Forgot How to Sleeeeeeeeeep

Okay, so that's not entirely true. I still sleep relatively well...in the morning. Like, the nearly-afternoon morning, not the might-as-well-be-the-previous-day morning. And that's just my problem, I think. I have nothing to do, ever, so I have nothing to wake up for. Therefore, I sleep in. I sleep in so much and so late (thank goodness I've been able to manage not sleeping in until afternoon...more than once...or twice) that I cannot sleep when it's time to.

So here I am.

We wanted John to get enough sleep because he does have things to do, often, so he always has something to wake up for. Not only that, but he might possibly have chronic insomnia and sometimes gives in to those late night temptations to adventure away from the bed and toward the might-as-well-be-the-previous-day morning hours for brainless web searching and computer programming. Last night was one of the many -- today he went on sleep starting at 4:30am.

Hence the 9:30 bedtime. Amazingly enough we made that in actuality, not just theory and hope.

That is, John made that.
I'm still here in reality, wishing I weren't.

Special Girls in My Life: Gabrielle Arce

I'm afraid I'm horrible at finishing things. I'm a procrastinator, I will fess. I have many posts I started and never finished. So for my recompense in that, I am posting these in parts. :) 

I love many people. Too many, I have been told, but love is something that you have more of to give as you give more of it, so what they say is just complete bull. I regret that I cannot give more of my time and effort to everyone I wish to. I live my life as I can and let those I can know that I do love them, or at least I try. For my wedding, it was simply impossible for me to have all the bridesmaids I wanted. The seven I ended up with were plenty. It was hard for me to settle on them because I have so many friends who truly mean a lot to me and who I felt deserved to be in the mix. But, having 20 or so bridesmaids is silly, especially when the Bridal party is already huge due to the nature of John's and my combined very large immediate family. So I settled on five of my closest friends, John's unmarried step-sister, and John's close female friend. Here I would like to give a tribute to my wonderful bridesmaids and the ladies who were, if you will, my unofficial bridesmaids, whether they knew it or not. 

Gabby Arce is my daughter. I've been in constant worry over this girl since I moved away to college, and for a bit before then. I worry that my example wasn't good enough; I worry about her habits and the way she spends her time; I worry about her interactions with boys; I worry that she will make mistakes; I worry about not being there for her; I worry about her family; I worry that she doesn't open up enough; I worry that she doesn't know enough; I worry that she's misguided about herself; I worry that she won't get her full potential out of her life. I tell her about my worries, and she tells me not to worry, and that works for about 15 minutes, sometimes as much as an hour. She's actually rather convincing. Far too good of a liar, but even then I don't think she's lying to me about that. But why shouldn't I worry? I love her with absolutely all of my heart and I want the best for her, and sometimes I don't see the best happening.

I also worry that I'm far too much of a mother to her and I'm getting my taste of what it will be like to be a mother to a teenager. At least we have an excellent relationship, which is what's important to me, even if the rest of it worries me...

Gabby has been the best friend a girl could ask for since day one. She has always looked up to me, sometimes especially when I felt I least deserved it. She has loved me unconditionally and continuously. I don't know anyone else on earth who can love like she does -- when she chooses to love like that. I have often put other friends and other things before her through the years, but she always put me top of her list. It's not quite the same now; she's grown up a bit. But I feel as close as we ever were, even if we don't get to spend as much time together as we'd like.

Little Black Skirt

I only brought two skirts to Mexico. Silly me. I thought they would be enough...why wouldn't they be? They both work well with several different shirts I brought :)
Oh, except for the fact that we try to go to the temple weekly.
And I only do wash once every other week.
And I'm used to not wearing a skirt more than once a month, maybe twice.
Oh well, they almost do it...but not quite.
My black skirt at home died just before we left, so I needed a new black skirt anyway...why not buy one here?
Then for Stake Choir we're told that we need a black skirt when we sing in Stake Conference.
Hm :)
My parents take me shopping every week.
But there's a reason I haven't done clothes shopping with my mother in years...
The skirt I bought is very cute :)
"A little too short"
It goes to my knees...
:)
Well, I'm happy, anyway.

John and Brin in Love Online!

So I had been posting here updates on our life together, but I shall stop now. This is my blog for my thoughts. Yes, I'm selfish. :)
John created a blog for us when we got engaged so that we could post pictures and other junk about the wedding. Never got around to it. I finally got him to make me in charge of it, so now I'm getting all of our mutual life onto that blog :) So, for our lovely life, go to:

John and Brin in Love

Tada!

