Two Weeks Flew By!

Hey Everyone,
The past two weeks really did fly by, I don't even know where to start...I guess with last weekend. On Sunday Joe and I accompanied two of his friends from work to the Brazilian National Air Force air show. It took way to long to get there, but once we were their we had fun. Like an American air show they display the planes and some of them you can get in. It was slightly depressing to see the state of some of the planes considered the best Brazil has to offer. I am beginning to understand why the US spends so much money on yearly maintenance. So of them really just needed a new coat of paint. But they do the same tricks and fly by's.

The Best Brazil has to offer


The nicest vehicle their were the Harley Davidson Police Motorcycles



Apparently we didn't get any pictures of the planes that were pretty beat up, and not from combat.
But it was still alot of fun!

This past week was a blur and then this weekend Joe was sick all weekend with a virus or the flu(neither doctor's can do anything for) So we stayed home and watched movies. We borrowed two really great classics from my friend Karen. I would recommend renting both! The first was, To Catch A Thief, a Hitchcoch thriller,but not freaky Hitchcock. It was good, suspensful. It has Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in it. It was filled in 1955.

The second was, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, filmed in 1939. Directed by Frank Capra and has James Stewart in it. It too was just realy good. I hope you enjoy them.

We also watched the first DVD of the Planet Earth series from BBC. That too was amazing, God is so creative! How were your weekends?

Italian Stallion

So to start off, my wife is a way better blogger than me. Sorry! Well it’s been a crazy couple weeks for me…but not without its perks. I got back last week from a 4 day trip to Italy to interview Kaka! He’s was named by FIFA as the best player of 2007, and by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Awesome! Kaka is a Christian and he’s sharing his story of how he chose to follow Christ on the programs that are airing in just three weeks.

So it was definitely awesome to head to Milan and meet him. He’s playing currently for the soccer team AC Milan, and also for the Brazilian national team.

And of course, if you’re traveling to Europe, you have to stop and smell the roses. On the way there in flew through Lisbon, but my flight was delayed so I missed my connection. As a result I had a 7 hour layover! But I definitely didn’t care, because I made the most of it by taking a bus to the city center. I toured historic Lisbon, a castle, and a 12th century cathedral! Inside the cathedral they also had excavated parts of a Roman road and sewer system dating back to the 1st century! Once again, awesome!

Once we got to Milan we did the interview on Friday. We spent about two hours with Kaka inside the San Siro Stadium in Milan, and inside the team’s dressing room. Very cool. Saturday we shot some video around Milan and got to see the city. Gorgeous cathedrals and another large castle are mixed in with the relatively commercial/business feel of the city. The streets and buildings are gorgeous, and I don’t think I’d mind living there!

My quilt

Here are a couple of pictures of the construction of my quilt. I am still working on the border and then the actual quilting process begins! This past week I also learned how to dye fabric. And I promise Joe will post soon about Italy.

What a "Whopper"

I know that many of you know Joe recently took a business trip to Italy and are waiting on an update from that and also many of you have asked for an update with pictures on the status of my quilt. This topic takes great precedence over both! For those of you who work hard and celebrate with fast food for lunch everyday may not know the excitement behind being able to go to Burger King. Burger King's logo is "Have it your way", So last night hoped on a bus, rode for 20 minutes and got off for the best burger I have had in 10 months or more. We met up with 4 friends, two of who are Brazilians. Something else you need to know is that Brazilians LOVE beef! It is a subject of pride here. We are always asked two questions here, How do you like Brazil? and Do you like our meat? So Back to BK, Joe and I step up to the counter order 1 whopper with cheese, extra pickles(huge for me, they are imported in from the US), and Joe orders a double whopper with cheese. We both get the standard combo, fries with a soda. Next one of the guys Joe works with here steps up and orders a whopper with seven patties and a small drink. We get to the table sit down and he unwraps his septa-whopper. After we all stare for a minute at its massive size especially sitting next to a normal whopper. He even finished it off before most of us even finish our own burgers! Needless to say it was delicious.

