I am trying to start a garden. I tried once before in like 2013. We had a big yard, we just tried to grow something in it, we had garbage quality soil and it was a flop. 
But I am older and wiser now and ready to try again. Every part of this is "an experiment". 
My sisters are both excellent gardeners and the gardens that they have had as adults are very inspiring to me. Things are so unstable right now in the world, and now it is mommy's turn for her own garden (I'm referring to myself as mommy here)!....and if I can save any bees while I am at it, that is just an added bonus!!!
I have been germinating seeds in my house, in paper towels or napkins, sprayed with water, that I put in a ziplock bag in the window sill. Some of them germinated really well and then I planted them in soil. In an effort to avoid over watering I accidentally underwatered and quite a few of my seedlings died of thirst status post transplantation...
May they all rest in peace, and I am thankful for their service in spite of their untimely deaths, as they contributed to my learning. These are some of the dead and some of the living...
these are the pictures I share with my sisters when I ask for garden advice/ when I'm giving garden updates.

Then we bought and built a small garden bed for the backyard. 
I've got the garden bug okay??? Is that such a bad thing? 
Does tending to my seedlings everyday bring me joy? 
Yes it does. 
The fact that we might actually get some food out of this at the end is so exciting and I'm having so much fun along the way.

XOXO, 
​melz

1st of all by she, I mean me, and the she we are referring to is Melysses S. Grant, my blogging persona of the early 2010s.

Are blogs still a thing?
Or even relevant anymore? I wrote a draft of a post about this on Christmas day 2015, that I never published, and I want to revisit this theme. I started this blog in 2015? 2016? IDK, right after Diego and I got married, and he was still in Mexico and I was in my DNP program. It was just sitting here already created and everything, so I am going to start using it again. Ain't fixinta start a new page if this old one is here and works just fine...

I am going to start blogging again, even if this is just for me and 3 other people to read (probably just my mom and my sisters, which I would be lucky to have), I had a "mildly successful blog" (a hilarious joke, because the most views I ever got was maybe...like almost 100, and all the extra traffic I ever got were my mom's quilt followers, and my sister's fabric/quilt followers, and thank y'all so much for viewing my blog that one time) while I was in nursing school approx 11 years ago, and then I deleted it a few years later. Part of me wishes that it still lived somewhere in the depths of the internet, but it doesn't. The internet was a much simpler place in the early 2010's, and those were my prime blogging days. But guess what, Melysses S. Grant is dusting off her keyboard and getting back out on these internet streets y'all. 

I need to process my thoughts and feelings re losing my dad (he died barely 2 months ago), what is like to be in an international marriage, what it is like to have a wild 2 year old, work life balance, and being a nurse midwife/ women's health nurse practitioner in a wild world that's falling apart. If you have any interest in participating in this stream of consciousness, you are welcome here. If you don't want to read my run on sentences, or excessive use of the oxford comma, and occasional swears, then with all the love in my heart kindly GTFO. If you can tolerate those things and are along for the ride, then welcome I am so glad you're here. I'm glad to be back.  

LOVE YOU SO MUCH, 
Melysses s. Grant

I started my 5th semester of my DNP program for Nurse Midwifery and Women's Health today...

This semester is going to be a nightmare. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful to be in school, able to pursue my education, my dreams, and to live in a country where this is possible. But this program is a kick in the buns. This semester there is going to be some type of clinical experience every week...whether it be a 4-8 hour day in clinic, or a 12 hour call shift. But most weeks, we will have both. I am going to die...(I know I am not actually going to die, I just feel like I am). 

I don't know how all of the people who have completed this program prior to me have done it, but ladies and gents, rats off to you. I am so proud of everyone who has done this, because it is insane. Whether or not you stay in the field or continue working as a nurse midwife after graduation, I don't care, you are my hero. I think about when I accepted my position in this program, and I thought I knew what I was signing up for...but let's be honest, I had no idea. You think you know, but you have no idea. 

Forget the clinical requirements, we also have a hefty academic course load this semester as well. A couple months ago, it was supposed to be even heavier, but thankfully, the course gods listened to our pleas and said we could take that class at a different time in our program. THANK YOU! Like I said, when I signed up for this program they said, the expectation was to only work a 12 hour shift a week...I said, "SURE!", because I thought that might be realistic then...but again I had no idea what I was signing up for. 

