Meanwhile down in Mexico...

The holidays are coming up and that of course is the time when everyone travels to spend time with their family and enjoy the company of their loved ones. We will not be making it home in time for Thanksgiving because McKay has a meeting with the Mexican government on Monday and that is the only day this entire month that they could do it. We will leave immediately after the meeting and make it home for a delayed Thanksgiving on Tuesday. I'm so grateful my family is flexible with their time and with us changing plans. We will also be missing out on Black Friday shopping. Bummer. But not really, I've only gone once in the last like 6 years or so. I don't really see the point of purposely not getting any sleep to save a couple bucks. It makes sense if you make it a group thing with your girlfriends and do it to have fun or if you're saving 50% off of home appliances. Then you're saving BIG and it's totally worth it. Other than that, I just don't get it. In McKay's words "it's a holiday for people with a spending addiction". I feel that in most cases, if you needed it, you would have it. Black Friday is just an excuse to waste your hard earned money on a bunch of crap you don't really need, just because it's on sale. It's like all those small tempting goodies at the front of the counter at checkout. I compare this 'holiday' to when people totally blow their tax return (if they're lucky enough to get one) on stupid stupid stuff with the mind set that it's 'free money'. They forget that it's actually money that they've worked for and earned. Don't get caught in the money traps that are everywhere. That's all I have to say about that.
Tomorrow on Thanksgiving we will be having dinner at one of the restaurants here at the resort. As nice as that sounds, the food isn't usually that phenomenal. I've had better and I expect better from them but it is what it is and I will just be happy to be enjoying this holiday with my wonderful family in this beautiful area. I'll let you know how it goes.
So here's what's happened since we've been here:
We got work Visas that are needed to work legally down here in Mexico, we hired a lawyer, we hired an accountant, we became a legal company, so we are now an LLC in Arizona and a sole-prop in Mexico, we have Facturas issued to the company which was a really long process to operate legally in Mexico, we have our Mexican bank account set up to connect with the states, we hired a new sales representative and we are now ready to start working. This has all been accomplished since we made the move down here in September and wouldn't have been able to get done if we were not here so as of now I would say yes, the move was worth it. We have friends that have taken years to accomplish stuff down here from the states because the Mexican government offices only operate from 8:00am-2:00pm. It has been such a struggle to start a business down here, a huge contrast to how easy it is in CA. In CA you sign two pieces of paper and pay $30 and you're in business. Not the case here. When we leave on Monday, we wont be back for 4 weeks. We're going to take a break to be at home with our family, get work done at home for TAV because we still have a lot of work with that company (thank goodness!) On Christmas day we will be coming back down to be part of a charity project with Families Helping Families(stay tuned for more info). Starting January we will be coming home less often (only for work) because the holidays are over and now we can just focus on what's going on here and get it done. Basically it's just sales. We need to get people on our channel besides just the resorts info. We are also looking into leasing land to put billboards up. I look forward to the progress we can make next year and hopefully things go well. We haven't been able to focus on sales because we weren't legal and they threatened to deport our whole family if we were caught doing business. And we wouldn't be allowed back. Really? Something is wrong with that picture but it's still so funny!
When we got back into town after Halloween it felt different being here. Each time we come back it feels more natural and normal. I've gotten over all my reservations about the food and safety, it is no longer miserably hot and humid, Aiden has gotten used to it and is back to being a happy camper so we are all happy. We've learned to stock up at Costco before we come down so we just buy fun Mexican food from the grocery store. I've stopped being so crazy about Aidens nap times and am more flexible about letting him stay up a little past 'barely tired.' Because of that, we have actually been able to enjoy this beautiful place and he is still getting the sleep he needs. Every day since we've been back we've gone down to the beach or pool twice a day because the weather is absolutely perfect! It's got to be in the 70's, warm and sunny with a cool breezy, no humidity, seriously perfect . After his first nap we go to the beach and play in the dry sand in the shade so we don't have to give a bath after to get off sunscreen or salt water or chlorine. Then after the second nap we sit close to the water in the wet sand or go in the pool, then come home, take a bath and go to bed. I've also been successful in stretching his bedtime from 5pm to 6pm so we can have more fun time. Yay!
When we first arrived in September I cried every day for two weeks and just wanted to come home, I hated it here. It's funny how things change. We have really been enjoying being here and taking advantage of this opportunity to spend every day as a family. An old man the other day made a remark about Aiden starting off his resort life early. We just chuckled and thought, you have no idea! Here's to making the best of every situation!
On a side note, Aiden turned 7 months old this week, got his fourth tooth today and loves being outdoors.  His first time playing in the sand was the 16th and he absolutely loved it. So we've done it every day since. Here are some photos of that sweet boy experiencing sand and enjoying the beach.