Back to the Land of the Living...

So...I feel like I have so much to catch everyone up on that I don't know where to begin. It's Saturday and I'm at home in our cute new house. Alex had to work (at least one weekend a month he's on call). :( I guess I shouldn't complain since I'll be traveling regularly for work through the end of this year. My next trip is a 3-week, 8-country tour. I feel terrible about it, but at this point in time, it's too late for me to not go.

On to a more happy subject (or maybe sad depending on how you see it). Starting at the point when we all left Monterrey after our wedding (our 2nd night as a married couple)... Alex and I decided to hitch a ride with mom and dad (and Grandma and Grandpa and Jason) to San Antonio, because we'd inconveniently decided to fly out of the San Antonio airport to Hawaii. Alex's car had been in a wreck and mine was in San Antonio, so it was either the bus or start our honeymoon family-style.

Not only were we with mom and dad, but we were also in a caravan with the Becky and Ray Vanderlouw family (and Abby and Justin sardine-packed into their van). We really opted to go family-style. Another beautiful detail about the journey that I should not leave out is that after a longer than brief stop at the stake center and then the Carl's Jr. drive through, we decided to leave town at about 10pm.

Mom (thank goodness!) drove us through Mexico, with Jason giving her some helpful advice about driving in Mexico (Just gun it!) and Alex directing her out of town. Dad was in the passenger seat, Grandma and Grandpa were in the middle seat, and Jason, Alex and I were squeezed into the back seat that was probably made for 2 people, 4'10" and about 100 lbs. I, basically, spent most of the trip in fetal position. I'm not really sure how Alex and Jason managed.

What added to the "fun-ness" of the trip was that the week before the wedding I'd averaged 4-5 hours of sleep each night. So for the 6 hour trip, I was in and out of sleep. Everyone, except me, was surprisingly jovial and surprisingly AWAKE. I'd momentarily wake up when the rest of the car would explode in laughter at a joke someone would make (half being about us spending our honeymoon with the family). At midnight we finally reached the border, only to find ourselves in a 2-hour line of cars waiting to cross the border. Luckily, a semi-illegal Mexican window washer provided quite a bit of entertainment to us all with his show-style window washing. He was working on the bridge between Mexico and the U.S. At times he was on the Mexico side and at times he'd cross over to the U.S. side, which was the illegal part of his work. It was worth the entire $4 we paid him.

At about 2am we rolled into Laredo, Texas and after a quick junk food/gas station stop, Dad started driving. I was somehow wide awake at that point. Maybe it was because of the following pattern that was repeated approximately every 30 seconds:

Dad weaves either into the middle of the highway or onto the shoulder...either way the wheels make that terrifyingly loud noise and vibration they're supposed to make when you cross a line you shouldn't. This would wake mom up and she would say "David", which Alex obviously heard enough to now be able to repeat to me in mom's perfect intonation at any random moment. Dad would then respond to mom's concern saying "I'm fine" and continue on with whatever he'd been saying to Alex. (We'd changed positions in Laredo and mom was now in the midget back seat between me and Jason.) Poor Grandma and Grandpa. I don't think either of them even shut their eyes once the entire night.

We finally got to San Antonio at about 5am. Alex and I were supposed to be at the airport at about 5:15am, so it was actually perfect timing. I was SO sad to say goodbye to everyone and to have to be alone with my new husband for the rest of our honeymoon, I wasn't sure how I was going to manage. Luckily, I am the travel guru and had arranged the best seats in coach class for both of us, with plenty of leg room. No midget airplane travel for us! We both managed to doze on the plane, but I don't think we quite caught up on our sleep. The first night in Hawaii we slept 12 hours, and I think we only returned to a normal 8 hours when we got back to Monterrey. I don't know how the rest of you travelers were able to recuperate without a vacation.

Anyhow, Maui was absolute bliss. The weather was great, the island was beautiful and Alex saw a sea turtle when he was snorkeling. The only problem was that the trip was too short. After the stressful experience of a wedding, 2 weeks should be mandatory.

The trip to Pocatello was also a lot of fun. It was great to see Valerie, Colby and Eva (oh yeah, and their parents). It was also a nice experience to be there to see Grandma and Grandpa celebrate their 60th anniversary. We wish you all could have been there as well. Dad has seriously made the back yard a Garden of Eden, and people at the open house couldn't stop gushing about how amazing it was. Carl made crepes flambe and mom made special meatballs. If only I'd been able to taste either. Too many people to talk to-- I saw lots of high school, college and even California friends. Becky, all of my/our friends were disappointed you weren't there. ;(

We're now back in our cute house and it's coming together slowly. We have air conditioning, a fridge and a washer. We'll slowly start to get the other things we need. We're buying paint today. Alex seems to think a 42" flat panel TV is a necessity, and I'm thinking that a couch or a kitchen table would be nice. ;) Married life has been great so far, and I'm enjoying working from home. No complaints from Mexico.

It was very important to me that you all be here for the wedding. Thanks for making the trek, and mom and dad you deserve the "Best Parents in the Universe" prize for making it all happen. Please remember that "nuestra casa es tu casa", and we hope you all come and visit A LOT. I think we've decided to go to Cleveland for Thanksgiving, so we'll see you all there for the next Croshaw Family adventure.

Lots of love,
Leslie