Dreaming of Our Home

I notice that I am not the only one writing about househunting apartment hunting and Ro and I are not hunting yet. I am though :oP Ro is lazy and well no offense, Chilean and would prefer to wait until the middle of June. (We are planning on getting a place when I get back from MN mid July.) I don't like waiting til the last minute. Anymore... in high school, I loved waiting til the last minute for everything! But now after living with the in-laws for um I forget how long, but it is very near FOREVER, I am way more than ready to start looking for a place. Not only to know how I can decorate, oooo I can't wait to decorate, but also to know what kind of appliances we are going to need to buy so I can know how much money I am going to have to save up for all of it. Ro and I aren't agreed with everything I think we need to buy, but most of it belongs in the kitchen and since I am the one that is going be doing the cooking, I will get what I want. He also doesn't think we need a new bed. Our bed is old. Our bed is uncomfortable. Our bed... sqeaks, moans, and occaisionally falls apart. And I don't really consider it a real bed. It is a mattress that is maybe 4 inches thick, laid on top of some cross boards that are just a little too short (which is why it falls apart when I lift the mattress to tuck the sheets under (which is why I don't make our bed)) on an old wooden frame that clearly has been revarnished or stained many times without stripping off the old stuff. So, I think we NEED a new bed, Ro thinks I just want a new bed and if I want it I will have to save up my own pile of pesos to buy one. So I will obviously... I don't go to the US anymore without a job so as long as I try to not have too much fun in MN, I should be able to put away some money for the new bed that um we don't need. I am so excited to have a kitchen that I can use! I can't use the kitchen here unless MIL isn't here. I have a feeling my bags aren't going to be very light when I come back here in July, I plan on buying a lot of cooking stuff and other house stuff. I am already planning on crochetting a lot of stuff for our apartment like throw blankets and pillows, dish clothes, and potholders. But I def need to buy cookie sheets and a spice rack in the US. I wonder if I'll be able to get one that is already loaded with spices into the country... I will attempt it of course. I also need to get some measuring spoons and cups. I brought some here but who knows what MIL did with them.
So here I am dreaming of a home for me and my husband. I look at websites everyday to see what's out there for places to live and wait for the day when Ro takes it seriously and starts to look into everything we need to get a place of our own.

One Year.

This day last year was a very happy day in my family. We welcomed my niece Evalie Rae into the world. It's her first birthday party today and it should be full of pics of her digging into her mini baby cake, lots of smiles, and of course her having more fun with the wrapping paper then anything else. I am super excited about the gift that Ro and I got her! We got her some Crayola Beginnings crayons and a big scribble pad. The box says for 18 months and over, but I never follow that. I think she is smart enough to play with crayons. I have only seen her a few times since I left MN in January and I wish I was there to see her walking around. Well, she has been walking for a little over a month now, so she is probably running and attempting to jump, but I still want to be there to see it! I can't wait to see her in June its going to be great! I'm gonna take her swimming at the lake! Anyways happy birthday little darling!

Project of a lonely housewife.

I have been working on an heirloom crocheted afghan since I came to Chile in January. I took some pictures yesterday to show my progress, but I can't figure out how to get them on the computer. Doesn't that just show how smart I am?? Sigh. Anyways, its going to be a kick ass afghan, none of that old lady lacy looking crap. I am using crazy non matching, but somehow work together colors. In the end I will have 63 squares, as of right now I have 31, so I'm not even half way finished with it, but so far it looks like I'm actually getting somewhere. If you are thinking I am weird because I spend my spare time (which is my whole time right now...) crocheting, I agree. It is kind of weird that a 21 year old gringa in Chile spends her time sitting in her  a house crochetting. Well, I like crocheting. I could do it everyday if I had an endless supply of yarn.


Bleh I'm blogging about crocheting. I'll stop now before I bore the crap out of you, and sorry if I already did.

Lost and found and I have nothing else to blog about

Before I left Minnesota in January I had lists and lists of things I was supposed to pack and bring here. Unfortunately, I must have been to preoccupied with other things, like spending as much time with my niece as possible that I forgot damn near a whole suitcase worth of stuff. My camera disappeared a few days before I left and I gave up looking for it to continue my last, very very last minute packing. I left my 4 month supply of Crest Whitening plus Scope EXTREME toothpaste and the twin pack of toothbrushes somewhere in my bedroom. I left 2 of my summery dresssy sort of shirts hanging up to dry in our laundry room and didn't think about it until we were already in the Cities, I also left all my new bras that I just bought and washed before wearing hanging up to dry too. It could be a good thing that I was so freaking forgetful/unorganized before I left because my bags were overweight and I really didn't have room for anything anyways. I even had to take out more stuff to avoid the $150 overweight fee. Anyways, my camera showed up in my brothers car, my mom found all my clothes hanging to dry just where I left them, and my Ziploc bag of toothpaste and toothbrushes somehow managed to make its way under my bed. So now I have a bunch of crap sitting at home waiting to be shoved into a box along with all the other treats my mom sends me in care packages. Sigh.

On another note, I have been able to watch my niece on the webcam every night this week!! The first day that I got to see her I started crying, she was just so damn cute and up and walking around like she owned the place. And I hadn't seen anything updated at all since I last saw her on January 19th. She is one busy girl and never sits still. She and my Yorkie Zoe have become good friends. Evalie shares all her food with the dog and my mom even caught her while I was on the webcam trying to pick up her toy ball with her mouth just like the puppy did. In a few short weeks my husband turns 24, which he is in this whole "we're not talking about my birthday, what I want for it, or the cake and we are not having a party" sort of phase. The day after that my little Raebelle (Evalie) turns one year old. I have been internet window shopping for the perfect gift for her. And I have decided that she must have some Crayola Beginnings Scribblers. For Christmas I went with the noisy toys and now for her birthday we'll go with the messy hope she doesn't write on the wall sort of gift. I can't wait to actually be able to tickle her and throw her in the air when I get to Minnesota in June, but until then I just have the webcam and only for this week while my sister is in Milwaukee and Ev is staying with my parents.

