Life in a Big City

São Paulo fun facts

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-02:00

Last Wednesday, it was São Paulo’s 458 anniversary.

I always knew I lived in a HUGE city and I also knew people that are outsiders always have a love and hate relationship with the city.

I read this article on Veja Magazine with fun facts about the city and I thought it would be fun to share with all of you.

The city has 1.523.278 square meters (16396427.931 square feet).

There are 570000 lamps around town.

The city farmers market has 12600 square meters (135625.271 square feet).

On this space, there are 11.2 million people, 2.5 million dogs, 562000 cats and more than 07 million cars.

More than a million pizzas are eaten per day in the city, which means 732 slices per minute.

São Paulo drinks 30 million cups of coffee per day.

In 2010, it was made 1604 kidney transplants and 598 liver transplants.

In 2010, there were 62989 weddings, 8904 divorces, 186.119 births and 77289 deaths.

I guess with all these numbers, I should change my blog name to Life in a HUGE city ; )

35 weeks

2012-01-26T20:57:00.002-02:00

Happy Birthday!!

2012-01-25T01:00:00.000-02:00

Last year, I wrote here it was the first timein 10 years we were spending your birthday apart.

And guess what?!?!? This is the second time in11 years. As you said, someone on the upper level really loves you, becausethis is the 2^nd year in a row you are skipping summer and enjoying afew months of really cold weather.

I guess we need to plan a trip to France forJanuary 2013, so we won’t be apart next year ; )

I really wish we could be together to celebrateyour birthday. But when you get home in a few weeks, we will celebrate properly.

You know you are my rock, my best friend, mysafe harbor and my soul mate.

Happy Birthday, my dear Husband!!! Heloisa and I love you and we miss you likecrazy!!!

34 weeks

2012-01-23T21:13:00.004-02:00

My 34 weeks post is a little late, but the Story Board was done on the exact day.

I had a really crazy weekend with Heloisa's baby shower, my parent's were here.... I am just tired.

I will be back with shower pics ; )

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T05:23:00.000-02:00

Heloisa's Baby Shower preparation

Miscellany Monday

2012-01-16T05:42:00.000-02:00

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Welcome to another edition of Miscellany Monday.

1. I am so happy I am getting myself organized enough to post two or three times a week.
2 I had a haircut on Saturday.
3. It feels so good.
4. I hope I can grow it out soon.
5. I'm getting a massage this evening.
6. I am feeling so tired on this 8th of my pregnancy.
7. I wish I could have stayed up to see the Golden Globes last night.
8. But with 6 hours time difference, no way I will be up that late.
9. Only 03 more weeks before maternity leave.

I hope you have a great week.

33 weeks

2012-01-15T21:40:00.002-02:00

Leftover food

2012-01-14T12:00:00.000-02:00

As you can see by these pictures, I don’t know how to cook small portions of things. Needless to say, I ended up with plenty of leftovers from our NYE dinner.

I open the fridge and I came up with a really simple recipe that tastes AMAZING!!!!

What you will need:

Leftover cooked rice – about 2 cups
Leftover cooked lentils – about 2 cups
Leftover ham or turkey or chicken
01 medium onion
½ cup of almonds

How to prepare:

Sautee the onions with some Extra virgin olive oil and salt (to taste). When the onions are fully cooked add the rice, lentils and ham. Just let heat it up.

In a separate pan, toast the almonds.

When all is heated and toasted, serve the mixture on a beautiful pan and cover with the almonds.

I have been doing this kind of “fast food” a lot around here. Even if I don’t have all the leftovers, I cook rice and the lentils and I add poached chicken breast ; )

Overwhelmed

2012-01-12T21:49:00.001-02:00

Ever since I got pregnant, I have an overwhelming feeling with me.

I cannot explain why. I just feel it.

I guess this major changing, that is coming on my way, is keeping me overwhelmed.

I was always a career person, I never thought of myself as a wife or a Mom for that matter. It took me some time to adjust to career person to career person/wife.

Even though I had my time as a SAHW when we lived overseas, I always had volunteer jobs to keep me close to the corporate world.

How someone prepare to add the biggest role to your life, when you cannot even picture how your life will be when the baby is born. The thought that keeps crossing my mind: How will I handle the kind of crazy life we have and have a baby? Will we (me) be able to do it?

We live in a city with the 6th worst traffic in the world, according to this research. It takes me at one hour to drive 10 miles. I work in a consulting company and if you are familiar with consulting companies, you know: projects are always crazy with even crazier due dates. And most of my company's clients are outside of São Paulo, which always involves traveling. Hubby works for an automaker, and his travel schedule is just plain crazy. Hence, he is in France for 06 months this year.

Will we be able to set a good example to Heloísa? Will we be able to raise her to respect and believe in God? What kind of changes in our lives we will need to do??? Will we be able to raise her to be polite and respect others? Will we be able to sleep train her and not be seduced by the comfort of rocking her? How I will handle Hubby's absence this year and the years to come? How we will teach her right from wrong???

I truly believe no one can answer those questions for me and those questions will only be answered after Heloisa is born.

AND it will take a lot of time for us to figure it out!!!

Don't get me wrong, I feel EXTREMELY blessed to be pregnant with Heloísa and the fact I am having an uneventful pregnancy. But I am still worried.

I guess, if I wasn’t worried, it wouldn’t be me ; )

Miscellany Monday

2012-01-09T06:00:00.001-02:00

Welcome to another edition of Miscellany Monday.

1. I started the New Year with a few resolutions that I need to share to keep the accountability.
2. One of them is to Blog more.
3. 2011 wasn't good year for my blog.
4. I didn't blog regularly. Needless to say, I can't recall all that happend this year.
5. My mind has been all over the place with things I need to get done, before Heloisa's arrival.
6. Today, I am doing a Baby course.
7. Let's see how that goes ; )
8. I am counting down two things.
9. How many days until my Maternity Leave: 26 days.
10. How many days until Hubby's come home from France: 34 days.
11. I found the Brazilian version of Etsy.
12. I am having a really fun time shopping things to Heloisa that are custom made.
13. I don't like having 12 things on this list. I feel better having 13 things, that is why I wrote the last Miscellany ; )

Happy Monday.

32 weeks

2012-01-08T21:46:00.000-02:00

Playing Catch-up - Pregnancy Posts

2012-01-02T08:35:00.000-02:00

Work was plain crazy during December, especially on the last 2 weeks of the month. So, I didn't have time to post my weekly updates, but I took the pictures. After all, soon, I won't be posting about the pregnancy anymore, and I will be posting about baby Heloisa ; )

Holiday Season Wrap-up

2012-01-01T19:27:00.005-02:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

This year, I did a really lousy job when it comes to document our Holiday Season. As I was going through the pictures, I notice I don’t have a single picture of our Christmas. Oh well, I can tell you next year I will have plenty, since it will be Heloisa’s 1^st Christmas.

