Joaquim and Christine - A Day in the Life

Seasons

2011-04-25T15:29:00.002-05:00

ZOOM.

3 months have gone by already?

Sorry about that...

A lot has gone on in the Fragoso household in 3 months, I can tell you that. Oliver is growing, learning, crawling (sort of), and getting cuter by the minute. The more his personality matures and shows, the more I love him. In a nutshell, he is a high-energy kid who is as happy as can be. He loves a crowd and won't sleep if he thinks there is anything he could possibly miss. (Joaquim and I have mastered his sleep techniques for now, but he tends to change his game frequently, so I'm not holding my breath.) He has two teeth that he shows off with lots of smiles and laughs, and it's anybody's guess as to when he will get more teeth!

Joaquim and I are pretty busy with Mr. Oliver, especially now as he army-crawls after cords in the corners, remote controls, and any shoe or sandal he can spot. But in addition, we managed to take a trip to Memphis in March, and we get out every once in a while on our own. :) We are trying to phase in some more activities, like small group and choir, and more intentional time with family and friends.

You know, I am finding that since Oliver was born, we have been taking small steps in adjusting to our new life as a bigger family. For instance, right after he was born, it was an accomplishment for me to be able to do my makeup. I remember wondering if I would ever be able to have a morning routine ever again where I could shower and get ready and have my coffee the way I always had. Little did I know the answer was yes...though my routine starts at 5:30am. It's not so bad now that the sun rises with me! Those winter months are painful, though. I now get to read my Bible every morning, dry my hair, I'm back to wearing (most of) my "normal", pre-Oliver, clothes. We find time to keep the house (fairly) clean, I cook, even bake sometimes, we grab time to exercise, I write in my journal more often, and we enjoy fueling our netflix watch instantly addictions.

This summer I am looking forward to a summer where I feel good, not swollen-footed and whaleish. Oh yes, we will go to the zoo, to the pool (often!), to Millennium Park and other cheap attractions downtown, walk for ice cream in downtown AH, you name it, we'll do it, and it will be grand.

As things fall into place and as I slowly add them to our routines, I continually see what is missing and what I need to improve at. Maybe I'll get those figured out in a few months and then there will be more. The point is, it's so fun to grow as a family and it really grows you as a person. Maybe eventually our housing will grow...we need more than one bedroom!

Time FLIES...and is better managed when you're a mom!

2011-01-24T10:56:00.002-06:00

Joaquim's alarm goes off at 5:15am every morning. He's out of bed by 5:30 and I sluggishly follow him by 5:45. Then I hop in the shower as he makes coffee and enjoy some quiet time after he leaves for work, then hit the books myself. If you told me last year that our routine would look like that, I probably would have cried! But now I see the benefit of using every minute to the fullest.

When Oliver is awake he is the object of my full attention! He is a smiley smiley smiley boy, even when he is getting tired and reaching his limit. I can still make him smile and giggle even then, though it may be quickly followed by a "heeeeey pick me up" face and impatient whimper. When he wakes up in the morning or after a nap and starts fussing in his crib, I go into his room and cheerfully say "hey snuggle bug!" in my mommy sing songy voice that I am recently perfecting. Even as he rubs his eyes and struggles to roll over, he manages a smile at hearing that, and then any annoyance I may have at the fact that he only slept for 45 minutes or that I had JUST sat down evaporates.

Oliver is legitimately teething these past few days. He's been a drool-fountain for 3 months, I swear, but only now can I feel a little bump on his gum. We'll see when that thing cuts through and how much wailing and gnashing of...tooth...there will be in the process! I'm preparing myself to wake up some morning and see a little tooth and I'm already finding myself thinking, "how did he get so BIG?" and "he's just growing up too fast." I look at pictures of him when he was a little sleepy baby and already miss it, even though he's cuter and so fun these days.

He's so responsive to his mommy and daddy and turns in our direction whenever we suddenly talk. He will respond to his name, if not too engrossed in a toy, and smiles alllll the time, especially for his dad. Joaquim can make him laugh like no one else can! We just love that giggle.

For now he's still nursing exclusively, but in a week or two we will be starting to introduce some solid foods and I am excited but also a little apprehensive. Will he like it? Will I miss nursing him as much? (I think so!) And I hope those sweet potatoes, avocados, apples, bananas, and that yummy rice cereal I am planning on bringing to the table soon don't wreak havoc with his digestive system! Oh, the worries of new moms...

Yes, we can't believe time is passing so quickly. He will be 6 months old on February 9th and he is already wearing some 9 month clothing. Crawling is probably in our near future (as may be an area rug!) and bibs will be mom's new best friend. In all of our loving attention and care for Oliver, I am learning how to take time for myself and to spend time in God's word as well. It's so much more gratifying to read a chapter or two of a book or bake some yummy cookies when I know that I only have an hour or two to myself. I rarely lose myself in dumb facebook statuses or watching tv anymore, and often wonder what in the world we did with our time before Oliver was born. My mom told me the best thing anyone told her when she was expecting me was that kids make our lives richer and fuller. And I am now seeing that is 100% true. Sometimes I feel frazzled, though not that often, thankfully, but mostly I feel productive and alive. I catch myself often and remember that my two biggest desires were to be a wife and a mother and...I am both of those things. When did that happen??

And p.s. it's WONDERFUL!

2010 - God's Tangible Blessings

2011-01-11T08:24:00.003-06:00

One of my goals this year is to better document our life. Journals are such a treasure in counting our blessings, as I saw in part this past year, and I want to share it with you all who are reading! This year as I have been examining and remembering all that God did for us in 2010, I just can't even believe it. He is AMAZING, and seriously took care of us in very real ways last year. You may have seen bits and pieces of it, but it's a pretty impressive spread when all together, so allow me to recount...

We started off the new year knowing that there would be a LOT of challenges and unknowns. We discovered that I was pregnant on December 19th of 2009, and as I may have mentioned before, I was totally freaked out. I, in my worried little way, didn't think we were prepared to have a baby. I thought we would have a plan, be more financially stable, have a bigger home, have two cars and two jobs. You know, like "everyone else". We had talked about when we wanted to have kids and we decided to be open to that any time after our one year anniversary. (We ended up celebrating one year of marriage with a 4 week old baby!) So, discovering that I was pregnant after only 3 months of marriage was a shock to my planning, prepared mentality. I thought that we would be seen as irresponsible, that people would silently say, "shame on them for having a baby when they can barely take care of themselves." This was a large part of why I wanted to wait a few weeks to tell friends and family. To be honest, I was ashamed, though I now see how Oliver is NOTHING but a joy and has brought showers of blessings to us.

Anyway, I digress. Joaquim's job search was only just beginning as he received his green card within a few days of our seeing those two pink lines on a little strip telling us that there was a tiny life inside of me. He didn't end up getting a job until June, so we had six months of some real penny pinching. Every month we would carefully plan our budget, and when we got down to all of our bills and necessities and then looked at our income, we consistently saw that we'd go in the negative. Quite simply, we were consistently making less than we NEEDED to spend. Miracle number 1 is that we never went into ANY debt or had to use money from our meager savings during those months. Sure, we were frugal, but month after month we spent a few hundred dollars more than we made, and yet always had enough in our checking account. It can't be explained except by God's miraculous provision. We have proof in spreadsheets if you want to see!

God also provided little jobs for Joaquim for the first 6 months of the year. He preached twice at a small church just west of Rockford, and that was a cool story of little connections. They paid very little, but it was something. In April, through another connection, he got a little job translating a cell phone operating system and manual. Anyone out there who is using a Dell windows phone, Joaquim edited the Portuguese version! That paid more than we were expecting, which was a fun surprise and ended up covering our first doctor payment, which was something that Joaquim was really pleased to be able to do.

