Update...

Dearest friends and family,

Well, here we are exactly 30 days into our adventure! It is hard to believe that a month has already gone by and we only have 23 months left in this fabulous place. We do have some pretty good times under our belt, a lot of laughs, quite a few humiliating moments, a few tears, too many good meals to count...and so much more ahead.

As for an update on our lives -- we are still homeless, which is getting a bit harder to handle with each passing day. Living in a hotel, out of suitcases is not that much fun. However, we have made best friends with all of the hotel staff and we are totally spoiled -- we have not made a bed or cleaned a thing in a month. But it would be nice to find a place and really start to set up our home. (Not to mention we have all of these gorgeous wedding presents that we are DYING to set out and use!) We have looked at 27 places and counting, fell in love with two, been rejected from two, are fighting the system on one, and the process continues. Hopefully we will have good news soon -- which also means a guest bedroom for all of our dear friends and loved ones! (And I am happy to report that we were finally able to do laundry...our sponsors let us take over their laundry room for a few hours and we woke up on Monday to CLEAN CLOTHES! It is amazing how the lamest things become such a luxury!)

And on the hotel topic, I cannot say that we are thrilled to be spending our first Christmas together in a hotel, without our families, and with no belongings except for what we stuffed in our suitcases -- but we have a plan! We have an end table and lamp set up as our Christmas tree, all of our presents and cards set out on display, and we will definitely be drinking mimosas! We miss all of you -- it just doesn't feel like Christmas being so far apart -- but I am excited for our little celebration and will definitely take a few pics and be thinking of all of you.

And in other crazy news -- I cannot believe I am about to write this....but I have a job, yes, a JOB!!!!! I think I may be one of the luckiest kids on the planet. Not only do I not speak Spanish or know anything about anything out here...but somehow I talked my way into working for a fabulous museum, with the largest collection of Mayan artifacts in the country (and I believe quite possibly in the world!) as well fundraising for a new museum that is being built near the Mayan ruins...of course this all has to be approved by the embassy and therefore is not set in stone, but I have the offer, am proud of myself for getting this far, and if all works out -- I am so excited to make a part of this Guatemalan adventure my own. Here is my new museum and please wish me luck...it is going to be tough navigating -- even my computer is in Spanish!

Speaking of jobs - Craig is fabulous and might have one of the coolest jobs ever. Lunching with the who's who of Guatemala and drinking their Opus One wine, going to private concerts at the Ambassador's residence, the list goes on. He is working hard, putting in some tough days, but all and all definitely not a bad first gig!

And not too bad for the first month. I still stop and can't help but laugh out loud at the fact that we live in Guatemala and this is our life. And of course we would have never made it through our first month without our fabulous families and most wonderful friends! Thank you for all of the emails, cards, presents, skyping hours, and blog comments! We are so lucky and miss you to death! THANK YOU!!!! (And love you!)

xoxoxoxo

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