Email: February 28, 2010 9:15am (Chile time)

Subject: We made it through the night

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you know we made it though the night. There were several aftershocks and I was awake about every two hours, but I still managed to sleep. We aren't sure if we are going back today or not. We talked to the people in our building and there isn't any gas, so we won't be able to cook or have hot water. There is electricity and water according to them, but I wonder how much water b/c not a lot got to our shower anyway hahaha. I prefer to stay here, but I feel like we need to go home to see what damage is there and throw away the rotting food in the fridge/freezer. We asked the conserje to turn off the electricity just to be safe this morning when we talked to him. Right now we are eating breakfast and are going to go to the supermarket to stock up on food. There isn't any gas at bernarda's house either because they are worried there might be leaks in the building, but at least the water has better pressure and we are more together. With every aftershock Bernarda freaks out and tries to leave. Most aftershocks don't bother me, just the longer ones. There was a long one this morning that was scary.

Last night I made them shut off the TV because the news make things so much scarier. I know it is bad down south and in other areas but watching it repeatedly makes me nervious. I prefer to live in a bit more ignorace than leave the TV on.

I still can't believe we were in one of the worst earthquakes in the world. One news article, in WSJ or BBC, said it was tied for the 5th largest earthquake of the century. The no. 1 was in Valdivia (Chile) and was a grade 9.5 and actually change the axis that the earth rotates. So crazy! Those were serioulsy the longest and scariest 3 minutes of my life when the earthquake was happening. I am just so glad we were able to react in a timely manner to get dressed, get in the car and head for higher ground. This was all because Christian stays so calm in emergencies. Once the sun came up and we had confirmed with the police there was no tsunami warning for Viña or other parts of Chile, we came home to see the damage. Christian photographed everything and posted some of the pictures here. I took pictures too but haven't got them up yet.

Well I better go, we need to go the supermarket to try and buy whatever is left that doesn't need to be cooked on the stove since we don't have gas. We are seriously lucky. Please keep Chile in your thoughts as many many people are left without homes and everything else.....they left with the clothes on their back.

Lots of love,

Email: February 27, 2010 5:56pm (Chile time)

Subject: WE ARE OK!!!

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know that we are all ok (Christian, Dulcinea, me, Erica Bobadilla, Bernarda, Papi Lucho, Alexis & Dana, Kerstin & Noelia, as well as other friends who I have talked to:Heather & Vuko, Isabel & Italo, Sarah & Felipe, Gabriela). We are with my in-laws and family in Viña. All my siblings-in-laws are ok, even Roberto who lives close to the epicenter of the earthquake. We have food and water and just got electricity. Int'l phone service is not working well but we will be in contact when we can. We aren't sure when we will be traveling back to Santiago and have no idea how the "new" apartment is.....

The important thing is we are safe and the epicenter of the earthquake was in the south. From what we have heard, it was a grade 6 or so in Viña, not sure how accurate that is, but that is what we know.

Thanks again for thinking of us and please continue to keep us (and the rest of Chile) in your thoughts.

Lots of love,
~Tyffanie, Christian & Dulcinea

Who's Your Dachshund: Opening Presents on Christmas

Hop on over to Who's Your Dachshund for the latest on Dulcinea.....

~Tyffanie

Merry Christmas to All 2009!!!!

Who's Your Dachshund: My First Dachshunds

It is true what Frankie said....once you have a dachshund, you are hooked!

If you want to hear about how I got hooked, check out the following post: My First Dachshunds.

~Tyffanie

P.S. Parents got into town just fine, Dulcinea already loves them!

Who's Your Dachshund: Pillow Hog

Dulcinea steals my pillow and so I wrote about it on Who's Your Dachshund.....read all about how she is a Pillow Hog here.

~Tyffanie

Who's Your Dachshund: Thankful, Oh So Thankful

Forgot to post this one here: Thankful, Oh So Thankful
~Tyffanie

I Heart Christmas-time

Went shopping for Christmas decorations last night.  My parents will be here for the holiday and we will spend it at our home (instead of traveling), so we have to make it Christmas-like.  This holiday is by far my favorite! I can´t wait till we put up the decorations and our little tree.  Maybe tomorrow night....I want to make sure all 3 of us participate in the decorating process.  If not tomorrow, for sure on Sunday afternoon.

I've also tried to get a start on the gift buying, etc.  I hate leaving it to the last minute and I love getting gifts for people.  I normally do some sort of craft or homemade gift to give to friends and family, but I haven't been able to think of a good and *feasible in Chile* idea....so that tradition might be on hold until we return to the US.  

Yay for Christmas!!
~Tyffanie

Me Ganó El Toro

This:

+ your typical fall =

Me not blogging for a while....at least until I can type with both hands again.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all you gringos out there!!!!!  We hope that you all have a wonderful day and can be with the ones you love.  

We celebrated Turkey-day last Sunday with some friends in Santiago.  Chileans do not normally celebrate Thanksgiving, but we wanted to keep the tradition going.  I started a "new" tradition for my family which was to create a Thankful Book.  So each Thanksgiving we will have our guests write in the book something or all the things they are thankful for.  It can be something small like your favorite candy or something big like the fact that a surgery went well.  I got the idea from this blog post, which is one of my favorite craft blogs.

