Yay! My husband can drive now!

So today we finally decided to go get my husband's Drivers License. He has been driving without one but in January the policia started doing retens (road blocks) so that is when we decided no more driving for him until we got a drivers license. We would have gotten it sooner but a Drivers License in Acuna cost 482 pesos (roughly $37 and a week's pay for my husband) so it had been put on the back burner for a couple months.
 Well the day finally came to get him his license cause honestly I was getting tired of driving everywhere and I really suck at parallel parking..LOL

I took the kids to school and dropped them off about 1:25 and went to get hubby from work. He took off work 2.5 hours early so we could get things done. First we went to his sisters and got a bill for a proof of address since his ID card shows her address, Figured it would be better to keep everything the same address. We then headed downtown to the License office. We had to pay 5 pesos to get a piece of paper with the cost of the license and the had to do a mad dash across the street to pay the 482 pesos. They said after he paid he would need to take a exam but they close at 3, It was already 2:20! We stood in line at Santander bank for 20 minutes to pay the fee, They stamp the paper and it was 2:36 as we was leaving the bank. My knee was killing me today so I tell Carlos to just run and leave me and I will catch up so he takes off back to the 2nd floor of the place to get the license.. I slowly make my way there and he is standing in line. The lady tells him to go to the room on the end to take his exam, We go to that room and its empty, No one is there! He goes back to the first lady and she says to go to the room next door. We walk into that room, Carlos tells the woman he needs to take his exam for her drivers license. She takes his paper, signs it and sends us back to the first room to get his license! Seems the exam is only getting a signature.
We give the lady back the paper, She takes his photo, some info and his thumb print and we have license in hand a few minutes later. It was actually a fairly easy process but I will be honest , I really dont know how there isnt way more accidents in Acuna since no one has to take any kind of test! If you have the money, You get a drivers license!

I guess next it will be me! They say I can get my Mexico Drivers License with my passport, proof of address and a letter from Mexican Customs stating I live here. So maybe I will get mine at some point....Maybe not...Only time will tell LOL


Anyway, Here is the first picture of hubby with his drivers license! I handed him the keys and said I'm done driving!!

Random Thoughts

So when I started this blog I had every intention of it kind of being my outlet, A way to let out my frustrations and feel like I was talking to someone, Well then I got a job, with that job came a really good boss who has also turned into an amazing friend. I have the privilege of working from home and still have time to take my kids to school and cook dinner while making American money in Mexico (although some days feel like there is not near enough hours in the day!)

When we decided to move to Mexico, I was honestly scared. Not so much scared to live in Mexico but scared to leave my family back in Oklahoma, I was scared that I wouldn't make friends or would be unhappy so I told my family back in Oklahoma to keep my house cause I would probably be back in 6 months.

Well 6 months has came and gone, We are a couple months away from being in Mexico for 8 months. I have made some amazing friends here who guide me and show me the way, We get invited places all the time (that didn't even happen often in Oklahoma!) and all in all we truly feel Welcomed here. Yes it has taken some adjustments, Yes there have been tons of struggles but I have finally accepted, This is now my home. My kids will graduate from school here, We will grow old here. Mexico is now our home and we are HAPPY. We are happier as a family than we have been in a long time. Its so nice to live without the fear that someday Immigration will take your husband away. We don't have that fear anymore. We feel FREE, Free from the Immigration Laws in the USA. We are just normal people now, Trying to survive and support our families like everyone else except without the worries of Immigration.

The kids are doing great here, Esperanza (12) speaks a lot of Spanish now and does really well with reading and writing in Spanish. Cruz still struggle a bit but he can talk smack and play with the other boys at school no problem. They both have excellent grades also.

Esperanza will be finishing 6th grade in a few months and going onto Secundaria. Then in 3 short years she will graduate from school in Mexico at the age of 15 but we intend to pay the money and send her to Prepa to keep her education going. She even wants to go to college here! I really like the education here, No they don't have nice schools or the nice things like schools in America have but the actual education is top notch and that what is the most important.