Silly Blogger, Why Don't You Listen to Me?

So, if anyone happens to actually be looking at my blog, I must apologize. It's a mess, and rather unreadable. I don't get why everyone else has captured how to make their blogs look cool, yet with all my playing around I just can't get it how I want :( You'd think with all the computer geeks in my life I'd have caught on magically like everyone else. In many ways I believe I have, but Blogger Design has gone past my reach, sadly. Hopefully sometime soon it can be pretty...


Also, I have decided to create a new form of blogging. New to me, anyway.
I shall post short blogs!
That way, I can say whatever I want whenever I want and I don't have to be sad that I never write because I don't have the time/motivation to :) I always have tidbits of nonsense floating through my brain, so why not post it?
That's what this is for, anyhow. Hence, the name :)

Shout Out from Mexico to Those Who Should Know

I know that most of you are already aware, but for those of you who missed part or all of the memo: John and I have moved to Mexico! :) 

John got accepted to do a Study Abroad at the ITSEM Monterrey campus (aka Tecnologico de Monterrey). He wanted to do this since before he met me and since this is his last semester he figured he'd better get on it. 

My parents are serving an LDS mission in the temple here in Monterrey, so we have been able to spend some time with them.

We arrived safely and well last Thursday, Aug 5 after a long day of traveling. We took a flight to San Antonio, TX and then a bus to Monterrey. We won't do the opposite trip back -- we'll fly to Vegas then his Dad will drive us home.

My parents were able to get us an apartment (from one of the other senior missionary couples who went home a few weeks ago) and it is SO much nicer than I was expecting: pretty much the Mexican equivalent of our apartment at his Mom's. 

We'll be here just for one semester, until December; we'll most likely come back on the 12th. John will graduate at USU about a week or so later. :)

Just thought you'd like to know what's up with us. :)
Love you all,
Brindalynn

P.S. Our phones have been disconnected while we're gone and I left mine home, so you won't have any luck calling or texting me. You can email me ( BeeAreEyeIn@gmail.com ), I will be on facebook probably as much as before (as soon as we get settled in), you can call our Skype number from any phone (will be given as soon as I have it), and we should have a texting number on John's ipod touch (also will be given as soon as I have it).

Greetings from [little] America! #1 (John)

John's week update for family:


¡Que tal familia mía!  ¿Que me cuentan?

We've been here a bit over a week now, and we're still loving every moment.  We're having a great time, and feeling less like we're in Mexico than in Southern Texas on the border.  Monterrey doesn't have the flea markets and medium grocery stores everywhere, the seemingly disorganized but yet-so-effective mini-busses, or specialized little stores lining the streets that sell just pens and paper, or just computer cables.  Unfortunately American capitalism has taken hold, and giant megastores (eg, new Walmarts) like HEB, Soriana, and Walmart itself have overrun the medium-sized and effective grocery stores that I was so used to seeing in other parts of Mexico.  We do have mini grocery stores about the size of a normal living room, with three aisles of the bare-necessities, in case you forgot something on your last trip to your local megamart.  When I asked multiple taxi drivers if they new about a "computer mall" here (a conglomeration of hundreds of small booths each specializing in a specific area of technology, seen in Mexico City, Puebla, and Bangkok Thailand) these drivers referred me to Office Depot or Walmart.  I don't want that junk!  I want Rodrigo tucked in the back of a dark mall who carries every kind of usb cable known to man at Hong Kong prices, and nothing more!  I digress.

We got here a week ago Friday, at 12:30am.  Our trip started last Thursday morning at 7am with dad taking us to the airport.  We then flew to Denver for a short layover, then on to San Antonio.  There we grabbed a taxi to the dingy SAT Greyhound station and caught a bus headed for Laredo, Texas.  Three hours later we were there.  But our connecting bus was not.   We waited 30 minutes when it arrived and we boarded.  We proceeded to wait another 30 minutes on board.  However, we were informed that this bus would not be heading straight for Monterrey, as we expected, but would transfer in Neuvo Laredo, just across the border.  Oh great...I'm taking my wife straight into the war zone.

