Battle Scars

I am not beginning to bear my Brazilian Battle scars. The first one being my back. I have had significant back trouble since being here. I think this comes from a couple of different things...#1 I had back surgery when I was sixteen due to three herniated discs (what can I say, I was a rough and tumble kid...), #2 Before coming to Brazil, I slept on different beds, sofas, and planes #3 Sidnei bought me an orthopedic bed which is a little on the hard side, #4 the people of Brazil do not believe in cushions. Aside from sofas, all the chairs are hard. HARD. Even in church, the pews are straight wood. Those really kill me. So basically I walk like this: \ instead of walking like straight like a normal person.

My next battle scars are big red blotches all over my pasty white legs. These my friends are quite attractive. In fact my southern friends may be experiencing them as well. Mosquitos. They liked me in the states, but they LOVE me in Brazil. Generally in the states I just dealt with them in the evenings, but here my friends, they are available for sucking my blood 24 hours a day. And they don't just stick to my legs, though that's what they prefer. Nope they also like my arms, even the top of my ear!

My poor hands...my poor hands are battle scar #3. They have little red lines, blisters, all over. All because I was spoiled and had a dryer in the US. I have maybe picked up an iron all of two times before coming here to Brazil. When I arrived, all my clothes were wrinkled and hanging them up inside the guardaropa did them no help. So I had to pull out the iron. I ironed my little heart out for two days straight. I have the battle scars to prove it! And sadly enough, so do my clothes. It is not easy being a first time iron-er.

I can't wait to start cooking with a gas stove for the first time!
Har-dee har har

How long have I been here again?

Time just seems to be passing me by...one day quickly fades into another and I find it hard to keep up! I realized today that this week will mark a month for me in Brazil! A MONTH. How did that happen? Have I really been away for a month? Have I really been with Sidnei for a month? It's just hard to believe that time truly passes by this fast!

So what have we been doing for a month??

We bought a bed!:


And then we realized our clothes couldn't stay like this forever:


So we bought a guarda roupa! What is a guarda roupa? For those who are not familiar (like myself) they don't necessarily build closets here with the houses, so you buy a guarda roupa, which is a closet in a really big dresser form. Not the greatest picture, but here it is being built:


And finished: (and yes, it is quite shiny,but I'll put up a better picture later!)


Aside from those fun things, we have had to go and take our marriage certificate to be translated and then sent to the judge to be officially recognized here in Brazil. Who knows how long that will take.

Also we have been running around to MANY government and public offices trying to get all of Sidnei's documents straight since he has not used them in a long time. Here if you don't vote and your CPF is not active them everything is basically frozen. And you need your CPF to do basically everything. But now we seem to have everything taken care of, I hope!

The language seems to be coming along. I am happy with being able to understand as much as I do and frustrated that I can't understand much of what is said! My vocabulary is building everyday and I know that all this gibberish I hear around me will one day turn into actual words! And will actually have meaning behind it! I am definitely excited for that!

My Brazilian family is wonderful! They are so good to me and want very much to help me adjust to life as best as possible! And they talk to me...whether I understand or not. Which I am grateful for!! Though they do try to help me as much as possible and we seem to communicate well despite our obstacles!

Anyway to make a long post longer....things are good here!

Now if only I could make the electrical shower head give me hotter water....I'd be set!

The Good Things

Right now, I am watching my husband sleep. And all I can think, foreign country or not, life just doesnt get better than this. It's the little things that I have missed so much...things I didnt even realize I was missing...And the big things too... Waking up and knowning he is there, having him beside me in church, the hugs, having someone to take care of you when you are sick or hurt...holding hands. The way he smells. The way he smiles when he's teasing me... Life with Sidnei is good and we are so very happy.

I wanted to tell you that I am alive. We have been trying to take care of so many things, but I promise to be back to regular posting soon. This week if I can help it! But here are some pictures of us from the past couple of weeks! I will post more on life here soon!

Disconnected!

I dont have much time, but wanted to write a quick post!

Everything here is going great! I am having a wonderful time being back with Sidnei! It feels like we never skipped a beat! We have been busy with the paperwork it takes to make things work..for myself and Sidnei since all of his papers are inactive since he´s been gone for so long!

We have also been furniture shopping! Who knew I was such a pain! But we finally found what we needed and I will post pictures later!

We are working on getting the internet up, but for now I am at a family member´s house! I should be connected sometime next week!! I promise I will post more then, give you my impressions!

