Hello Again

I am bad at blogging.  But that's okay... it means I'm busy doing real life stuff instead, right??

So lets start over.

For those of you who don't know, Mitchell and I got married in July of 2011, went on our honeymoon to Cancun, and moved straight to McAllen, Texas for his job.

[go ahead and google McAllen, Texas.

Ya.]

We have lived here for a year now.  I have had been busy with school, Young Women's Presidency, worked for about 6 months of this last year, and have been keeping in touch with our lovely beach.
It's a hard life.

Mitchell is in the process of studying [okay. madly, madly studying] for the GMAT so he can go to grad school. And of course too much work.

I just want to say something.




If you are married and have the opportunity to move away from your family and place you know as home, I suggest jumping and seizing that opportunity as fast as you can.




There is nothing like being in your own little world with your new husband/wife. Nothing!  We got lucky, because we moved to a pretty sweet place [see right sidebar] and basically live in a tropical Mexican heaven.

Backyard

Beach at the Island

[[if you have speakers, i would suggest turning them up now]]

But not everyone who lives here think that it is an ideal place to live.

In fact, most of the natives say "...What??? You like living here?" followed by, "Ay, mijita.. you haven't lived here long enough."

Reasons why some think it is not ideal:

• Hot, like REALLY REALLY hot almost year round, minus a couple months of 70's-80's in November-January.  Like so hot that like you can't go outside. At all.  For 3 months.

• It is two miles from Mexico- that is one large category for many reasons why people don't like it here.
• Extreme poverty level; like, extreme.  Really, really crazy living conditions that I had no idea people lived in, in the US (well, we're kinda in the US) literally like some sheet metal houses with no electricity and dirt floors. 
• A branch off of extreme poverty level - highest concentrated city of people on government       assistance such as welfare, medicaid, and WIC.

•    No English.  No. English. Okay you almost can't go to the grocery store without being able to speak Spanish. At school for me, a large part of it is in Spanish even though it is supposedly English. Yes, I speak Spanish or I would not be alive right now. But this has been a real struggle for some people I know, it has made it hard for them to adjust.  At my job at the dental office, I bet I had to speak around 80% Spanish.  It can be hard for Mitch when we go out with the missionaries, because a large number of investigators speak only Spanish.

•    It is so far out of the way from everywhere else in the US. For example, the closest Temple is 4 1/2 hours away in San Antonio.  Flights are also insane.

• Schools.  Some crazy number like 18% of the adult population in San Juan (10 min away) graduated from high school and received some college.  It is just not something that is not the norm. [that is where Mitch's job comes in - a two year contract for him to go to a high poverty area with a low graduation rate and see if he can help increase it, by teaching high school for two years before grad school - he is a really cute teacher even though he would never be a teacher for a living]  Therefore, why we are living here.

• Violence and nearness to the border- yes it is true, we live exactly two miles from the US-Mexico Border.

Blue Dot: our house.
Black Line: US border.
true story

I have learned two things from living in different places throughout my life:
1) There will be really crappy and bad things about every single place you live.  Every single one.
2) I have also learned that there are 3 months of bad weather anywhere you live.  Anywhere.

Knowing that, why bother focusing on it?  PEOPLE - life will suck if that is what your thoughts and attitudes revolve around.  You can't always choose your situation or where you will live. Rarely is that in your control.  So why not roll with it, and grow? Have experiences!  Find yourself!  Develop your relationship!  Make new friends! Learn about, accept, and learn to love other cultures- make them adopt you as their own!  Actually find out what you like and don't like, instead of assuming what you like and don't like, and thinking that for the rest of your life.  Because you really don't know until you have experienced it.

That is how you become happy.  That is how you live!!