Then there was the question of maternity clothes. Pregnant women need a whole new wardrobe! Not cheap. Well, it was cheap for me because I bought maybe 5 items of clothing throughout my whole pregnancy and spent MAYBE $100 total. WONDERFUL friends and family just kept giving me cute clothes, left and right. That burden was totally lifted from our shoulders. One day, I was getting to the point where I needed to go out and get some clothes but I remembered the story of George Mueller, who never asked anyone for anything, just prayed for God to touch someone's heart to provide it. (My job is to ask people to make gifts to a non-profit, so I don't subscribe to this practice all the time! It just touched my heart for my personal life at that moment...) I prayed that God would provide me with some clothes, and the next day a friend emailed me saying that she and her husband felt they should buy me some maternity clothes. Wow! 2 others passed on some maternity jeans, and my mom gave me lots and lots of cute outfits for mothers day. Throughout my whole pregnancy, my best friend Janell pampered and spoiled me horribly, taking me out to eat a lot (boy, could I eat!) and giving me a gift certificate for a massage, giving me a big basket of morning sickness cures - ginger ale, saltines, etc. - and of course was my biggest clothing provider. She now spoils Oliver just as well. We love her!

Ok, I got a little stuck on clothes there. That was just too fun! Moving on...Joaquim's job has been SUCH a blessing. Not only does he bring in a paycheck, which is great, but he also now has insurance for his whole family, which was costing us a ton through my job...up to 25% of my paycheck. That's a fun story. He wrote on a satisfaction survey that he really would like to be hired full time as a permanent employee so that he could have benefits. HR felt bad for him, basically, and offered him the job. Nothing like asking directly, right? That was in mid-November, and I had until November 20th to go off of my insurance at work. PERFECT timing. When I told my HR that I wanted to drop off, she said "oh good, because I didn't have the heart to tell you that your rates were about to nearly double!" Wow. God's timing is perfect and He doesn't ever give us more than we can handle! Joaquim works in a warehouse, so he equips his ipod with lots of podcasts, audiobooks, and sermon series, and has been soaking up so much good teaching on God's word. I can see him growing in leaps and bounds! He hasn't yet had the opportunity to do any formal training or go to seminary, but He is taking every opportunity at church to take free classes and download every teaching he can get his hands on, listening to each one multiple times and gleaning more and more each time.

Now, a sad but redeemed story: our car situation. We knew starting out in 2010 that we needed a second car. But we didn't have the money for a down payment or monthly payments or to just pay cash for a good used car. That basically left us with no options. We borrowed my parents minivan for a few weeks when Joaquim first started working a temporary painting job, and we were hot on the search for a very used, but ok car that we could drive for a year or two. You can probably find the whole story in older posts, but...it was bad. We spent a couple thousand on a total piece of junk and we have not been able to resurrect it since. We exhausted all our chances and connections, and there were many, and just couldn't get it fixed up. Now it sits in our parking lot with a dead battery, whoops. Well...God wasn't done with that situation (and perhaps still isnt'!) and on NEW YEARS EVE, He provided. My mom called and said that my grandpa mentioned that we could have their minivan since they were trying to sell it and didn't realize we really could use it. So, BAM, we suddenly own a minivan in good condition, no strings attached, just had to pay for the title transfer. Wow. Blessed our socks off. Anyone want our "junker"? We're going to try and sell it for a REASONABLE price considering the repairs needed and if we're not successful we'll just give it away to get it off our hands. It's kind of a sore spot...

By far, the biggest blessing of the year BY FAR was our precious baby boy. He is healthy, happy, energetic, and such a stinker who totally keeps us on our toes. He is an endless source of joy, constantly making us smile and laugh, and seems to pull us back to reality with his toothless grins. We love him more than we could have ever imagined. And I see now that being in a difficult situation when we first found out we were expecting him was the opportunity of a lifetime to see God's provision and miracles. We probably would have had a very easy and stress free year without our precious Oliver. Looking back, I say that would have been pretty boring and just no fun at all.

That brings us to 2011. We have no idea what is to come! Big things...and God is GOOD and hasn't failed us yet!

We have a baby, it's true

2010-10-05T07:28:00.003-05:00

Holy blogging, Batman. I have fallen down on the job! Maybe because we are constantly taking care of an infant...that could be.

Oliver is here! As I'm sure you all know. He was born at 5:51am on August 9, 2010. 8 pounds, 14 ounces, and 22 inches...though at the pediatrician they measured him at 20.5 inches. Who knows. I still think he's a tall little man. He has big hands and feet with long fingers and toes, blue eyes for now, a nice head of fluffy brown hair and is cute as a button! When he cries sometimes he sounds like a teapot...really, last night after we put him down I heard the sound of a teapot on tv and thought he was crying in his crib.

The labor and delivery went very smoothly. It was a little slow since he was the first baby, so I got pumped with pitocin and therefore opted for a blissful epidural. Man, that was a good decision. After about 15 hours of active labor, Oliver was born!

He has been doing great ever since...eating well and gaining weight. He's starting to get heavy so it's tiring to hold him as much as he would like! He is a total snuggle bug and just loves to be held. He had some trouble sleeping in his crib and his pack and play for a few weeks. I think they were just too big for him, because he liked sleeping in his car seat. He would just sprawl out and his arm and legs would flail everywhere, waking himself up if he'd fallen asleep in our arms. For a few weeks we would sleep with him in the recliner, on the couch, laying on our chests. It was the only way to get some shut-eye in this house! Now he's too big to curl up the same way on our chests (they grow up so fast!) and he has more control over his flaily arms and legs so he is comfortable in his bed. Praise the Lord.

Oliver is a very active little guy and he can be louuuuuud when he wants to! I swear I will have hearing damage by the time he is out of infancy. ;-) He also has just the cutest smile, which he graced us with for the first time a couple weeks ago. It's amazing how one day all of a sudden they just...do it! Yesterday he melted my heart when I got home from work. Joaquim opened the door for me and was holding Oliver, who was content and awake. I said hi to Joaquim and gave him a kiss and then looked at Oliver and said hi to him and asked him how his day was, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and then...got a BIG smile for mommy. What a way to be welcomed home. :)

He loves to look at pictures frames on our walls. His tia Acacia made him a cross-stitched picture with some bears and a stork and a baby and he just loooooves to look at that hanging about his changing table while we change his diaper. He will just smile and coo at "his friends the bears". So adorable.

Mr. Oliver really keeps us on our toes and I often think that when he starts crawling we will be on 24/7 watch to make sure he doesn't terrorize the house and/or himself! He is a rascal for sure. And we love him!

Two Young Geezers

2010-06-18T12:58:00.002-05:00

Joaquim and I have been a thrill a minute these days. Yes, every day we both crawl home from work and collapse and then get into bed at night and melt into the mattress, so grateful to finally be sleeping. And we don't even have an infant yet!

My energy is waning and by the end of the day I am totally sapped. Joaquim's job is much more physically demanding than mine, minus the 20-pound weight on his belly, so he is just as tired! With commitments nearly every night, we have been realizing that we need to cut them sometimes just to keep our sanity. And so we skipped our second time trying out a new small group last night.

What followed instead was marvelous! It was great to come home knowing I didn't have anything else to do. We relaxed and chatted, took a walk, scrounged for some dinner (it is really time to do some grocery shopping but we're trying to hold out until Saturday, mainly because we are creatures of habit...) and then watched a movie. When it was over around 9:30, it was already bedtime. When I woke up this morning before my alarm, I actually felt rested! So I got up and had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Joaquim before he left for work. Of course those minutes were spent watching a World Cup soccer game. :)

So maybe we're lame with our 10 o'clock bedtimes and sitting on our couch watching silly movies, but it sure made us happy yesterday. Tonight we're using a gift certificate and going out to dinner because...well, we still are waiting until Saturday for grocery shopping! It should be a fun weekend.

This is how it feels to be pregnant

2010-06-09T09:25:00.003-05:00

First of all, thank you all for your prayers, concern, and shared disgust regarding our car situation! We are surrounded by a great community and the body of Christ is coming together to help us out. We'll keep you posted on how it all shakes out! But hopelessness is definitely not in our vocabulary.