There is definitely a good amount of culture shock, but things are much better. I am not stressed out and I am enjoying a slower pace of life...and sleeping in!

Much love to you all, thank you for all of your comments and checking in on me!!

I will be excited to catch up and see what is going on! I am SO far behind!

Til next week!

We're in BRASIL!

*******Unfortunately this is NOT a live post! We are a little *ahem* busy, but I PROMISE I will update for you all SOON!******

Sidnei,

We have been waiting for this day for a LOONNGG while....In fact, 14 months and 13 days to be exact.

Today is the day.

Today is our day.

Today is the day, that those 14 months and 13 days become the past.

Today is the day, we leave it all behind us.

Today is the day, that we start the rest of our lives....

And I for one, am so grateful and SO excited!

If this experience has taught me anything, it is that I can not imagine my life without you in it. The world is just not the same without you close to me. So today, I take off the shades and I put on my rose colored glasses.

Today is the day, that I will smile after I cry , I will hold your hand, I will hug you, I will kiss you, and I will look at you and tell you how much I love you, how much I've missed you.

And then I will smile and nod at the rest of his family............. I kid, I kid! But today begins my official Portuguese crash course lessons!

My love, in all seriousness, today is going to be one of those days that we will always remember. My heart is bursting!

Remember how I was such a good little packer???

I thought for sure that I would get to the airport today and things would go off without a hitch because I had been such a good little prepare-er. However, no. such. luck.

So we get there, and the lady takes one look at Gracie, another at my reservations, and says she needs to get her supervisor. Great.

The supervisor comes out and proceeds to tell us that there is no way Gracie can fly with me domestically and then be check in at Miami. There is just not enough time. There would be no guarantees. That I had two options. One: Leave without Gracie (this one brought tears) or two I could wait and take a different flight another day (this one brought tears). No good.

Thank goodness for my Mom. This is a woman who does NOT back down. My Mom told that ticket agent that I had been told by 3 different American Airline Employees, I had come to the airport a week in advance to make sure that everything was okay, and that she better go find someone who can make this work.

Just to let you know this is an hour and a half later.

So we wait ANOTHER hour. Finally the lady comes back out. First she had booked me a flight for the next day, arriving in Brazil on Thursday. Then we needed to wait again. She had called Miami (after we had asked her two hours earlier to do so) and they told her (SURPRISE!) that two hours was plenty of time since they didn't start boarding pets until about 3 hours before departure. So after all this, I have missed my flight to Dallas, all to find out what I had known from the beginning. The prior arrangements with Gracie were FINE. Thankfully she found a flight for me out of Richmond right away. So right now I am in Charlotte waiting to be connected so that I can go to Brazil! So we are on the same schedule! YAY!

Even better news is my first flight was with US Airways. I think the guy saw how frazzled I was, and he decided not to charge me for the two extra bags (I ended up checking my laptop bag too because apparently even though you pay for an animal to fly, it still counts as a carry on...BOO) and he saved me $200!!!!!!! It was definitely the bright spot in my day and I was so glad he did that for me! Thank goodness for kind hearted people! And to be honest, I know my bags were overweight too, so he saved me probably another $200 because of that. I am a lucky, lucky girl. With wayyyy too much stuff.

Thanks for all your well wishes!! And I am sure that I will post later this week! Maybe. I have some things scheduled, but I know you are all waiting for the pictures!

Here's hoping the rest of the journey is a smooth one!

And let's hope all goes well in customs (I'm super nervous about this part!)!!!

Leaving on a jet plane...!!

Today I am FLYING!!!!!!!! As we speak, I am taking my VERY heavy and MANY bags to the airport! I will be flying all day, and I will land TOMORROW morning! I can hardly contain myself!

But while I am flying, here to keep you company is Gracie! I have been taking a LOT of pictures of her lately, so I thought I'd share! Just say a little prayer for her...my poor little dog has anxiety issues, and HATES to be seperated from her Momma! Domestically, she will be in cabin with me! However, on the flight to Brazil she has to go under the plane. And I am worried about her! Hopefully she will make the flight alright!

Without further ado, let me present you Gracie, pre-grooming from last week!





Last Monday, the FIRST task, was to get the poor dog a hair cut!! Here she is!!





On Thursday, we went to Grandma's and we got to play in the yard! She is SO fast!






And then we played watch dog...the landscapers came to cut the lawn and Gracie did NOT like it!





Thanks for letting us come and play Grandma! You are the BEST!


Next time you see us, we'll be in BRASIL!!!!!!