One thing that God has been teaching me lately is how constant He is. In any situation that comes my way, He is constant. When the consistency of life wavers.. the people in your life, the place you live, the job you have, the desires you have.. there's one thing that does not change. And that is the character of God, 'Who does not change like the shifting shadows.' 

God is the same God in Piracicaba and in Eau Claire. 
God is the same God in college and in the real world. 
God is the same God in English and in Portuguese. 
God is the same God when I have the strength to praise Him and when I fall to my knees in weakness.
God is the same God in the States and in Brazil.
God is the same God at a mega conference and when you are sitting on your bed.
God is the same God when you feel His presence and when you don't.

As I sit meditating on this marvelous truth, I am overwhelmed with comfort and gratitude.
God is. 
Count on Him because in our ever changing situation, He won't change.

You guys these are my friends. They have a band, Reservoir and they're about to release their first album! How cool is that?? It's so cool! If I'm honest, watching this video makes me miss them a whole lot and wish I could be there for the beginning of this big journey for them, but also I'm just so darn happy to call them my friends and also SO PROUD of them.
​So you guys.. watch this video and then go pre-order their cd.. it's gonna be great, I just know it. 

And here below is our feat of a hike, arguably one of the next most thought of places is ​Pão de Açúcar 'Sugarloaf'. Generally people pay to take the little trolley car up the side of the mountain because that in itself is quite the view but well you see.. after an unfortunate series of events we didn't have enough money to take the trolley but we really wanted to go to the top, so we said.. well, let's hike it! We were so unprepared without water, I don't think anyone was wearing good shoes and when we finished it all all of our legs were shaking from the climb. BUT we made it and boy was that view worth it and also how accomplished did we feel at the top. 

Do I really need to say much about these beach pictures? Maybe for those of you up in Wisconsin freezin your buns off right about now, the sun does still exist my friends.. and it is HOT down here in Brazil, especially in Rio. Woah baby! We were able to make our way to Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, and Barra da Tijuca. Sun glorious sun for days and days. 
​

Aqui é nossa galera! Here's our group! We were pals for our 4 days there in Rio which flew by way too fast. It was a special treat getting to experience all I experienced with this group.. some good friends, some I hadn't known so well and a few that I just met there on the trip but what a good group to spend these days living up Rio.. singing on the metro, soaking up the sun on the beach, weaving through crowds of the blocos, hours spent on the bus, jamming, beholding beauty, and everything that is Rio. Trips and places bond you to people and make a trip what it is. I say it so much but it's only because it's so true that it is always such a gift to be lovingly welcomed into a culture as I always am here by Brazilians, they gently and with lots of fun allowed me to experience and learn more yet of their culture on this trip. There is always more to learn if you have the posture. I never want to stop learning from the people around me. Então.. muito obrigada gente, até proxima. Beijos. 
​
And don't worry Rio, I'll be back soon. I couldn't stay away from those beaches and beautiful sites if I wanted to! Until next time, the streets of Rio await.  

So.. while I disappeared from the blogging world, my 6 month mark came and went and now we are coming up on the 7th month mark.. unbelievable or what?? I remember sitting on the plane coming here not even being able to imagine in my mind what was to come. And I really could not have guessed what these 10 months would look like.
There have been hard days where all I wanna do is hangout with my family and laugh over junk food and board games, or eat watch Bridesmaids with DQ blizzards with holland, or netflix with my roomie.. or jam with the crew. And when those moments come, I usually send messages to my people letting them know I'm thinking of them and miss them, and then I try to find something to do here, to seize the hours that could become beautiful memories. And I'd do just that and created just those. I tried new foods and drinks, ate lots of ice cream with friends and my kiddos, got to know my city more, and just passed time with friends in their homes and enjoyed my time with the people around me. And while I'm not so great at remembering to snap the pics, I do have a few here to illustrate a few moments. 