But, at least I took a few pictures of the Christmas décor I did this year, as I wrote before, it was a really lean decoration ; )

As for NYE, we stayed home, just the two of us. We had an invitation to go to a party, but it was a wise decision to stay in, since it poured heavy rain all night long. And Paulo is going to Paris tomorrow evening.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Now, it is time to help Hubby to pack for his 40 days trip.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T18:00:00.001-02:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Luke 2:11 (New International Version)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T05:39:00.000-02:00

Maternity Photo Shoot

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000-02:00

Last Sunday, I did my Maternity Photo Shoot. Ever since, I found out I was pregnant, I just knew I HAD to do a photo shoot.

I have only two of my childhood friends who are from my hometown and live in São Paulo. One of them happens to be one amazing photographer.

When I told her I was pregnant, one of the first things she told me was: “When are we going to do your photo shoot?”

We had scheduled previously for January. After all I am only 28 weeks pregnant. But when all that “Paulo, you have to go to France in January” happened, we had to rearrange everything.

She closes her schedule on some weekends, so she can enjoy her family. And last Sunday was one these weekends. She was kind enough to open her schedule to do our photo shoot. We chose our own house, so it would look more natural and more like us. And to top it all, her husband made an amazing lunch for us back in their apartment. I guess that is one of the side benefits to be good friends with photographer.

Here is a sneak peek of the photo shoot.

Needless to say, we love it.

Thank you Karim for being such a good friend and an amazing photographer.

If you want to take a look at her work, go to her web site. It is written in Portuguese, but it is worth a look on her beautiful pictures.

29 weeks

2011-12-15T19:49:00.000-02:00

PS: Stop by tomorrow and I will share sneak peek of my Maternity Photo Shoot.

28 weeks

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000-02:00

A baby shower debate

2011-12-12T05:45:00.000-02:00

In Brazil, we don’t have the tradition to someone else host a baby shower or a bridal shower for someone. In some cases, the mom of the bride or the soon to be grandma will host it.

Since, I live far away from my family and I cannot travel to go and see them, I have to take the matter in my own hands.

On the other hand, there are two types of Baby Showers. You can do a traditional baby shower with a registry in one or more stores or you can do a Diaper Shower.

When you do a Diaper Shower, you only ask for diapers in different sizes and brands.

Most people choose a Diaper Shower, because baby items are EXTREMELY expensive down here and people don’t feel comfortable to ask for expensive items.

So, I am going with the flow and I am hosting my own Diaper Shower. I don’t have too many people to invite, since most of my friends live in my hometown or in Bahia.

I am still trying to figure out if I will host it in a tea room or if I will host it in my own house.

I have a really specific idea of what I want as a baby shower in my own house, but I don’t want to feel overwhelmed with all the party planning.

I will have to decide no later than next week, if I want to do at our house, because I will have a lot of things to plan. I already have a specific board on Pinterest with shower ideas and I can assure you it will be all Pink and Brown ; )

What are your thoughts???

Show us your life - Holiday Recipes

2011-12-09T11:00:00.001-02:00

Today, I am participating on the Show us your life - Holiday Recipes.

Kelly from Kelly's Korner hosts some different topic every Friday and today the chosen topic is Holiday Recipes.

I alread publish those three recipes before. So if you want to see the pictures of the final products, go to the orignal post or if you only want to see the recipe.... here they are:

Mousse au Chocolate

200grs of semi-sweet chocolate (good quality)

4 yolks

4 whites

6 tablespoons of sugar

300 ml of Heavy Cream or 1 can of Crème de Leite

Melt the chocolate in water bath or in the microwave

Wisk the yolks with 4 tablespoons of sugar until you get a light yellow cream

When the chocolate is already melted, put the heavy cream and fold it together

Fold the yolk and chocolate mixture together

Beat the whites with the last 2 tablespoons of sugar into snow picks.

Fold the whites with the chocolate mixture together.

Wrap in plastic film and put in the fridge for at least 12 hours. If you want to fancy it up, you could chill them in tall wine glasses and cover with some strawberry to show off.

Olives Pate

1 cup of Green Olives – pitted (The original recipe call for Black Olive, but I don’t like it)

1/2 can of Crème de Leite (Heavy Cream can be used as a substitute)

200gr of Ricotta Cheese

Salt

Black Pepper

Chopp the olives in small bites (real small), mix with ricotta and Crème de Leite.

Seasoning as you like it (salt, pepper, a little of Fondor). You can put all the ingredients in the blender. But I like the taste of the small olive bites on my crackers. Wrap in a plastic and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours or preferably over night. Serve with Crackers and Appetizers Size Toasts.

This recipe feeds a crowd.

Gorgonzola Pate or Blue Cheese Pate

Ingredients:

250 gr of Blue Cheese (Gorgonzola)

1 can of Crème de Leite (Heavy Cream can be used as a substitute)

1 can of Requeijão (it is kind of a softer and saltier cream cheese)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cloves of garlic

Black Pepper

Mash the Gorgonzola Cheese with a fork until you get really small bites. Put the Crème de Leite, the Requeijão and black pepper. Mix all together and put the Olive Oil until you get a Pate consistency. Wrap in a plastic and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours or preferably over night. Serve with Crackers and Appetizers Size Toasts.

PS: I am not posting the pictures again, because I couldn't find them ; )

Mid-week random’s

2011-12-07T05:45:00.000-02:00

I am having another crazy week at work.

I had a three hours conference call yesterday. And it was completely useless for my part of the job on the project.

After I reached viability week, I am finally sleeping through the night.

Hubby and I are counting down the days for his trip.

We need to get everything done for Heloisa’s arrival before he leaves on the first week of January.

I still haven’t decorated my house for Christmas.

II took a hard decision. I won’t assembly my tree this year.

My belly will be too big in January by the time to put it down.

Hubby was really sad, but I need to be practical.

We could get a sweet picture of Heloisa in 3D.

I bought Heloisa her first pair of shoes.

My co-worker is doing some towels for Heloisa with her name in cross stiches.

I guess that is it. I will really need to survive until the end of this work week.

27 weeks

2011-12-05T21:38:00.001-02:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T05:43:00.000-02:00

Much Better

26 weeks

2011-11-28T21:48:00.001-02:00

Chicken Soup

2011-11-25T18:45:00.000-02:00

When I was growing up, chicken soup was always food for the sick ones.

As I grew older, I started to appreciate a good homemade Chicken Soup.

Even tough, we are already having summer weather half of the time, the other half we are having fall weather.

Last week, we had a really rainy day, so I decided to do some Chicken Soup.

It is a simple, easy and DELICIOUS recipe.

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup of carrots (chopped really small)
1 cup of potatoes (chopped really small)
1 cup of green beans (chopped really small)
1 cup of uncooked rice

Put the chicken in a large pot, cover with water, season with salt, pepper and a bay leave.
Cook it until it is ready.
Take the chicken out, let it cool and shred it.
Pass the broth through a strainer, so you will have a clear broth.
Put all the veggies and rice, bring it up to a boil and let it cook for 20 to 30 minutes. When it is all cooked, put the chicken back and heat it until all the flavors are combined.

Serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy as much as we do!!

Happy ThanksGiving

2011-11-24T05:59:00.000-02:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Friends!

I wish y’all a day full of blessings with your family.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-02:00

House renovation! SIGH!!!

Random Monday

2011-11-21T08:44:00.000-02:00

The painters started last Thursday and of course the house is a mess. I feel I have dust on me all the time.

