Thinking, thinking...

Ok so yesterday I went to go and get my new glasses!! I havent been able to see since March! When I got into the accident my old ones just disappeared!! So what do you think? Please forgive my appearance--it's been a long day and Im ready for bed..and I need a shower..and I have no excuse!

Okay so let me ask you this...when I picked up my glasses I had to go to the mall to pick them up. On the way, I have to pass all these kiosks. Do you all have those in your malls?? Do they have the people that are like "hey, come here!", "free sample?", "let me clean your rings!", etc... Do they not get on your nerves?? I had a guy want to straighten my hair, a guy with a flying helicopter, someone wanting to give me lotion, look at my natural nails, and clean my jewelery. All within a two minute walk. Seriously. I was so annoyed. I mean I know that this is these people's jobs, but come ON. Give me a break. They all but tackle me to try their products. And my goodness, don't try and say no politely because they take that as weakness and they will continue to reel you in. Why can't they be more like the girl in the food court handing out samples of teriyaki chicken? Now that is some persistence I can live with! Anyway...moving on.

Okay, have any of you tried to teach yourself a new language? I was thinking about getting something like Rosetta Stone to try and learn some Portuguese. The only thing is my GOSH! Have you seen how expensive it is?? For heaven sakes. I mean seriously, they are making a killling off their system. So, has anyone ever tried it? Know anything about the system? Is it worth my money or my time?

Can I just say, as my final thought, that I am SO glad tomorrow is FRIDAY! It's kinda been a long week, and I am slightly disappointed. There's always another week though!

Weekend Fun- Birthdays and Amusement Parks!

So my mom recently celebrated her 50th birthday!! So my sister and I decided to throw her a surprise party! It was a lot of fun to plan, but hard to try and run around my mom without her knowing! She is soo sneaky!! We didn't do it the day of her birthday because it was in the middle of the week and she lives in Virginia so I needed to come on a weekend! So I felt bad because the day of her birthday (according to my sister) she was sad because nothing "big" happened on her big birthday! I found that kind of funny, not because she was sad, but because I knew what was coming! He he!! Anyway so of course planning something two states away never goes as planned, but things still went well! We had it as this place called Baker's Crust! It's a really cute place-and they have great tomato soup! Here are some pictures from our little party!



Part of the set up


Gag gift!


Blowing out the candles!



That night after the party I went with my friend Miranda to go and see Nights in Rodanthe. It was good, it was sad though. It wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. But it was good. The Notebook was better. *sigh*

Saturday we got up early and headed up to Williamsburg to meet my Dad's family at


It was a lot of fun, but it was a LONG day! Here are some pictures from the start of it!
This is me and my little sister A right before we headed over to the park in our matching shirts!


The only one missing here is Sis C! But here is my sister's boy toy , Lil Sis, Sis A, B Mom, my Dad, and me!


The crazy roller coaster that stops and hangs you over the hill for a minute before dropping you called The Griffin! It was SO much fun! One of the best roller coasters I have ever rode!




Picture of the monitor that the roller coaster pictures were posted on! Look at those screams!



It only rained towards the afternoon, so we were really grateful since it was supposed to rain all day!! We rode ALL the roller coasters in the park! Well I didnt ride the lochness...it's old and its really jarring, gives me a headache. I had teh BEST ice cream cone (it was the sprinkles)! We went to some haunted houses that really freaked me out! The people there hide in bushes and pretend to be statues or scarecrows and jump out! It was so funny to watch them scare people! Anyway it was a good day! I am recovering from it this week though!!

I am excited today is Wednesday and that there is now only two days left of the week. Well three really since I have to work on Saturday. But we have decided to have a remnant sale since it is supposed to be so nice! People love a good deal ya know?

Hope you are all having a good week!

Gratitude Beyond Words

Tressa at American in Norway really got me thinking in one of her latest posts. Telling these stories I have been trying to let you know what has been going on in my life as of lately. It has really been a hellish ordeal for myself and Mr. S. However, when I put that quote at the bottom of my last post, that says "out of the darkest skies come the brightest stars" or something like that anyway...I had read that quote a couple of years ago when I was struggling with some other things. And I find that it is so true. So I wanted to take a few minutes and tell you all the positives that have come from being in this situation.