Also, something really special that happened right around the end of December/beginning of January is that a few of my favorite Brazilians returned to Brazil from the States! Their study abroad experience came to an end and they finally came back home and I got to meet up with some of them. And friends, I almost tear up as I right about these moments because they were so special. Even in the States, I absolutely love visiting people's homes and meeting their family, city, pets, etc.. because you see such a bigger picture of a person's life when you see all of these things. You understand them better, I think you are able to better serve and love them as your friend as well. Anyways, I finally go to do this with my Brazilians from Eau Claire. 
My first trip was actually the day after Christmas, I headed to Jose's city for a week. So we spent most of the time getting to know his city and family and friends. And then for New Years we all packed up and traveled to another state Minas Gerais, where his parent's ranch is and we there we welcomed in 2016 and wow.. what a great time. It was in the middle of nowhere and I didn't realize how much I missed the 'not-city' life.. it was beautiful and just what I needed. New Years day we spent in this waterfall, climbing rocks, fighting currents and just enjoying the beauty. It was the perfect starting of the new year.
Then a few weeks ago I got to go to Erica's city. I think I almost cried when I finally hugged her after so long! I didn't get to spend as long with her but it was just so great. We got to know her city, went to her dad's work party grillout, made a lot of music with her brother and future sister in law, talked a LOT (we're good at that :) and even cooked french toast one day for her family. One night we even got to meet up with our friend Victor in his city!
I just love finally got to experience this beautiful country that I have grown to love with friends who are so dear to my heart. The feeling of city around a table eating ice cream and speaking Portuguese in Brazil with friends who I one day used to sit at the caf in Eau Claire with, what an incredible thing, hey? I'm sure not complaining :) 

So with all of that, here's to the past 6 (almost 7) months... to the late night talks, hours of learning Portuguese, coffee coffee coffee, friendships made, laughter upon laughter, delicious Brazilian food, hours traveling to other cities via bus, my hair that is getting lighter by the day because of the sun, two kiddos that are keeping me young, beautiful scenery, sweet pictures, and Jesus in it all.

So there is a blog post that is a few months and several pictures overdue that is currently in the works for anyone who hasn't lost all patience in waiting.. 
But in the meantime, enjoy these pics I snapped during a skype session dance party with my momma and aunt. They are the coolest.  

 So this year thanksgiving obviously looked a little different because it's not celebrated here in Brazil. People generally have heard about it because of movies, tv, etc.. but that's about it; they've heard of it. As the day kept approaching I was kind of bumming about missing this beautiful day where we gather together with family, eat a lot of food and give thanks for what we've been given.
The week of Thanksgiving, the mom of my family down here proposed the idea, "let's make Thanksgiving dinner on saturday?" And make Thanksgiving dinner we did! And I was able to invite some of my friends to join in this special celebration too. For them it was an opportunity to learn a little bit about the holiday and eat some darn good food. 
We woke up early saturday morning and did all the shopping and then began cooking. Me and Renata agreed to split the dishes. I was in charge of the pumpkin pie, stuffing, and grandma's fruit salad. And she was making the green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and the turkey. Now she had never cooked most of these dishes because she is Brazilian and not so used to celebrating this holiday. And even though I am used to celebrating, I never do the cooking for big holidays like this. Well that changed this year, as I slaved over the dough for the completely homemade pumpkin pie. Literally completely from scratch.. like we bought a pumpkin. And our oven isn't hooked up yet, so they were roasting the turkey in the outside grill where we have cook outs. Needless to say we were a little worried about all of the food turning out. 
The hour rolls around when everyone arrives and naturally because most of them are Brazilians they show up right on time...... 1 hour after the 'set time'. ha
Before dinner Renata said a few words about Thanksgiving and how much it really means to Americans and expressed her gratitude for me and how she wanted to give me this special day, how beautiful. 
We then introduced each of the dishes to everyone and spent the rest of the night eating, conversing, drinking wine and just enjoying each others company. This Thanksgiving was different and a little hard being away from family, but in that moment I was content in thankfulness. My heart was full, surrounded by people who have become my familiar here.

There's a lot to be grateful for folks! Just because Thanksgiving day is over doesn't mean the grateful hearts need to be. What are you grateful for today?!

and it really wouldn't be Thanksgiving without this classic Thanksgiving day craft! 

So let's give this blogging regularly thing a go again.

When living in a country that is not your own and speaking a language that is also not your own.. funny stories happen. After telling this story to several people already, I think it's worth documenting.. it's definitely one for the books. 

