Saying goodbye to Guadalajara

There goes all our stuff...back to Arizona!

El Polo Norte~our favorite ice cream!

Breakfast at Cafe Barra

La Crepe!

Last dinner at Savora

The sandwich and salad at Savora

Well, we did it! 3 years living in Guadalajara, Mexico. Done. Crazy how fast it flew.....my head is still spinning. I flew to Guadalajara 2 weeks ago to help Erik pack up the house and drive our car back to arizona. We had 4 days to pack up everything and say good-bye to a place we had actually come to love. The place we called home for the last 3 years.

The next days were complete chaos. We literally worked ALL day for 4 days straight, packing, cleaning and organizing... basically only taking breaks to eat and sleep;) We did try to go to all our favorite spots one last time, well for me anyways... since I won't be venturing back to Guadalajara any time soon except maybe for graduation! So we worked and had a little fun too;) Erik and I hadn't seen each other for a month so we were a little googily-eyed for each other... like we were fifteen again! So just being with him was awesome....I even decided to drive home with him (21 hours in the car) rather than fly( I already had a ticket).....I must really love him...lol.

So many emotions and thoughts as we packed up our house, it kind of felt like a dream just like it felt when we were packing up our house to move to mexico......are we really done here? Has it been 3 years already? Are we cheating by only doing 3 instead of the 4 years like most people do? I can remember being so nervous about this whole adventure, like it was yesterday.....is this the right thing for our family? Moving to mexico? Guadalajara? Seriously? Med school? Are we crazy? We're not going to know anybody and we don't know any spanish? With 2 small kids? The feeling of being so unsure and scared of the unknown. I admit, it was scary. BUT ....WE DID IT! It was challenging at times but the grace of God got us through. At times, I literally felt like he was carrying us through. It has been an amazing journey, a super fun adventure...and I wouldn't change any of it for one minute. I must say, Erik and I make a pretty darn good team....with God in the middle of course, with him all things are possible. And, we have 2 pretty great kids too!

I am so proud of my husband and what's he's accomplished so far......he's such an amazing man. He has a plan, to take care of his family by doing what he loves. This whole thing has made me see the driven person he is.....he knows what he wants, and there is absolutely nothing that can get in his way. And, he's kind of a smarty pants too! Cheers babe! You're going to make a great doctor and I'm so excited for what the future holds for us!

I wanted to make a list of a few things we will truly miss about mexico.....

*The kids school~GASPARINE you will forever be in our hearts!

*Savora~the most amazing steak sandwich and arugula salad! Oh, and can't forget about the sangria! Yum!

*i Latina~voted the best restaurant in Guadalajara! Everything we tried was amazing. Signature drink: Passion fruit and vodka, nothing like it! We had some pretty fun date nights there. Good times...

*La Crepe at the outdoor Andares Mall~Nutella and bananas? Or berries and sugar? Oh, these were melt your mouth delicious! Arizona needs a La Crepe;) Andares mall was our escape when living in mexico got to be too much......it's a beautiful outdoor mall with lots of stores/restaurants that the states have....we kinda felt at home when we would go here.

*El Arabe~shishtaouk, so delicious~lots of memories of Erik and I "day" dates at this place......I was a virgin before I moved to Guadalajara.....need to find a good lebanese restaurant here.

*Trompo Magico~the kids little piece of heaven! This is a pretty awesome kids museum......Halle and Costa's favorite thing to do in Guadalajara, for sure.

*Our babysitters! Need I say more? Daniela and Betsabee......we miss you so much already!!!!! Little angels......Erik and I were able to have lots of fun together expoloring our new home with lots of date nights;)

*Polo Norte~Platano ice cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO yummy:) Nothing like homemade ice cream.....tasted just like banana bread batter.

*Adam and Marguerite's apartment~so many fun dinner parties here! Loved those nights:)

*Mazamitla~the cutest mountain town, ever.

*Being so close to beautiful beaches......last minute little "getaways"....to Puerto Vallarta and manzanillo~how lucky were we?

*Our church~San Juan Cristomos.....it was so small, personable and the choir was absolutely breathtaking.

*Colomos Park~So beautiful! A gigantic park in the middle of the city with an abundance of greenery everywhere! You almost felt as if you where in a rainforest. Lots of morning jogs here, saturday morning strolls with our starbucks, feeding the ducks and fish, cheap pottery painting for the kids and roaming through the japanese garden.

*The fruit cart guys~mango that literally tasted like candy......mouthwatering! We even started to become like the "mexicans" and would ask for the salt, chili and lime;)

*Last, but not least....our Guadalajara family and friends! We met some wonderful people, and made memories to last a lifetime. We will never forget the fun times we had and the love we felt while we were away from home!

Although our Guadalajara adventure has come to an end we will always cherish the memories and we are forever grateful for the adventure God placed before us!!!!!!! Onto the next adventure.... New York here we come! We can't wait!

Our casa
2597 Jose Enrique Rodo
Guadalajara, Mexico