They are doing a great job.

My dishwasher is finally installed.

I shouldn’t be so excited about it, but I am.

Hubby is back at work this week, and he will be gone three days.

Well, he won’t be coming home for three days.

They have some training at a fancy hotel in town.

I’m so excited I am getting organized enough to blog again.

I will have a crazy time at work until the 1^st week in January.

I won’t take any time off during the Holiday season.

I need to save all the vacation days I can, so when Heloisa is born I can be with her for almost 06 months.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

25 weeks and 03 days

2011-11-20T19:33:00.004-02:00

Today I am 25 Weeks and 03 days pregnant! Heloisa is getting really active, especially when I am resting and relaxing. During the day, I only feel her if I am a little stressed out (Sorry, baby).

Everything seems to be going by quickly and I feel I am running out of time.

Heloisa measures about 13 1/2 inches, her weight is a pound and a half. She is about the size of an eggplant.

PS1: I decided to do story boards from my pregnancy, so it will be easier to print when I do my photo book.

PS2: I will write a post about Brazilian Baby Shower tradition soon.

PS3: Just click on the image to enlarge it.

PS4: Thanks Melissa from Stafford Stories for the storyboard idea.

White walls

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-02:00

Ever since we moved to this house, we are not happy with the paint the company, which built it, did.

As always, Hubby and I let work took over our lives and we never really paid attention to this. It was like we've been wearing blinds.

Now that Heloisa's arrival is just around the corner, we decide to hire professional painters to do the job for us.

When it was time to choose the colors, we hit a wall. Even though I love colorful walls at other people's house; I can make up my mind about colors to our home.

Hubby is all about one color. He wanted something like beige and I wanted all white.

After a lot of debates, we ended up with white walls all over the house but two. We will have a rich brown color on the stairs wall and the same color for our powder room!
They promised to get the job done in two weeks. Let's pray they keep their promisse. : - S

When life gives you lemons....‏

2011-11-15T21:20:00.004-02:00

... You should make lemonade, right?

I'm not there yet, but I hope I will be soon.

Let me explain what is going on.
Two weeks ago, we (Hubby) were caught by surprise with the news he must to Paris for work for SIX MONTHS. And his assignment will start in January/2012.
Yes you read it write! He will be gone for the 1st semester of 2012.
Hubby's boss wants me to go to Paris and have Heloisa there. This was never option, due to my high risk status.
He can come twice during this time or Heloisa and I can go visit him as well. He will be home for Heloisa's birth, assuming she will be born after Feb 20th. And he will probably come home, begin May. I will have my parents here and I'll probably be going to my parents' house for some time.
We are taking a big chance here, but there is nothing else we can do.
The opportunity is just amazing, but the timing is really bad.

I'm really trying to make peace with this idea, but it still is hard on me.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

2011-11-13T09:05:00.000-02:00

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Today I reach the 3.7 mark. When I say I am close to my 40s than to my 30s, people look at me with a puzzled face. I always answer: "God skin care and great genes are doing the trick." ; )

Paulo and I will go out for lunch on a great Italian restaurant and have a great day together.

Since my birthday is in the middle of a 04 day weekend, I will enjoy my last birthday with Paulo, just the two of us. Since, we will have big changes in our lives when Heloisa arrives, but there is one more HUGE change before her arrival, that will make a lot of jaws to drop. (More on that later).

As for now, I will enjoy my day.

Pregnancy Story Board so far

2011-11-12T16:03:00.007-02:00

I thought it would be fun to make a Pregnancy Story Board for the future. I hope you like it.

PS: Click on the picture to enlarge it.

24 weeks

2011-11-12T08:58:00.004-02:00

I cannot believe I’m already 24 weeks pregnant. I am almost reaching viability week. I feel really blessed this time around.

Look at that belly!

We hired a Rental Husband

2011-11-08T16:07:00.002-02:00

No, this is not what you are thinking.

Rental Husband is the literal translation from Portuguese and it means Handy Man.

There are a few companies, named Rental Husband, which we can hire to do those minor jobs at home, when you have no time available and /or no skills to do it. Paulo has no time and I have no skills. As I always say, I am a righty but I have two left hands when it comes to crafts and little fixes ; )

Since we have a few things to get done before Heloisa arrival in early March, we just hired them.

On Thursday, Nov 17^th, the company will send a plumber (the service we hired) to do minor jobs like fix faucets, install a new faucet, fix some minor clogging and most important he will install my new dish washer. I am so looking forward to it, because I am tired to do dishes : - S

23 weeks

2011-11-06T19:32:00.005-02:00

I am late again with my weekly post, but I've been feeling so tired when I get home and Paulo gets home usually really late on Thursdays, that I might change my weekly post to the weekend.

Today I am 23 Weeks and 3 days. Heloisa body length is between 7.5-8.0 inches and weighs between 1-1.25 pounds. Baby Heloisa is the size of a loaf of bread.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 23 weeks and 3 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 5 pounds – My doctor was so thrilled last week (sarcasm), with all the weight gain in one month, but there is nothing I can do, except write down what I eat.

Maternity Clothes: It still is a mix and match of maternity and non-maternity clothes.

Best Moment this week: We chose Heloisa’s furniture, we chose the color scheme for her nursery and we chose her bedding.

Gender: It's A Girl - Heloisa

Movement: I am starting to feel her more and more. Paulo has yet to feel her.

Food Craving: I am having some emotional eating these past few days. There are a few things going on, that I cannot share yet. It is a good thing, but the timing couldn’t be worse.

What I miss: Running and coffee.

Sleep: I have good days and bad days, but I slept way better on these past 10 days than the weeks before.

What I am looking forward to: Make the final decision on her stroller. .

Symptoms: I’m getting tired easily.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-02:00

When I was a child, we didn't have any idea what Halloween was all about. It wasn't part of our culture.

Nowadays, things are getting different.

On Saturday, we had Trick or Treat at our subdivision. We had about 30 trick or treaters and they were all in cute costumes. I even put my Halloween decoration out. It was fun and we ended up with plenty of left over candy (not good).

Anyways, I hope you are all having a great Halloween.

Pasta and ragu sauce

2011-10-30T14:43:00.003-02:00

Today, I wanted to eat some confort food, because the skies are gray and we have a crispy air. ( Which is great news after the canicule yesterday).

I was browsing my freezer and I found some Tuscan Sausage and I remembered I saw this crock pot recipe a few days ago.

Since, I don't have a crock pot, simply because, we don't have them in Brazil. I decided to come up with my version of this delicious sauce.

Ingredients:

6 Tuscan Sausage links (out of their cases)

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 jar of good quality tomato sauce

1/2 cup of heavy cream

Extra virgen Olive Oil

1/4 cup of Port Wine

Pasta, enough for 04 people and freshly greated parmesan chesse.

Heat an iron pan with just a splash of EVOO, brown the sausage. When it is done, take it out and reserve.

Add the wine to deglase the pan.

Add another table spoon of EVOO, add the onion and garlic. When onion is translucent, add the sausage and the tomato sauce.

Bring it up to a boil, turn the heat low and simmer for 25 minutes.