Well, that's all I have to say. My life at the moment is extremely boring, still waiting for my visa so I can have a life and work like normal people and I don't have to sit here all day. I seriously almost started crying today because MIL has been washing clothes and anything she can find non stop all week and she only washes 5 or 6 small items per load and always sets the washer on the highest water level. And she washes stuff that doesn't even get used. She has washed 4 sets of sheets this week. There are only 3 beds in this house, and she didn't wash the sheets on our bed. Seriously? Does she not realize how much water she's wasting? Obviously my attempt on getting the household to recycle failed because "We don't have room to keep stuff to recycle" Seriously? Sigh. I wish we could move out before my next trip to the US. :(

All Shook Up

I have been pondering this post since 5am on Saturday morning and even though we have now had power for 12 hours I have been more worried about getting in touch with family and friends than writing a blog. But I'm ready now. I will start with Friday. I felt like crap and had the most horrible headache in my life all evening. We were supposed to have a few drinks with a friend, but I had one rum and Coke and that was it my head was going to explode. I did stay up to watch the end of the Festival in Viña, but didn't last that much after that. I think the festival was over at 2am-ish. Ro tucked me in bed and went back out to the living room to chat and drink and do whatever it is he does on the computer all day everyday. Ro's sister was in her room on her computer doing whatever it is she does on the computer all day everyday. (Is this just a family thing?? Or a Chilean thing??) Ro's mom was in El Tabo with her mom and sister for the night so it was just us "kids" at home. Tito, Ro's dad was supposed to be home at like 1am, but he came home at about 3:15 and I heard him get in because Ro was outside smoking and his dad turned off all the lights and pissed him off. I couldn't fall back asleep after that so I grabbed my reader and put a new battery in the little reading light dealio and read a few pages. I was laying in bed and then the bed moved. At first it was just small wave sort of movements and I stayed in my room for about 15 seconds during the shaking before I decided this isn't normal I'm getting the hell out of here. I went to the living room to be with Ro because I was already scared and wanted to be by him. Then those small waves got a little bigger. By then Ro and I were in the kitchen and Tito and Rocio (along with her Yorkie, Micky) were also there by then. We were all holding onto each other and then all hell broke loose. There weren't waves anymore it was a rough shaking and glasses were falling and crashing to the floor. The lights went out. We shuffled to the front door. According to Ro and Tito this is the safest place to be. I have never researched anything about earthquake safety, not that it matter I was panicking because I was barefoot and glass was crashing to the floor everywhere. Ro being the Chilean gentleman that he is took off his shoes and let me wear them. Then is came to my attention the lovely outfit of pjs I was wearing. So during this horrible earthquake I was screaming, crying, and thinking about how I wasn't wearing a bra and I didn't have shoes on. I am just glad I chose to wear a pair of pj pants instead just a teeshirt and my underwear wouldn't that have been lovely? Anyways back to the earth moving. I have never heard my SIL swear so much. Through the whole thing there was probably 30 ctms (mother f*#ckers) pouring out of her mouth. Ro was just trying to calm us down, and Tito was holding us into the doorway through all the shaking. Finally after forever and ever it slowed and then stopped. It was maybe a total of 4 minutes, but don't take this for accurate I felt like it was more than 10 minutes. We weren't the only ones hanging out in the doorways the neighbor to the right of us was also there as was the lady across the street. Ro and Tito immediately started looking for lights. Of course my little reading light and ebook Reader were on the bed so we had one little light. I also found a pen flashlight that my mom gave me for Christmas so we had those 2 lights. Tito swept up the glass right away and put newpaper on the floor in the bathroom because the toilet water sloshed out. The water in the pool outside also sloshed out. But really that was the extent of our damages. I would have taken a picture of our room afterwards, but really our room is always a fucking mess so its not like you would notice the differences. Our bed moved about half a foot away from the wall and a nightstand sort of thing we have moved about a foot. The stuff on the shelves fell to the ground, none of the glass broke. Good thing there was a nice layer of dirty socks, shirts, and who knows what layering the floor. Back to where I was. Rocio immediately got us both cigarettes while Ro and Tito checked out the house. Her and I sat outside for awhile until Tito told us to go inside so we don't get colds. We stayed in the front living room a place where nobody ever sits, the couch and chairs in there are mainly for decoration... I think. We plugged Ro's ipod into the battery operated speakers he had so we could listen to the radio. I didn't really listen I just sat there shaking and every time a "reply" as my husband calls the aftershocks, came I freaked out thinking another big one was coming. We hung out in the living room with the 2 little lights for maybe 2 hours. At least we had water so we could use the bathroom, but we were without power. I went to bed and didn't get out of bed until like 3pm. I woke up a few times before that, but my headache was still horrible so I just stayed in bed until it went away. We spent the whole day without power and by then Ro's ipod was dead and we were using mine. For some reason the car charger we had for our 2nd generation ipods didn't work for our new ones. And that was it. At first I didn't think it was that bad that it was going to be something the world was going to hear about. But as the day went on I figured my family heard about it and I had no way at all of letting them know I was okay. We finally got some kind of signal on Tito's blackberry so I could get on messenger. We are okay here just a little shook up. This morning there was a "reply" that was 6.6, but I was so tired I pretty much lifted my head acknowledged that yes, we were shaking and went back to sleep.
So there you go. The February 27th, 2010 Chilean earthquake from my eyes.