Mrs. Lopez

"Is is hard to deal with cultural differences?"- a question we got often when we were first married.

No, but sometimes yes. Maybe at first, but not really. Is kind of the answer. I love being Mrs. Lopez. Sometimes I miss the originality of my maiden name. I loved that I could google it (yes, I did that) and come up with information about just me.

But I love it now. I love learning Spanish. I love going to the Spanish branch. I love trying new food, being in a new culture, traveling. I did not understand it at first (and not entirely now) but I get a lot more of the Latin culture. And Jamir has learned things about my culture that we have blended into one family.

This weekend's activities definitely reflected our Mexican side; branch party, baptism (in Spanish), quinceanera and my first talk in Spanish. I really am half Mexican so why should I be surprised?



Es dificil a lidear con las diferencias culturales?- una pregunta que nos preguntaban mucho cuando nos casamos.

La respuesta es: No, pero a veces si. Qizas al principio, pero en realidad no. Me encanta ser llamada la Se~nora Lopez. A veces yo extra~no la originalidad de mi apellido de soltera. De hecho es tan unico que puedo "googolearlo"  (si yo lo he hecho) y encontrar mi informacion.

Pero ahora me encanta. Me encanta aprender Espa~nol. Me encanta ir a la rama en Espa~nol. Me encanta probar comidas nuevas, estar en una cultura nueva, viajar. No entendia al princinpio (y aun ahora no entiendo todo) pero entiendo mas cerca de la cultura Latina. Y Jamir ha aprendido cosas acerca de mi cultura que hemos combinado en una familia.

Este fin de semana reflejo nuestro lado Mexicano; fiesta de la rama, bautismo, quince~nera y mi primero discurso en Espa~nol. Soy mitad Mexicana entonces por que deberia estar sorprendida?


The Medford temple has a nice grassy area where we had our branch bbq. We were able to take pictures of the families who came and actually have someone else take our picture for once :)

Jamir playing a little soccer with the kids. Deep fried chicken (the bronze bowl with bubbles)

and carne asada on left.

 Between activities we went to check out a Mother's Day art and plant festival in downtown Medford. We didn't have much time, but it was fun to walk around and see the entertainment.

We met Emily by going with the missionaries to teach her. She and her sister are so genuinely kind! She invited us to her quince~nera after the first time.

Made a friend with a little boy who liked to pose for me. He was a twin so I can't tell if it was the same boy in each pic

The presentation

Love all the cowboy hats.

 Los Vaqueritos

Jamir's future birthday present (the shoes)

I have officially finished the first Harry Potter and am on the the second. I practically had them memorized growing up so I thought it was a good way to try and learn. This is a big deal for me. I tried to read them the first year we were married and got so frustrated! poco a poco.

And my Mother's Day present. I have named her Lupe and and she sits next to my computer to keep me company.

Jacksonville, Mt Ashland and other random things

Usually as we drive around the Medford area I am constantly repeating, "ooh, that would be a good place to take a picture" to the point where Jamir says, "You think everywhere would be a good place to take a picture." It's true. Pretty much anywhere is a good place to take a picture here.

We live north of the bigger city, Medford, but close enough to drive about 20 mins to explore around it. There are cute smaller cities around Medford like Ashland, Jacksonville, Central Point, and more. We will slowly be exploring these places since there is so much to do in each. Jamir tells me not to plan too much in one Saturday so we can enjoy it one at a time, but I really can't help but get excited and put too many things on the agenda. Here are some pics (and kind of randomly) of what we have been doing lately.


Usualmente quando vamos manejando, le digo a Jamir: "Oh ese seria un buen lugar para una foto" y entonces Jamir dice, "Tu piensas todos los lugares son buenos para tomar una foto." Es verdad. Casi todos los lugares por aqui son un buen lugar para tomar una foto.