Secondly, I just thought I would write a more lighthearted post today about the wonders of pregnancy. I know every woman experiences it differently and many tend to forget how daily life with a soccer ball for a stomach is like, so here may be some reminders...

I woke up this morning to Oliver doing somersaults in my stomach. Or at least that's how it felt. Kicks and wiggles are all over the place these days, but this was much more dramatic - it almost made ME dizzy! I think we have a very active little boy on our hands.

I used to force down breakfast because blah blah blah it's the most important meal of the day. Then morning sickness struck and I was even more literally choking down bland food like toast or my ever faithful cheerios. But for the past few months, ever since morning sickness passed, breakfast is now perhaps my favorite meal of the day. I wake up HUNGRY and thoroughly enjoy whatever I eat!

I have also become crazy for any sort of fizzy, slightly sour, fruity beverage. With lots of ice. I could go for one right now, actually...

At some point in the day I will notice that one of my fingernails is suddenly 8 feet long and needs to be filed, even though I just filed my nails the day before. They are growing like crazy.

Sometimes I can't bend my toes on my left foot because of the wonders of edema. I wouldn't be surprised if I get a stretch mark on my foot because they are really going through a rough time! I wish I had a good picture of my feet before pregnancy. Their natural state is extremely narrow and bony. Now they look like water balloons. They probably resemble the physical properties as well.

I have just been instructed by my doctor that I need to add a daily iron supplement to my routine. That's going to be great!

I love any sort of activity for pregnant women. We went to our first childbirth class at the hospital on Monday and while I was terrified at first (I think those videos in health class really scarred me...) I soon warmed up to our nice little instructor when she began the class explaining where the bathrooms and water coolers are, encouraging us to bring in our own food or beverages if we need to, asking if anyone would like a chair to put their feet up on, etc. She ended the class with a relaxation session that is making me sleepy just thinking about it. Of course it was for the purpose of learning how to stay focused and relaxed through a contraction, but it involved laying on the floor while our "coaches" gave us a light massage. I'm sure a real contraction won't make me doze off...

Abdominal muscles completely disappear during pregnancy. The sight of 10 pregnant women getting up off the floor as their husbands (or whatever) fought the urge to say "heave hoe!" was pretty priceless. Joaquim and I often laugh as I need an extra push to get up from the couch if I'm sitting too far back.

Every time I drop something I just sigh.

The other day I hit my stomach with the car door as I closed it. I was calculating using pre-baby-body information.

I am NEVER caught without Tums. Never.

My new best friend is the third pillow in bed at night. Who knew putting a pillow under my stomach would be so wonderful?

I look at pictures of myself pre-pregnancy and long for the return of a non-giant shape. Soccer balls are for the world cup, not my belly!

Well, at 29 1/2 weeks I am 75% of the way done! I am ready to not be pregnant anymore, but we are not quite ready for Oliver to arrive yet. July will be the month of preparation in our apartment! Bottles, diapers, and wipes, oh my!

Not so fast!! Version 2

2010-06-02T18:22:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago at Harvest we heard a great sermon series about forgiveness. Yes, it was challenging and moving and the tricky part was that when I forgive someone, I am not just erasing a debt or getting rid of the pain. No, when we forgive, we are absorbing the debt or pain that someone has caused us. I thought that was very interesting intellectually, because I didn't really have much to forgive. Sure a couple fights here and there and some people who have bugged me or bad-mouthed me or whatever, but...not much, in the grand scheme of things. It appears that this week God has thrown something at us that will require us to really know how it feels to take on the debt that another person owes and absolve them of it.

For all who have been on the edge of their seats waiting with us to hear back from the mechanic, I do not bear good news.

I got a phone call from my dad this afternoon with the damage. My usually cool and composed father was clearly unglued and could barely find where he should begin to list the problems with the car. Very bad sign number 100.

It turns out the "well-maintained" car we purchased had had routine oil changes and perhaps nothing else. The axel and rod on the front right wheel are about to fall apart (can you say, safety hazard?) and oil is leaking in about 5 or 6 places, one of which causes it to drip on top of the engine and burn while in use, making for some smoke and that telling burning smell. On top of that, the power steering column needs to be replaced and it is leaking power steering fluid as well. All of this will amount to close to $2,000 in repairs. That would total our cost for the car at over $4,000 and that is waaaaaay more than it's worth.

Now, let's remember what our buddy "Mark" (put in quotations because I am no longer sure that is his real name) told us when he sold us the car.

- It was his father-in-law's, and he was just helping him sell it. Conveniently, he wasn't willing to negotiate much on the price because his father-in-law was the one who had the say and he wasn't going to budge. He said his father-in-law had kept the car in great shape and it had just recently had the timing belt replaced and that the engine and transmission ran great. The transmission fluid was brown, but we all just thought that was an easy fix and not a big deal. Turns out that was perhaps the only thing that was a quick fix, but it was a red flag and a sign of a bigger problem.

- He said it was a '96 camry but when he came back with the bill of sale he said oops he made a mistake, it's a '95. Hmm.

- He put his wife's name on the bill of sale but she had a different last name than his and he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

- He had another guy looking at the car who pulled up MOMENTS after we did and who was asked to wait until we checked it over because we had contacted him first. Now we wonder if he was a set-up just meant to put a little pressure on us. "Mark" never actually talked to him or even referred to him in order to pressure us directly, but it was in the back of our minds that if we didn't take the car, this guy would.

- He had steam-cleaned under the hood so that we couldn't see any of the oil drips that soon appeared when we arrived home.

- He asked us to please do our best to get the title turned over to our name in a day or two, as soon as possible. Why? Unfortunately we did because we didn't want to drive around with no plates. Now I'm wondering if this was even his wife's or father-in-law's car and if we didn't just put a stolen title in our name.

- When we called him after seeing the leaking oil he said "the car has NEVER leaked oil" which was an incredible lie due to the fact that it was leaking in multiple places and there is NO way he hadn't noticed that.

Now we have seemingly thrown a couple thousand dollars out the window. I kind of wish we had literally done that because it would have at least been a bit more fun and maybe would have made some decent people's day a bit brighter. Instead, "Mark" walked off with a good portion of the savings of a newly married couple who is 7 months pregnant and is struggling to make ends meet and definitely needed that money for hospital bills and maternity leave if it were not going to go towards a fairly decent car. Now I have to forgive "Mark" and wipe away the obligation he has in my mind towards us regarding those couple thousand dollars. I wish I could inflict some consequences on him but he has disconnected his cell phone and he never gave us his home address. He has, for all our intents and purposes, evaporated with our dough and we will never hear from him again.

Twice in the last two days I have had a random song pop into my head whenever I have been praying and/or worrying (kind of don't go together, I know) about the car.

Psalm 20:7 "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."

Yesterday I thought, huh, that's funny...but today I got it.

Chariots and horses were symbols of power and wealth. Only the king, highly ranked government officials, or great armies had them. They were the most efficient forms of transportation in that day. We have been trusting in our small nest egg and the hope of an OK car to drive for our security. Now they are both gone, and one has not even replaced the other as we had hoped, and we are bare and vulnerable. But the name of the Lord our God is a strong and mighty tower. All those who run to it will be saved. Lord willing, even "Mark".

A New-Old Car

2010-06-01T14:14:00.002-05:00

Some people have barbeques on Memorial Day...others buy old used cars. We would fall into the latter category!

We're still swallowing our buyer's remorse, even though we probably got a good deal (the mechanic will let us know tomorrow afternoon...) but mostly we are in shock that we actually bought a car!

Joaquim found the listing on Craigslist and it seemed like a good one. 1995 camry with 122K miles on it. Old, but for a well taken care of camry, it still has a ways to go! Leather seats and a sun roof make for a pretty nice ride too.

So, we bought it, drove it home, and...then smelled burning under the hood. Oil is leaking onto the engine. Crash went all our hopes, and off goes the "new" car to the mechanic tomorrow morning. It also probably needs a transmission flush and I'm sure they'll come up with a laundry list of other maintenance, but I reaaaaally hope that's all that must be addressed immediately.