1. My faith has grown in leaps and bounds. If nothing more, growing my testimony and my faith in our Heavenly Father and the love he has for us, will be enough. I have felt more comfort and love from Him, in such a tremendous time of need. I have felt guilty for not having been there before and to turn to Him now that I need Him so much. I have such a strong testimony of our Father's love and His plan for us. He has provided me with everything that I could have needed. For example, money is a huge thing. In our church we give 10% of what we make as tithing. I have always been told that if I were to follow the law of tithing I would always be taken care of. This is another area that I have an exceeding amount of faith in. Some weeks I was so worried that I would not have the money to pay for everything, but I have been blessed every time. And that includes my car accident. As bad as it was, it gave me the opportunity to not make a big car payment, insurance payment, and by the time the insurance check came around it was literally the exact amount I needed to pay off Mr. S's immigration lawyer for the down payment. During this time, I have had to take on the expenses from Mr. S's business, his personal expenses, and the ones I already had. It was a big load and I am SO proud to say that I have been able to pay it all off and now I am saving money for whatever lays ahead for us. God has blessed me in so many ways and I am forever grateful for the love and support through Him. I am so grateful to everyone in my ward who has been so supporting and loving with words of encouragement and prayers.

2. Mr. S and I are MUCH closer emotionally than I think we have ever been. It has really given us an opportunity to grow even closer than we were when we got married because the hustle and bustle of busy lives has been taken out of the equation. We speak on the phone, we write letters, and I believe we grow closer everyday. It has given us the opportunity to examine our relationship and decide on things we want to work on for our future. I love him more today, than the day I married him, and I hope that those feelings will continue for the rest of our lives!

3. I like to think that situations like these force me to evaluate myself and become a better person. I feel I try to think "outside the box" and to give people the benefit of the doubt. I try to be more sympathetic to other's plights and to be less judgemental. Because the truth is, we just don't know. Angie from Keep Believing had the perfect post about this situation. It really makes you remember that you can make or break someones day. You just have no idea until you literally walk a mile in someone else's shoes.


4.Because I have taken the opportunity to research more about where my husband comes from and what his culture is like (on the probability that I am moving there) I feel like I understand him so much more. I have really tried to get in touch with others that live in Brazil and post about life there. The more I read about different beliefs and customs the more understanding I have of his way of thinking. Our differences in time for instance. This is something that really gets under my skin. I HATE being late. Mr. S however, has the belief that we are never late. Something I didn't fully understand until I started to read some expats blog on the two countries differences in time. I feel like I am now empowered and I will try to be a lot more patient. That is something else I am trying to learn...Some things just light my fuse, so I am trying to be a lot more patient. With all this waiting, I think it's really helping.

5. I am going to be okay. If there is something I need to do on my own, I can do it. Do I want to? No. But I do not have the fear of not being able to be independent. I know that no matter what I do, I will be okay. I will be successful, if I want to be. Attitude is a huge part of whatever we do. If we think we can and we are willing to exhaust every possibility to get there, then we will.

6. Did I mention how in love I am with my jailbird? He is wonderful and so very strong. I worry about him continually, I can not imagine how difficult it is to be in there. There are a lot of bad people where is and I know that he sees a lot, some he tells me about, and some that he doesn't. But I can not imagine having to go through it. He has always kept his faith. He tells me that he knows God is with him, protecting him, and giving him the strength to do whatever it is he needs to do. Mr. S's faith in God makes mine stronger as well, everyday. Despite where he is at, Mr. S has made friends, given them the strength they need to go through whatever it may be, and uplifted them. They have called me and so have their wives, to check on Mr. S to see how he is doing, to thank me, and to tell me what a wonderful person he is. This just re-affirms everything I already knew about him. That he cares immensely for the welfare of others, he doesn't judge, and he loves all those that crosses his path. (Don't get me wrong, there are some people he just does not talk to, thank goodness, but I am grateful for those he decides to help.) I just love him!

7. Through all the haziness of our immediate future, I know without a shadow of a doubt, what I want our lives to reflect. I want a loving family, one that is close and relies on each other for whatever we may need. That through the good and the bad, we will be there for one another. I want my children to feel this for a certainty. I want an eternal family, one that is strong and centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I want to be HAPPY. I am very certain that we will, of that I do not doubt.