People ask me all the time about the violence at the border and if I feel safe living here...My answer is YES. I feel safe living here. Don't get me wrong, Shootings still happen etc but its really no different than many big cities in the USA. I honestly feel like the crime is less than Tulsa, OK (about 20 minutes from my hometown). The kids play outside and we don't worry, I drive myself and don't worry. Yeah I have gotten worried or freaked out a couple times over some situations but once again, not any different than big US cities.


Acuna is actually a little town, a lot of people live here but its a small town. We have a beautiful lake that I intend to spend time at this summer and pretty cool Centro. 
We have Subway, Little Ceasers Pizza, Auto Zone and even a store owned by Wal-Mart called Bodega Aurrera.

We also have the famous Corona Club where parts of El Mariachi and Desperado was filmed with tons of cool pictures and autographs of famous people on the walls. Last weekend was our first Experience at the Corona Club, We went to a Lamb cook off with some friends, It was a blast and will for sure be a yearly thing for us, for 60 pesos (roughly $4.50) you pretty much got to eat food from all the different contestants all day! They had a live band too! We truly enjoyed ourselves! 


Video of the Lamb Cook off at the Corona Club

All in all we are pretty much happy here, Yes I wish things were different but their not, This is the hand we were dealt and we are making the best of it. We have a home, a running vehicle and WE HAVE EACH OTHER. What more could we ask for?

Every week things get easier and better for us, Heck a month ago we didn't even have furniture but now our house is filling up! Right now life is good, not great but good and thats good enough for me.

We do hope to make it to Oklahoma soon though cause we really miss my family. We left in July and have not been back due to finances but we hope that changes soon, Then I am sure I will be blogging about the kids and I first road trip completely alone !!!!!



Anyways, That's my totally random  thoughts for the day. I hope to try to keep up with this blog a bit more and share more experiences from My Life in Ciudad Acuna

Driving in Acuna

Its been a while since I posted anything. This blog is so new that I forget that I have it! Anyways as I am sitting here on my laptop when I should be sleeping I started thinking about the last couple weeks.

We have been here for 6 months but I personally did not do much driving cause the taxi's here scare the living out of me, I always think they are going to cause a wreck with their video game race car driving antics swerving in and out of people and running red lights.

Well the New Year came a new law, Seems Mexico wants all the American cars out of here or wants them changed to Mexican so the retens (road blocks) began and vehicles were being checked for papers. Of course my truck is fine, Their after all those American cars with no papers whatsoever on them that make it across the border but never leave. Well we have yet to get my husband's drivers license, Although it does not even require a test we just have not had the nearly 500 pesos to buy a drivers license....so guess what???? That meant it was time for me to start driving anywhere and everywhere to avoid him getting pulled over and risking jail for no drivers license and so I did. 

Its been quite the learning experience especially since I have always been a very nervous driver, Now I have had to learn to dodge pot holes which basically means swerving back and forth on nearly every road you drive on, Compete with the taxi drivers for use of the road cause if you don't drive aggressive around them they will nearly run you off the road and try to learn which lights have one way or 2 way traffic on green and which red lights your allowed to go through on the outside lane (yes at certain lights you do not have to stop on red if your in the outside lane) not to mention getting used to driving through or being stopped at the road blocks ran by the Federal Police in their intimidating mask covered , all dressed in black uniforms. 

But so far I have survived and I am happy to report that I think I am beginning to turn into a true Mexican driver....Give it a couple more weeks and I will probably be a lost cause for proper driving!

Although the road blocks still make me quite nervous but the federal officer who stopped me before was very nice, just those uniforms are SCARY looking!

Anyway that's my random post about life in Mexico for today, Hope yall (yes YALL. The Okie will ALWAYS live on in me!)enjoyed!

Oh how I miss my washer and dryer!

Before we moved to Mexico I heard the stories about no washer and dryers, No heat or air and how people still lived like back in the older days but I didn't really believe it......until now! Now don't get me wrong, Lots of people have washers and some have dryers but in general you have a washer but hang your clothes on the line to dry. Unfortunately we are one of the people who just cannot afford a washer machine just yet but some day we will....I hope at least. Well last week we moved into our first rent house after staying with family since we got here(who had a washer!). I remember seeing other houses with these built in cement wash and rinse tubs outside and thought they were so "cool" and even mouthed off about how I would love to use one of those.....


