A rainy welcoming night at Rio!

So, today, me, my mom and my step dad came to Rio because my interview for the visa is tomorrow morning. First step: getting the car ready - it was the biggest CHALLENGE since the tire blew up and we had to stop at a car shop to get it fixed - Second step: getting here. No easy task since we're in the middle of summer and it is raining like crazy, which means traffic was terrible. Step three: getting the hotel room. Now, this is fantastic! Our reservation was done, alright, but for tomorrow! Hahahaha! Lucky us they still had a room for us!
We decided to go out for dinner, so the three of us went out, only it was pouring outside and we got soaked! At least the food was great and we had a great deal of fun together! Marcela was the one we missed the most!
After we got done eating, we decided to walk back to the hotel. Gosh... THAT was some rain! We pretty much drowned. Now we're soaked. Well, actually, I am. Both mom and dad already showered and went to bed. So I am guessing this is my leave!
Good night to everyone!
I'll post pictures soon!

Mommy, daddy, Lily, Mark and Elie, I love you all and I miss you like crazy!

Past weekends news - Novidades dos últimos fins de semana

Last weekend we had a lot of fun with Halloween and trick or treating! Elizabeth had two costumes - ballerina and Minnie Mouse - and so did Mark - a little halloween monster and Dumbo. It was great!
My horseback riding lesson was great and I did a good job with jumping and cantering.
This week flew by! Mom was away with work from monday through wednesday. It sure was great to have her back home! :) Yesterday I went to the horseback riding lesson and had a good surprise: both Matt and Abbie were there and I got to have them both teaching me for most of the time. I am definitely getting better at the trot and canter. I accidentally got Lance to jump a cross rail obstacle, which made both my teachers a little excited and nervous - specially because I was able to jump with him - I wasn't ready so it was a clumsy jumping position, but it worked!
Mom went shopping for winter clothes for the kids, since everything was half price both at Old Navy and Good Will. Good thing she got herself and me cute jackets! We had dinner and we all went to bed early. It sure was a long day!

Fim de semana passado nós nos divertimos muito com o Halloween e com as Travessuras e Gostosuras! Elizabeth teve duas fantasias - bailarina e Minnie Mouse - e Mark também - um monstrinho de halloween e Dumbo. Foi ótimo!
Minha aula de equitação foi ótima e eu melhorei muito com os saltos e o trote acelerado.
Essa semana passou depressa! Mamãe viajou a trabalho de segunda a quarta-feira. Foi muito bom tê-la de volta em casa! :) Ontem eu fui para a aula de equitação e tive uma bela surpresa: ambos Matt e Abbie estavam lá e os dois me deram aula por maior parte do tempo. Estou realmente melhorando com o trote e o trote acelerado. Acidentalmente, eu fiz Lance saltar sobre um obstáculo cruzado, isso deixou meu professores excitados e nervosos - especialmente porque eu saltei junto com ele - eu não estava preparada para o salto, então fiz uma posição de salto meio desastrada, mas deu certo!
Mamãe foi comprar roupas de inverno para as crianças, já que estava tudo pela metade do preço na Old Navy e na Good Will. Legal que ela comprou pra si mesma e pra mim casacos fofos! Jantamos e fomos todos pra cama cedo. Foi um dia longo.

October - Outubro

Hey, it's been a while!!!
Busy month, this October! We were volunteers at the Ghouls at Gressmere, which is, the Zoo. It was so much fun! We dressed up in our costumes and helped with the hayride!
My horseback riding lessons are going really great and I am still just as excited as when it was my first lesson! I just simply love it! I am doing much better at the jumps and even the trot and canter.
I finally got accepted at Lipscomb and classes start in Jan. 10th, 2011. This week we'll be finishing up with the financial aid and the visa and very soon everything will be officially acceptable and, most important, legal!
It took me so long, but I am finally doing the two things that I love, riding horses and going into pre-med school! It's still a long way to go, but if 4 years of delay couldn't keep me from it, now that I am already on the way, nothing can drive me from it!

Oi, já faz um tempo!!!
Mês cheio, esse Outubro! Nós fomos voluntários no Halloween do Zoológico. Foi muito divertido e nós nos vestimos em fantasias e ajudamos nos passeios de trator!
Minhas aulas de equitação estão indo muito bem e eu continuo tão empolgada como na primeira aula! Eu simplesment amo isso! Estou me saindo muito melhor nos saltos e mesmo no trote e no trote acelerado.
Finalmente fui aceita na Lipscomb e minhas aulas começam dia 10 de Janeiro, 2011. Essa semana estaremos finalizando a parte financeira e o visto e em breve tudo já estará officialmente aceito e, mais importante, legalizado!
Levou um tempo, mas estou finalmente fazendo o que amo, equitação e a minha faculdade de medicina! Ainda tenho muito chão pela frente, mas se 4 anos de atraso nao me afastaram do meu sonho, agora que já estou no caminho, nada me tira dele!

Another week - Mais uma semana

Alesha spent the night yesterday and I woke up with the phone call from my beautiful and sweet Aunt Vera. After that, I got up and watched a movie with mom and Alesha. Then finally took a shower and got ready for the horseback riding lesson. Today, Abby was my teacher because Matt was at a horse show. The lesson was great and really long, ended up riding for almost one hour and a half. But the great thing was: I did my first jump! Of course it was on a low obstacle, but I did it! It was super cool!!! I rode GP, Going Places, a beautiful chestnut mare that is for sale at the Court, but she gives lesson because she's such a good mare for riding - and I totally agree! Other than that the week went by pretty fast! Monday was pretty chilly and then it warmed up a little bit. Fiona and Laurie came over and spent the night on wednesday and thursday, and we had a house showing on friday! We had a fun week! Loved the lesson today!