When the sauce is done, cook your pasta according with the package directions.

Add the cream to the sauce and heat it up again.

When pasta is cooked, mix the pasta and the sauce. Add some freshly greated parmesan chesse and you have a great lunch / dinner in your hands.

I served a green salad as well.

The good part, I have enough left over to take to lunch tomorrow and the bad part after a great lunch, you still have to clean your kitchen : )

I hope y'all are having a great weekend.

PS.: Canicule is the french term used to describe a really hot period of time

2011-10-29T16:33:00.004-02:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 22 weeks and 02 days
Size of baby: 10.9 inches long and around 1lb 1 ounce
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have lost 7 punds in the first thrimester and I have gained 2 pounds back until my last doctor appointment. I will know for sure next week.

Maternity Clothes: I am wearing a mixture of normal clothes and maternity clothes. The dress, on this picture, is a maternity dress and I look REALLY pregnant on it.

Gender: A GIRL!!! Heloisa

Movement: I feel her, when I am wide awake in the middle of the nitght. But I'm starting to feel it more.

Sleep: Poor. That is all I'm saying

Symptoms: Despite the growin belly, nothing else ; )

Cravings: I am starting to feel a little hungrier, but it has been so hot that icy things are my favorites.

Best Moment this week: Seeing her last Tuesday on my appointment wtih the Neonatologist. He said he would call my OB and he will take me out of the High Risk List. He also said, the OB won't take me out of the list, but on his side of the pond, all looks good. It was great news.

What I am looking forward to: One week at a time and see all the improvements we are doing on cleaning up Heloisa's future nursery ; )

A day in the life

2011-10-24T10:50:00.001-02:00

Last Friday, it took me 90 minutes to drive 10 miles, from work to home during the rush hour at 6pm.

I, then, decided I would write a post to record how our schedule goes these days.

One day, down the road, I will look back and I will miss it or I will think “What were we thinking?”.

So, this is how it goes:

5:15 am => the alarm clock goes off

5:20 am=> Hubby gets up and start coffee, while I stay behind and make our bed.

5:30 am (given or taken) => I go down stairs and get breakfast ready, while Hubby gets ready.

6:00 am (given or taken) => we have breakfast together and we spend some (little) quality time together.

6:30 am => Hubby finish getting ready and go to work. I stay behind, clean up the kitchen, and start some laundry and / or some dinner.

7:00 am=> I go upstairs to get ready.

7:30 am => I drive to work.

8:30 am ((given or taken) => I get to the office.

8:30 am to 11:50 am => I work (work per say, attend meetings and conference calls).

11:50 am to 12:50 pm => One hour (mandatory break by law) for lunch.

12:50 pm to 6:00 pm => I work (work per say, attend meetings and conference calls).

6:00 pm => I leave the office and I will get home, anywhere between 7:00 to 8:00 pm. I will depend how bad traffic is.

After I get home, it is dinner time, maybe some blogging, maybe some TV. But lately, I’m trying to focus on my HUGE to do list before Heloisa’s arrival. I usually go to bed between 10 and 11 pm.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

21 weeks

2011-10-20T21:08:00.004-02:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Baby Weighs: 13 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have lost 7 punds in the first thrimester and I have gained 2 pounds back.

Maternity Clothes: Only maternity jeans

Sleep: Sleeping is going okay. It could go better, but I will take what it is necessary.

Best Moment this week: Starting the cleaning process of Heloisa's soon to be nursery

Gender: It's A Girl! Heloisa

Movement: Yes I have experienced the first movement. It was amazing and I love the feeling.

Food Craving: Nothing especial. But I feel I am getting a little hungrier than before.

What I miss: Running, coffee and diet coke.

What I am looking forward to: Planning and Preparing the Nursery and Shopping!

Symptoms: None

Heloisa's first gift

2011-10-18T19:42:00.004-02:00

Heloisa got her first gift when we went to Buenos Aires, back in May.

Of course, I wasn't pregnant yet, but.... this is what happened.

As we strolled around Galerias Pacifico, on our last day there, I saw this beautiful ornament in one of the stores.

It had two angels looking over a baby. As I saw that, I just had this impulse to buy it.

But, I was so afraid to buy it and "what if I would never used?!?!?".

So, I made a bargain with God.... I told him, if I see 05 babies before we leave the mall, I will go back and buy it.

I walked less than 100 meters and I saw no less than 07 baby girls.

I told Paulo about my bargain and we went back to the store to buy it.

If..... I had followed my intuition, I would have bought it pink, but I was a little skeptical and I bought it blue.

Anyway, it is really pretty and I will cherish it forever as a sign that God really does answer our prayers.

20 weeks and three days!!

2011-10-16T19:31:00.005-02:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 weeks and three days - A little over HALF WAY!!

Size of baby: 10 inches long and 10.6 ounces

Weight gain: 3/4 of a pound

Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and that is all for now!

Gender: A GIRL!!! Heloisa

Movement: I am pretty sure I felt her move last night.

Sleep: I sleep well from 10 pm to 2:30 am. After that, I wake up EVERY HOUR until the alarm goes off : (

Symptoms: Nothing at ALL!

What I miss: Running, coffee and diet coke. But.... if it is for Heloisa's sake, I will take it ; )

Cravings: Nothing at all

Best Moment this week: Seeing Heloisa last Tuesday!

What I am looking forward to: Getting rid of all the junk in her future nursery ; )

PS1: I didn't post on Thursday, only because I was way too tired after I got home.

PS2: Carissa, I have short hair now, even tough I am having a hair cut every three weeks, because it grows way too fast.

19 Weeks

2011-10-06T21:38:00.003-03:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 weeks
Size of baby: 6 inches long and 8.5 ounces
Weight gain: 3/4 of a pound

Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and the rest are my normal clothes!

Gender: A GIRL!!! Heloisa

Movement: Not yet : (

Sleep: I've been waking up every hour due to the major flu I caught.

Symptoms: I've been feeling pretty good!

What I miss: Coffee and running

Cravings: None!

Best Moment this week: Making a plan to get everything done before Heloisa arrives!

What I am looking forward to: Seeing our girl at our 20 week ultrasound next week!!

Sunday Randoms

2011-10-02T10:48:00.003-03:00

This post has a list of bullet point of what is on my mind and what I did during this weekend.

1. I got a massage and a mani/pedi yesterday.
2. Paulo travelled to see his kids.
3. I had a good weekend so far.
4. I am tackling a lot of small projetcts around the house that don't involve weight lifting, since I am completly forbidden to lift anything over 5lbs.
5. I am cooking so pork roast based on Jennas's mom recipe.
6. I did some dessert in a jello mold.
7. I never know how it will turn out, because....
8. When I turn a jello mold over, some time is fine and some times is a Capital D, Disaster.
9. I have a question for the other mom's out there: why it is taking so long for me to feel Heloisa move?
10. Paulo says she will be ready when she is ready and I shouldn't bother her ; )
11. As soon as I finish this post, I will tackled my linnen closet and I will get rid of a lot of old linnens.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

18 weeks

2011-09-29T19:16:00.001-03:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: 5.6 inches long and 6.7 ounces

Weight lost: 7 pounds

Maternity Clothes: I bought my first pair of maternity jeans last weekend with two different tops to help stretch my wardrobe.