Well my wish came true....I have my very own cement wash and rinse tub..

But guess what????? I do NOT LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, It cleans the clothes but I never in my life realized washing clothes for 4 could be such back breaking labor until now! I plug the drain holes with cut off fingers from my husbands old work gloves. Draining the sinks make a huge mess right outside my back door and I can only wash about 6-7 pieces of clothing before the water is way to dirty and I have to drain and start over again! The worst part however is wringing the clothes after rinsing. I honestly do not know how people ever wrung their clothes out properly! I feel like a failure every time cause they end up on the clothes line still dripping wet! Ok maybe I lied, Worst part would be hands being ICE cold from doing laundry in cold water outside when its kind of cold. Thats the worst part! 

But you know what? Even though this is back breaking labor and takes all day to do......I am thankful I have some place to wash my clothes.....Yes THANKFUL cause it could be worse, I could be trying to wash and rinse them in my tiny kitchen sink!!!!

Well I guess thats all for this post. Not sure how much more I can say about my cement wash tub but I can say.....I never realized how much I took for granted back in Oklahoma....even the simple things like a washer and dryer....

International Dam

So New Years Day our friends Shannon and Julian took us out to see the city. We have been here for nearly 6 months and have seen nothing! They showed us some really cool stuff like the lake, creek and a old miltary fort and we went up on the Dam and took some pictures. My husband even got to stand in the USA! LOL Of course in was on a international bridge in international waters but hey it was still the USA!

Anyway here is our picture. My husband Carlos standing on the USA side and me standing on the Mexico side! Pretty cool huh?

First Blog Post! Bit of our story!

Finally! My first blog post! I have been wanting to blog since I moved to Mexico but did not have internet access. Well now I do so here we go!! My name is Cindy. I am 31 yrs old and from Collinsville, OK. I have been married for nearly 13 yrs to my amazing husband Carlos. We have 2 beautiful kiddos 12 and almost 10 yrs old. 

 A few years ago our nightmare started for our family after we took in my out of hand teenage cousin after she was kicked out of a children's home for pulling a knife on her house parents. I thought we could change her life but instead she tried to destroy ours. Back in 2010 she got angry with us for not letting her go to a party and next thing we know the police is hauling my husband off to jail. She made false accusations in which we fought for 3 yrs until we could not afford it anymore. Finally he took a plea deal for probation then ICE arrested him, revoked his green card and deported him back to Mexico in June 2013. Our lives completely changed. I used to be angry and bitter about the entire situation. Luckily I am a believer in karma and just recently got to see the works of karma in progress. 

We had just bought our first home and had just moved in when my husband was arrested. He spent seven weeks in David L Moss in Tulsa, OK and a immigration judge ordered him deported on June 8th. It was such a scary situation for us all. I suffer from health issues and had to all of sudden to go to work after always having my husband support. I had two very emotional kids trying to understand why they came home from school and daddy was gone , Life was truly a nightmare. We decided as soon as he was detained that if he was deported the kids and I would move to Mexico to with him but had to wait and see what would happen. Luckily I had already applied for passports before he was deported. He was ordered deported June 8th, Arrived in Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila Mexico on June 12th and the kids and I made the 700 mile drive on July 12th to Mexico. We left pretty much everything behind but our clothes and personal items and came to start our lives over and keep our family together. 

The kids and I have now been here for nearly 6 months. After staying with my husbands sister we finally just got our own house. Life is still very hard here but is slowly getting better. It has been a very big struggle for our family but it is slowly improving as we go and I am thankful that. 

My intentions for this blog is share experiences, way of life, struggles and victories and maybe even some recipes along the way. I hope to meet other American women or families living in Mexico and hope to be able to help others facing similar situations. So be on the look out! Lots of new stuff to be posted soon!