Alesha dormiu aqui em casa de ontem pra hoje e eu acordei com a ligação da minha linda e doce Tia Verinha. Depois disso, me levantei e assisti um filme com Alesha e mamãe. Depois tomei um banho e aprontei pra aula de equitação. Hoje foi Abby quem me deu aula porque Matt estava numa exposição de cavalos. A aula foi boa e longa, andei por quase uma hora e meia. Mas a coisa mais legal: eu saltei pela primeira vez! Claro que foi um obstáculo baixo, mas eu saltei! Foi super bacana!!! Montei GP, Going Places, uma égua marrom-avermelhada muito bonita que está à venda no Court, mas que dá aulas por ser tão boa para montar - e eu concordo plenamente! Fora isso a semana passou bem depressa! Segunda-feira estava mais frio mas logo foi esquentando um pouco. Fiona e Laurie passaram a noite aqui na quarta e quinta-feira, e nós mostramos a casa para um pessoal interessado na sexta-feira! Tivemos uma semana divertida! Amei a aula de hoje!

Terceira Aula de Equitação - Third Horseback Riding Lesson

Hoje foi minha terceira aula de equitação e, novamente, montei Boone. Ele é um cavalo branco com as orelhas pretas, e uma manchinha no lado esquerdo. LINDO! Ele é um cavalo tão educado! Tivemos uma aula ótima e foi Matt o professor. Ele também é uma figura! Faz tudo parecer tão fácil que fica quase absurdo! Mas, Abby disse a ele que me saí muito bem semana passada e, ele ficou bem feliz com o meu rapido progresso! É sério que montar com as botas apropriada é muuuuuuito mais fácil! Foram quase férias pros meus tornozelos e calcanhares. Aliás, esse foi outro comentário, que a minha postura está muito boa e os calcanhares continuam baixos!
Depois da aula fomos a Fazenda Walden e deixamos Lily, Mark e Elizabeth brincarem até cansar! Brincamos com grãos de milho, escalamos montes de feno, andamos de trator, tiramos inúmeras fotos, balançamos até cançar no balanço de pneu, e nos divertimos muito com Vovô Jim e Vovó Reno.
Jantamos todos juntos num restaurante mexicano e finalmente foi hora de vir pra casa! Que dia!

Today was my third horseback riding lesson and, again, I got to ride Boone. He's a white horse with Black ears, and a tiny spot on his left side. BEAUTIFUL! He's such a polite horse! We had a great lesson taught by Matt. He's also something! He's makes everything seem so easy that that's almost absurd! Abby told him I did great last week and he was quite glad with my fast improvement! It is a fact that riding with the appropriate apparel is sooooooooooooooo much easier! Felt like my ankles and heels went on a vacation. Actually, that was another comment I got, my posture is good and I'm keeping my heels down!
Afterwards we went to Walden Farm and we let Lily, Mark and Elizabeth play till got tired! We played in the corn crib, climbed the hay stacks, rode the tractor, took countless pictures, swung on the tire swing and had lots of fun with Papa Jim and Grandma Reno.
We all ate dinner together at a mexican restaurant and then it was finally time to come home! What a day!

A picture for mom / Uma foto pra mamãe

And another for Pedro / E outra para o Pedro

Thank you, daddy, for the pictures! Obrigada, papai, pelas fotos!

O meu dia hoje...

Hoje eu tava cansada. Dormi pouco e o pouco que dormi, dormi mal. Enfim, acordei de mal-humor (pois é, acontece comigo também). Mas de fato o mais chato foi a falta de paciência que fiquei... É muito ruim ter que ser irmã mais velha quando eu estou cansada e de mal-humor, aind amais quando Mark dá uma de louco!
Mas a razão de dormir pouco é que, ontem à noite, Elizabeth engasgou com um caco de vidro que encontrou no chão - mamãe quebrou um copo sabado de manhã e pensou que tivesse juntado todos os cacos e jogado fora, mas claro que a nossa pituchinha achou e logo colocou na boca - e então mamãe e papai sairam correndo de casa com ela pro hospital. O médico falou pra observarmos ela nesses proximos dias, mas a radiografia nao mostrou nada, ela cuspiu fora o pedaço com o qual egasgou e a radiografia nao tinha nada perto dos pulmões nem do coração. UFA! Enfim, chegaram em casa depois da mei-noite, e eu fiquei de babá do Mark e da Lily até eles chegarem. Depois fiquei rolando na cama ate quase 2h da manhã... Pra acordar hoje 6h da manhã... Não foi fácil. Foi o dia mais longo do ano! Mas por volta das 6h30 da tarde, papai chegou em casa. Rapidinho eu me troquei e sai pra ir correr no parque.
Foi perfeito! O outono chegou de vez, então estava fresquinho do lado de fora. O parque estava vazio, com exceção dos poucos garotinhos jogando baseball e alguns pais nas aequibancadas. Fiquei uma hora por lá. Assisti ao pôr do sol enquanto corria e tive tempo pra mim. Pra pensar, pra me acalmar, pra deixar meu mal-humor e lado... Me fez BEM! Senti vontade de ir pra uma fazenda, bem longe, pegar um cavalo e sair com ele pra bem longe...
Voltei pra casa, dei beijo na mamãe, brinquei com Elie, pus Lily no banho, comi, tomei banho - de banheira! - coloquei o pijama e vim ver e-mails e cá estou. E vou dormir!
Boa noite!

Charming Boone - Encantador Boone

Today was my second horseback riding lesson! After the weekend camping, I was ready to go meet with the horses again! Matt was out of town and so he arranged for Abby to teach me the lesson for him. And I am ever so glad he did! Abby was simply fantastic! She's lots of fun and very sweet! I had a great time riding Boone, a cute and tall white horse with black ears and blue eyes! He was definitely very sweet and charming! I finally learned to let my heels down and to work up on my ankles instead of my knees. YAY! Some progress! Abby was satisfied with me! That's always nice to know! After the lesson we went shopping: we got myself paddock boots, half patches and breeches. It was expensive, but worthy! My day pretty much based on cleaning the house with mom in the morning, horseback riding lesson and shopping.
BUT, that's not all! Today is my brother's 30th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GURI!