Gender: A GIRL!!! Heloisa

Movement: Not yet! I am ready to feel her. It will give me peace of mind.

Sleep: Sleep is ok! I wake up a few times at night, but I can go back to sleep.

Symptoms: Fatigue, fatigue, fatigue (Is it going away any time soon?)

What I miss: My energy, coffee and running (The doctor cut exercise out of my life, until the baby is born).

Cravings: Nothing especial

Best Moment this week: Choose her name!!!

What I am looking forward to: Starting to feel Heloisa move.

Choosing Heloisa’s Name

2011-09-27T06:00:00.001-03:00

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I had this feeling the baby would be a girl.

Paulo told me and I quote: “Don’t get your hopes up, it might be a boy. “

I would always answer: “I won’t be disappointed either, but I just feel it is a girl. “

So, little by little, I started to convince him it was a girl. It was a process.

When I went to get my 1^st trimester Morphologic Ultrasound, Paulo went with me. The only question he made to the doctor: Will we be able to see if it is a boy or a girl?

During this ultrasound, the doctor told us, it was 70% chance it was a girl, but we would be sure only on the following ultrasound.

For me, it was a done deal, my feeling was right and we were having a girl.

We’ve been talking names since begin of July. We had a boy’s name pretty much chose from the start. But for girls, we weren’t convinced yet.

So, we came up with a 05 names list and we would make some numerology study to be sure we would pick the perfect name. We had three conditions:

It must be a name that sounds good;
It must a name which was easy to give a nick name; and
It wasn’t supposed to be a common name.

Our final list was:

Heloisa – it was always my favorite name;
Samantha
Georgia
Raissa
Victoria

Heloisa sounds good with our last name,

It can easily become Helo as a nickname (Everyone is already addressing her as Helo, instead of Heloisa). It might sound weird in English, but it sounds really nice in Portuguese and in French.

It is not a common name.

So, her name wasn’t hard to choose. But the nursery will be a whole new chapter. I never thought Paulo would become so opinionate about the nursery décor LOL.

I hope you are having a wonderful week.

17 weeks

2011-09-22T08:47:00.002-03:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Size of baby: 5 inches long and 5 ounces

Maternity Clothes: Not yet!!

Gender: A GIRL!!! Her name will be Heloisa.

Movement: Not yet!

Sleep: I am sleeping better and the crazy dreams are gone!!!

Symptoms: I’m having a little lower belly pressure since Sunday. I went to an unexpected baby appointment yesterday. All is well, but with my past, all attention is necessary!

What I miss: My energy!

Cravings: Nothing specific.

Best Moment this week: Finding out about our sweet girl!! We are so attached to her already!

What I am looking forward to: Starting to feel Heloisa move! I just know it will give me piece of mind.

Sorry, but I don’t have pictures this week. My home computer died. We already ordered one, but it will arrive only next week. So, I am using my work computer to post.

It is a......

2011-09-19T14:18:00.001-03:00

baby girl!!!!

More details to follow ; )

16 weeks

2011-09-15T05:35:00.001-03:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along - 16 weeks

Size of baby: 4.5 inches long and about 3.5 ounces

Weight lost: 7 pounds

Maternity Clothes: I am wearing most of my normal clothes

Gender: Not sure yet!!!

Movement: Not yet!

Sleep: I am still really tired and I fall asleep pretty easily, but after 2 am, I wake up lots of time

Symptoms: Nothing but fatigue!!!

What I miss: Diet Coke and lots of coffee ; )

Cravings: Nothing especial

Best Moment this week: I reached the 16 weeks mark with no problems.

What I am looking forward to: My ultrasound on September 19^th to confirm if we are having a boy or a girl ;

PS: I HATE this sideways pics and let me tell you Paulo is not the most patient photographer in the world ; )

The journey

2011-09-12T00:00:00.000-03:00

As you all know, our journey to become parents hasn’t been easy. I always got pregnant easily, but I never could carry the pregnancy full term.

When I went back to my doctor in February, he told me due to a birth defect and the scars that I have after my 1^st miscarriage, it would be really difficult to get pregnant naturally. He said we should try for four months naturally and if nothing happened, we should start talking about IVF.

Truth to be told, I just erased the IVF talk from my mind, because IVF was NEVER an option for me. I always thought if it would happen it would be naturally.

Fast forward 4 months, I went back to my doctor on June 2^nd and he pushed the IVF conversation again. I told him, I really need to talk more to my husband because I wasn’t comfortable with the idea.

Paulo and I have been discussing the adoption / IVF combo for some time by then. And neither of us was comfortable with any of the ideas.

By that time, Paulo put the decision on my hands: if I wanted to pursue IVF, we would do it. But if I decided to back out, he would support me. He said my part on the IVF journey is quiet easy and it would be your body that will go to “war”. War was the word he used.

After lots of prayers, tears and talks, I decided we should take a trip to Italy next March. We started to plan and check plane tickets prices…… Needless to say, I got pregnant that month.

I am still walking in egg shells and I am afraid of the 16 weeks mark that will arrive next week. But last Sunday, I took a leap of faith and I bought a few items for the baby. I trusted what the doctor said and I chose little clothes gender relates (as in pink or blue).

On September 19^th, I will have my next ultrasound and we will be sure if we are having a boy or a girl.

I put a pol to see what are your bets??? Boy or Girl?

I cannot thank you enough for all the support during this messy journey!!!

9/11

2011-09-11T10:16:00.000-03:00

Ten years ago, I was a naïve newlywed Brazilian girl, living in Dearborn MI.

As I watched the Today Show, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer broke the news about the 1st tower being hit.

I sat on the couch, with my eyes glued on the TV and I was trying to make sense of what was happening. We were just there on our honeymoon. We were on top of WTC a few months before, a place where you could feel all that energy, people from all over the world, visiting and working.It was like a Babel Tower.

A few minutes later the towers crashed, family and friends started to call and emailed me, to check if everything was well with us. Of course, we were miles and miles from the attacks, but still, lots of people were concerned.

Paulo got home around noon, after Ford shut down all their buildings in Dearborn.

Late that afternoon, we went for a drive, the streets were empty and it felt like we were cruising around a ghost town.

If you know anything about Dearborn, you also know, that besides being Ford Headquarters, Dearborn has the biggest Ar*b-American colony in US (or at least it was 10 years ago).

It was a tough place to be. The days and weeks after the attacks, we saw a new society been born, dreams were destroyed. People whispered in public, like they were all scared of their own shadows.

Even though I am not an American, the memories are still fresh on my mind and it will certainly be something I will never forget.

There is a new little someone to love!

2011-09-03T16:50:00.000-03:00

Announcement generated with Smilebox

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

2011-08-24T20:52:00.000-03:00

When I first started to read this book, it took me a while to get into the book.

As I read through the pages, I found myself enjoying the way Jonathan Franzen describes his characters and the scenes intriguing and very attractive.

It talks about integrity, what people would do for money and for a cause they actually believe.

It is the kind of book that stays with you.

Did any of you read it?

