Adjusting to Home

First, thank you to everyone who prayed for us to make it back to Oregon safely. Sorry that it has taken so long to get an update on the blog. Our two and a half weeks home have been a time of adjustment and we have really allowed ourselves to rest and settle into our new situation. It's been a crazy three and a half years since we decided to move to Mexico. We chose to self quarantine after traveling for the recommended 14 days and truthfully, that was probably the only two week stretch of time since we decided to move that we were able to rest, not have an agenda, not visit people or have visitors. It was really, really good for the mind, body and soul. 

Our paperwork arrived "right on schedule" (i.e. by 2 pm the day before our flight)

We flew home May 1. Thankfully our flight wasn't until 1 pm, so we were able to go for a final walk to the viewpoint above our house. It was the first time that the boys had gone with us and was a beautiful day for views of the mountains. 

I call this house the "Star Wars House"

Beautiful morning and view

La "M" in the background

The boys by my favorite door on the walk

My maid, Elba, came over before we left. It was very hard to say goodbye to her (and to not hug!)...she's been such a blessing in our lives! 

Family picture with the face shields; we decided shields over masks because we knew that the boys (especially Josh) would struggle over the lack of breathability in the masks. It worked out pretty good, although face shields definitely are not a thing in the US and we got some weird looks once we arrived in Dallas.

Getting packed up and leaving the house was the easy part, once we got to the airports, it started to feel much weirder. A few of the weird highlights were:

An almost totally empty Monterrey airport. Lights off, no air conditioning, and no luggage carts to help us pack our 15 pieces of luggage (plus five backpacks) from the car to the check-in counter. Over half those bags weighed fifty pounds. What a way to start the day. Ours was the only check-in counter open. Everyone had masks on and it was sweltering hot. Yuck. Thankfully, after we checked in and went through customs, it was air conditioned by the gate as we waited for our flight.

There was no food service on the plane. The plain was maybe half full and seats were spaced out. It was weird to know whether or not to wear the face shield. I mean, when you're in a metal tube together, is it really going to help?

The Dalles airport was also super empty. There were maybe 5 restaurants open and thankfully for me, a Starbucks. We had a pretty long layover, so were able to get a good lunch and let the kids surf the tram for a bit of fun. The flight to Portland in the morning had been cancelled, so our flight was almost completely full, so that was weird. Also weird was the fact that not everyone had on face masks. Even weirder, that I care about that now. Coming from Mexico, where everyone was required to wear a mask, it was an adjustment to see people without one on. 

When we arrived in Portland, no one checked our temperature, asked of our health, or recommended to us that we self-quarantine. We had filled out a form, a declaration of good health, in Mexico and had our temperatures taken there, but there was absolutely nothing upon entering the US, in Dallas or Portland. That was really odd to us. It's surprising that they're asking the entire population of Oregon to stay at home, but they aren't checking incoming people (especially expats) upon arrival? I wouldn't of been offended if we'd been required to check in with someone (a doctor?) at periodic points in the 14 days to report on our health. It seems like international travelers are definitely a subset of people that the government would want to check in on, but there was nothing. 

 Absolutely no lines upon entering the country: surreal

All our luggage at the Dallas airport, where thankfully, they had luggage carts

The boys got to play Rollercoaster Tycoon on the plane and were so excited!

Piglet protected by the face shield while reading Peanuts

The face shield gave me a glare when I read the Kindle, so I opted for a face mask half way through the trip. 

It felt surreal to see Mt. Hood and to know that we were moving home.

I made it through the entire day without being emotional, but when we got to the house and there was a "Welcome Home" sign and care package from cousins, I lost it. I felt so loved and cared for and happy to be home. It really, really meant a lot to us.

 

The family who had stayed in our house throughout the winter left our home in better condition than ever. It was SO clean and tidy. They also had welcome home touches for us and it meant a lot. 

So then we were home...back in our beautiful, huge yard where the boys shoot bows and baskets and run and scoot and bike. 

Shooting bows

Bulls eye! 

Playing soccer in the back lot...just a *little* more room than our tiny apartment downstairs play area.

I walked around and around looking in awe at all my beautiful flowers; I haven't been home in May in three years, so there were many things that I hadn't seen bloom for a long time. I planted the irises the fall before we moved, so I had never seen them in bloom. It all made my heart so happy. 

We definitely miss our hill walks behind our apartment, but this view isn't half bad either (just not as much of a workout for the walk!)

I like the sense of responsibility that the boys have while here; they have more chores (can I give a shout out for having a dishwasher and having sons to unload it!). There is so much more for them to do physically, like helping haul things and chop things. One evening Ben let them chop up an old picnic table with axes. This is something they never could have done with our apartment life. 

I could barely watch Josh as he managed that pick axe

Learning to be men

 A bonfire with the wood from the picnic table. The boys and Ben have done a fire pit at least half of the nights that we have been home. 

 I was thankful that I brought some touches from Mexico in our luggage. This is from our favorite restaurant, Fridas, and it says, "Trust in the magic of new beginnings." It made me cry when we received it in our takeout order the week before we moved.

I can't wait to fill my mini Mexican masetas

The joy of having dairy free whipped cream again! 

I will say, though, that it hasn't all been joy and it hasn't been easy. Perhaps for the kids it has been; they have the blessing of no decisions and getting to play to their hearts content wherever they are at. Ben and I have definitely felt the weight of moving internationally. While it is referred to as "reverse culture shock," we aren't quite sure that we agree with that wording. At least for now, what we are adjusting to is not necessarily the change in culture, because we are primarily at home. More than anything, it's been the shock of having to make so many decisions. We're back to taking care of a house and yard again, and that comes with many decisions. We need to buy a vehicle, we're considering refinancing because of the amazing interest rates, we want to refigure the boys' bedroom because Josh wants to sleep in the the twins room like he did in Mexico...the list could go on and on and on. Those bigger decisions are coupled with a thousand minute ones: the first time I tried to buy a salad dressing, I was super overwhelmed! 

It has also been a lot to process because of moving home during the pandemic. In some ways, it has simplified things: if we had moved back at the end of June, after having crazy months of goodbyes in Mexico, we would have been hit full force with summer craziness here in Oregon. Instead, we've been able to rest at home and slowly process the move. I'm thankful for that. However, it has also made things complicated, as we are so excited to see friends and family again, but also trying to make wise and responsible choices regarding Covid. So. Many. Choices. 

We made the decision to move back early a month ago, with hopes of returning to Monterrey around the end of June to tie up loose ends and say goodbyes. I'm trying to figure out if that timeline was just naivety on our part, or if things really just have not changed/improved at all with Covid in a month. I think that it was a combination of both. We still hope to return to Monterrey sometime soon, but it really seems like there is going to have to be a major decline in cases in Mexico and better testing to make it happen when we imagined. Really, nobody knows what the world will look like in another months time. We are trusting the Lord to work out all the details. 

I realized tonight as I started writing that I'll have to change the name of my blog again. The first six years it was "Twice as Nice" and then when we moved I changed the title to "Morris Family in Mexico." I'll have to think on that. One more choice to make.