Hoje foi minha segunda aula de equitação! Depois do fim de semana acampando, eu já estava pronta pra me encontrar com os cavalos novamente! Matt estava fora da cidade então ele combinou com Abby para que ela me desse a aula por ele. E que bom que ele o fez! Abby foi simplesmente fantástica! Ela é muito divertida e um doce! Me diverti muito montando Boone, um fofo e alto cavalo branco com orelhas pretas e olhos azuis! Ele foi um doce e muito encantador! Eu finalmente aprendi a deixar meus calcanhares baixos e usar meus tornozelos ao invés de meus joelhos. UHU! Algum progresso! Abby ficou satisfeita comigo! Isso é sempre bom saber! Depois da aula, fomos às compras: compramos botas de cano baixo, meia-botas (caneleira que vai em torno da canela) e calças apropriadas para montaria. Ficou caro, mas valeu à pena! Meu dia se baseou em limpar e organizar a casa com mamãe durante o dia, aula de equitação e compras.
MAS, isso não é tudo! Hoje é aniversário de 30 anos do meu irmão! FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO, GURI!

Interview at Lipscomb University - Entrevista na Lipscomb University

Today was a BIG day! Not only it was my best friend's, Tyler, birthday, but also it was the day of my interview at the one that could be my future University!
I waited this day anxiously! Mom Courtney took me and my little siblings, Mark and Elie, came along too, since we couldn't find a babysitter for them. But they were wonderful and didn't disrupt us not even once! It was FANTASTIC! We were able to go over everything on my application process, and the only threes things missing now - the Financial Certification, the Proof of Medical Insurance and the International Student Consent Form - are the ones Sylvia, my admissions officier (she's awesome!), asked me to work out with her! YAY! This all means that in about 6 weeks I am going to be the newest Lipscomb University student! Can't wait for the spring semester!

Hoje foi um GRANDE dia! Não apenas por ser o aniversário do meu melhor amigo, Tyler, mas também por ser o dia da minha entrevista naquela que poderá vir a ser minha futura Universidade!
Eu esperei ansiosamente por este dia! Mamãe Courtney me levou e meus irmãozinhos, Mark e Elie, também foram, já que não conseguimos uma babá para eles. Mas eles foram maravilhos e não nos interromperam nem mesmo uma única vez. Foi FANTÁSTICO! Pudemos resolver e discutir tudo no processo de inscrição, e as únicas três coisas que faltam agora - o Certificado Financeiro, Comprovação de Seguro de Saúde e o Formulário de Consentimento para Estudante Internacional - são os mesmos que Sylvia, minha coordenadora de inscrição (ela é ótima!), me pediu para resolver junto a ela! UHU! Tudo isso significa que em aproximadamente 6 semanas eu serei a masi nova aluna da Lipscomb University! Mal posso esperar pelo semestre da primavera!

"...mas eu não vim até aqui pra desistir agora..."

No fim da tarde de hoje eu sai pra correr - acabou sendo mais uma caminhada que corrida devido a minha falta de forma, mas o que vale é a intenção. É incrível o que meia hora de paz, tranquilidade e um pôr-do-sol numa tarde de outono podem fazer a uma pessoa... Milhares de coisas passaram pela minha cabeça, inclusive aquela pergunta: "Será que era mesmo pra eu estar aqui? Será que eu não estou apenas fugindo de casa?" e por incrível que pareça, a resposta surgiu quase que imediatamente na minha cabeça: "Não, eu não estou fugindo de casa... Estou exatamente aonde eu devia estar. Eu não cheguei tão longe, não lutei tanto, não vim até aqui pra desistir agora." Uma paz enorme me encheu por dentro e eu tive certeza que ainda tem muita água pra rolar, que ainda tenho muito chão pra andar e que o futuro aind ame aguarda muitas surpresas... E que bom é ter alguns minutos do meu dia pra pensar apenas em todas as coisas que fazem parte do meu mundo, a bagagem que carrego comigo é enorme, cheia de alegrias, acontecimentos, tristezas, risadas, aprendizados e, acima de tudo, muita, mas muuuuuuuuuuuuita saudade. Saudade de tudo! De todos! Mas é parte da vida a gente sentir saudade, afinal, ela é a cicatriz deixada no nosso coração por todas as coisas que nos marcaram e que valeram à pena.
Como minha irmã uma vez me disse: "crescer não é fácil...". Não mesmo, mas estou aprendendo.

Hunters Court Stable

Hunsters Court Stable

I felt like my week took a little forever to go by. With all the excitement about having my first ever horseback riding lesson, every minute felt like an hour! The week was busy and different: Lily had a sleepover birrthday party to go on friday, mommy went to California with Elie on thursday for her great uncle's funeral and dad worked this saturday. Everything was managed to work out by mom, since she got Grandpa Jim and Grandma Reno to get Mark for the weekend and to have her very good friend Laurie to take me to the horseback riding lesson this afternoon.
I woke up so excited I went downstairs and cooked breakfast singing!!! At around 12:30pm, Laurie got here to pick me up and her lovely daughters, Fiona and Ashlyn, came along as well. We got at Hunters
Court early and met my teacher, Matt Piccolo. Soon enough, he walked us to the stables and I met my tall, handsome, four leged teacher: Lance. Lance is a grandpa horse at the Court at his well lived 18-19 years of age. Definitely the sweetest, most well manered horse I ever had the pleasure of riding! He let me pet him and groom him, let me set the saddle on him and get on him without any objection.
My lesson was wonderful! Even though I have riden many horses many times before, never I had learned so much in such short period of time! Today was the highlight of my week!
I learned the best way to sit on the horse, how to post trot and the jumping position. It was, of course, all very basic, but apparently I did really well and my teacher Matt was very impressed with how easily and carefully I handdled Lance. Good thing since I had a hard time keeping my heels down all the time!
Laurie fell in love with a sweet, short, cute, chestnut colored Wesley, a beautiful pony she petted throughout my lesson. It was sad he wouldn't fit in the car so she could take this cute 7 years old horse home with her.
Ashlyn was my big cheer! And she had a great time around all those beautiful horses at Hunters Court. Fiona loved the place and the horses just as much!
I have to say it was a beautiful saturday afternoon at the Court! I look foward to my next lessons!