8. Last, but not least, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to start to get to know everyone out in the blogging world. I have learned so much from you and your lives already! Your love, your desire to see my situation come out right, your prayers...to love, laugh, and cry with you has been amazing! I am so amazed at the diversity of personalities that have come together into this community and support one another. You all are so wonderful and I feel like I have found this little blogging family. Is that crazy? Forgive me if it is. But seriously, I feel like I am about to embark on this adventure and I have no idea where I am going to go, but I am comforted in the fact, that all these people I have met, I can take them with me. And I can post things like this particular post and you will understand. And if you don't you will show me love nonetheless. So thank you, to all of you, I am grateful for the comments, the emails, the support, and most of all the friendship that you have shown me in this short time. Thank you so much!

"You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."


Charlotte, "Charlotte's Web"

Long Weekend!

WHEW! It has been a crazy weekend! I will post more about it with pictures tomorrow maybe! I have spent ALL night catching up and reading everyone's blogs! Did you people know how MUCH you post! I had OVER 70 readings when I got back from my weekend! It took a LONG, LONG time to read through them all, but finally at 12 AM I am now finished! I am now going to bed. Yuck for work tomorrow. Yay for sleep now!

The Good and the Bad

The bad first...because bad is never fun. My back is KILLING me. I don't know why. I imagine it is because of the sudden coldness is settling into my bones. I had back surgery when I was 16 and from time to time I have issues with muscle cramping and stiffness. It's never fun. But if I remember correctly it's usually this time of year. But it makes me walk like this / . Literally, I walk with my body crooked. I don't know why, its the muscles reactions to my back hurting, but I look retarded. Sooooo-- in a few minutes--when my employee comes back from lunch, I am leaving to go home. I am going to go home, take a muscle relaxer, and put on my handy dandy, make me feel better machine.


I just hook the electrodes on my back, and in a day or two, I should be feeling much better. That little beauty works wonders for my back or neck or any muscles that are giving me a fit! It has really helped since I bought it!

Today, I also have an eye doctor appointment! I am really excited! I got into a car accident shortly after I got home from my honeymoon. I know, I know. March was really a GREAT month in the beginning, the latter, probably one of the worsts. Anyway in the course of rolling (I promise I'll tell that story too one day) I lost my glasses. And subsequently have not seen well in quite a few months. So today, I am going for my appointment! JC Penney optical (I know what you are thinking JC Penney vision? That's right, I got a killer deal) is giving me the eye appointment for free and 40% off of frames and lenses! Yay! And no, I don't like contacts much. They really bother my eyes and yes, I did try and wear them for about nine months before I gave up on them.

And last, but absolutely the greatest!!...I was looking around my reader in all of my back misery and I came upon a post from Mamasphere with all kinds of awards! And one of them was for ME! Little ol' me! My very FIRST award! I could not be more excited!!!


Look how cute and sweet it is!! Thanks Laural you are the BEST! And it has been soo much fun to get to know you! Seriously, if you have not read her blog (though I dont think there are many who have not) she is the funniest person ever and has the sweetest family!

So I believe the requirements are to just pass it on to Ten others! Which is exciting because I have found so many blogs the last couple weeks that I LOVE!

Kori @ My Life as a CFers Wife it has been so much fun to get to know you! You are seriously one of the sweetest women ever! And I am SO excited for your Secret Santa Shindig! Seriously ladies- if you havent already, sign up! And be sure to let her know it was me who sent you!

Melody @ Pennies In My Pocket has been really supportive of my blog and my story! And she has some AMAZING deals to tell you about everyday! It's a lot of fun and I love to get a good deal! She is also having a give away right now! Go and see her!

Wendy @ Married and Deported has been such a support system for me, especially when I first came back home! It was her that I found our lawyer through and she has an amazing story of her own! She has also has a new little addition to her family and he's super cute!!

Dari @ A Day in the Life of Dari One of my very best friends from Utah and I love her so much!! She just had a little girl and has the cutest pictures up! Love you Dari :)

Krystyn @ Really Are You Serious? Has the cutest family and is so funny, even when she's trying not to be I think! She also gave my blog a face life and did a fantastic job! I loved it!

Rachel @ Mrs. Mouthy She and Vincenzo crack me up every day!!!

Nikki @ Blah, Blah, Blah Blog is one of my recent favorites! Her blog is SO cute and also just got a new look! I found her through SITS and have really enjoyed her company in the blogging world!

"C" (as it shows up in my email, im sorry I dont know your first name @ The Scattered Mind of a Tattooed Minivan Mom makes me laugh every day! She has been a lot of fun to interact with!