Miscellany Monday

2011-08-22T06:23:00.001-03:00

Welcome to another edition of Miscellany Monday!
1. I REALLY need to go back to blogging.
2. I feel like I am missing big chunks of my life because I not writing it down.
3. It looks like we will have a few more days of cold weather (aka mid-40s til mid-50s).
4. Hubby's Godfather passed away last Saturday.
5. He had been battling Parkinson and Cancer for the past two years.
6. He always called me "Menina", it is little girl in Portuguese.
7. Sometimes I wonder if he ever knew my name.
8. Hubby was the son he never had.
9. He had only two daughters.
10. My comute to work is killing all my free time.
11. It is taking about 1 hour to get to work and
12. 90 minutes to come back home.
13. I don't like the change Zynga did on Frontierville.
14. I will probably quit playing like I did with FarmVille.
15. It gets old.

Well, let's see if I can be a more consistent blogger this week.

Miscellany Monday

2011-08-01T06:00:00.000-03:00

Welcome to another edition of Miscellany Monday!

1. Can you believe it is August 1st already?
2. As a friend of mine would say, after July, when we blink it is Christmas time again.
3. She is right.
4. Since it is a new month, I am trying hard to come back to the blog world.
5. 2011 has been the year that I blogged less, since I started back in 2005.
6. Marylin, you are amazing.
7. You've been living in your new city for less than a month, and you are already having dinner parties at your house.
8. I've been living in this house for 4 years and I don't know the face of my next door neighbor.
9. We have a wedding next Saturday.
10. As I had a dress to be especially tailored for me.
11. The dress is really nice, but it doesn't feel like a dress for a wedding.
12. So, I will wear a burgundy dress that I bought two years ago, and I wore it only once.

I hope you have a wonderful week. I know, my week will be crazy busy at work.

Creamy Baked Polenta

2011-07-29T06:00:00.000-03:00

Last Saturday was a gloomy and cold day. It was so nice to be at home, and relax. But as a matter of following our budget, I cooked us some lunch.
There is one thing that reminded me home and it always makes me smile. It is Polenta. My Mom makes the BEST polenta, but her recipe involves a big (and heavy) iron pan and at least one hour of steering.
I like to cook, but I like to do more simple things. So, when I found Chef Kathleen's recipe, I was in heaven. I served with some (ground) meat sauce and freshly grated Parmesan. It was perfect.

Creamy Baked Polenta
Recipe from: Chef Kathleen Daeleman.

1 quart water
1 tsp. coarse grained salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup coarse ground polenta
1 TB butter

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Pour the water into a 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Add salt, pepper and polenta;
stir. Add the butter.
Place dish on center oven rack and bake uncovered for 40 to 50 minutes,
stirring after 20 or 25 minutes.

Polenta is done when almost all the liquid has been absorbed. Taste it. It it's cream and delicious, it's done. If it's granular and unpleasant, let it cook a little longer.

Makes: 4 to 6 servings.

And the left overs were eaten with some Butirro (fresh provolone cheese).

The Help

2011-07-27T05:52:00.001-03:00

As I said before, even tough I've been working like a crazy person, I've been reading a lot.
I guess it is time for me to start to do some book review, before I start to forget all about the books.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This book really got my attention when I learn it was about the maids that have worked during the 60s in Southern US. I am not American and I am not familiar with Junior League or Sweet Tea. But I, too, come from a country where slavery were really strong until late 1800.
It was interesting to see how the maids were treated by the white ladies, how they received hand me downs and they were (most of the time) looking good with their employers clothes. But they refuse to wear the pieces with monograms.
The characters and their stories were perfect and It was a good way to understand the race relations in the 60s, in US.
On the other hand, I lived 4,5 years in Bahia, where the Brazilian Slavery was born. I can tell you through out the book, I could name the characters with real people names, that I met while I was living there. Sad, but true.

It was a great book.

Did you read this book? If you read it, what did you think?

I hope you are having a great week, the weekend is only three days away ; )

Miscellany Monday

2011-07-25T06:00:00.000-03:00

Welcome to another edition of Miscellany Monday. I am slowly trying to come back to the blog land.

1. We had a pretty quiet weekend.
2. Work has been really taking a toll on Paulo's energy and in myself.
3. Why we have such crazy jobs?
4. I cooked a lot this weekend.
5. And I baked too.
6. I had a lot of tests and blood work done these past few weeks.
7. I'm reading Cutting for Stones.
8. It has been more difficult to read than I thought.
9. It has too much back ground.
10. Does any of you read it?

I hope you have a great week.

Randoms!!!

2011-07-17T17:48:00.005-03:00

My Dear Blog Friends,

It has been a while..... But life has been hectic and I do feel I have nothing really exciting to write.
1. We had a fun birthday party a few weeks ago. It was nice to see old friends.
2. We have a wedding in August and I finally decided on my dress.
3. This dress is my inspiration.

4. My life has been something like this: wake up, breakfast, gym, get ready for work, traffic, work, work, work, work, traffic, dinner and bed.
5. Brazil is playing Latin American Cup Semi Final and of course the game is YUCK!!!
6. My nephew is about to be born any day now. He will be called Bernardo.
7. I joined Pinterest and Google +.
8. Pinterest is nice and addicting.
9. Google + is only for (nerds) co-workers who love Android and Java.
10. The weather is crazy down here.
11. We had about a month of upper 40s temperatures and this past week the temperatures were about mid-80's.
12. I've been cooking a lot on weekends and getting ready for the week.
13. I even started to do some menu planning.
14. And I've been reading a lot!! I hope I can do some book review this week.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Commenting Challenge

2011-07-04T15:19:00.001-03:00

Last year, Jenna from Jenna’s Journey promoted the commenting challenge. It was a way to encourage bloggers to comment especially on those blogs which we usually stop by and never comment.

I think it was a fun idea back then and I still think it is a great idea.

If you want to join, please, go to this post here!

Corpus Christi

2011-06-23T21:04:00.001-03:00

The festival of Corpus Christi celebrates the Eucharist as the body of Christ. The name 'Corpus Christi' is Latin for 'the body of Christ'.

This jubilant festival is celebrated by Roman Catholics and other Christians to proclaim the truth of the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the actual body of Christ during Mass.

In some countries in the world, Catholic churches still celebrate the festival, not only with a Mass, but also with a procession that carries the consecrated wafer through the streets as a public statement that the sacrifice of Christ was for the salvation of the whole world.

Corpus Christi falls between late May and the middle of June, on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday (60 days after Easter). In some countries the festival is celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday.

In Brazil, we have a national holiday, since Brazil is a Catholic country.

But, there is a beautiful tradition on Corpus Christi. After the mass, the priest and the whole congregation will go on a procession and they will walk over miles and miles of rugs made by the community.

These rugs are made of processed tires, egg shells, little stones, sand, and lots of shredded wood.

These images are all from Google Images.