The stables/Os estábulos

Indoor arena/Arena coberta

Matt Piccolo

Senti como se a minha semana tivesse levado pra sempre para terminar. Com toda a emplogação de ter  a minha primeira aula de equitação, foi como se cada minuto fosse uma hora! A semana foi diferente e ocupada: Lily tinha um aniversário/festa do pijama para ir na sexta-feira, mamãe foi para Califórnia com Elie na quinta-feira para o funeral do tio-avô dela e papai trabalhou esse sábado. Mamãe planejou pra que tudo desse certo, ela pediu que vovô Jim e vovó Reno ficassem com Mark no fim de semana e que sua grande amiga Laurie me levasse para a aula de equitação hoje à tarde.
Acordei tão animada que desci as escadas e fui fazer o café da manhã cantando!!! Por volta de 12:30 Laurie chegou aqui em casa e suas adoráveis filhas, Fiona e Ashlyn, também vieram. Chegamos ao Hunters Court cedo e conhecemos meu professor, Matt Piccolo. Em breve, ele nos levou pelos estábulos e eu conheci o meu alto e lindo professor de quatro patas: Lance.Com seus bem-vividos 18-19 anos, Lance é um cavalo vovô no Court. Definitivamente o cavalo mais doce e bem comportado que eu já tive o prazer de montar! Ele permitiu que eu lhe fizesse carinho e o escovasse, permitiu que eu lhe colocasse a sela e o montasse sem qualquer objeção.
Minha aula foi maravilhosa! Apesar de eu já ter montado outros cavalos muitas vezs antes, nunca eu aprendi tanto em tão pouco! Hoje foi o pico da minha semana!
Aprendi o melhor jeito de montar um cavalo, como montar o trote e a posição de salto. Claro que foi tudo muito básico, mas aparentemente eu me saí muito bem, pois meu professor Matt ficou bastante impressionado com a facilidade e carinho com os quais tratei Lance. Uma coisa boa já que eu tive dificuldades em manter meus calcanhares baixos o tempo todo!
Laurie se apaixonou com um doce, baixo, fofo, marrom-avermelhado e lindo pônei Wesley, o qual ela acariciou durante toda a minha aula. Foi uma tristeza quando Laurie percebeu que aquele belo e fofo pônei de 7 anos de idade não caberia no carro para ir pra casa com ela. Ashly foi a minha grande torcida! Ela se divertiu bastante com todos os lindo cavalos no Hunters Court. Fiona adorou o lugar tanto quanto!
Eu tenho que dizer que foi uma linda tarde de sábado no Court! Estou ansiosa para as próximas aulas!

Laurie's beautiful Wesley/O lindo Wesley de Laurie

Sorry for not having a picture of Lance, but I'll make sure to get one soon!

Desculpe por não ter uma foto de Lance, mas em breve terei uma foto dele!

Fun in the Sun! - Fim de semana no Sol!

It was a WONDERFUL and EVENTFUL weekend, both in the Morgan Household and in the Andrade-Monteiro Household!
Friday, not only I bacame the aunt to a lovely baby girl called Cléo, but I also got to hang out with Alesha and we went to the movies together - we watched "Going the Distance", with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long - then we went to Toot's.
On saturday we had a great breakfast at Shoney's and then, after coming home for a little bit, we went to the park to go ride bikes, but daddy's bike broke and me and mommy just took the kids - Elie on the chair behind her, and Lily and Mark on a wagon pulled by me - for a little ride. I gotta say I was proud to have pulled 90lbs for 2 miles on my own! YAY me! After our fun time, we played tennis together! I gotta say it was lots of fun! I am just terrible but it was fun to try and play with mom and dad and help Lily learn a little bit! She did a good job! Finally we came home and I helped mom with dinner.
Sunday morning we woke up early and got everyone ready to go bike riding at Shelby Bottoms Park in downtown Nashville. It was FUN! We rode for 9 miles and Papa Jim and Grandma Reno came along and so did Grandma Cindy and Papa Dave! It was so nice! And, of course, my beautiful Aut Jill also accompanied us and we had a blast! Later on we went all together for lunch and then Dad took Jill home, our grandparents went home and we did a little stop at the hospital to go visit Great-grandpa Tom, who is doing a fast rehab from a surgery - he had a little fall and broke his hip - and it was great to see how well he's doing! He'll soon be out of there and heading home to California!
We then came home and more fun awaits tonight with mom's friends!

Tivemos um fim de semana MARAVILHOSO e CHEIO DE ACONTECIMENTOS, tanto na família Morgan como na Andrade Monteiro!
Sexta-feira, não somente me tornei titia de uma linda bebezinha chamada Cléo, mas também saí com Alesha e fomos assistir à "Going the Distance", com Drew Barrymore e Justin Long, e depois fomos ao Toot's.
Sábado tivemos um ótimo café da manhã no Shoney's e, depois de passar em casa, fomos andar de bicicleta no parque, mas a bicicleta do papai quebrou e acabamos, eu e mamãe, levando as crianças pra dar uma voltinha - Elie na cadeirinha na garupa da mamãe e Lily e Mark num carrinho puxado por mim. Tenho que dizer que fiquei orgulhosa de mim por ter puxado 41Kg por 3.2Km sozinha! UHU pra mim! Depois de toda essa diversão, ainda jogamos tênis juntos! Tenho que dizer que foi muito legal! Eu sou terrível, mas foi superdivertido tentar jogar com mamãe e papai e ajudar Lily a aprender um pouquinho! Ela se saiu muito bem! Finalmente voltamos pra casa e ajudei mamãe com o jantar.
Domingo de manhã acordamos cedo e fomos todos andar de bicicleta no Parque Shelby Bottoms em Nashville. Foi BACANA! Fizemos 14.4Km e Vovô Jim e Vovó Reno foram com a gente, e também Vovó Cindy e Vovô Dave! Foi tão legal! E, é claro, minha linda Tia Jill também nos acompanhou e nos divertimos até! Mais tarde fomos todos almoçar juntos e depois papai levou Jill pra casa e nossos avós também foram embora pra casa. Nós fizemos uma visita pro nosso Bisavô Tom, que está no hospital se recuperando de uma cirurgia após levar um tombo que o fez quebrar o quadril. Foi ótimo ver quão bem ele está! Em breve já terá alta e voltará pra casa na Califórnia.