Before I started this program, I thought that: 
I would get scholarships...
There would be money coming in from somewhere...
I could afford to work just 12 hours a week...
...but I was wrong...

I also didn't know back then that: 
I would fall in love and get married to someone from another country...
I would need to work to support his immigration...
He couldn't immigrate if I couldn't prove my financial support to him...
I would buy a house...
I would need to take out significantly more student loans...
...but I did, and I do...womp womp

So I am actually going to keep working a 40 hour week, in addition to the academic and clinical requirements of my program this semester, because I haven't gotten any scholarships, I do have a mortgage, and I do have to support my husband's immigration. I will keep doing this for the unforeseeable future, or until I drop.

Again my amazing boss has saved the day, again, because he is allowing me to work various hours to total 40, to accommodate my school schedule. I am so grateful! Thank you, and everyday should be bosses day!

If I could, I would take a hiatus from my program, but I don't think that is a realistic option. I am in my 5th out of 9 semesters, and am over the halfway mark. I have another 4 semesters left, about 18 months in total...I think I just have to keep going for as long as I can, doing both. It's crazy, but I'm crazy...so here goes nothing. 

XOXO 
Melz 

Today is Diego and I's 8 month anniversary of being married. We have been a part for every single one so far, except for our wedding day, and I just realized yesterday that we were going to be together on our anniversary!
I was so excited. This is such a privilege. I can't wait for the day when we can be together every single day! 
I've been in Mexico for a whole week, and I go home in 5 days. 

​But since I have been here, I am a real housewife of Guadalajara.I work at home, while Diego goes to work at Flex. I love it. 
My amazing boss has been letting me work remotely in Mexico, which has been the biggest blessing, because I used all my PTO for my modified kidner procedure. But he let me keep my travel plans and work during my trip. THANK YOU! 
When people hear about Diego and I's situation, they ask me if I would move here...the answer is yes, absolutely...if I could work for an American company, while in Mexico. I don't know if that is possible. But the past week has been just what the nurse practitioner ordered! I love it here. Mexico is everything! Even though I have been working the whole time I have been here, the pace of life in Mexico is so different than what I am used to, even when you are busy, everything is a lot more relaxed.

All I would need, to be able to live in Mexico would be, an American job/salary (because I have American sized student loans), all my family here with me, a bathtub (in Spanish, a tina), and regular high speed wireless internet, and that's it! That's all I need! Is that too much to ask for? Probably, yes. 

My in-laws are the best. My suegra (mother-in-law) has been taking the best care of me. Everyone of my immediate and extended family in-laws have been so good to me. I love them. I want to keep improving my Spanish, so one day, I can talk with them confidently, without feeling the need to say, "do you understand?", after most sentences.

This trip has been so wonderful, I am getting to be with my husband and work, and relax at night. It is amazing! Is this what life is like, when you aren't in school??? Because if so, it's the best. 
I am going back home on Sunday....but I don't want to leave. Please don't make me go back to school...
I just want to have fun and be with my spouse. Eventually we will get to do this in the US, which is unreal to me. It might sound crazy, but I don't realize that everyone doesn't get married and live separately for months on end. How the other half live?, am I right? 

In summary, Mexico is the best, and don't make me go back home to normal life, please. 

XOXO, 
RHWG, Melissa ​

It's me Melz, Melysses, Meliss, LeLe, Lis, Melissa, or whatever else you want  to call me. 
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​I am going to take a stab at blogging again, because why not. 

This will be a place to talk about all the things...
LIKE: 

• changing from a before to an after (fitwise) 
  • IE - trying to get fit! 
• trying to graduate my DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) program for Midwifery and Women's Health (I'm half way through -__-) 
• Women's health rants
• being in a long distance marriage
• the perils of navigating the process of immigrating to the US legally
• crafty stuff:
  • knitting
  • sewing
  • whatever
• just trying to get it together in general
• celeb crushes...maybe
• and whatever else I feel like gabbing about. 

JOIN ME on this fun journey through my mid 20s as I try to get it together. 
Please come along for the ride! 
XOXO 
​- Melz