Miscellany Monday

2011-06-20T05:46:00.001-03:00

1. Thank you for all the love and comments on my last post.
2. Some days, I'm 100% over and some days I just wish I could hide under a rock.
3. My Mom is half way through her last round of chemo.
4. She is holding strong.
5. I watched three movies on the last few days: Yogi Bear, Wall Street - The money never sleeps and Hereafter.
6. I'm writing down everything I eat.
7. We will have a three days week due to Corpus Christi holiday.
8. Hubby is getting ready for business trip.
9. It is a short one, but it still is a business trip.
10. I'm still trying to avoid business trips, but I don't know how long I will be able to avoid : (

I hope you have a wonderful week.

One year old

2011-06-16T21:38:00.002-03:00

My baby girl would be one year old tomorrow.

Instead of celebrating her birthday, I’m still mourning her loss.

When I had my first miscarriage last year, as soon as I was out of the hospital, I went back to work. I focus on my career and my job. I never allowed myself to grieve. I tried to “Cover the sun with a strainer” (This is a popular saying in Brazil).

I never allowed myself to grieve the same way I never allowed myself to be pregnant. What I mean is, I never let myself to love, to prepare and to feel that little baby growing inside of me. I never bought a single gift to her. Everything I looked, I thought was not good enough for her (Was this a sign?). I rushed in getting pregnant again and the 2^nd miscarriage happened.

I went out in the quest of the “holy grail”. My personal HOLY GRAIL: an answer for all these horrible things that happened to me and my babies. I changed doctors last November and he studied carefully my case and nothing was found.

As all of the Holy Grail quests, nothing was found. I ended up with more questions than answers.

After I realized how depressed I was, I started running, therapy and etc.

I went back to see him early February and he finally released us to try to get pregnant again. He said he had confidence I would get pregnant in three to four months, but he also warned me to not get my hopes up, due to my “tubes” situation.

If I didn’t get pregnant on his time frame, he asked me to go back.

When I went back, two week ago, to tell him I wasn’t pregnant, he started the IVF speech.

I always had a feeling this would be the final answer. We talked, and talked and talked…. In the end, he suggested that Hubby and I would take the 1^st step on the Infertility Treatment Ladder (Clomid + some sort of shot at the 11^th day cycle) for 04 months and if nothing happens…. IVF is our way out.

I still don’t feel any of these situations are right. I’m still praying and begging God to listen to me.

Miscellany Monday

2011-06-06T21:17:00.002-03:00

1. I'm becoming a really bad blogger.
2. I try to post, but I end up with nothing.
3. I'm doing the second session of Good Morning Girls.
4. I met a wonderful group of Ladies.
5. And they are the best.
6. I went to see my OB last week.
7. I have three words for you: IVF (I'll write more about it, after I processed everything my doctor told me).

Our vacation

2011-05-25T06:07:00.000-03:00

Since Paulo has been traveling a lot again (this time to Paris), we didn't have time to plan a lot. When he came back from his last trip, we decided we want to travel somewhere we could go with frequent flier miles. Our options were: Santiago (Chile), Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
We decided to go to Buenos Aires. I really wanted to go back and Paulo has never been there before, so Buenos Aires it was.

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina.
Argentina and Brazil are neighbors and foreign people (including the media) often mistake Brazil's capital as Buenos Aires. For the record, Brasilia is Brazil's capital ; )

Even though, we speak Portuguese, it is fairly easy for us to communicate with "Los Hermanos".
Brazil and Argentina have a HUGE rivalry when soccer is on the agenda, but apart from that..... Buenos Aires is a really beautiful city, with amazing architecture, food, shopping and of course tango.

We bought city tour tickets, so we could see the city as its best.
My favorite places are Caminito, San Telmo Antique Fair, Puerto Madero and a wonderful tango show at Senor Tango (even tough I don't recommend dinner here, only the show).

Sunrise in Puerto Madero

Galerias Pacífico

Puerto Madero

Park in honor of people who disappeared during the military regimen.

Casa Rosada

Caminito

San Telmo Antique Fair

I hope you enjoyed Buenos Aires through our pictures.

Miscellany Monday

2011-05-23T06:01:00.001-03:00

Welcome to another edition of Miscellany Monday.

1. We are back to work today.
2. It is kind of sad.
3. We had an amazing time in Buenos Aires (pictures soon).
4. I finished one of the longest craft project in history.
5. I finally finished my photo frames.
6. Yes, it took me one year to finish 5 pieces.
7. I've been dieting and running pretty consistently on the past month or so.
8. It is not showing yet.
9. I've been having a lot of nightmares.
10. The subject is always the same: I can't get pregnant again (I 'll write more about it later).

Have a wonderful week.

Weekend and Vacation Wrap-up

2011-05-22T16:04:00.003-03:00

We had an amazing two weeks vacation.
We traveled for a few days, and the rest of our days, we stayed home and we focused on our house projects.
It was good to spend some time with Paulo and make some plans for our future.
We worked hard during the week at our garden, office, our closets, bathrooms and etc.
But it was worth every minute.

Today, we finished up our day at Joe's and Leo's. It is a themed restaurant in Brazil. They have plenty of American Football and Baseball memorabilia as their decor. The dishes are great and they have GREAT onion rings too.

We finished our Sunday stroll with a good cappuccino at Havanna Caffe. I love it there.

Right now, we are starting to get ready for our working week ; )

I hope you had a wonderful weekend,

Paulo and I at Rio del Plata - Buenos Aires

We are back!!!

2011-05-17T09:41:00.002-03:00

We came back from Buenos Aires yesterday (late) afternoon.
It was a wonderful trip, full of sightseeing, good food, good wine and extremely good desserts.
We had a wonderful time.

I still need to sort out my pictures, but before my vacation finishes, I will be back with a full recap.

As for now, I am off to run a few errands and to face the Laundry Montain ; )

Happy Tuesday!

2011-05-10T15:30:00.002-03:00

You all know I was born and raised as a Catholic and you all know I've been pretty mad at God with this entire miscarriage subject lately.

But, even though I've been pretty mad, I NEVER canceled my devotional subscriptions. Today I got this one, and for a very long time, I felt I am not walking alone on this crazy journey.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me”
(Psalm 23:4, NIV)

Everyone faces the storms of life. Sometimes we have the faith to be delivered from the storms instantly; sometimes we have the faith to walk through the storms. But no matter which route you take, you can be sure that God is right there with you. He will equip you and sustain you. He will give you the grace, the supernatural empowerment, to make it through.

Today, maybe you are facing a storm and can’t quite see a way out. Maybe you’re not sure what the answer is. All you have to do is take it one step at a time by saying, “God, I know You have a good plan for my future.” “God, I am doing better today than I was yesterday.” “God, I know You are leading and guiding me.” With every step you take, know that God is doing a work in your life. Know that He is with you, and He will comfort you. Keep moving forward. Keep taking those steps of faith and keep walking through the storm into the place of victory He has prepared for you!

So, what do you think???

Miscellany Monday

2011-05-09T16:49:00.002-03:00

1. I'm a little late to the party today, since I am those type of people who posts at the crack of dawn ; )
2. But, today was my 1st vacation day;
3. It was a lazy but yet productive day;
4. I bought two cardigans a few weeks back from Land's End and they never arrived. Last week, I got a notice from the post office to pick them up and to pay extra taxes : (
5. The extra taxes were worth paying ; )
6. We booked our tickets and our hotel for our quick gateway during our two week vacation.
7. We will leave on Wednesday and we will come back on Monday.

