Check List

Adri and I have spent the last week beginning to check things off of our list of things to do before we go home. We had plenty of shops to go to and lots of other things to get done before December 18th. Savannah and I leave the Friday night so that we can be to the airport in time for our flight on Saturday afternoon. It is going to be an adventure and I cannot tell you how excited I am to be home for Christmas.

The first thing that we checked off on our list was getting recipes for some of our favorite Mexican food. After church on Sunday we went over to Rachael and Teo's house where we learned to make Salsa Verde and Fritas which by the way are so delicious. Its too bad that they are so unhealthy for you but I think once in a while its okay to eat them. I was able to spend the entire day at their house playing with the girls and getting music and pictures for Moroni. It was a great way to spend Sunday afternoon. I have been very grateful for the opportunity to spend time with Rachael and Teo's family. It has made the fact that I miss my family so much a little more bearable. I can't wait to be home with my niece and nephews. I miss them more and more every single day.

Well of course something at the top of the list was to go to Teo's Tacos again... we will probably have a couple more check marks beside that one. We went on Monday night to eat there and as always it was delicious!

Tuesday morning Adri and I had some errands to run to buy some final gifts and some things that we have wanted to find in Mexico since we got here. We made it to the baking shop Ofreve and had no problems finding what we were looking for. Hooray!! I am finally done with my shopping I now have less than $20 (CAN) in my wallet and it is going to last me until I go home. No problem!! I love how cheap it is down here. That is going to be a major adjustment when I get home.

We not only found some of our favorite treats while we were out shopping but we found some of our least favorite treats..... these are gross and they come on a spoon for you, yum!

I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the Center since I have been down here. This is one of the buildings in the City Center, the paintings are beautiful!

Zaloa was telling me that they recently cut down all of the trees that used to surround the center. Some of them were more than 100 years old. The entire center was covered she said... if you looked at if from an airplane you would only see green. It has most definitely changed a lot since then

Okay this was not on our list of things to do but it was something we love.... we love the freshly squeezed carrot and orange juice that we get from this stand. This lady is so friendly and we love going there in the mornings.

We get our delicious treat in a bag and then walk back to the school!!

Mmmm.... I will miss this for sure!

We have a few more things on our list like places we want to go for lunch, and things we want to finish before we leave. I have a student who's family owns an ice cream shop an we are going to go visit there. We have gotten most of the important things done and now we just need to enjoy the next week and a half and make sure we make good memories. 9 days isn't a long time, I need to enjoy every moment I have but also look forward to going home. I am going to miss this place but change is good and it's important to have it in your life. One things that Teo said, which I may have written in one of my previous blog posts, that has stuck with me is this "It's okay to be sad because that means that you were happy!" I believe that is true.... I have been very happy down here and so it is okay for me to be sad to leave. That doesn't mean that I can't look forward to the next chapter of my life with great anticipation and take the things that I have learned from this experience with me. If I have learned anything from this experience it is to enjoy every moment that is given to me. Before I left for Mexico my life was one of constant rushing... one full of every activity I had time to cram into one week. I have learned that you don't always have to be rushing to enjoy the time you have. In fact it is important to just have some down time with your family and more often than not that is the time you will enjoy the most. I hope that I can remember that as I prepare to eventually start a family of my own. I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to make the important things more of a habit in my life as well as the opportunity to recognize a lot of my weaknesses and things I will need to continue to work on.