Musings on life, parenting, Jesus, and more...

Almost anyone can travel from the United States to Mexico 🇲🇽 on a Tourist Visa. Usually all you need to do is fill out the paperwork on the airplane and you can stay in Mexico for up to 180 days. This is what we did last winter when our family of five spent 6 months in Mazatlán.  We enjoyed it so much that we have decided to return for an entire school year this time, in hopes of giving our kids a jump start on becoming bilingual. But to stay for longer than 6 months, and have the kids enrolled in school, we needed to apply for "residencia temporal" or temporary residency visas, instead of the tourist visa we obtained last time. The process went relatively smoothly, aside from one minor hiccup that required an extra trip into the Mexican Consolate in downtown Portland that could have been avoided had we fully understood the instructions. First of all, we live in Oregon (and our children were born in Oregon). I'm sure the process is different for each state. We were requ...

I've been back in Oregon for almost a month. For those of you who haven't followed our travels, my husband and I, along with our 3 kids (age 3, 6 and almost 9) spent the winter living in Mazatlán, Mexico. (To read more about our reasons for going to Mexico to begin with, click  here .) We returned stateside 🇺🇸 in May, and while my husband had to be back here in Oregon, the kids and I were able to spend a month at my dads property in North Idaho. But now we are all back in the same area where we spent 10 years of our lives together.  But we aren't living together. And we don't have our wedding rings 💍 on. So of course people are gonna talk. And it sucks that they have to ask my friends "what's going on with us" instead of just asking me. But I understand that asking can be awkward too so I'm just going to do my best to explain things here: Rob and I love each other and have probably become better friends over the last year than we...

Looking for something fun to do with your kids while they are on summer vacation?  Oaks Amusement Park  in Sellwood has a two for one tickets every Tuesday. For just $15.75 I was able to get both of my kids limited ride bracelets that give them access to all the rides that are perfect for their ages. My son is 3 and my daughter is 6 (although most of the rides are based on height and not age). The lines are shorter earlier in the day. There's lots of shade and you can bring in your own food and drinks... so pack a picnic lunch and make a day of it! Your kids will think you're the best! At least mine do ☺️ For more fun videos from our day, follow me on  Instagram  and view my "story" at the top! (But only for the next 24 hours!)

Someday you are going to read this blog. Someday you are going come here for answers. We live in a different world than I grew up in. The digital era has allowed everything we post to be memorialized in timelines, Facebook memories, and an endless array of blog posts, Instagram pics, tweets, snaps, ect. In the past when I have posted on this "journey through parenthood" blog, I have always considered my audience to be the friends and family that stop by here to see pictures of how cute you are, how much you've grown, or the newest milestone you have accomplished. But it has dawned on me recently that this is your baby book of the 21st century. Just like we pull out our handmade scrapbooks that our mom's wrote in with pens and pencils - to see when we got our first tooth, or took our first steps - you will come here to find those answers, and so much more. This is what I want you to know about your dad and my choice to live apart this summer: To my babies - ...