Beth's Story

I recently watched a movie that has been out for a little while now called The Soloist. It's a movie that reminds you that all human life deserves respect and dignity. And those that are homeless are not always in that situation by choice. For 117 minutes you will be taken into their world. Great movie. It also included this short video clip called Beth's Story.

ICT Airport As My Gallery

So I was walking through the airport recently and was pleasantly surprised to see a second billboard that I designed (at my old job) newly posted and shining for all travelers to see. The photoshoot on the bottom one was interesting. It included cranes, grumpy workers on their lunch break posing, heels climbing ladders, eye gear and lots and lots of yelling. But to top it all off, I was double surprised to see that nothing on my layouts were changed. Score for me! Twice!

Civil Marriage In Mexico

Back in September I had to make an extra trip back down to México to have our civil marriage done. We had to rush and get this done 2 months before the actual wedding for the sake of getting J's immigration papers started sooner. In our case, we had to be married to start the paper work instead of just engaged. So, instead of wasting 2 months, we wanted to try and save our sanity a little and be 2 months into the process (6-9 months) by the time our church wedding came.

I had a 5 day window to do all of this. Remember, this is a process that takes about 2 weeks. And if one thing went wrong, we were in trouble. And guess what, something went wrong. Dang tourist immigration card and middle names! The whole week was us rushing around Leon, getting our blood taken, cutting lines, rushing around, sneaking around security guards, and begging immigration officials to push our paper work ahead of others (and thank goodness we found an awesome guy that was willing to help us).

In the end, we did it and we were so excited. Of course one of our witnesses almost didn't make it on time but we did it. Above is a photo of us signing our certificates and stamping our fingerprints right before we headed off to an office with a judge.

Oh on a side note - On my way back home, that same immigration card got me in trouble again, this time at the airport. Go figure.

Cristo Rey

I quit my job, jumped on a plane and headed to León, Guanajuato México. I was going for three reasons - spanish school, to make my dreams reality and to be with a very lovely man.

We had met back in 2000 when he came to the states to learn English and lived with his Aunt. Naturally, because our families were friends, I was asked to show him around. Eventually we lost contact. But 8 years down the road, with the help of Facebook (I know, can't hate it always), we found each other again and this time, I wasn't going to screw it up. But a relationship over Skype just wasn't doing it for me. I had to be with him.

I landed at the airport in Mx. on a day that just happened to be Mothers Day and my birthday. I finagled my way through customs and right after was welcomed by his family with singing, clapping and cheering. The whole airport sang happy birthday. Without hesitation, Javier immediately ushered me to his car for an unexpected field trip - up a tall mountain topped with a large statue of Christ (think Brazil's Christ the Redeemer). After 30 minutes of driving up curving roads and dodging crowds of children jumping on the car for a ride, we made it to

Cristo Rey.

Under the statue was a small chapel and mass was just letting out. There Javier bought me a brightly colored delicate rosary, had it blessed and then opened his hand to reveal to me an attached engagement ring.

Best birthday ever.

(See this photo of us right afterwards.)

Designing For Others

To get a little cash flow while I was living in México, I did some freelance work for an organization called Families Together. They were going to have a walk-a-thon to benefit children with disabilities and I got to design their poster. Last month they had a benefit dinner but I wasn't able to attend (because I was out on my honeymoon) but my business manager (aka my mom) did. Here she is accepting an award they offered me. It is so much more fulfilling designing when you know it helps others.

Posts From Mexico

I have some crazy amounts of posting to get started on. I've been on the road since May and it's been one crazy ride. The posts will come from locations like Guanajuato, Leon, Puerto Vallarta, Merida, Cancun and Playa del Carmen - Mexico. So get ready!

Honduras Tourism

Remember the recent kidnapping of the President? Well, that and the recent fighting has hit the tourism industry hard and is turning the countries economy upside down. The tourism industry has dropped 70% in the past 3 months - setting the countries economy back 10 years. Read a little bit about it here.