moment when we had that conversation, sitting on an ancient Roman wall in the Barri Gòtic, watching some backpacker slink by, shoeless and slouchy-shouldered.  "Could we end u...

...We're all here together in Mexico! Here's the photo everyone's been waiting to see: This is actually a screen capture from my parents' computer while they were talking to us on Skype as soon as we got home. Hopefully we'll get a nicer one taken while we're here... Some photos of Carlos getting to know his son: Carlos' dad meeting his first grandchild: Wake up, Daddy!!! I decided the last straw was when, after postponing our trip due to the "swine flu outbreak" in Mexico, I fell ill with a nasty strain of the flu. Ironically, it's very likely that what hit me was the same swine flu, due to the fact that there were a number of confirmed cases in the schools where I was substituting right before getting sick. Just when I thought I was recovering, Lucas started showing signs of it. Fortunately, after a check-up at the doctor and lots of Tylenol, he recovered, but we were nervous for awhile. It's always scary to see your ...

Lucas' Birth Certificate: $14 and 10 days Lucas' Social Security Number: 3 months Mexican Notary Stamp on signed Passport Consent Form from Carlos: $50 and 1 month DHL fee to mail said consent form to the US: $35 and 3 days Lucas' Passport: $85 and 2 ½ weeks Round-trip airfare from Chicago to Mexico for me and the baby: $450 ...Having to postpone our much-anticipated reunion because of a swine flu outbreak? Priceless. I would prefer to think that caution and care are all we need, and that a flu outbreak should not deter me from finally seeing my husband after 7 months, but I've been forced to shelve that approach in favor of extreme wariness. If it wasn't enough that all the health professionals in my life on this side of the border were urging me not to go, now it's being confirmed from the Mexican side. Carlos' father, who is a health professional in the non-alarmist tradition, said we must not come. Apparently hospitals in Monterrey ar...

We're a little bit exhausted and frazzled, but doing just fine. We are staying in our hostel/apartment, which is actually the very same room they show on their website, so we got the best deal. Currently, we're in the process of getting settled here - our phones are activated, we're getting closer in our search for an apartment, and then we begin the job search. We left Cancun a few hours ahead of the hurricane, so that was a relief. Nine and a half hours on a German transatlantic airliner was a different story. I find it extremely disconcerting to be spoken to and have NO CLUE what is being said. After this there were 6 hours in the Dusseldorf and then 2 more hours on another German aircraft into Barcelona. The German immigration officials in Dusseldorf made a big deal and tried to give us a scare upon seeing Carlos' Mexican passport - we were aware that lately the EU has been making it harder for Mexicans to enter, so we experienced this firsthand. However, we were ...

A.K.A. "The Real Honeymoon" (Carlos). We had a great time here, everything worked out perfectly, we hope someday we can go back. Our resort was awesome and it's so great to finally be together again. We're in the airport in Cancun right now waiting on our flight to Germany, and Carlos is pointing out that air travel is so much easier when done with a companion. This is very true. No more lugging stuff into the bathroom and constantly struggling with all the papers, etc. I'm so glad we're together. :) Next update will be from Europe, hopefully. Love you all!