It was certainly an eventful day and maybe a bit of an emotional rollercoaster! The rest of the weekend was great. Slept in and shopping before a family birthday party on Saturday, a very relaxing Sunday and then dinner at my parents house with their neighborhood couple's group, and yesterday we helped some good friends move into a new apartment and, obviously, bought a car!

We slept a bit restlessly last night after such a big decision, but I do feel we paid a good price and we are leaving the repairs and everything up to God. ::GULP::

Decisions

2010-05-26T10:35:00.003-05:00

Decisions have been made, and some for us. We're pretty pleased with how it all turned out!

Joaquim will be starting with Intervarsity Press on Tuesday! It will be a part-time position for the summer, at least 30 hours a week, and he could potentially have a full time spot that is opening up in the fall, which would...drumroll please...come with benefits! Yay!

So how did we get here? Last week was a rough one as Joaquim was realizing the physical toll of 12 hour days painting. He was offered the job at IVP and told them that he needed the weekend to decide, because of the consulate opportunity and also whether or not it was right to leave his other job after only a week or two. Friday answered any questions we had when he found out he was not going to be continuing in the selection process for the job at the consulate. He was disappointed but in a way relieved, because he was completely free to pursue the position at IVP. He called them back that day and went in to fill out some paperwork.

This week still finds him painting and scraping in the hot sun, but only through tomorrow. He ended up having a great conversation with his current boss over the weekend and they are leaving things on a very good note. He may even still help out with painting on Saturdays or any days he may not be scheduled at IVP. We'll see, but it's great to have an open door!

Next on the list is getting a second car. It's a bit painful to think we have finally arrived here after avoiding it for nearly a year, but it seems unavoidable now. We are praying for a good one!

Not so fast!

2010-05-19T09:57:00.003-05:00

Ok...remember when I said it would be fun if Joaquim had a few jobs to choose from? Well now he does! It's a long story and it grows more complicated by the minute, but God is doing SOMETHING.

We are just continuing to pray for wisdom and we don't know what is going to happen but we are doing well! Just taking some interesting paths through life...nothing out of the blue for the Lord, though!

This morning Joaquim was surprised with an extra hour at home when his boss called and asked him not to come in until 9 instead of 8. So when Joaquim came back to bed around the time he usually leaves, I woke up and asked what the deal was. We had a great hour this morning to pray together and talk and have breakfast before he left and I started to get ready for work. Soon we'll have lots more early mornings together when little Oliver is waking us up at all hours!

After surrendering our days to the Lord, we both have such peace and joy about what is here and what is to come. We've only seen the tip of the iceberg I think...

This song came on my Pandora this morning and I just agreed with it so completely!

There may be times in your life
When nothing seems to be going right
When you're tired and the road is rough
And then God will come to see me through

CHORUS
Even when I get discouraged
Sometime when I get discouraged
Even when I get discouraged
I just wait on God

Even when I get discouraged
Sometime when I get discouraged
Even when I get discouraged
I just wait on God

You might have doubts and you might have fears
Trials may come and they might bring tears
Don't you worry and don't give up
If you wait on God He'll see you through

If you wait, Wait I say
On the Lord, My God will see you through

If you wait, Wait I say

We have sure done our share of waiting, though maybe it was more forced than intentional, and God is seeing us through, amen!

A light at the end of the tunnel...

2010-05-12T09:41:00.002-05:00

Well folks, things are looking up!

Joaquim officially has a JOB. He'll be managing college students with College Pro, a painting company. So he'll be painting homes (interior and exterior I believe) and making sure all his charges are as well. It's full time, through the summer, and that is a start that we are just giddy about! Plus his employer is allowing him to continue his application process with the consulate, which is HUGE. He'll start training on Saturday and work on Monday. I need to get used to seeing a LOT less of my husband...that's the sad part of the deal!

Speaking of which, tomorrow Joaquim has a writing/translation test at the consulate at 10am. Prayers would be appreciated! If he passes this phase (which I am confident he will!) he will go on to have an interview later in the month. He'll find out on May 21st if he is movin' on up.

So it is true that while it is all so overwhelming from afar, we have been able to handle each new step and phase. God is taking us to the end of our ropes and as we clutched and clung, terrified, we happened to look down and see we were dangling just an inch above solid ground. Oh.

On to some baby business!

I am growing larger and definitely starting to look like a legitimately pregnant woman, not just "oh she's pregnant...or is she?" I'm 25 weeks now, in the 6th month, heading into the 3rd trimester, and I am starting to feel a bit uncomfortable but I am sure the best is yet to come. We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything is looking great. Little Oliver has a strong heartbeat of 151 beats per minute and my comical belly is measuring just fine, still accommodating our quickly growing baby. He is steadily measuring ahead of schedule and that is just fine as long as he arrives a bit ahead of schedule too! I'm not sure if he's agreed to that deal yet though... In 3 weeks I have to go in for a glucose screening and the numbers on the scale are starting to scare me but everyone assures me I am doing just fine. But...ouch! I also saw my entire stomach move last night as Oliver did a full somersault or threw an elbow across my whole belly or something. It was a very strange sensation and even weirder to SEE it out of the corner of my eye!

Joaquim has been rearranging our apartment a bit, which has been fun. Our living room and bedroom are now a bit more spacious in order to accommodate a crib and little dresser and all the other random stuff we need...SO MUCH STUFF! How does a person soooo tiny need so many things?! Now I'm starting to think about getting all of those things soon and preparing everything. We should all pray for Joaquim when the nesting sets in...he has some time still, but it is inevitable I'm sure!

Well that is about it for now...I hope to be full of good news for the next update too!

Dishwashing Delight

2010-05-04T08:29:00.002-05:00

Maybe it's been a while since I really washed a big pile of dishes (thanks to my wonderful husband, who is the self-professed dishwasher of the house) because last night when I rolled up my proverbial sleeves to get to work, I really enjoyed the moments of peace and quiet, with only the sound of the water running in the background. I found myself smiling as I prayed, thanking God for being so good to us. I would appreciate all of your prayers for His will to be done in Joaquim's job search. We have a few things we would like to see in a position for him, but know that God's way is definitely the best way!

In the last few days it does seem like the windows of heaven have opened with opportunities for Joaquim! The question now is which one will be the best...he is pursuing each of them as if it is THE job, and it would be cool if he has to make a decision to choose between them. What a concept!

The most promising opportunity on the horizon in MY humble opinion is at the Brazilian Consulate downtown. Joaquim was notified in March that they were going to be opening a selection process for an administrative assistant position. Full time, 1 year contract, benefits, decent pay...the whole shabang. It would be great because he could take the train (from our well-positioned apartment within walking distance of the train station) and therefore we could continue to get away with only owning one car.

The first step of the job process was merely to submit his resumé, a cover letter, and all his Brazilian and American documentation. Check.

Then he was notified on Friday April 30th that he has passed through to the first phase of proficiency testing to qualify for the job. There are 4 phases, and in order to pass each one he has to get 50%...at the end, all the candidates who passed all 4 phases will be looked at and the one who did the best overall will be chosen based on their point totals from each phase. There are 24 candidates and 1 job opening, so we are praying, that's for sure!

So the next step is a writing and translation test on either May 13th or 14th, his date and time slot to be determined! I'm excited about this one. :)

He is also interviewing as we speak for a temporary warehouse position at Intervarsity Press which would be a great place to work and has the potential to turn into a full time job with benefits as well. The benefits are key in our situation right now...but the Lord knows that! We will just be thrilled with whatever comes of all of these options because we are trusting that God's will will be done. And His way is the BEST way, says a Veggie Tales song I know and love.

Last night we were blessed with the presence of a dear friend, Yani, for dinner. She moved to Alaska with her husband a few months ago and was back in town visiting friends and arranging for her car to be shipped up to her (man, that's far). We had a lovely evening with dinner, some yummy desserts, good Brazilian decaff coffee, wonderful conversation, and some fun Mary Kay talk as well. It was an encouragement to our souls!

