definitely in brazil

Snow and ice decided to make its official debut in upstate NY on Thanksgiving day as you know well. But it was indeed the day I was to leave for Brazil. Our flight was delayed about 45 minutes out of rochester, and we made it to dulles with about 35 minutes to get on our connecting flight. We made it in plenty of time and then began the long plane ride to Rio de Janiero. We arrived here at about 9:30am local time and were picked up by our tour guide who we found out is our personal guide. When we go on the tours up to sugarloaf and corcovado where the statue of Christ is we will be the only two people in our group. It seriously couldn't be more ideal. I wanted to post a couple pics tonight quickly, but will have more nice ones later on as we haven't done any real sight-seeing just yet.

This was our first sighting of the statue of Jesus on the mountain.

This is a nice pic of the beach we drove past today... I especially liked the islands out in the water... I thought they were really pretty.

Another pic of the beach and those islands... maybe i should find out what they are called!
This is the view from our balcony at our suite.

what Thanksgiving means to me

I feel like i have totally skipped the excitement of Thanksgiving. So I am going to take some time to make a tribute to the feast we enjoy once a year that we affectionately refer to as Thanksgiving.



Reasons why I love Thanksgiving

> it marks the official beginning of the Christmas season
> we remember our heritage
> we give thanks to God for the freedom that we have
> turkey and mashed potatoes
> many days of leftovers
> time with family
> it's the day before black friday
> a break from school... and a little bit from life too :)
> turkey comas
> Macy's Thanksgiving day parade
> the house if filled with a cooking turkey smell when i wake up (i haven't graduated high
enough in life to have to get up early and cook the turkey, my mom still does that :)

In short, I really do love Thanksgiving. It is a wonderful time with family, and always makes me feel like the holidays have officially begun. The house starts to feel warmer especially when there is a fire in the fireplace... well duh, that would make sense. but i mean warmer in spirit as well. The holidays are a good time to remember the good times, and the reasons why we are alive... why we have our family and how much they mean to us. For me, the Thanksgiving, and the entire holiday season helps me to let go of the things i have been holding on to, look at everything around me and thank God for the life and family that he has given me.

Christmastime

When i was little i would get so excited about Christmas it wasn't even funny. now that i'm older, nothing has changed, but sometimes i feel like i have to force the excitement a little more that i did when i was young. as the years go by it seems like the days fly by so much faster and things that used to be so exciting lose a little lustre each year... but i refuse to let go of my childhood memories, and that is why i celebrate Christmas as long as possible. My mom used to make me wait until November 15th to start playing Christmas music or putting up decorations... but i'm a big kid now and i will play Christmas music as early as i want... this year I started November 1st... I have yet to get the decorations out, but that's happening this weekend :)

two in one day!

I didn't have a chance to put these up last night, but thanks to my pounding headache I was able to leave class early leaving me time to do the things i would rather be doing anyways... minus the pain

First we went to pittsford and fed the ducks on the canal

It was only slightly exciting


Then we went to Mendon ponds and walked the birdsong trail with black sunflower seeds to feed the chickadees.

A was the first to have a birdy land in his hand... and it totally freaked him out. Notice in the next few pictures that he is wearing gloves so that "that bird won't scratch me!"

S was the most stoic and quiet of them all... and it paid off quite a few times :)



C had a lot also!

I warned them that there was the possibility that we might not have any birds coming near us because of A's random and adorable outbursts, so the word for the day was "shhhh..." and if you look you can see that sound formed on C's lips :)

remember last week i said that I wanted to have a fall picnic? well i got it, and this was the picture to prove it!

all about the visa

It's as official as it's going to get until we actually board the plane. We're going to Brazil!!!

I can't even explain how excited I am about this. It's totally ridiculous how this has all worked out. The very best part of the story is the visa application part, so I am going to write about that. This morning, Deb called me and asked me when my passport was issued. I said that i thought it was june of this year but wasn't sure of the date... her tone sank as she continued to tell me that in order to apply for a Brazilian visa, your passport had to be at least 6 months old. But i wasn't sure about the dates, so I wanted to check before making any kind of decision.

I called up my mom and asked her to fish out my passport and check the date on it. She found it and read off the date to me... date of issue June 8, 2007... my heart totally sank to the bottom of my toes. She kept reading, "date of expiry December 7, 2007." that didn't make sense, because i knew that it didn't expire for 10 years... and then i realized that she had just read me the dates for my Indian visa... OH SNAP! So I told her where to look for the passport date and when she found it, she let the air go stale for a moment heightening the anticipation... then she read off "date of issue, May 11, 2007." Two days ago was 6 months... I couldn't even handle it. I started jumping up and down!

