We're leaving on a Night Bus.....

To go HERE...

Vida e boa. ;)

Have a fantastic weekend, everybody!

Ulien & Hastings Fun...

Here in Brazil, we've had plenty of opportunities to meet some really great people.

Meet Hayley and Nat Ulien:

This is Nat and Hayley at Shopping Don Pedro, the biggest mall in latin america (with suprisingly big prices too!).

They are a particularly awesome couple that moved here from BYU-Hawaii. He's from Haiti, she's from the San Diego and they are starting there adventures back in Haiti this week as they invest more of their time in their non-profit organization, The Ulien Academy. Their academy will be a great resource for the people of Haiti....a place where the people can grow, learn to provide for themselves and their families and ultimately pay their good fortune forward as the country is trying to piece itself back together. The Academy's theme follows the old saying, "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for life."

You can visit their site here and see all of the good things they are up to!

During our friends' stay in Brazil, we got to do a few super fun things with them...

My favorite was going to Festa de Junina!

We got to hear some great live music, eat lots of food from our pick of TONS of food booths, ride an awesome "how fast did they put this up?" ride, watch two thousand Brazillians pretend to be cowboys (probably from Porto Alegre...haha, Dad!) and even got to dance a little bit! Thank-you J, I know how you don't like that... ;)

Heck yeah! We went on that!!!

This boy loves his churrascaria!

Of course we had to visit our favorite park, Parque Portugal, while they were here...

What with their sweet Bellagio fountain set-up...
...coconut milk....
...& swan rides, what more could you ask for?!!


I tried to teach Hayley the fine art of maxin' and relaxin' in the swan......but she chose to take pictures instead...which she is really great at, by the way!We got to try some different Brazillian fare this time too... Ginormous Brazillian Hot Dogs.
Now, these put our little dodger dogs to shame...and sadly, I even think they've got a little something on J-Dawgs in Provo...although I'm sure some of you (Jordan & Nic) might beg to differ...


...I just think there's something fantastic about getting the hot dawg partially up your nose when you bite down...

Come on America, where were you on that detail?

I thought you would enjoy a picture of the capivaras

getting a little offended when I got a smidge too close...

By far, the fastest I've ever seen them move.

Don't you think they kind of look like cute little pig/dog/deer/rat animals?

I do.

So, what have you done with your friends lately? We miss you and want to do something fun with you very soon.... ;)

8 MONTHS!!!

Last Wednesday was our 8 Month Anniversary!

We are docking some serious marital time now...soon, I'm sure we'll know all there is to know about marital bliss...;)

Just kidding...we have SO much to learn, but are loving every step of our journey.

And remembering times like these, when I come home from work to this...

Jordan surprised me with my favorite things:

1. Creamy Peanut Butter...my favorite and a very very hard item to find south of the border. It was so special too because he thinks crunchy is better, but I know that creamy is the superior form of peanut buttery goodness...and he got the creamy kind anyways.
2. Flowers...I have loved having flowers here. Brazil has all kinds of gorgeous flowers blooming all the time. However, there is something special about having flowers in your room and by your door when you can't decorate otherwise. It was also perfect timing, because the next morning we woke up to find our other flowers raped by ants of unusual size and number. I will not surrender these beauties to those monsters this time!
3. Titanic. We've pretty much doubled our DVD collection while being here by purchasing two movies: Casablanca (can't believe I've waited this long to see that!) and Titanic. These are great for room dates and will be great additions to our tiny library of Pride and Prejudice, The Princess Bride, Robin Hood and Single's Second Ward. Haha....
4. Chocolate. Cookies and Cream.....enough said.
5. Candles. 8 is great candles, to say the least. Jordan mentioned that they were not only for the atmosphere, but acted as some sort of shrine for the peanut butter. :)

So we shared our plate of homemade chicken fetachini in style...in our room, away from our 7 roommates...with J's sweet surprise.

Thank-you, J.

You are the best!

Here's to many more months, years and eternities of happiness, learning and sweet surprises.

xoxo

Boys...

I came home from work the other night to find this little lovely by the door...

I didn't think much of it at first...

...maybe Jordan decided to take up whittling?...

...a lumpy bubble bath?....

When I asked J what it was, he said he couldn't find the laundry detergent...

...too funny NOT to share...

BUT, so grateful the hubster helps so much. Thanks J!

So, what are some of your fun domestic boy (or girl) stories?

Paulistano Weekend...

