My New Happy Place!

Oi do Brasil! Last week, I started taking painting lessons at a small art school on Cavaleiros beach with my new friend Becky. I’m not much of an artist, but it is so awesome to learn something new, and I find that the time I spend with a brush in my hand is so relaxing! Sitting in an open courtyard, listening to the ocean, and letting my mind focus on something creative is a pleasure I never knew I was missing. My teacher, Beatriz (Bea) is very helpful and also extremely patient in teaching us rookies how to paint. My classes are every Tuesday morning, and I’ve found myself anxiously awaiting my next lesson for the rest of the week. Once I have learned more of the techniques, I am planning to start painting at home. Gabe took me into Centro to buy all of my supplies, so I feel so official now! No turning back! I am still taking Portuguese lessons twice a week with my friends, Sakshi and Kim, and I really feel that my knowledge has greatly improved. It is such a difficult language for me, but our tutor is great, and I’m finally starting to conquer my fear of speaking.

Carnaval starts on Saturday, and Brazil basically shuts down for a week. We would love to be able to experience Carnaval in Rio, but with Jake being so young, and the crowds being so huge, we’ve decided against it. Instead, we are considering taking a 4-day cruise around the coast and celebrating the festivities on the ship with some friends. I’ve never been on a cruise ship before, and I have a dreadful fear of motion sickness (really hoping I can find some Dramamine if we decide to go), but I’m looking forward to spending some fun time together as a family.

Jake and I are still planning on spending the summer in Texas (woo hoo!), and we are hoping to be home sometime during the beginning of May. I will keep you posted as plans become more definite. I love you and miss you all so much!

Hugs!

Holiday Rewind :)

Hey kids! WOW! Was my last post really in November??? Holy cow! The past two months have really flown by! I guess I should start by summarizing our holiday south of the equator.

December

Jake finished school on December 15th. His school had an adorable Christmas program prepared for all of the parents, and Jake's class dressed up and sang a song and danced for everyone. He was so cute, and was the loudest singer in the class! I can still hear him screaming at the top of his lungs, "HO HO HO!" LOL The end of December also came with lots of new friends! A few of my MTP boys here in Brazil, brought their wives/girlfriends down for the holidays. All I can say is that I hope they are all able to come back to visit soon! They were such great ladies, and it was so nice to have some girls around for once! Christmas was so much fun with the little man this year. He's finally old enough to understand the holiday, so we had a great time making cookies for Santa, and opening presents on Christmas Day. That night, the Gauthier family had an awesome Christmas party at their house for all of the expats. There are so many new people from the company moving to Brazil, so our lives have been infinitely happier now that we have found some new friends in Macae. New Year's Eve was an absolute blast! The tradition in Brazil is to wear all white on NYE, and go to the beach for fireworks and festivities. Gabe and I threw a party at our house, and we had about 30 people here to celebrate with us. At midnight, a huge fireworks show was shot off of a barge out in the ocean. It was so cool to see all of the lights over the water---truly amazing! 15 bottles of champagne and a HUGE headache later, we spent New Year's Day at the beach as a family (NO, I didn't drink all 15 bottles by myself! lol).

January

The last few weeks have been spent trying to keep Jake occupied until school starts on Jan. 31st. I have also started proper Portuguese lessons with two of my expat friends, Kim (American) and Sakshi (Indian). It is such a difficult language to learn, but our tutor, Monica, is very patient and understanding. We've only had lessons for the last 3 weeks, but already my knowledge of the language and confidence speaking it have greatly improved. Last week, my good friend Joe Burgard (aka Joey Bogart) came to visit us. We spent the week in Macae at the beach, and then took a weekend trip to Buzios. Joining us was our friends Brian, Justin and Julie (Justin's rad wife). Buzios was a MUCH different experience this time around! We found a house on a rental site, and booked it for the weekend instead of going to a hotel. This is the way to do Buzios right, kids! The house was AMAZING--5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, movie room, private pool/spa, outdoor kitchen with BBQ, a 4 min walk to the beach, and a staff of two who cooked/cleaned/grocery shopped for us while we were there. Needless to say, we've been spoiled rotten by our stay at Casa Boa Vista, and I'm eagerly looking forward to staying there again!

Begrudgingly back to the grind this week. I'm working on getting all of Jake's school paperwork ready for next week, so hopefully we won't hit any more snags, and he'll be able to start on Monday. February is going to be an awesome month! Mom & Eric are coming to visit the first half of the month, and Michelle is coming to visit the end of the month. I also turn the big 3-0 on Feb. 6th (Dun dun duuuuunnnnnnn!) My 20's were a blast, but I'm really looking forward to this next chapter in my life. Aside from missing all of you so much it hurts, life in Brazil really couldn't be much better than it is right now.

Lots of hugs! :)