Monday, December 16, 2013

Merry Christmas from Us to You


Monday, December 2, 2013

Paradise (aka Paraty) for Thanksgiving

We had Thursday and Friday off from school, so naturally we traveled.  We headed to Paraty, the passageway for gold, for the holiday weekend.  It was such a great weekend filled with sun, beautiful scenery, great people, and lots of laughs.  Here are some pictures from the weekend.  

The first day we hung out by our pousada's pool and explored the town.  Day two was a full day private boat ride to multiple islands.  The next day we trekked to a waterfall and then took the Gold Path (although I wasn't feeling well so went home, I think I got dehydrated the day before).  The final day we hung out and headed home. 

The city has this cute little canal.  Once you pass over it there are no cars allowed. 

Lots of boats in lots of colors. 

The streets were laid by slaves back in the day. They were made up huge cobblestones and were very hard to walk on.

The whitewash buildings always had brightly colored doors. 






So charming, I loved the flags.

Lots of artisans everywhere you looked.



Just being cute and practicing the guitar in the street.



Love this man with all my heart.



Leaving the dock...our captain was awesome. 

MONKEY! We got so close to them on one island.



Trekking through the jungle and found a natural pool.


He felt like he was back in Colorado.

Just chilling.

Catch Up...Halloween and My Birthday

Living overseas for four years now my Halloweens have evolved.  Each year I never know what it is going to be, however I always love celebrating.  It's funny because back in the States I could care less about Halloween (except for the candy!), but overseas I like to celebrate because it makes me feel at home.  For our school festival I was a sugar skull, a figure of Mexico's Day of the Dead.  As my good friend Cori was doing my make-up, I thought of Veronica and our first Halloween in China.  Good times. 


Jess and I went to a couple's Halloween party as Jasmine and Aladdin.  We recycled costumes we used in China.  It was a lot of fun, Jess DJed for everyone to dance the night away, and somehow I won best girl costume.


My birthday was amazing, thanks to that wonderful husband of mine. It started with breakfast of bacon and chocolate chip pancakes.  After breakfast Jess shared the this amazing video he made for me.  He secretly got in touch with my family and friends and had them each share a memory.  Let's just say the ugly cry face happened.  At school my students threw me a party and then it was the weekend!   We went to my favorite restaurant (Thai) with our best friends here.  It was super good.  We took an awkward family photo to remember the great night.  


Saturday we woke up and headed into Sao Paulo for the weekend.  It was the perfect combo of relaxing and seeing the sights.  For dinner Jess took me to Tantra, a Mongolian grill.  It was such a cool atmosphere and the food was delish.  Although, I guess if it wasn't we only had ourselves to blame because it was an interactive restaurant where we made our own dishes. 



Sunday morning we woke up and went to an English speaking church!  Coaching basketball I met a coach that is the pastor at this church.  We had been meaning to check it out forever and finally were able to get to it.  It was food for the soul.  We plan on going back once a month.  We wish it could be more, but it's a little far for church.  

All in all, the fall was great.  I'm so thankful for the good friends we have made here and of course for Jess. He always finds new ways to make me feel special and loved.  I hope my next year is as wonderful as this one.  

For my own memory, places I went  and things I did in my in my 30th year: 

-welcomed Santa and celebrated our Lord's birth with the Campbells, Katie, and Mom and Dad
-celebrated New Year's in Denver at a rave (!) 
-braved Rio at Carnival and attended the Samba parade 
-made our house a home 
-went to Machu Picchu 
-began my Masters 
-studied in Madrid 
-went to Campos (again) 
-saw the sunset from Pao de Acucar
-laughed lots 
-fell in love more 
-learned a lot! 




Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Memory Lane...Things About China

Brazil is different than China, for obvious reasons (some good and some bad). Something I find myself missing is the culture shock I had in China. Brazil is very similar to the US, other than language I could live my life just like I would in the States (with the exception of no Target and Chick-Fil-A...sad face). 

I was organizing pictures and found some beauts of our amazing time China, I'm glad I have the pictures of evidence. Oh and for the record I really miss my friends  China family. 

Oh Coco...and V groovin with a tamborine

It was love at first sight...

Louis, and yes that was a real outfit.

Ear cleaning...seriously miss this! 

Major cuppage

Hungry at the Dalian Beer Festival...take your pick

Yummo 
Bees or hornets?

This I can eat...bread dumplings

And last but not least...CHINESE AIR CONDITIONING

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Katrry's Wedding Weekend

There's something about family, weddings, and God's creation that make a magical weekend. Although I would have loved to spend another week in Colorado with my amazing family, I took in every moment I had with them for the short time I was there. 


I also have to say, my nieces and nephews are the cutest kids in the world.  I love being their aunt and getting to see them grow up. Laura has grown into such a beautiful young lady with a fun personality, Beckham has his dad's one liners, Ains is thoughful and caring for her little cousins, Matthew is so stinking smart and loves technology, Whitters is a little jumping bean who loves to talk, and sweet Justin might be the happiest baby on earth.  I definitely miss seeing them often.


 Mom and dad are so gracious and always putting us before them. Dad rented a house for all of us to stay in for the wedding week. It was so great to wake up to cuddles from the little ones, play games after dinner, and just plain enjoy each other's company.


On Friday night, we hosted a Bridal shower for Katie. Julie came up with the brilliant idea of having Christmas decor, since Katie and Larry LOVE Christmas.  This way the party was cute and the newlyweds got to keep the decorations.  We laughed for hours at old stories and celebrated Katie and Larry's pending wedding.


I'm so happy for Katie, I have never seen her so happy. She was glowing all week with love and happiness. I have looked up to her as long as I can remember, and to see Larry treat her so well and their bright future ahead makes my heart happy.

                                  
   Katie and Larry are so in love, it was contagious. They were both beaming the whole weekend. 



I fell in love with Jess even more (didn`t know that was possible) seeing him with my family and friends. Also, at the wedding their pastor's sermon struck a chord. He gave a brilliant talk on how the wedding is just the beginning of a marriage and how God has so much more in store. We may have to go through painful growth spurs, but how our trust in Him and faith in His plans to make our marriage beautiful are needed. Jess and I have grown so much in our first year of marriage, at times it wasn't always fun, but it was reassuring to hear that God has so much in store for us! 




God sure pulled off the perfect day on October 13th. The day before at the rehearsal it was COLD and WINDY. We all prayed for great weather and the big man upstairs came through.  I mean really could you ask for better scenery?







The Scott family is now complete!  We went from a meager seven members to a whopping 21 (and more to come I hope!) Seriously though, being with my family was incredible. I'm so thankful for each person for unique reasons...and I we clean up pretty nice if I do say so myself.