So at the end of the evening, Joaquim and I were tired from long days for each of us, went to bed early to wake up early so he could get to Wooddale by 9am, but we went to bed happy and feeling the kind of exhaustion that means you got a lot accomplished in one day. That's the best. :)

How to pray...

2010-04-29T15:46:00.003-05:00

I have a lot of prayer requests these days. Sometimes I even forget just how many I have until I start to envision what my life will actually be like after late August and I realize that it will be impossible if things remain as they are. Something has to change. Or about 5 big things.

But I'm not here to complain.

I'm here to ponder prayer. I heard a sermon recently that I really liked. It urged praying boldly and specifically. Now, that sounded great to me because I thought that if I just sharpened my requests a little bit and maybe asked with a bit more attitude, God would say "Ohh, ok, I was just waiting for you to ask that way. Here you go honey."

He hasn't done that...yet. (See, I still like to leave things open for Him...)

When request after request was answered with a solid "no", I started to think there was a problem with me, with us. We weren't reading the Bible enough, we weren't praying enough, my morning conversations with God in the shower are too convenient for me, I really need to sit down and journal for at least an hour and 1/2 every evening.

But then I thought again...what is prayer? Isn't prayer a dialogue? Doesn't prayer involve worship? Adoration? Thanksgiving? And...GASP...listening to God?

So I guess my point is that I am going to keep pounding the heavenly pavement and asking for my specific and bold requests because we NEED them to be answered, but...that's not all prayer is. And if I ever think it is, I'm sure that breaks God's heart. He wants us to really know Him, and that is not just a one-way street. He wants us to let Him in and to revitalize our lives and hearts, to shake up our routines (mine is very well homogenized by now, thank you) and to make everything else fall away that is not of eternal importance. This doesn't happen by simply asking boldly for something.

Now, the sermon that I heard was NOT saying that requests are the only aspect of prayer. But unfortunately, that's what I took away from the message. Yes, I was so focused on my needs that I tried to slap a formula on them and see if God would respond the way I was hoping He would. Poor me, I'm afraid I was an idiot.

To quote a very non-Christian song, "life is a highway..." It's not a series of pit stops that involve upgrading your car. It is a journey. And I want to move forward...I'm convinced that waiting for my requests to be answered is my vehicle right now, and...well, I just am looking forward to a bathroom break soon!

God is Good
- He provided a large part of the money we need to pay my mounting medical bills. We're not out of the woods yet, and we wish we could have used that money to go out for steak or something, but He is true to His promise: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
- I am constantly awed at how great our apartment is. We got such a good deal and it's a wonderful place.
- Most of my maternity clothes were provided for me from some wonderful and some surprising sources. Acquiring a whole new wardrobe because you don't fit into ANY of your clothes is not easy!

Some of the Prayer Requests
- Job for Joaquim! He currently has an application in at the Brazilian Consulate in Chicago and we are hoping that this is the one that comes through! Whatever job he gets, it would be wonderful if it came with insurance benefits...though we'll be grateful for anything at this point!
- Health for all three of us and the resources to keep paying off the medical bills
- Wisdom in the months to come, financially and in terms of caregivers for our little Oliver. We are praying for a NON DAYCARE option that would...well...drop into our laps please. :-)

Aaaaaand we're back!

2010-04-13T12:15:00.003-05:00

Jimmy Fallon and Ben Affleck SNL skit. Props to you if you know which one I'm talking about.

We have made it back safe and sound to the US! Two long days of travel and one big day spent working, doing laundry, going to the grocery store, and passing out at 8pm are over and I think we're back on track.

I have a lot to catch up on here, so I will try not to skip over any big events during our trip!

First of all, Joaquim's birthday was last Tuesday and it was a great day! His highlights were having ice cream with his two favorite ladies (me and Mãe) and then a CHURRASCO for dinner. That was some good meat! Baby liked it too and was kicking his approval. :) Pai made a lovely service in the chapel and it was a great time for family and friends to come over to Lar for a celebration. I had to give Joaquim his gift before we left so I kind of felt empty-handed on his actual birthday but I hope he still enjoyed lots of happy birthday kisses and spending the day together. :) We have since also celebrated with my family at my parents house this Sunday. Lots of guacamole and red cake. It made for a very colorful and delicious meal, and plenty of laughter to go around.

Joaquim was able to speak at church on Wednesday night, our last church service in Assis for the time being. I was blessed to hear him and trust that he really encouraged the church there. We are in prayer for them now for their growth and for a freshness in the faith of each one of them...as well as in us! It was a blessing to participate with them, and I enjoyed singing as part of Joaquim's message that evening as well.

The rest of our time in Assis was spent soaking up moments of conversation, and it seemed like we just had great meal after great meal. We'd wake up to a nice breakfast, then just a couple hours later it seemed as though we were sitting down again to a nice lunch, then a nice coffee break, then a nice dinner...and we just ate and ate and talked and ate! Joaquim got a few things done for Mãe in helping her prepare the taxes, and we each did our best to help serve Lar in a few administrative capacities during our last few days. That is a great need there...

On Saturday evening we said a very hard goodbye to Mãe and Pai at the bus station. Joaquim and Mãe had a moment that brought tears to everyone's eyes as it was clear that Mãe really didn't want to say goodbye to him. She is such a strong woman and I can count on one hand the times I have seen her cry, so that really did me in! The bus ride was a bit somber in light of that, and by the time we got to São Paulo we were pretty beaten up physically and emotionally.

Joaquim's cousin Leandro picked us up at the bus station (which is the size of an airport, I swear...huge!) and we went back to his house to meet his new little baby boy! After a nice breakfast with him and his wife Carla and the sleeping baby, we took showers and then took a NAP for a good 2 hours. Joaquim was hesitant to nap because he doesn't like to sleep when conversations can be had, but in his sympathy for me he laid down a bit and was out in a flash. After we woke up, his aunt and uncle had arrived to start the preparations for another CHURRASCO mmmmm. Another aunt and uncle came over for lunch, as well as lots of other people I did not know, and we had a delicious meal. The best part was the cheese-stuffed garlic bread that was put on the grill as well. I had quite a few pieces, let me tell you. Around 3, yet another aunt and uncle came over to pick us up and bring us to the airport. Between two cars (American suitcases filled with 10 pounds of coffee don't fit well in Brazilian car trunks...) we made it to the airport super early and they blessed us by hanging out a bit after we had checked in and took us to McDonald's. Mmmm McDonald's. So good.

The airport situation was comical because it was the first time a stranger had asked me if I was pregnant. So I got whooshed ahead to the front of all the lines. Checking in, then at security, and by the time we saw the big line at the exit immigration, Joaquim had learned the system and he asked a guard if there was a special line for pregnant women. The guard responded with an enthusiastic, "well of course! Right this way!" and ushered us both up to the front once again. I must say that I was very grateful because standing for long periods of time while pregnant and after a VERY long night and day was just not high on my to-do list.

Our flight (thank the Lord we bought a direct ticket...that was wise...) was really uneventful, and I did my dutiful hourly walking. Even if I had been sleeping soundly it seemed like I woke up on the hour no matter what. I was so nervous about taking care of myself and the baby so I guess I had my internal alarm programmed! It was a relief to land and know that we were done with traveling. My dad picked us up at O'Hare and we popped into their house to say hi to my mom before hitting the road back to our apartment to shower and get ready for work. I was in such a daze all day Monday that I am not even sure what happened that day. All I know is that I went to bed at 8:00 that night and felt much better on Tuesday.

So, what have we been up to in the last week? Joaquim has continued back on the job hunt...he has an open application at UPS that he was hoping would turn into employment by now, but we're in the waiting game. He is applying places left and right and trying to tap into new and old connections. We also had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday and were pleased to see a healthy baby! He is continuing to measure a bit ahead of schedule each time. They say it's a boy, so those male Allen genes are kicking in for sure! Yikes...