I hope you have a great week .

?????

2011-05-07T18:00:00.002-03:00

As I wrote last Monday, I have been feeling the depression symptoms showing their ugly faces every so often.
I am not in the same dark hole I was back in Dec/Jan, but I felt a little set back on past few weeks.
I started to sleep less, and I'm on a zero tolerance mode lately : ( I gained 10 +lbs in 5 days, due to fluid retention.
On my two last therapy sessions, I've been discussing with her, why I went back almost to square one in short few days.
First, Mother's Day is tomorrow.
Second, I am in a panic mode, if I get pregnant again, what will happen?

In my mind, I don't know any beautiful outcome of a pregnancy. My two experiences were two tragedies (it is not the right word, but I don't know any other one to replace it).
I even start to consider adoption (you read it right I am, not we are). But I'm considering adoption not because I feel it is right, or it is a noble thing to do. I am only considering out of fear of what might happen, if I get pregnant.

Needless to say, I have a long road ahead of me....

Today Paulo and I start our two week vacation. He arrived safe and sound from Paris this morning. We still don't know where and when we are going to travel.... but I will know soon.

I hope you have a terrific weekend.

Miscellany Monday

2011-05-02T06:07:00.000-03:00

1. I'm still here, even though I have been neglecting my blog;
2. Easter passed as a blur.
3. My Step kids came and went.
4. We had a party to introduce them to the family.
5. Hubby is in Paris again, until the end of the week.
6. Depression's ugly face has been showing her face too much these days.
7. Today, I start my countdown to my two week vacation.

Pollyana

2011-04-06T07:01:00.000-03:00

Yes, you read it right. I re-read Pollyana. This book affected me in such a positive way when I was a child, that in the darkness of my depression, I found myself browsing bookstores looking for it to re-read again. I think this book serves as a wonderful reminder for how we can effect our lives with our own perspectives. If you haven't read it, you should. And if you read it, tell me what's your thoughts?

Miscellany Monday

2011-04-04T05:52:00.000-03:00

Welcome to another edition of my Miscellany Monday.

1. There are not a lot of interesting things going on around here.
2. Just cough, work, and more cough.
3. Does anyone know how long this stupid cough will last? The doctors don't know.
4. As soon as I finish this post, I will go to the gym and I will try my best not to scary people away with my cough.
5. I'm counting the days until my Easter break.
6. I'm counting down the day to my two week vacation in May (more on that later).
7. I'm working on a post about where we are on our journey to become parents.

Now, I am off to the gym.

Wish me luck ; )

Fabiola's don't list

2011-04-01T06:45:00.000-03:00

I've read this kind of post in a few blogs and I thought it would be fun to do it one for myself.

1. I don't like veggies, I only eat them because it is necessary.

2. I have to have some kind of fruit for breakfast.
3. I love pasta. Any kind of pasta is wonderful on my book.
4. I'm addicted to Diet Coke and Coffee. I drink way too much of both of them.
5. I LOVE tonic water. Most people despise them, but I love it.
6. I don't eat jello. I think it tastes like a piece of paper with some sugar on it.
7. I don't like reality TV. I have ZERO patience for it.
8. I don't clean our house. YES we have a cleaning lady twice a week.

9. I don't answer my house phone unless I know who is calling.
10. I don't like driving, but it is a necessity. So I drive.
11. I despise putting gas on my car. I wish I could have it delivered to my garage.

So now it is your turn. Let me know what you don't like as I think that it is a great way to get to know my friends from blogland ; )

Happy Friday!

It is all about my Step Daughter

2011-03-30T05:52:00.000-03:00

As I wrote before, Paola (my step daughter) came to spend the Mardi Grass weekend with us. She and I are getting along pretty well. We talk over email and MSN almost everyday. She shares with me her fears, her insecurities, her broken heart histories and so on. It is hard to be "a parent" to a grown woman, especially when you are the Step Mom. I am always watching what I say, what I suggest. Paulo already said I will transform her on a Mini Me ; )
Some times, well most of the time, she is asking for advice and for help. I try not to put any strains on her relationship with her Mom, which is not good at all.
But, since the first moment, I could feel she is Paulo's daughter, not only physically, but personality wise too.
I put a little list of things they share the same opinion/taste and they have in common.

1. They are both faithful people. They trust God, but they don't trust the Church figure.
2. They are really, but REALLY short temper.
3. They have the same taste for music.
4. They both love poetry.
5. They both write poetry.
6. They are both passionate about things they believe.
7. And last, but not least, they LOVE liver steak and they think it is the best food ever. (YUCK!!!)

Well, those are not all things they have in common, but those are the one which stand out the most.

Miscellany Monday

2011-03-28T06:45:00.000-03:00

Welcome back to another edition of Miscellany Monday.

1. I'm finally back on a blog schedule. I miss my blog friends.
2. I'm still feeling sick.
3. I will try to take it easy at work this week, so I can finally heal.
4. I have to start to plan our family get together on the Easter Holiday.
5. My Step Kids will come for the whole weekend, and
6. We will have a little party to introduce them to Hubby's family.
7. They gave a photo album to my Hubby with pictures of them growing up.

Now, I am off to work.

Happy Monday!!!

Weekend

2011-03-27T15:19:00.002-03:00

The week I decided to come back to the blogland, I ended up sick. I mean, I still am SICK as a dog.
For the past two weeks, I've been feeling tired, so tired that I ended up quitting temporarily the gym. I got home at night, I just wanted to go to bed and sleep. I went to bed around 9:15pm almost everyday for the past two weeks.
Last Thrusday, I hit the bottom hard. I had literaly to peel myself out of the bed so I could go to work.

By mid afternoon, I started to sneeze and my throat started to close. On Friday morning, I was bad and the flu had taken over my whole body. I worked until 4 pm and I had to cut my day short, because I wasn’t feeling well.

Since this was Paulo’s weekend to visit his kids and I was feeling really tired, I decided it was a good weekend to stay home and work on my yard and do some projects around the house.

But, I ended up curling up on my couch reading Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. I am not finished yet, but I am loving the book so far.

I went to the ER this morning, and as the doctor said, it is just a bad case of flu.

So, as for now, I will be back to my couch for some more reading and healing .

My blog vacation is over!

2011-03-21T13:25:00.001-03:00

First and foremost, I didn't intend to take a blog vacation. It just happened. Work was really eating up every minute of my free time.
Early January, I was involved on a new project with a new client. Back then, it seemed a really wonderfull and challenging project, due to extreme short time to do everything. We had 45 days to the Go Live date, due to a law change in the electric business area. Let me put this way, I am NO rockie when it comes to join a Go Live Project (New System), but this one was a tough one.
It is been a while, since I last worked 14 to 16 hours a day for two straight weeks. I think I am getting old and I am not used to long hours like that anymore ; )

After my last post, the only thing really important that happened was the Mardi Grass holiday and my Step Daughter came to stay with us. It was fun, tense and most of all joyfull. I promisse I will write a post about it before the week ends.

As for now, my lunch break is over and work is catching up with me again.

Happy Monday!!!