Generally I'm not the one that fills the car that I use with gas. The parents of the family that I live with take care of that. But yesterday on our way back from Gabi's piano lessons, I noticed that the car was on empty and knew it wouldn't last us for the rest of the day. So I thought, okay I'll just put 50 reais (currency here) in the car and later the parents can fill it up. I know how to do this because one time in the past, the mom left money and asked if I could fill the tank before taking the kids to school and told me that I just needed to tell them that I wanted 'gasolina completar'. I can do that easy enough.. and the last time it was no problem. And by now, I have the ability to communicate with people in Portuguese, if so if they don't understand one way I say something, I try and say it another way until they understand. So I wasn't worried about it. 

So this time I pulled in and told the guy that came to our car (here you stay in your car and they have people who pump your gas for you) that I only wanted to put in 50 reais worth of gas and that I wanted 'gasolina completar' because I thought this was the type of gas. He then looked at me very confused and repeated back to me, 'but only 50 reais?' And I said, 'yes only 50 and gasolina completar.' This went on for a few minutes of the back and forth and we finally ended with.. 'okay so 50 reais only.' And I just said, 'yes please.' 

I pay, leave, drop the kiddos off at school, and then go to school myself. Once I get to class, I immediately tell the story to my professor and ask him, 'what the heck?' (I was so confident in what I was saying, I was sure I hadn't made a mistake with my portuguese.) 
He started laughing and then proceeded to tell me that when saying 'gasolina completar' I was telling him to 'fill the tank'..............

So.. I had been telling this poor guy. "I only want to put 50 reais in, and fill the tank please." Which clearly do not line up. (*here to fill a tank it would be over 100 reais)
And then proceeded to say it over and over. Well.. I'll never make that mistake again. 

Lord help the foreigner and bless those who are patient enough to try and understand him.

It was friday and I got a message with this attachment. Honestly, this was the most special treat on a friday afternoon that I could have received. As I listened to this song about 3 times in a row, it just brought tears to my eyes. It really made me miss the people I shared those crazy college years with and the city where it all went down. What a beautiful community. What beautiful music we created and is still being created there. What great friends. Or as some would say #worldsgreatestfriends ;)

Thanks brothers for making me feel missed and loved from so far away. ​

Dear Alexi,
This post is inspired by you because of the ravishing snapchat I received declaring quite some time has passed since I last blogged. And she's right! So here I am.. because really, it's been too long. 
So lately here, things have been going pretty well. Since we last spoke, here's what has been happening here in Piracicaba..   

^^^ we had an incredible thunderstorm that honestly felt like a hurricane. which I'm sure a hurricane feels much stronger, but I honestly can't even imagine that. Here's one large tree near our house that was ripped up. I wish I could've snapped more pictures but I just didn't haha the storm ripped trees out of their roots all around town, shattered a local hotel's entire front entry window/wall, tore apart fences and wiped out electricity from our entire city for about 5 hours and a few other big, neighboring cities! But we're all safe and sound now, and the city workers began working right away the next morning to clean up the aftermath. But the storm brought a little serenity, because after the storm we didn't have electricity, so we ate dinner by candlelight and after I took one little tea light up to my room and it was kinda beautiful. 

I went down to the river one day during my break just to look at it, it really is beautiful and the water so high because of the storm and all the rain we have been getting. The river is a big part of the city's character I think. The road that parallels the river is called Rua do Porto and is a popular place for people to walk, grab some food or just enjoy the view, especially on the weekend. But come on, look at how beautiful! I said it before but I always seem to find a home where a river runs. 

On fridays, we visit campus! Me and my friend Netto go visit a few of our other friends on fridays, at least we have for the past two fridays. We usually spend the afternoon there while my kiddos are at school.. its always a good start to my weekend. Sometimes we give english classes to our friends and sometimes we just explore campus, meeting and talking to people along the way and always stopping to snap a few pics ;)

^^^ also can we just talk about this picture... literally still on the ground. jumping picture fail. 

also here's these... this is a road that I pass everyday that I go to class and it reminds me of my holland every darn time. the whole neighborhood has street names after countries.. it's pretty cool! Miss you lovely friend! Ohhh and on the way to school, sometimes we are all tuckered out and just wanna rest our eyes a bit before a big day of learning! 

That's all for now, but I'll write again soon. 
I hope :) 
Beijos!