Vivimos norte de la ciudad grande, Medford, pero suficientemente cerca para manejar.como 20 minutos. Hay bonitas, peque~nass ciudades cerca Medford como Ashland, Jacksonville, Central Point y mas. Vamos a explorando despacio estos lugares que visitar. Jamir me dice que planemos mucho en un Sabado para que podamos desfrutar todas las cosas con calma y con tiempo, pero no puedo dejar de estar emocionada y poner muchas actividades en la agenda. Aqui estan las fotos de un parque, la tienda Mexicaca latina, Jacksonville y Mt Ashland.



A couple of pics in a park by the river. What you don't know is that we got eaten alive by mosquitoes since it was by the river. But still fun to practice with the new camera.

Jamir was thrilled to be doing this :)

Beautiful sunset on the way home. Table rock

My visiting teachers brought me asparagus cut that day from a field (lots of farming here) and an orchid. I'm not sure which I like more:)

Enjoying the sun on a walk 

Lilacs everywhere and they smell so good.

On Saturday we went to buy things to make cochinita pibil at El Gallo Mexican Market. To me it is always fun to feel like we are actually in Mexico. They probably thought I was so white for taking pictures there.

Jamir goes strait for the cookies.

Jamir, the next Mexican president

I think I'll use this one for his campaign ad

Then we stopped by Jacksonville to walk around downtown. Jacksonville is very touristy and has cute historic buildings. It also has a cool graveyard with spooky tombstones. 

I loved this brick wall with writing on it.

Not very good at the moody pics, guess we aren't really that kind of couple :)

Cute dog hanging outside the store

And what Jamir looks like when I'm practicing. Can you guess where we are?

We thought we would have fun eating dinner at the top of Mt Ashland. We bought bread, cheese and meat to have sandwhiches at the top. What we didn't plan on was how cold it would be. There is still snow! So we sat in the car and hopped out just to take a picture. It had amazing views on the way up though.

cool view huh?

He is just a big boy

Welcome to our new home!

We have been in Eagle Point for a little over a week and we love it! The Rouge Valley is so beautiful. It is full of orchards, vineyards, and rolling green hills/mountains. We are especially excited to have shopping options, but we have to restrict ourselves. We are going to the Spanish branch here and they are very welcoming and warm.  We haven't gotten to explore too much, but there are so many things to do! We will be busy for a while.

It was a priority to start our garden since we have a patio. We scored some free pallets and pots and Jamir made us a little planter. Hopefully we will be getting some fresh vegetables this year.

Hemos stamos en Eagle Point por un poco mas que una semana y nos encanta. El Rogue Valley es muy hermoso. Esta llena de huertos, vi~nas, y monta~nas verdes. Estamos especialmente emocionados de tener opciones para comprar, pero necesitamos ser moderados. Vamos a ir a un rama en Espan~ol aqui y ellos son muy calidos.

One beautiful (warm) evening on our back patio.

Jamir jumping to break some wood.

We decided in honor of our new home we would try a new fruit. We picked up a dragon fruit. It basically has the texture of a kiwi and is not as sweet. We also had a "wine (grape juice) and cheese night" with cheese we had brought from our favorite Face Rock Creamery in Bandon.

Happy to enjoy being outside.

Silly, but we really missed having a mall and Chinese American food.

Jamir is mesmerized by the cup that won't fall over.

Outside the mall. I promise we don't shop that much, we just really like to have a mall.

Cupcakes made for our Spanish open house. 

On Saturday we ran a 5K for BYU alumni on the church's pear orchard. It was fun and beautiful. I can't wait to go back and pick pears and can them- oh and take pictures!

Amongst the trees

They had very official bibs. It was a donation run for scholarships for kids in their wards going to BYU.

After the run we did a shorter hike to Upper Table Rock. It was so pretty with wildflowers and gorgeous views. We still have to do the lower one.

So many of these all over

Jamir was excited to find chalk on these rocks-evidence that other people came to boulder. 

Cool trees with reddish, plastic bark.

View from the top.

Lower Table Rock in distance.

The top was a huge flat meadow.

And my favorite part about our new home. Jamir gets jealous about the time I spend with my new boyfriends.