Weekend fun and New Hobbies

First I will tell you about my new hobby...Quilting! It has been proven to be alot of fun. When I was young I would sit with my Great Grandmother as she would sew. She was amazing at it. She could take something we were wearing turn it into a pattern and then make it. Last year when Joe and I moved to Uruguay a good friend of ours named Toni began to teach me some of the basics of sewing and quilting. Then when we moved to Sao Paulo, I met Sue! Sue has moved my desire to learn to quilt into a reality. I am currently finishing my first Sampler quilt, a sampler quilt is a quilt where ever block is different, each block uses a different technique or method and so you learn to do it all while making it.
So on Saturday, Joe and I, along with many of the ladies that are a part of my quilting group went to the "Gaudi House". Named after an arcitect from Spain whose style was very similar. Estevao, the owner of the home has spent the last 23 years creating this masterpeice and it still working on it. We had so much fun, the home has many differnt levels and different ways to get up to the roof, I can only compare it to cave exploration. Last year the BBC wrote an article about him and his house. You can read it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7016930.stm.






Quilting pictures coming soon!

Protective Frustrations

In the past couple of weeks I learned about a couple of things that annoy me but are in place for my own protection. The first is American Express. We love the points we get with our American Airlines American Express card, and it helps keep us from getting taken because of the protections in place. But they have a glitch in their computer system. Every month the special notes on our account are cleared out....So the special note saying we live outside the US gets erased every month. So We get the privilege of calling them from Brazil every month because our card gets marked as suspicion of theft by AmX's LP department. So I have gotten so accustom to the questions that I can answer them before they ask. During a current travel trip Joe and I were responsible for several hotel rooms and food for a team of people. We we went ahead and called AmX ahead of time to let the know we would have several charges at different places. The hotel clerk entered the wrong expiration date and thus starting the problem, he ran it again and of course that blocked all charges. I called them back 45 minutes after talking to them the first time. Answered all their questions and explained hoe embarrassing it is to be standing with a group of people who expect for everything to be already taken care of. The nice lady on the phone explained what happened and that it is a computer service that blocks all charges at that point, and they only do it for our protection. I wanted to tell them to stop protecting us so much, but then realized the minute I said that my card would have been stolen. So we are appreciative for their protection, even though it can be frustrating! The second occurrence of frustration is at the bank we use in Brazil to pay our bills. Because robberies are so common in Brazil all banks have security guards with machine guns. But they also have a revolving door that everyone has to use and it has a metal detector connected to it. So for people like me who are always moving about the city with a backpack on which has random paper clips and change stuffed in all crevasses, I always get stuck in the revolving door and then you have back out and try again after about three tries their are others waiting to get and my blood pressure is rising. The object is that I put my backpack in a cubby hole outside the bank that doesn't lock. I don't think so. Instead I wait for a bank manager to override the machine and let me in. What are some of your protective frustrations?

Sweet 16 at 25

Yesterday I had an amazing birthday!!!!!!! It started with waking up and getting a few minutes of quality time with my hubby, and then off to teach at 7:30. From there I headed to bible study where I was met with so many warm welcomes and a beautiful cake and of course the birthday song! It was a really relaxed day and rather enjoyable! Last night was little cold, actually really cold, so not cute summer dress for me. But once I was ready in my fun wool Argentinian wrap skirt and pink cashmere sweater, I wanted to get a picture but I had to find the earrings I wanted to wear and Joe kept telling me not to worry about them. I love little bags that come with little boxes and sparkly things inside! Joe took me to an amazing Italian restaurant. We had so much fun, This past week we spent time reminiscing about past birthdays. 16 wasn't anymore exciting than others. I got my driving permit late(I think because of the timing of Driver's Ed) and so I knew I wasn't going to the DMV on my birthday. And I knew what car I was getting, Old White Lightning as some called her. She was an '82' Toyota Corolla with leprosy spots of rust, But a good little car to me. What I do remember is that my best friend Stephanie and her mom walked to my house with a cake, just to sing to me! And thinking back farther, I really only had one other birthday that stood out to me, I was 7 or 8. I got to invite about 10 friends to go to Chi-chi's restaurant in Chicago. I got to where the big sombrero and we had a pinata, I even got a barbie or two. The big surprise last night at the end was the amazing giant snowball cotton candy cake they brought out! Birthdays in Brazil are HUGE, bigger than Christmas. People pay all year just to have big amazing birthdays. So every restaurant does something special. But I could have never dreamed for a more fun birthday cake. Thank you to all who were a part of my special day and to all of you who sent me wonderful greeting! 24 was an amazing year, and I 25 with be just as fun and adventurous! I love you all.