Now we're getting back into the routine here and also trying not to let ourselves become too content with the routine. We're always pressed in some way and learning something new...and God is always good! We're so grateful to have had a wonderful trip. Thanks for all your prayers!

Aracnaphobia!!

2010-04-03T17:19:00.002-05:00

For those who haven't seen that movie, count your blessings and let me say that I saw enough live wild spiders for my entire life yesterday. I was just sauntering into the bathroom when I saw a big, fat, hairy, black tarantula sitting on the side of the bathtub. I circled right on out of there, said "ohhhhhhhhh my goshhhhhhh" and ran out to Joaquim. "Ummm there is a VERY big spider in our bathroom." He went and sprayed some spider killing spray at it but it seemed more perturbed than, well, dead. It just walked on out of the bathtub, along the floor, and started heading out into the bedroom. Joaquim flipped it onto its back in the bathroom and it looked like it was dead, but after about 1 minute it stretched out its legs and righted itself. Flipped again, and then Joaquim grabbed it between two flip flops (this sucker was way too big to just smash...) and flushed it down the toilet. I kept a distance of about 10-20 feet during the whole incident, took a couple pictures, and mostly squealed while Mãe laughed and Joaquim concentrated on the poor arachnid's imminent death.

Well, this was at the end of a full, very busy, day.

The day started off very nicely...it was a federal holiday in Brazil (Good Friday) and all the kids were off school, all the stores were closed so there were no errands to run...a very nice forced break. We woke up around 9, had a calm, lazy breakfast, and then were almost immediately off to Gilberto and Roseli's house for lunch. I don't think I felt hungry once yesterday, due purely to constant eating. We had some good chicken, pasta, rice, and Guaraná (oh I am over caffeinating myself these days I am SURE) and lively conversation, then headed out around 2. After helping Cristina make some brownies here, we headed back out to visit Joaquim's cousin who lives in Assis but I had never met. First we went to his aunt's house, sat and chatted there for an hour, then went with her to Ursula's house and were there for two hours eating carrot cake and chatting. I think we left there around 5 or 6, and I was EXHAUSTED. It was hot inside the house and we were cramped at the kitchen table and I was just ready for a nap. Thankfully Joaquim responded to his pregnant wife's request to make our polite exit, and off we went. Except for the fact that we still had to drop off his aunt. Tia Ivanese is just the sweetest thing, but whenever we go over there, there is NO leaving! So we get to her house and her daughter invited us in right away and had made mousse de maracuja (passion fruit mousse) and cake and juice. More eating and talking. I was actually enjoying the conversation but I was so tired that I could have just cried. At one point I pondered upon how sleepy I was and tears actually did come to my eyes. I have a cold, I was thinking about how an illness and exhaustion is not good for a body that is in the process of making a human being, and then the hormones kicked in and made me one upset mama.

So I sat there, tapping Joaquim's leg, for about 40 minutes and at 8pm we left. When we arrived home I planned on laying down and maybe snoozing until dinner (completely unnecessary after all the food we'd eaten but this silly baby needs to eat on a regular basis, and maybe something of nutritional value!) when I encountered Harry the spider. And there was the end of any chance of sleep.

We ended up going to bed at about 10:30 or 11 after a day of lots of great conversation and fellowship...and a few tears that were quickly enveloped by SLEEP.

Today I've felt infinitely better, only a few sneezes, and I got a nap this afternoon. This equals a happy mama. :)

We hung around Lar and Pai and Mãe's house today...had breakfast, chatted, washed all our clothes, took a little walk, had lunch, slept, chilllllllled. Now we are downloading an episode of Lost on iTunes (I still had $12 from a gift card I got Christmas of 2008 on my itunes account...sweeeeeeet) and Joaquim is preparing to speak at church tomorrow.

It hardly feels like Easter weekend here...I've been a little nostalgic about Easter at home because we're not really celebrating in any way. Of course there is chocolate, but no church service on Good Friday and not much more than normal tomorrow morning it seems. Of course I've grown out of all the fun childhood Easter traditions we used to do in my family (and soon will do with our little Oliver, Lord willing!) but I still LOVE Easter. Yesterday as Joaquim and I drove through town I saw just how empty it was because of the day off. Then we drove past a Catholic church and saw that it was standing room only. The line at the butcher's counter at the supermarket today was also out the door, because all the Catholics are free to eat meat now. So there is a bit of an effort to not do anything show-boaty in church because this is SUCH a Catholic holiday here, and most of the people who "celebrate" by having fish on Friday and going to church for the only time all year don't even understand or know the significance of the day. In an effort to be different than the Catholics, there is a lack of recognition of Jesus's death on the cross because it has to be recognized every day, not just a religious attempt once a year. Ok, I get that...but I still miss a really good Good Friday service at Harvest and saying "Christ is Risen!! He is risen indeed!!" at church on Sunday morning.

But we will celebrate in our hearts tomorrow! And it's good to experience the holiday here and know how Joaquim is used to it...and plan how our Easter will be next year, no matter where we will be located.

Life in Assis

2010-03-31T08:22:00.002-05:00

We made it safely all the way to Lar on Saturday! It's really a miracle that we can get here so "easily" considering the thousands of miles we traveled. Airplanes, cars, and busses.

We left Thursday evening and had a pretty good flight. My normal routine is to take 2 tylenol PM as soon as I sit down and buckle my seat belt, pop in some earplugs, put on a mask to cover my eyes, and I wake up for breakfast. That was slightly interrupted by a very small child this time, and now to fight swelling in my feet and legs I had to get up once an hour and walk around. It is just marvelous to pull yourself out of a seat at 3:45am after having barely slept and go for a stroll. About 5 or 6 hours into the 10 1/2 hour flight I knelt down to grab my shoes from under my seat and noticed that my legs were definitely swollen, so that encouraged me to keep walking. We had a few moments of turbulence that always freak me out, so I was glad to have a hand to hold and just tried to stay calm. If I'm freaking out, the baby freaks out too! It was in one of those moments that Joaquim felt his first kick from our little one, who was definitely putting on some acrobatics, maybe because of my sudden onset of hypertension, whoops.

When we got to São Paulo, Isaac picked us up and the airport and we left to spend 3 hours in the car. I'm not sure how far Tio Silvio's house is from the airport in miles, but it definitely is NOT supposed to take 3 hours. We were parked on the highway for a good bit, and watched the gas gauge start flashing, knowing an exit and a gas station were a loooong way away. We made it to fill up the car and our stomachs and then headed back out into the parking lot. Isaac picked us up at 10, and after eating and sitting, we were at his parents house by about 2:30. Yikes. We took a shower, took a nap, had some quick coffee, and were off again to the bus station. It took us 2 hours to get there. Then we had a 12 hour bus ride, and I slept for almost the whole thing. Not terribly well, but I was out.

So after lots of driving and sitting and watching the incredible growth of my ogre/hobbit feet, we finally made it to Assis Chateaubriand at 8am on Saturday morning. Phew.

Since then, we have done LOTS of sitting in nice comfy lawn chairs in the new "área" at Pai and Mãe's house. They recently did some rearranging and knocked out a few walls of the entryway of their house, leaving a nice covered area that goes straight through to the back laundry room. They have a nice big wooden table there and some chairs to relax, and the wind goes right through. It is just delicious! We have sat there talking with Pai and Mãe, have had breakfast, lunch, coffee, and dinner there most days, and it is just marvelous.

Saturday and Sunday involved lots of this sitting and talking, and eating homemade bread. I have eaten more bread during this pregnancy than ever before I think! And Mãe, knowing I'd been craving her bread for months, very graciously made 16 loaves immediately upon our arrival. I probably ate a whole loaf by myself when all was said and done. Whoops.