Depois voltamos pra casa e mais tarde vamos passear e nos divertir com as amigas da mamãe!

Fun with Alesha - Me divertindo com Alesha

Friday started as any other given day, but, in the afternoon, as I checked my e-mails, my awesome friend, Alesha, invited me out to go watch a rock band play. I said yes, hoping it wouldn't end up to be some kind of heavy metal thing.

I got lucky because the band was really good and they played old rock. They totally won me over when they played "Hotel California".

It was an awesome night and I was SO happy Alesha wanted to share it with me!

Sexta-feira começou como qualquer outro dia, mas, de tarde, enquanto eu olhava meus e-mails, minha maravilhosa amiga, Alesha, me convidou pra ir ouvir à uma banda de rock tocar. Eu disse sim, esperando que não fosse nenhum tipo de banda heavy metal.

Dei sorte porque a banda era muito boa e eles tocavam um rock antigo. Eles me ganharam quando tocaram "Hotel California".

Foi uma noite ótima e eu fiquei TÃO feliz por Alesha querer dividí-la comigo!

Last Week - Semana Passada

Last week, mom's friend Christina and her daughter Briana stayed over with us and we all had a really good time together! Lily and Briana even went to a painting birthday party together and paited the cutest monkeys! On monday, mom, me, Lily, Mark and Elizabeth went to Grandma Cindy and Papa Dave's for dinner! It was wonderful and I finally got to meet Great Grandma Dee and Great Grandpa Tom, Grandma Cindy's parents. They're so sweet! I loved them!
Lily and I got to do some reading together and we all had a really great time! Aunt Tara got to go too and it was fabulous to see her again! What a lovely evening we had! The rest of the week is going good as usually! Lily is now coming home from school in the school bus and I get to have the three of them every afternoon! Mark surprises me with all the new words he's been learning! Elizabeth won't take long untill she's up and walking around!
That's it for today! Have a great weekend!

Semana passada, a amiga da mamãe, Christina, e a filha dela, Briana, passaram a semana com a gente e tivemos uma semana ótima juntos! Lily e Briana foram a uma festinha de aniversário em um atelié de pintura e pintaram macaquinhos muito lindinhos! Segunda-feira, mamãe, eu, Lily, Mark e Elizabeth fomos jantar na casa da Vovó Cindy e do Vovô Dave! Foi maravilhoso e eu finalmente conheci a Bisavó Dee e o Bisavô Tom, pais da Vovó Cindy. Eles são uma gracinha! Amei os dois! Lily e eu pudemos ler alguns livros juntas e todos tivemos uma noite superlegal! Tia Tara também foi e foi fabuloso revê-la! Que jantar maravilhoso tivemos! O restante da semana está indo muito bem como de costume! Lily agora volta pra casa da escola no ônibus e eu agora tenho os meus três pequenos todas as tardes! Mark sempre me surpreende com todas as palavras novas que anda aprendendo! Elizabeth não vai demorar até começar a sair andando pela casa!
É só por hoje! Tenha um ótimo fim de semana!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Sunday was Papa Big Jim's birthday and we had lots of fun with the whole family! It was a beautiful day outside and we got to play together! It was also Father's Day back in Brazil so, of course, I called my step dad, which is so very much like a dad to me, to wish him a happy father's day! He was happy I called and it was awesome to get to talk to him and mom a little bit! I always feel closer to them when I hear their voices over the phone! What a fantastic invention!

After that, the week went by pretty fast and pretty busy! The kids were lots of fun and lots of work! We certainly had lots to do! Lily got sick - this time it was her turn to get "The Morgan's Sickness" - poor little thing, and it's just impossible to ask her to lay still in bed all day...

As to me, I began reading "Sophie's Wold", by Jostein Gaarder once again - and this time I really intend to finish it! It's a great story about Philosophy and Gaarder IS my favorite author, SO, of course I will finish the book this time, without letting excuses drive me away from it one more time...

That's it for now! Have a great weekend everybody!

Domingo foi aniversário do meu avô Big Jime nós nos divertimos muito com toda a família! O dia estava lindo do lado de fora e todos nós pudemos brincar juntos! Também era Dia dos Pais no Brasil, então é claro que liguei pro meu padrasto, que é mais como um pai pra mim, para desej-a-lo feliz dia dos pais! Ele ficou feliz com a ligação e foi maravilhoso poder falar com ele e com mamãe um pouquinho! Sempre me sinto mais pertinho deles quando ouço suas vozes no telefone! Que invenção fantástica!

Depois disso, a semana passou bem rápida e ocupada! As crianças foram muito divertidas e me deram muito trabalho também! Certamente tivemos muito a fazer! Lily ficou doente - foi a vez dela de pegar "A Doença dos Morgans" - coitada, e é simplesmente impossível querer que ela fique deitada quietinha na cama o dia todo...

Para mim, eu comecei a ler "O Mundo de Sofia", de Jostein Gaarder novamente - e dessa vez realmente pretendo terminá-lo! É uma ótima história sobre Filosofia e Gaarder É o meu autor favorito, ENTÃO, é claro que eu vou terminar o livro dessa vez, sem premitir que mais desculpas me separem dele mais uma vez...