Today, and more specifically, Christian and I are very thankful that Dulcinea seems to be getting better.  She has been sick for a week now and spent all day yesterday at the vet's office.  When we picked her up last night she was very happy to see us and has her personality and spirits back again which makes us feel a lot better.  She is on antibiotics and some other medicines, but we expect a full recovery.  Tonight we are still going to get an ultrasound done just to be 100% sure it is gastritis and nothing else, but we already feel much better about her after seeing the progress she has made.  

With that, I will close.  Here is a family picture that we wanted to share.  Hope everyone out there has safe travels and fills their bellies with yummy food!!!  

Love,

Tyffanie, Christian & Duclinea

Who's Your Dachshund: I Wish It Weren't So

Click here for the more detailed story on what is happening with Dulcinea.

~Tyffanie

Off to the Hospital

We took Dulci to a different and better vet clinic last night (American Vet Clinic).  She is not getting better, in fact I'd say worse so we wanted to get a different opinion.  They ordered an x-ray and took it last night, but it didn't come out good so the doctor said it would be best for her to go back this morning for another x-ray and some observation.  They came to pick her up at 9:30 this morning.  I sent her off with her pink blanky and some filtered water.  The doctor said they would take another x-ray this morning and then call me as soon as they know something.  So here I am, waiting for my phone to ring and trying to focus on work meanwhile.  If the x-ray doesn't result in an answer, we'll probably get her an ultrasound.  I don't care what they need to do or how much it costs, I just want them to figure out what is wrong and how it can be fixed.  I am sick to my stomach worried about her...my little baby, this helpless little thing who is being as brave as she can be....I just want her to get better and turn back into the puppy that steals our socks from us and who loves chewing her bone.

~Tyffanie

The Madness of Last Week...

...and what is looking like this week too.

I have wanted to write lately but there has just been no time.  Last week I was busy every night and then Dulcinea got sick on Thursday which meant I got less tan 3 hours of sleep that night.  She had started to feel better on Friday so we kept our plans to celebrate my birthday with a bbq and friends at the park.  Then yesterday we had Thanksgiving dinner for lunch at our place and in the afternoon went to a goodbye party for a gring who is moving back to the US.  Duclinea seemed to get worse yesterday so we took her to the vet clinic in the evening and I ended up sleeping with her on the floor again.  So apart from looking after my little baby and nursing her back to health, I still have a million other things going on this week and seriously do not know how I will muster up the energy to do them all.  In all honesty, I am not too worried about me...I am more worried about Dulicinea, I have been sick to my stomach too much in the past 5 days worried about her.  If anything, please keep her in your prayers and thoughts.  

Hopefully soon I'll be able to go into more detail about her getting sick, my bday bbq, Thanksgiving celebration and life in general.

~Tyffanie

Wake Up Muscles

Last night was my third dance class since starting back up after over 1.5 years! My muscles and brain are still waking up from what seemed like an infinite sleep meaning that I've been getting quite a few muscle cramps right in the middle of doing a move. We were working on a new piece last night in which I have to do a lift with a male partner. We did the first lift and I got a huge cramp in my back....boy was that fun. And in my first class last week I got a horrible cramp in my hips when we were stretching cuz I overdid it....go figure, right? The nice thing is that it is all coming back...slowly, but surely. I wish it were coming back faster, but whatev. I know it takes time, I just don't have patience and I am super competitive so I want to be the best in my class of course. In the dance we did yesterday, I couldn't get a couple steps which was so frustrating, but I'll get there....and when we have a recital, I'll be sure to let you know so you can come and see me!

Ahhhhh to dance is to live.....

I need a Do-Over

I seriously need a do-over of a weekend so that I can actually relax and rest a bit. I am exhausted.....and it isn't even Wednesday yet! In fact, this morning I had the hardest time getting out of bed. Not that we did much during the weekend, in fact it was pretty boring, but apparently I didn't relax enough and now I am feeling it! I guess it also doesn't help that I have been non-stop since the week began, just like I was last week, and just like I will continue probably until after the holiday season.

My hopes of resting this weekend are shot cuz it is my birthday on Saturday and we are doing a Thanksgiving celebration with some friends on Sunday! Although last weekend we were quite busy and I was pretty refreshed on Monday so maybe it will be the same for next Monday.

In any case, I haven't had much time for blogging as you can tell and with that I must go finish what I was doing.

Sleeping with my baby....

Baby Album

I got an email for a free 7x9" photo book from Shutterfly and of course, I never turn down the chance for a free one of these--even if I have to pay for shipping--and so we have decided to use it as a Baby Album for Dulcinea!

I just got done editing the pictures to fix her eyes because any pictures that were taken with flash make her eyes blue or green. It took a while as it is not as easy to fix a dog's eyes like human red eyes.

Can't wait to see how it turns out.....the pictures are uploading and then I'll put it all together.

Blue & white name tags?

Has anyone else noticed the people in Providencia wearing the blue and white name tags that say "MANTENGASE ALERTA"??? What they heck is this all about?  The rest of whatever their name tags say is too small to read from afar and I am not about to go up and ask them what it is all about.  Seems like something pretty gringo since I have never seen Chileans wear name tags at meetings, let alone on the street.....so my guess is that they are foreigners and that it is something church-related.  Does anyone know what it is related to????!!!

~Tyffanie

P.S. I had planned on posting yesterday but fell asleep at my computer.....

Missing Mexico

Oh what I wouldn't give to be back in Mexico on the beach again....


...hopefully one of these days I'll get a chance to write a bit about our honeymoon!

The Cutest Bee You'll Ever See

Head on over to Who's Your Dachshund to see the cutest abejita (bee) ever!!!!

Besos,
~Tyffanie