Monday morning we spent the whole morning at the City Hall. Joaquim wanted to see everyone in his department, but seeing as he knows EVERYONE there, we would take about two steps and then have to stop and say hi to someone. Two more steps and there's someone else. And you see how it goes. After lunch, we went to get our Brazilian marriage certificate here, which was a bit of a process, dropped random kids off at random schools in the afternoon, got some ice cream (duh...) and in the evening went to Tia Ivanese's house for some pizza and Guaraná. (Man, I am struggling with caffeine! I have about 1 cup of coffee a day (or two half-cups since it is usually served twice) and then it is sooooo difficult to refuse Guaraná. But I'm doing my best!) We were at Tia Ivanese's house until midnight, chatting the night away, and then slept until 11 the next morning. Ohhhh vacation. :)

Yesterday was a calmer day, with a short morning and lots more relaxing in the afternoon. We ran some more errands and when we were in town we stopped by a few people's houses. All of them had little babies! Joaquim wanted to see a friend of his who had come to our party here in June and that was the last time he saw her. So we drove past her work, went in, and she was nowhere to be found. He asked one of the other guys there if she was around and he said she was on leave. Joaquim asked, "well...is she ok??" because that sounded a bit serious. The guy responded "yea, yea, you know, just maternity leave." Joaquim said "WHAT??" Turns out, she had a baby the day before we left to come here. So we were one of little Fernanda's first visitors. It was funny to see how life will be like with a liiiiiittle newborn baby. Lots of sleeping and feeding of course. She half-heartedly invited us to have dinner there someday, but I have a feeling that would be a bit much...

Oh, there was more ice cream involved in our life yesterday afternoon.

For the whole evening, we just talked and talked and talked, staying up again until about 12:30am talking with Mãe after everyone had gone to bed.

It has been pretty hot here, and Joaquim keeps saying that it's so loud. I guess he's sort of gotten used to the quietness of suburban neighborhoods. For the first few days I think he was in shock as he got back into a "routine" here, but it has been so nice to be here. We are trying to refresh and recharge ourselves, as well as be a listening ear and a support where we can.

You can pray for both of us are we're fighting pseudo-colds. It could just be our bodies adjusting to the HEAT, but we've got scratchy throats that I hope turn into nothing else. I'm glad to have my super powered prenatal vitamin and lots of oranges at my disposal.

Our little guy is doing well - I feel him moving around every day! Joaquim preached at church on Sunday night and he did two somersaults as soon as he heard his voice on the microphone! We just read that he can now taste whatever I eat, and it seems he's a fan of melon. Yum. :)

That's all for now! We're off to run more errands!

Brazil Bound

2010-03-11T17:09:00.003-06:00

I guess it's time to gear up for our trip to Brazil! 2 weeks from today, on the 25th, we will be boarding a plane to São Paulo and will visit our family in Brazil for a wonderful 2 weeks.

I am so looking forward to a break in routine and some time with long missed family members. But it still seems like this trip isn't real! Maybe because my passport is still floating around at the consulate waiting for a visa. Oh well, it should get back in my hands soon. We will soon be packing bags and I will be trying to figure out how to survive a 10 our flight as a pregnant woman. That will be new! No tylenol pm for me, and lots of snacks in my purse. I wish they served passion fruit juice on the airplane because that would help knock me out!

As always, the 2 weeks will go by so quickly but I am looking forward to being together at Lar, where we first met 4 years ago this month, as a married couple! And man am I looking forward to some of Mãe's homemade bread with butter. I have been thinking about it since I got pregnant...it's probably my strongest and least satisfied craving yet!

We are giddy about the promise of a GREAT trip and...I guess we'd better get packing because the clock is ticking!

His Eye is on the Sparrow

2010-03-09T10:37:00.003-06:00

I just love this song. For weeks it has been stuck in my head, and my first choice for singing in the shower, the car, while cooking, whatever. It's a beautiful melody and I like to pretend I could duet with Lauryn Hill (further proof that sometimes I'm delusional...) Here are the lyrics:

Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for Heav'n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Refrain:
I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Mostly, I just like to sing that song. It's beautiful, it's expressive and passionate, and I sound pretty good in the shower. But I was nearly knocked over by a "moment" a couple weeks ago during our gospel choir concert. A soloist started off with the first verse and no one knew this song was even on the list. As I stood on the top riser behind her, I was surprised that a song that has been so special to me in the past few months, though I didn't know why, was now being sung right in front of me.

It was then that I remembered a nearly 20 year old "nickname" of mine. When I was in early elementary school, my dad and I joined Indian Princesses. It's a father-daughter group through the YMCA that meets weekly and offers some weekly togetherness time, doing crafts, playing games, and, if I remember correctly, taking a yearly weekend retreat. Your group is a "tribe" and you and your dad choose an "indian name" to be known by when everyone gets together. I remember that some of the girls in our "tribe" had names like "purple moon" or "pink star" and I was always slightly jealous of their girly, galactic names. Why would I be jealous? Well, mine was plain and small. My dad was called "big owl", which seemed pretty fitting to me, but I was just "little sparrow".

Little did I know that this meaningless nickname that never stuck and that I had never called to mind once in the last however many years would nearly knock me off my riser on February 26th, 2010. As I listened to a beautiful song, I felt the Lord remind me of this name, and it was as if He was saying, "This is for you. I see you and I am taking care of you." Just as my dad was "big owl" and was tall and wise, my Heavenly Father is HUGE and POWERFUL and ALL KNOWING. And to Him, I am still just a little sparrow, and it is He who provides for me.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good

2010-02-26T10:44:00.002-06:00

My last post was about trying to be grateful even while disappointed, afraid, and upset. Last night as I was falling asleep (which is a .02 second process lately since I'm preggers...did I mention that here???) I was singing a song in my head. It's not a new song, as there are so many Psalms with this phrasing: "Oh Oh Give thanks to the Lord for He is good". And that's all the song says.

I was struck by its simplicity. Not just lyrically, but conceptually. The concept of gratitude to the Lord is SIMPLE. Basically, we should just always be thankful. Not just because we're being mandated or because the Bible says so and we just have to get over our junk and be grateful because there are starving children in China, so eat the rest of your dinner...that never made sense to me anyway. No, it's not a guilt trip, it's not a discipline. There is a very good reason to be giving thanks to the Lord. He's good! All the time!

There are bumps in all our roads...

- We are so looking forward to meeting this little baby (currently the size of a lemon and already sucking its thumb...so tiny and yet totally formed, it's just maturing now...amazing) but we have lots of reasons to wonder "how are we going to do this?" God is good, so we are giving thanks!

- Joaquim is still searching for a job, and that's really hard. We have days where I am exhausted and he is bored out of his mind because he's been stuck in the apartment. But God is providing in very intentional ways. Joaquim got his first check in the mail from preaching at a church in Forreston, IL this month, and he is currently working on a project to help translate a cell phone system into Portuguese. These connections have been divinely placed in our path, without a doubt. We thank you, Lord!

- We were blessed with a hefty tax refund to pay for half of our trip to Brasil next month (March 25-April 11). We booked those tickets wondering what in the world we were thinking, but we put it in God's hands because we know He is pleased as we pursue our future there. A month later our bank account evened out! We thank you, Lord!

- We have wonderful friends and family, here in the Chicagoland area, around the country, and across the globe.

Even if we had nothing and no one, I pray that we would still give thanks. Because we have been given the greatest gift of all, which is the gift of eternity with our God. This life is such a "poof" and it's not important. Who cares if you get the newest smart phone! Make sure you have GOD. And if you do...give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

Disappointment...but Gratitude is the Attitude that sets the Altitude for my Life

2010-01-29T11:07:00.002-06:00

Feeling really confused about why Joaquim didn't get this most recent really promising job he interviewed for. They emailed him and did a phone interview, then called him for a face-to-face interview all the way in Aurora and then call back a week and 1/2 later saying they chose someone else. My first reaction is "well then why did you call in the first place?" It seemed too good to be true.

Some part of me is telling me it was a learning experience, it was a lesson, and it is continuing to be a lesson in faith...especially for me.

I'm trying to meditate on the lyrics of the song "Gratitude" by Nichole Nordeman. They really capture how I feel about our current situation...dry earth, hot sun and no shade...would you please send a cloud, Lord? And yet it brings home the Choice to be grateful for what we have.