É isto por hora! Um excelente fim de semana pra todos!

Getting sick and getting better

So I am home alone recovering from being sick... Of course it is lovely to rest and sleep, but it is so annoying to be by myself when I could have my little siblings home with me...
They got me sick last week and I thought I was all good on saturday, so I went out with a friend. BIG mistake... Happens that on sunday I was worthless, and staying in bed pretty much all day. SO monday I wake up feeling a lot better and when mom comes home, I decide to go with Lily for a run at the park, after all it was a beautiful day outside and it would be such a shame to waste it. Tuesday I bravely go to the gym after a whole day with the kids, feeling like my head is goings to fall off. Nevertheless, I go and I end up pushing myself too far and as a beautiful and lovely result - please feel the irony in my words as I type them - I wake up feeling like I was hit by a truck. I spent the afternoon with the kids and they were bery sweet and almost didn't give me anything to worry about, but they're kids and making a mess of everything is like their full time job, so over all it was a nice afternoon. The second dad got home he sent me to bed to rest. I didn't even argue, I went straight to bed - it was around 6pm. I napped for a couple of hours and then I woke up. Came downstairs and dad asked me what was I doing up... Went back upstairs and took a shower. Laid back down and couldn't fall asleep. Came back down and took my cold medicine and ate a little bit of dinner and watched a bit of "Monsters Inc." with Lily. She went to bed and I went shortly after her. This morning I woke up with a sore throat, weak body and the worst headache... Luckyly I have the most awesome mother and the greatest grandma and they took care of the kids for me today, so I got to sleep in. It was nice and when I finally woke up around 10am, I was feeling better. I ate breakfast and took the medicine again. So far so good, so let's keep our fingers crossed and ope that tommorow I'll be as good as new!

Not much going on but still having a good time with my beautiful family, The Morgans!
Never forgeting my family back in my first home, The Nunes de Andrades!

That's all for now! Have a great day!

Updating - Atualizando

It's been a while since I last got around to write anything here... But, making a quick update on what I've been up to, I can say that college related, we're finally on the right track and already got the engines started sending my transcripts from Brazil to be translated - I know what you're thinking: you speak good english, why don't you translate it yourself? Well, it just so happens that I nee an authorized translater, so I do not apply for such job. - so once they come back to me translated, I am sending them out to WES, where they'll evaluate my transcripts under the american pattern. After that, is all down hill, I mean, it's just filling up the application and waiting for the acceptance letter, and then, finally, applying for the change of status from a visa B2 to a F1! Yay! And on January I'll be one step closer to becoming a doctor!
Other than that, Lily, Mark and Elizabeth are the sweetest and cutest little siblings I could ever ask for! Every morning I get free kisses and hugs, just by stepping out of my bed! It's just awesome! My american family definitely holds me in a home away from home. It's hard to even miss Brazil all that much when I have this wonderful family with me every day, on every step of the way! It's the incredible magic of love! I have the best parents in the world, both here and back in Brazil!
I thank God for all of this blessings He's always giving me!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!


Já faz um tempo desde a última vez que apareci para escrever por aqui... Mas, colocando minha vida em dia, eu posso dizer que, com relação à faculdade,estamos finalmento entrando nos trilhos e já iniciamos o processo mandando meus históricos escolarespara serem traduzidos - eu sei o que você deve estar pensando: mas o seu inglês é bom, por que você não traduz os papéis você mesma? Bom, acontece que você precisa ser um tradutor autorizado, logo, eu não qualifico pra tal trabalho. - Então, uma vez que eu receba os históricos já traduzidos, os mesmos serão enviados para o WES para serem avaliados dentro do padrão americano de graduação. Depois disso já é meio caminho andado, é só preencher o formulário de aplicação pra faculdade e esperar pela carta de aceitação, então, finalmente, é só aplicar para a mudança de estatus de um visto B2 pra um visto F1! Uhu! E em Janeiro estarei um passo mais perto de me tornar uma médica!
Fora isso, Lily, Mark e Elizabeth são os mais doces e fofos irmãozinhos que eu poderia querer! Toda manhã ganho beijos e abraços de graça, só por me levantar da cama! É simplesmente demais! Minha família americana definitivamente me da um lar longe do meu lar. É até difícil sentir muitas saudades do Brasil quando eu tenho essa família maravilhosa comigo todos os dias, a cada passo ao longo do caminho! É a incrível magia do amor! Eu tenho os melhores pais do mundo, tanto aqui como no Brasil!
Eu agradeço a Deus por todas essa bênçãos que Ele sempre põe em meu caminho!

Que todos tenham uma semana maravilhosa!

FATHER'S DAY!

Today was a special day! Today was Father's Day!
Today was a day to remind our beloved dad of how much we love and appreciate him!
A father is a very important person in a family! Not only he's a loving companion to mom, he's also the strong man we look up to and hope to learn from!

I was lucky and I had THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD for almost 13 years of my life, and then the Lord asked him to join His side. A few years later, I adventured myself into a new family, and I was taken by this beautiful family as their daughter, and I got myself another mommy and daddy, and little siblings. And my mom back home met my step dad who, we would never have guessed, watched me grow up and was a very familiar and loving man.

I have three dads, and they are all beautiful men! I learn from each and everyone of them and I love them all as my fathers! I thank God for giving these men to be my fathers, they are all I need and I am sure that they are a crucial part of who I am and of who I will become throughout my life!

Today is a day for you!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Os pequenos prazeres da vida! - Little pleasures of life!

Ahhh... Hoje deu saudade de casa... Conversando sobre futebol com meus pais americanos, lembrei dos Bolas Murchas e Bolas Cheias do Fantástico. Ri sozinha mas ri muito! Uma pequena amostra do que a humanidade e capaz numa tarde de fim de semana...