Jordan and I got to pretend we were Paulistanos for a quick weekend trip to Sao Paulo City, one of the largest cities in the world. We had a great time just soaking up the atmosphere, eating delicious food, visiting friends and of course, doing a little shopping!

While driving around, I found this sweet wall that I thought represented the inner city portions of Brasil. It can be sort of rough on the outside and in the streets, but when you look through its window, there´s a colorful culture and beautiful way of life waiting to be discovered.

But let's not get too deep here.... ;)

The morning we arrived, we went to a market that was in our friend, Flavio´s, old neighborhood.

Best little farmer´s market I´ve been to in my life!

We ate yummy pastels from this year´s top voted pastel stand. I thought it was funny that it was run by Asians. Dang they are good at almost everything they do!

Normally I wouldn´t note the ethnicities of people around me. But here, it´s a little different. For example, if you see another blondie you have to instantly assume that they are either Alemão (German) or don´t speak of lick of Portuguese and are just tourists...

BUT I have to admit that ever since we found out that we´re moving to China, we get all excited and can´t help but whisper "Asian!" to each other whenever we happen to see one. Rascists? Definately not. Excited? Heck yes!

Besides culturally diverse pastels, they had rows and rows of the most delicious fruit...

Bananas as far as the eye could see...

Papaya...




My personal Brazilian favorite, FRUTA DO CONDE!

Looks borderline monstrous on the outside, but once you get on the inside, it literally melts in your mouth like pure sugar....mmmmhmmmm...so good.



Carambola...which turned out to be the simpler answer to what I thought was a Brasilian friend´s hours of handywork cutting star shaped fruit for their salad.

And boy did I find out how good the fruit was there! I got free tastes and treats at all the stands where they were calling out "Loira, loira!"

Then, Jordan would come around and they would always stop giving samples.

Dang it. ;)

This guy was one of my favorites, as he wanted me to try the fruits we have in California and see if they were good there.

Does California have melancia? Yes.

Did I get a sample and is it wonderful in Brasil too? Yes and yes.

Aside from fruit, the market also had flowers, freshly caught fish and the occasional chicken feet bin like the one you see under the nice butcher man below.

Oh yes, and wee little piggie and cow feet too...

Now, I want to know if all of you Stouts raising pigs and cows out there are planning on using them that efficiently...

We also got to see the same group of velho men playing games on the little cement table on the street where we stayed. They were pretty dedicated, as I saw them playing there that morning, that afternoon and the next morning...

So, I decided to make friends.

But, I don´t think they were used to strange foreign girls playing...they kept laughing. I somehow think that that was related to me saying that I was an English teacher to the question that Jordan later informed me was "where are you from?" Oops.


The next day we went to Venti-sinco de Marco street, where we´ve heard rumors of shopping galore. I went fully expecting to spend all of the reals in my pocket, but ended up noticing that nearly everything was made in the country that we´re moving to in two months...so I only spent R$31 (the equivalent of about $16), as we figured we could wait and buy something that really represents where we've been living for the last 4 months. However, it wasn´t a total loss because I got to ride my first Brasilian subway (an experience in itself), see some beautiful scenery while on the ride and just enjoy being around a TON of awesome, cultural people and places....besides, I still can´t resist a good scarf and some cute hair doo-das reguardless of if I wanted them to be made in Brasil or not.

Because somebody else would be enjoying my camera now if I took it, this is the only pic of anything related to that shopping trip...

I´m naming it "Produzido na China."

The end.

So, I want to know... how was your weekend? Give me the details of your lives...we miss all of you so much!

Making Bread...

Jordan and I love bread...especially that of the homemade variety. We're pretty much carboholics. Unfortunately, when you move to a different country, almost everything you need for your cooking and baking needs is completely different...and I'm not just talking about google translating the ingredient list! The "farinha de trigo" (flour) is different, we don't have measuring cups or measuring utensils (you have to develop some serious skills at "eyeing" everything), the yeast is slimey, nobody can seem to explain the difference between baking powder and baking soda (which is slightly problamatic with some baking) and don't even get me started on the sugar. BUT, I hadn't made any good old fashioned bread since Jordan and I were dating...so, I gave it a shot last week and this is what I came out with... Aside from the different shape and taking over 4 1/2 hours to rise, it tasted pretty good! And Jordan approved...
(Please excuse the messy kitchen...I live with 5 boys)

So guess what I'm making again today?

Rice, beans and.....bread.

Maybe I'll get the hang of this international cooking thing after all!