Mrs. Newlywed @ Misadventures of a Newlywed I look forward to reading your blogs! You have the perfect mix of sarcasm and humor and you make me laugh just about everyday. Plus I am insanely jealous of your style. Could I ever pull of those clothes? Wish I could, but nope! But I love to keep up with the fabulous-ness of it all!

Melissa @ Stretch Marks Do you know I exist? Probably not, but you are another blog I look forward to reading every day! You always make me laugh!


So thanks again Laural! I LOVE my award! I hope I made someone else's day happy too!! I am off to go and recuperate my back and get my eyeballs checked out! Hope everyone is having a good week!

The Honeymoon

The morning after the wedding came very EARLY. We woke up tired, but I was so excited! We were on our way to St Thomas! The flight was good, nice and short. We slept most of the time.
Except when I am evil.

He hates when I do that.

We got to our hotel-- the Emerald beach resort and it was just beautiful. We had an AMAZING view.


Okay- now I need to tell you a funny story--well okay I was horrified when it happened, and I still feel embarrassed, but it also makes me laugh. In fact I was talking to Mr. S about it last night. Who would be horrified to know I am telling this story, but it is just too good to keep to myself. When Mr. S and I checked in, we used our American Express. Well they denied the transaction because Amex wanted to make sure no one had made off with our card to a luxury destination to have some fun. Well when we got to our room, I heard the phone ring (the front desk to tell us our card had been denied), but we were out on the balcony so I missed it. So after I am done looking at our perfect view, I go back into to unpack. Mr. S was not having any of that--we are on our honeymoon after all. Meanwhile, since the lady at the front desk didn't reach us by phone, the other worker was checking in someone else. Well since our card had been declined, it kicked us out of the system and put the next guest in our room. These poor unsuspecting people are so happy to have arrived to this beautiful island. I'm sure they were looking forward to getting to their room to unwind and relax. Instead they open their door and what do they see?? That's right, honeymooners getting it on. I was MORTIFIED. I'm sure that poor lady was too. Needless to say, I was no longer a happy honeymooner and Emerald Beach Resort was out a night of their money. But the rest of the honeymoon went on without a hitch.






March 14, 2008
We pack up and head to the airport. There is no easy way to start this part, so let me get to the point. When I planned the trip to St Thomas, I was not thinking. They said that we just needed our Drivers License. Which I thought was no big deal since Mr. S had one. What I didn't realize is that we would have to go back through customs to come home. I was so caught up in planning the perfect wedding and the perfect honeymoon, I had not stopped to seriously think it through. We got up to the counter and Officer Rodriguez asked for our form and our drivers licenses. He asked for our passports and I told him that we were told we didn't need them. He looked at me and asked me if I was a citizen and I told him yes. My heart was pounding so loud. He looked at Mr. S and asked him the same thing. Mr. S of course said No. My stomach fell out. I could literally feel my whole world tumbling down. They pulled us aside and into the customs office. They looked up Mr. S's information and told me they would have to detain him until the figured things out. I cried and cried. I made Mr. S call my Dad. Mr. S kept telling me that everything would be alright. It was fine, he would be home soon. That he loved me and everything was going to be okay.

I was a wreck. In a minute, in one minute my entire world had come crashing down. They told me I needed to leave to try and catch my flight. They gathered my belongings and put me through security. And wouldn't you know I had been randomly chosen to have additional security screening. The poor lady who was screening me. She sat me down and asked me what was wrong and of course I started bawling all over again. I was crying so hard I could not breathe. She got me some water, I gathered my things and went to the gate. I walked into the boarding room and it was empty. The plane had left. I sat down and cried. I cried and cried. Then the cleaning lady came in and said, "you know that plane's not going to come back." I wanted to kill her, i turned to her and said, "Of that, I am well aware." That was the only plane leaving for the day, I would have to fly home tomorrow. I had to wait forever to go see the ticket people at the airport. I think at this point I had stopped crying. I was in a daze, everything felt so foggy.

I finally get in a taxi and to go back to the hotel. They were booked for the night. I started to cry again, I didn't know what to do, where to go. I was alone. We had turned in the rental car. The lady at the counter was nice enough to call around for me and find one at the holiday inn. It was in the middle of town surrounded by a huge fortress like gate. I went to my hotel room and crawled on the bed. I bawled for hours. I cant even remember anything except crying. I talked to my Dad a couple of times. Customs finally called to tell me that Mr. S was being taken to the jail on the island. I sat up all night, watched the news, and cried. I had never cried so much in my life.