Ahhh... Today I missed home... While talking to my american parents about soccer, I remembered Fantástico's Flat Balls and Full Balls. I laughed alone but I laughed a lot! This is a little show of what human kind is capable of on a weekend afternoon...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_CYl6XkZ6k&NR=1

Fantástico: Fantastic - A brazilian sunday night television show watched by lots of families, with lots of interesting things and also news from all over the world - really good show!

Mother's Day

I'm late but I had to do it!

Mom's are special human beings! It takes a special person to be a mom!
A Mother isn't only the person who gives you birth. She's so much more! She's the one person who'll be at your side at every moment since the day you were born. She'll clean and kiss your 'boo boo' and make the pain magically desappear! She'll tell you that you look like a rockstar even when you're having a BHD (Bad Hair Day). She'll embarass you in front of your friends and you won't be able to be mad her for it. Only a mom will wait till 4 in the morning for you to call when you arrive safely to your vacation trip destination. Only her words can actually help you feel better and mend a broken heart. A mom will sit and study with you for a test after a full day at work - even when you're 21 years old - and still be prepared to help you with the hard questions. A mom will listen to you even when you're being a spoiled drama queen. She'll be the one person never to leave you!
Mothers all around he world, you have one day for yourselves, one day to celabrate and one day to be remembered. One day, though, is not enough time to show you our appreciation for you being there at the game that our team lost and you made it okay; our admiration for you always being ready and beautiful to everywhere we had to go; our love for every hug, kiss, and good night stories that you've read. One day is just a title, because everyday is your day! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here today! Thank you so much, mom! For everything you do, everything you did and everything you will do for me and for everyone else! Thank you for you!

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Aw... Today is my cute little brother Mark's 2nd birthday!
Even though we had a tornado warning yesterday and the weather was still rainy, we had quite some fun at Chick E. Cheese this afternoon where we celebrated his birthday!
One smilling little man!
Now everyone's at home enjoying a rainy day! Our little Ella is sleeping on her swing and our big birthday boy is helping mommy with dinner! Lily and I are watching TV together and Daddy is working on decluttering his and mom's bedroom.
Lily's outta school tomorrow so we should have a fun fun fun day tomorrow with everyone at home! YAY!
I'll upload some pictures later!
The news about Ella: she's teething and now we can actually see her itsy bitsy teeth coming out. It's so cute! She chews anything she can put her hands on! Hahaha!

Ai, que preguiça!

Nossa... Essa semana foi um teste de sobrevivência! Sem brincadeira nenhuma!
Meus irmãozinhos são uns fofinhos mas eles testam minha paciência as vezes. Ufa, a senssação que eu tenho é que não dormi nada essa semana... Amanhã já é a prova do SAT e eu não estudei nada, e pra completar com a cereja no topo do sundae, recebi minhas notas do ACT que não foram tão boas assim. Ou seja, US$45.00 na lata do lixo. Complicado, ainda mais quando dinheiro não dá em árvore.
Bom, vou indo porque logo tenho academia onde meu treinador vai me matar! Bom, até a proxima!

Next Test Ahead!

Phew! Been busy and rushing through everything - at least that's what it feels like...
Took the ACT on April 11th and now, on May 1st, is the SAT. This time, I'm seriously praying for a miracle 'cause I barely studied at all...
But since I studied so hard for the ACT, maybe something stuck to my head... We'll see...

Lily, Mark and Ella are my sweet little crazy angels! They fill my day with laughter and joy - let's not forget the diapers, crying, boo boo's, naps, hugs and kisses too! - and at the end of everyday I'm tired and worn out, but so happy for finally being here and being able to be a vivid part of their daily lives and memories... Even with all the challenges, it is SO worthy and I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world!

Marcela's almost done with school in Germany and she's just about to start college there! She's so excited because she just got herself a student visa and now she can legally stay there and go to school for as long as she needs to. Congratulations to her!!! I miss her, but when we're chasing our dreams we have to make a few sacrifices to get there.

My mom and step dad in Brazil are finally having some time for themselves after selling our bakery and solving a great deal of problems with that. My older sister Ju is visiting Brazil with her australian boyfriend and let's hope they'll have lots of fun! She's been away for four years and now she's finally visiting them again, so everyone gets to see her - but me and Marcela who are away from home right now...

Life's leading the way and I'm following it as I enjoy each day!
Mommy Courtney and Daddy Jim are wonderful to me and I love them so much!

Till next time...