This is the statue of Jesus that is in Rio, I think that we are going on a tour to see it.

This is the pic that was on the main website for the hotel we're staying at

This is one of the pics on the website of the type of suite we will be staying in... apparently there weren't any rooms left, so we were forced to upgrade to a suite... bummer.

waiting

I am waiting in eager anticipation for the phone call that will tell me whether or not i am going to Brazil right after thanksgiving. that's right BRAZIL.

The other day my friend deb called me and asked me if i was free to go to on vaca with her to brazil. turns out she has a company vacation that she has to use by the end of the year and her husband can't go anymore because of work. although i was probably the last person on her list to call, i really don't care. This is pretty much the most amazing opportunity i have ever had in my life... and being able to just up and leave is what makes it all the more exciting.

so now we are waiting to see if the travel agent can get book the tickets without ridiculous surcharges for waiting so long... I WANT TO GO TO BRAZIL!!!

goodbye fall

Just three weeks ago, I had a pair of nail clippers (which I had stolen from my father) that had their very own spot, resting on top of my bookshelf next to my bed. A most convenient place indeed. Out of sight for the wiley ways of nail clipper thieves, and in reach of them whenever I needed them. However, they have been misplaced, stolen, or quite possibly called back to the mothership and disappeared into a black hole where all nail clippers eventually end up. Since that time, I have been unable to locate another pair. This has led to the literal onset of my nails just growing and growing... out of control. I hate it when my nails get long, but i won't bite them. So I have abstained from doing anything to them.

Yesterday though, I'd had it. Enough was enough, and they just had to be cut. So i eventually located a pair, and promptly cut my nails to a manageable length.

For as long as I can remember, I have been stealing nail clippers. I have always felt bad about it, because I know how mad it makes me to lose a pair of my own... but I have never been able to find a way around it. At one point, I literally had 4 pairs of nail clippers that i had put into a bag, that was inside a storage box which was kept in my closet. There was no way anyone would ever think to look there for them. I remember times, pulling that box out and my mom looking at all the clippers i had hoarded away in there in complete shock. I felt no remorse for my methods of obtaining them, and certainly had no intentions of giving them back.

Moving on from this useless talk of nail clippers. Monday and Tuesday, the kids had off from school. It was very nice, especially monday since it seems to me that it was the last officially nice day of fall. I really wanted to go to mendon ponds and have a fall picnic and maybe go on some of the trails, but the kids didn't see that as a fun idea. In retrospect, I have realized however that they don't usually like my ideas... but if i don't ask for their opinion, they often end up liking whatever i thought up for us to do. Which is what i should have done in this case... the ole don't give them a choice, just tell them what we're doing. it would have been fun. But we stayed home and went for a hike in the woods behind the house... where i found the skull and partial skeleton of a fox. it was sick, i was totally grossed out.

We had a really fun time on the swings though...

...and i had them help me find some colorful leaves for an art project.

There are so many pretty leaves on the ground, but it seems that little A has a knack for picking up only the leaves that are only partial leaves and are mostly black. But what do you say when a 3 year old holds it up to you beaming with pride that he is helping you with something and says, "here manna, this leaf pitty." You say, "THANK YOU!!! It's BEAUtiful!"

I just love it :)

fall appreciation

This weekend was the perfect fall weekend... I feel like we're about a month off schedule though as far as weather goes. Usually by my birthday weekend, the leaves are in FULL color and then are promptly dropped to the ground. But this year, they seem to have hung onto their trees for quite a while. And the colors aren't as spectacular as I have seen past years. In spite of all that, I have been feeling the need to do exciting fall activities like it's nobody's business. I don't know what it is, because most of the year, I say that I really don't like the fall, but when it's actually here, I really do enjoy it. Here are some pictures of my idea of fall appreciation.

I rolled down a hill in the leaves :)
alicia holding the sun (is that a light saber?)
me :)
a little boy i babysit for was fishing... he didn't catch anything
slides are amazing

but my lips hurt real bad

Yesterday I was sitting in my drawing class working on my color wheel. I love drawing class. It is relaxing and it is 3 hours long 2 days a week... it's almost like mandatory relaxation time. At any rate, most days I bring in my headphones and listen to my mp3 while i draw. I usually only have one ear bud in in the event that interesting conversation arises that is worth listening in on. When this happens, if i do not care to actually participate in the convo, i will just pull the ear bud slightly out of my ear so that i can hear everything being said, but still look like i'm listening to music... sneaky sneaky.