The border crossing was eventful.  First they stopped and all the Americans on board got off to buy a tourist visa.  Painless and quick (relatively, took about 15 minutes for the 8 or so of us to go through).  Then we drove another 100 yards to a station with a tall canopy and an office to one side.  The bus stopped, and a lady official got on with the bus driver.  I heard him say in Spanish, "that one in the back with the hat.  He looks lucky."  She pointed at me and motioned for me to follow.  Confused I grabbed my passport and headed off the bus where I followed her and the bus driver into the windowed, empty office area.  In the middle of the room was a pole with a button on it and two lights--a system I'm familiar with from the airports in Mexico.  It seems to be their way of creating random inspection so that bias or corruption doesn't come into play.  You push the button and if you get a green light, no inspection.  Red and your personal belongings are no longer so personal.

So, I approach and push the button.  Green.  Alright, that's it, then?  They ramble in Spanish to eachother and I'm free to go.  I ascend into the bus again to a group of apprehensive travelers.  The man in the front seat asks in accented English, "just tell me: was it good?"

"It was good!" I respond.  A cheer from the bus goes up as I walk past people eagerly shaking my hand, "Mano santo!" (Holy hand!).  "You just saved us a lot of time," thanks another homeward bound Mexican.  My lucky button push saved the whole bus and their belongings from a laborious inspection at 8pm.

The transfer was done quickly in Nuevo Laredo, and we were on our way with some apprehension about when we'd get in, since Brin's parents didn't know exactly when to expect us.  A call to their cell phone at midnight when we got in notified them of our arrival slightly earlier than we were fearing, but an hour later than expected.  Luckily they got there quickly...the dirty Monterrey bus terminal is not a place I enjoyed hanging around at midnight.

Our apartment here was the apartment of the previous mission doctor for the Monterrey east and west missions (I guess enough missionaries get sick down here that they call a full-time doctor on a mission here!)  Ricardo and his wife Mari-Carmen, the owners, apparently worked very hard to fix up our apartment just perfectly.  We had placemats on the table, a 5-gallon water jug to get us started, sheets and brand new pillows on the bed, A/C turned on, apples on the kitchen counter, and pictures hung purposefully around the apartment.  It is not the typical Mexican-quality dwelling I had braced Brin for, but much, much nicer.  At $5000 pesos a month ($420) plus utilities, we are more than satisfied with this two-bedroom, spacious apartment just 1.2km from campus (15 minutes walking).

All except for the dogs.  There are three dogs in the area (plus the owners' little yapper who lives downstairs) which like to bark randomly at 10pm, 1am, 6am, or 9am...whichever happens to be the point of my deepest sleep.  I'm ready to shoot 'em.  Prior to that step, however, I've downloaded an app on my ipod which simply emits a tone anywhere from 200hz to 20000hz.  I stop hearing it about 16000hz, but those awful mutts will not.  I'll need some good speakers which can blast 'em, though.

The Saturday after we arrived we went with Brin's parents to a friend's birthday party.  They served mole verde (chicken covered in a green chile and ___ sauce...mole!) and fruit salad and cake.  I was stuffed when we left.  Then the rumbling began.  My stomach rumbled until about 6am the next morning, when Moctezuma had his revenge.  Most of Sunday I was ok, then in the evening I threw up twice and communed a bit more with Moctezuma.  Hopefully that forged my stomach against all future bacteria!  (One can hope.)

This Wednesday we went to the temple, which was a very different experience here.  It's a beautiful building, right on a major highway, though not many locals (read taxi drivers) know where it is.  The rooms are just big enough for about 40 patrons at a time, so when 48 showed up (3/4 of whom were women) they added folding chairs in the front...a very common occurrence, I'm told.  It's interesting to see one of these new smaller temples around which concept the Draper and Oquirrh Mountain temples are designed, but those two are about three times the size of this one.

Classes are good.  The campus is a relatively small area (two city blocks) with about 16,000 students on campus here.  They have another 15,000 or so students spread around 22 smaller campuses around mexico.  ITESM (the Tecnologico de Monterrey, or simply "the Tec") is a private university considered by some to be the most prestigious college in Mexico.  We'll see if that holds true.  My four classes are going to be quite a load I can tell with a full-load of assignments in my first week.  I'm used to USU where teachers start assigning weighty homework around week two, maybe.

Love you all!

--

John and Brin

P.S. The mangos here are DELICIOUS!  The pineapple was pretty amazing too.  The Ranch dressing bought at the store here?  Not so much.