FIRST WRITING PROJECT THREAD: Recall some event that made an impact in your life

Back to ONE

There's a famous say that goes: "everyone came to the world alone and that's how they'll leave it". To me, such thing never made sense. Don't worry, I'm not saying this in a religious way. Actually I'm a twin. I was never alone. Since the 72 hours after mom and dad had sex, I have been two. Maybe that explains my difficulties with odd numbers.
I have an identical twin sister, and even though I don't think we could be any more different, we share the same mom, the same dad , the same siblings, the same birthday, the same last name, the same face and, of course, the same DNA.
The thing is, I was never alone my entire life. We could not stop talking to each other or simply ignore the other's existence, even when we were mad at each other. Our connection has always been really really strong even though we're so different. We're definitely complete opposites: we talk differently, we dress differently, we think differently, we have different tastes for boys and foods, and yet, we're a perfect fit. We're so close, one glance can say it all. We were always together even when we didn't have the same classrooms at school or the same friends. It was always like we needed each other to feel whole, like she had everything that's missing in me and she could find in me all that's not in her. And so, it was always hard for us to be apart for a long time. We always shared everything, even when we didn't want to. But even relying on each other so much, we always had very individual behavior. Our thoughts, actions, attitudes, opinions and decisions could set us apart in the blink of an eye, even with all the physical resemblance. As we grew, all the differences that we has grew too and matured in us. But still being so close, we always kept a sense of identity in each other.
When we reached the age of 15, our mother made us an offer: we could choose between having a huge 15th Birthday Party, which is really big and important like the Sweet Sixteen in the United States, or we could travel somewhere on a High School Exchange Program. We talked it over many, many times and finally decided to choose the trip.
In the beginning, we seemed to have forgotten that we'd be apart for 10 months. We were just so excited with the new experience ahead of us that everything else was just too little to matter. We wanted to travel, meet new people, live in somewhere new - since we were born and raised in the same city - have new experiences and, more than anything else, finally find out what is it like to be an only child (in the not having a twin sibling kind of way). It seemed pretty simple and easy to accomplish, but little did we know how much that would affect us.
Finally the day to departure came and we left our mom in Brazil along with every other exchange student's mom. In the Program, we got to go to Washington D.C. for a few days before heading to our host families with whom we would live for the next months. So far, everything just felt like a big vacation trip with friends and no parents, but on our last night in Washington, I began to realize I would leave Marcela and not see her for 10 months.
On the following morning, I got up and got ready and every student went together to the airport. As we got there, I started feeling sick to my stomach and this huge, massive feeling of loss invaded my body. When I walked Marcela to the departures' gate, I couldn't help the tears in my eyes and the freezing fear that I felt for finally acknowledging that I would not see her again for 10 months. I don't think I cried so much in my life as I did that morning; even when our dad passed away when we were 12. Never could I have imagined it to be so hard.
My first week without her hurt. I would cry from missing her every night until falling asleep. After a while, though, I began to get used to not having her around, although I still missed her the whole time.
Those 10 months away from her taught me how important she is to me and how much I love her. Being away from her felt like a huge part of me was missing all the time. From that experience I learned never to take her for granted again and to appreciate our time together, even when we're fighting and discussing!
The day I went back home, I left another family and many friends back in America, but I got my twin sister back. Finally, I felt whole again. I was back to being one.
It was all different, adventurous and fun, but I could never have imagined that with my 16 years of age, I would discover the biggest treasure that I have and that I've always had beside me, even when we were apart, my twin sister, Marcela. Today I am 21 years old, and nothing else has had a bigger impact in my life than this trip I made to Murfreesboro, TN when I was 16 years old and had to find out what is it like not to have a twin sibling.

Neve! - Snow!

Ei! Bom, nevou um bocado nos ultimos dias e nos divertimos um pouquinho la fora!!! Aqui estao algumas fotos. Lily estava no Missouri e nao brincou com a gente. Fomos so eu, Mark e daddy Jim. Tentei fazer um boneco de neve, mas decobri minha falta de talento pro negocio! So consegui fazer aquele pequenininho da ultima vez! Hahahahaha!

Hey! Well, it snowed a bit on the past few days and we had a lot of fun outside!!! Here are some of the pictures. Lily was in Missouri and didn't get to play with us. It was just me, Mark and daddy Jim. I tried to make a snowman, but I found out about my lack of talent for that! All I could do was that itsy bitsy one the last time it snowed! Hahahahaha!

Daddy Jim ate fez um treno pra podermos puxar o Mark!

Daddy Jim even made a sleigh so that we could pull Mark on it!

After a while.... - Depois de um tempo....

Well, since it's been such a long time from the last time I wrote anything here, I suppose I should make a quick update... I finished my fifth semester in Law School, and came to Murfreesboro, TN, USA on December 1st, but only got here on the 2nd. It's was simply wonderful to be back! See my family here again was definitely the best thing I did the whole year! It totally made 2009 a memorable year in my life! Nothing will ever top the feeling of having Lily in my arms again for the first time in almost 4 years! I guess I had a really good timing, because whenever I was here, Elizabeth was born the next day! It all worked out wonderfully even though she came a week early! A beautiful baby girl I am proud to call my sister! It all felt like anything couldn't get any better and still, after seeing family again there were also all my friends from Riverdale that I got to see again! It all felt like going back 4 years in time! I had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! My birthday was very special and Mommy Courtney baked two cakes, one she decorated herself and another so that me and Lily could have some fun decorating too! Two weeks later it was Lily's birthday and we had a lot of fun pottery painting with her friends! It snowed a few times and we had a great time playing outside! Even the snow is something surprisingly wonderful to me! And it's also so beautiful! I can only say I feel like being at home even when I am so many miles away!

Bem, como ja faz muito tempo desde a ultima vez que escrevi algo aqui, eu suponho que deveria fazer uma rapida atualizacao... Terminei meu quinto semestre na faculdade de Direito, e vim para Murfreesboro, TN, EUA no dia 1o de Dezembro, mas apenas cheguei aqui no dia 2. Foi simplesmente maravilhoso estar de volta! Rever minha familia aqui foi definitivamente a melhor coisa que fiz no ano! Totalmente fez 2009 um ano memoravel em minha vida! Nada podera superar o sentimento de ter novamente Lily em meus bracos pela primeira vez apos quase 4 anos! Acho que cheguei na hora certa pois, assim que cheguei, Elizabeth nasceu no dia seguinte! Tudo se encaminhou maravilhosamente, mesmo que ela tenha chegado uma semana mais cedo. Uma linda garotinha que tenho orgulho de chamar de minha irma! Parecia que as coisas nao poderiam melhorar mas ainda assim, apos rever minha familia ainda tinha todos os meus amigos da Riverdale que tambem revi! Tudo me fez sentir como se voltasse 4 anos no tempo! Tive um Natal e Ano Novo maravilhosos! Meu aniversario foi muito especial e Mamae Courtney fez dois bolos, um que ela mesma decorou e outro para que eu e Lily pudessemos nos divertir decorando-o! Duas semas depois foi aniversario da Lily e nos divertimos bastante pintando porcelana com os amiguinhos dela! Nevou algumas vezes e nos divertimos muito brincando do lado de fora! Ate mesmo a neve e algo surpreendentemente maravilhoso pra mim! E tambem e lindo! Eu apenas posso dizer que me sinto em casa apesar de estar ha tantas milhas de la!