The next morning I went to the jail. Things are so dysfunctional over there. I wandered past security stations because no one was there until I finally ran into someone who told me what to do. So I called up to the third floor and they told me I would have to wait until Tuesday before I could see him. At which point I sobbed until he told me to come back in an hour to talk to the supervisor. The supervisor got back in two hours and told me I would be allowed to see Mr. S for 5 minutes. He also told me how to get Mr. S a money order so he could have some money here. So I ran around the island to the post office just in the nick of time before it closed and got the money order. They let me see Mr. S. But it was scary. It was behind a plate of glass, you know where you have to pick up the phone to talk? That was the last time I saw my husband. I cried some more. Mr. S told me to be strong, that it would be okay. He was fine where he was and it would be soon we would be together again. Two hours later I boarded the plane to come home.

It is so difficult for me to tell that story because all the emotions come rushing back. It was one of the worst days of my entire life. Since then, Mr. S has been housed in Puerto Rico(because they have a bigger facility than St Thomas). They have charged him criminally for Entry without proper documentation. The maximum penalty for that is six months. He has now been there for seven months. We are waiting for a decision on a motion to dismiss and a sentencing hearing. We have been told that will happen in November. I pray to God every day that is the case. It has been pushed back 5 times now. It is very difficult to get anything in St Thomas done. Please pray that the case is dismissed because if so it will really help Mr. S's immigration case. After criminal proceedings, Mr. S will continued to be detained because of immigration. We will then begin immigration proceedings. We have a really great immigration lawyer thanks to Wendy ! She is how I started back into blogging. Wendy and Leo had their own battle with immigration and our lawyer Linda really helped. Linda believes that she may be able to get Mr. S out on bond so he can come home while we go through immigration proceedings. She believes that the strongest possibility is that we will need to go back to Brazil while we work on papers for Mr. S. I pray every day that if that is the case that we will be able to return to the USA. While I am scared to have to move to Brazil, I am excited for the opportunity as well. I miss Mr. S every single day. We never dreamed it would take this long and we pray every day that it will be over soon and he will be out of jail. I can not wait for his return and for us to begin a life together where ever that may be. So this is my story of the road less traveled. It is only the beginning and I am so glad to have met so many of you wonderful people. It has been so fun thus far to learn about your lives and to be able to tell you about mine. Thank you for the support, I promise you, you have no idea how much it means.

"Hope is a rare gift, that if we are lucky, comes to us with the power to heal our lives. I've come to know that the deepest sense of hope often springs from the hardest lessons in life. It is in the darkest skies that the stars are best seen- perhaps it is divine irony that within the darkest moments we are capable of revealing the greatest light, demonstrating what is best with humanity."
--Richard Paul Evans--

Happiness

Truth be told I was in love with that boy the moment he pulled me off the couch randomly one night and danced with me to "Long Trip Alone" by Diereks Bentley. While we were dating we had so much fun! I loved to be with Mr. S and spent every minute possible with him. Don't get me wrong, there were hard moments too. Mr. S had a lot of English to learn, and some days when things got miscommunicated, it was hard. But when you have to learn to communicate, when you have to put a lot of effort in it, you learn so much about each other! And a lot about patience.

We had a lot of big things happen to us in a few short months. Mr. S finally got his teeth implants, Mr. S moved to a new apartment, My Mom got married, Mr. S opened his own installation company, we traveled, we planned the future, named future babies and fell more and more in love.

Mr. S asked me to marry him on September 14th, 2007, seven months after our "official" first date. I spent the next six months running around, planning, and loving every minute of it.
Mr. & Mrs. S
March 8, 2008
We had the most amazing wedding. It was perfect like a story book. I can not help it, I have to put up pictures so you can all see more than I've already put up (click to see the big version). I love my pictures and I love to share.

The Tables

The Cake


The Kiss


The Wedding Party


The First Dance (to "Long Trip Alone"--we had no clue...)



Cutting the Cake


Friends...


The Rings


The Send off!


I have never felt more sure of anything in my life. Mr. S showed me happiness, love, and a glimpse of what the future held for us. He is my whole life, my entire world is all wrapped up in him. The day we got married was best day of my life thus far. It was a story book wedding. We didn't have any problems, our friends and loved ones surrounded us, and we celebreated the beginning of a beautiful life.


**Tomorrow will the the last part to my saga, thanks for staying with me!**