Back to yesterday. I forgot to bring my headphones to class so i got my entertainment from the two guys who sit behind me. Their back and forths are often hilarious and comment interjections are compulsory. i feel the need far too often to whip around and add my two cents. I was definitely trying to complete the task at hand, but when I heard this statement I could not help but join in. "my lips are so dry, i just quit chapstick cold turkey."

I am a chapstick addict. I'll admit it. So as something that I could relate to, I turned around and we began to talk about this horrible addiction that takes you by surprise so quickly and rarely will let go of you. I haven't been able to quit chapstick for at least 2 years. Somedays I can go without and feel completely fine, but that's usually during the summer. As the weather gets drier, so do my lips. As we continued on this topic, my lips began to feel dry. Very, very dry. I was resisting the urge to whip out my own personal chapstick that i had in my pocket and begin liberally applying it. It was almost more than i could take!

But here's a funny story about chapstick and the addiction that lies within. Two winters ago I would drive to MCC with my brother every mwf morning. to save on gas of course. We pulled out of the driveway and not a tenth of a mile away, i realized i had forgotten my chapstick. if we turned around we would be even later as we were already running a few minutes behind schedule. So i asked him if i could borrow his chapstick, because my lips hurt real bad. his response was negatory, as i had recently sabotaged one of his sticks. I think he had dared me to bite it or lick it or something, and calling his bluff, i did. Therefore, he was absolutely unwilling to allow me near his chapstick. In fact, he claimed that he had forgotten his as well. (but i knew he was lying) Well, when my classes were over THREE HOURS LATER i raced to the store and bought chapstick and smeared it all over my lips which i was sure were only minutes away from falling off my face. I returned to the school to pick Dan up, and sitting down in the car, pulls out his chapstick and starts applying! i freaked out on him of course. he seriously endangered the safety of my lips that day!

Anyways, I have no idea how to kick this habit, and i would like to find the group on facebook for chapstick addicts. i would join in a second.

where are you black sweatshirt?

I really really really miss my black sweatshirt.

It all started about two weeks ago. I found a great orange shirt on sale for $4 and snatched it up with little thought to what I would do with it. It was such a good deal the rest didn't really matter. I just had to get the shirt. Post purchase, I sat pondering (literally) how i would wear this new purchase... and it came to me... layers. and the outer layer would be a black sweatshirt. It just so happens that I had one in my closet, so the next morning, eager to put together my new outfit, i whipped it out and put it all together. Then i saw it... "it" wasn't just one thing. "It" was several things.

Before I continue here I would like to illustrate a fact of my life that I have learned to live with throughout the years. I have a very vivid imagination. I can create idealistic scenarios in my mind with so much detail and perfectness that often times when i attempt to recreate it in reality, I am disappointed. When i was very young (say about 2nd grade) I remember lying in bed one night imagining that I could draw a picture of a raccoon. I had it pictured in my mind and imagined my pencil perfectly forming the delicate lines that eventually made up a very realistic looking raccoon. I was beyond excited about bringing this to life and so the very next morning when I got to my classroom I busted out a piece of paper and a pencil and began to draw what I had completed in my mind the night before. However, all did not go as planned. My fingers would not obey what my mind thought up... and i ended up with a very, very unrealistic looking raccoon. In fact it probably didn't even resemble any kind of animal in the raccoon family, or any family... it was sad... I was sad.

After this experience I learned to leave many things to my imagination... but some things just have to be brought to life. And this particular outfit was one of them.

The "it" that i referred to adds up to a list of things so very wrong with my black sweatshirt. It had a couple, if not more, what looked like halfway bleached bleach stains. There were small tears from the last three years of constant wear. And to top it off, it had been washed and worn so many times it looked like i inherited it from a much larger someone than myself.

It just would not do.

But it had to suffice... for the time being. I decided right then that i needed to buy another black sweatshirt... and I would do it today. TODAY. So i went off to my very favorite clothing store, Old Navy to find one... there was an enormous sale going on, so as i was distracted from my main purpose, I still did not forget... and then, there it was. Sitting on a shelf, so lonely... and MARKED DOWN... to $7. It was a happy day...

This all brings me to today. my beloved black sweatshirt that helped me accomplish in reality what i had imagined is taking a vacation amongst alicia's clothing. I miss you dear sweatshirt, and i wish that you would come back to me. I think about you every day and when you come back, I promise to appreciate you for everything you are worth... just about $6.97.