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .

All Will Be Well

2009-12-28T15:25:00.003-06:00

Our first married Christmas together was absolutely wonderful!!! Thanks to all for the warm wishes for us. We enjoyed some new traditions for Joaquim and made some of our own. We spent Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day with my family and then the whole family on Christmas Day, which was very nice. Lots of good food (Dad's homemade pizza! and cookies!) and laughter...and of course presents. Joaquim has been enjoying our Wii for a few solid days. And I got maybe too excited about my Cuisinart panini maker/grill/griddle. Mmmm!

One of my favorite parts to the holiday was the Christmas Eve service on Thursday. It was a beautiful evening and the message really touched me.

"Emmanuel: God with us". The whole focus of the evening was how God is present in and involved with our lives. ...or at least that's what I got out of it. At the end, a few people came onstage and shared how God has provided for them or comforted them or cared for them. Then as the band sang, people started popping up throughout the auditorium, holding signs saying "All will be well...God with us". As the music built and hundreds of people stood to their feet with the signs overhead, I was so moved and suddenly it was like God was tapping my shoulder saying "hey, pay attention...this is for YOU. All will be well. I am with you."

That is such a comforting message: All will be well. It will! No matter what circumstances are facing you down right now (and sometimes approaching a whole new year is daunting...) it will all work out. Not because of positive thoughts or karmic justice, but the sole fact that God is with you.

Marching in the tops of the balsam trees

2009-12-18T09:32:00.002-06:00

In 2 Samuel 5, David "inquired of the Lord", as he did often, if he should go attach the Philistines and if the Lord would give him a victory. God's response was so awesome, I just had to share it here... He told David that yes, He would go before Him and defeat the Philistines for him, and gave directions as to when David should go out and fight against them. His 'cue' would be when David heard the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees.

"As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." 2 Samuel 5:24

Can you imagine? They must have been in a forested area, it could have been hard to know exactly where the other army was, and maybe David's victory depended completely on God because He would have no chance otherwise. So he probably informed his army to just sit tight until they heart marching in the treetops. What would that marching be? God's army marching through above them to fight a battle that was just part of a war still raging today? And you have to wonder if at least a few people thought David was totally nuts...or maybe they all just had great faith in God as their deliverer and defender, because they had seen Him prove Himself to them time after time.

God may not make treetops rustle with the sound of boots barreling through very often these days, but He still does make a way for us. Yesterday I was reading my Bible in the morning and I was feeling apprehensive about what else the future could hold. So I just asked God to remind me of his promised plans for us, before I opened His word. I noticed a highlighted page as I flipped through to find where I'd left off, and took a detour into Isaiah. There I saw Isaiah 45:2. "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron." I clung to this verse during the spring of 2007, when I was graduating from Taylor and wondering how the heck God was going to do everything I sensed He was telling me He would. I was thinking about visas to Brazil, dating Joaquim (we hadn't started yet...) and then an international wedding (yes I had high hopes even before dating him!) and...you know...there were LOTS of barriers when I looked at things. So God gave me this verse and very clearly told me that yes, there are barriers. But He is bigger and stronger than they are.

Now this verse encouraged me again, because it seems obstacles never cease. There will always be something that I think we won't make it through, or somewhere we will never arrive. Oh, me of little faith! Thank the Lord for reminding me... what just happened this Monday? Joaquim got his green card in record time, we are married, we are exactly where we're supposed to be.

And how did we get here? Well, there must have been some balsam trees rustling somewhere...

Humbled and Awed

2009-12-14T16:31:00.003-06:00

I haven't written lately because I just haven't had the time to contemplate, and I quickly tired of talking about food...because I have been too busy to look for new and exciting recipes. That sure happened fast, didn't it?

Well, lots of things are moving quickly! Green cards are supposed to take 6-9 months to process...but Joaquim received his in the mail today after less than 3 months! Are you jaw-dropped-to-the-floor surprised? Yea, we were too! It wasn't really supposed to come until April or so...and here it is! Merry Christmas!

So, what does this mean? Well, it means that God is at work and this is for a reason. It doesn't mean we're hopping on a plane, because we are realizing we have a lot to stabilize here first...and that will take some time. You can be praying for us at this stage - the only next step we currently have is just that Joaquim is looking high and low for a job. Once that gets taken care of we will be able to plan a bit better for the future, but we're not quite there yet.

Our attitude is really one of amazement, as you could guess from the title of this post. We are just blown away by how smoothly this process has gone until now, and don't want to do anything to mess it up! God's hands are just all over this situation and we're taking every step before Him. He has been very clear about closing some doors as far as jobs go for Joaquim, and that has been interesting...it seems as though everything he has been really close to sealing the deal on, just wasn't good enough to the opportunity fizzled for no apparent reason. I guess that is just me being optimistic that it could only have been God saying "just hold on..." We know there is a really good plan here, but we are still in the dark!

Financially, God has been providing our every single need and blessing us here and there with babysitting jobs and things like a $700 dollar discount on getting the catalytic converter replaced on our car. He is so good, but He is just not letting us plan ahead! I've got to admit it's getting a liiiiittle frustrating. :) I know that in our hearts we plan our ways but God directs our steps. We are doing our best to ask for His guidance in every step and He has been faithful to give it. We know He will continue doing that.

Right now, we are praying about when our first trip to Brazil will be, and how that will go logistically. It will be a quick visit...but even those are expensive! Joaquim is looking into some options for classes at Harper, to potentially lead into further education and training to be a pastor...which would obviously be incredible. It feels as though God is just stirring up the waters, and it is AMAZING to think that Joaquim now has nearly every legal right here in the US that I do...all except voting. He can officially own property and he is eligible for any kind of school and would not be considered an "international student" with all the crazy paperwork involved. Recalling our attempts at planning his studies here a year and a half ago, and how many hurdles we faced, it seems nearly too good to be true that none of that would apply right now. This is just so good...what in the world is next? Stay tuned...

Lady Liza

2009-11-03T09:51:00.002-06:00

Joaquim and I have made quite a team of ourselves, babysitting. It's been fun and usually we watch two little ones named Liza and Jake. Liza is a little over two years old, and Jake is 7 or 8 months (although he is huge and wears 24 month clothes!) The family is not a Christian family, and that is very apparent just from being in their home. I browsed their bookshelves one day and was just grieved by all the self-help books and explorations of mystic and "spiritual you" sorts of premises. Last Friday, Gus (the dad) was telling us that they went to a pumpkin patch at a local church, and he went out of his way to explain that the ONLY reason they went to the church was for the pumpkin patch. Ok, message received.

So we watch their sweet kids, play games, read books, coax mashed turkey baby food into a laughing mouth and a wobbly head, and it's a great time. The kids love us, and we are quite fond of them. Usually Joaquim takes charge of "baby Jake" (though he still makes me change all the diapers...this will not be true of our future children, but he hasn't realized that yet...) and gets him changed, feeds him his bottle, waits till he falls asleep on his shoulder, and puts him to bed. (Yes, it is super cute.) Liza and I are buddies, and I put her to bed.

This last time, she wanted me to lay down with her a bit (she wasn't super tired, so whatever needed to happen to calm her down, happened!) There we were, I was singing her some songs to go to sleep, and she was starting to close her eyes after a few books read in a calm, quiet voice, and then lights out. So just before I left the room, I said "ok, let's pray."

She looked at me and said, "play?"

And at that moment, my heart broke into a million pieces.

This sweet, blonde, curly haired, skinny, smiley girl who knows all her colors and can sort of count and has memorized the authors name of her favorite book and always likes to flip to the back cover to see her picture...this precious little one doesn't even have the word "PRAY" in her advanced-for-a-two-year-old vocabulary.

So I prayed for her to sleep well, to be safe and healthy, and that she would come to know the Lord someday. And maybe next time we'll talk about Jesus.

Dreams

2009-10-15T15:25:00.002-05:00

I was talking with my sister-in-law yesterday about dreams. Not the kind you have when you sleep, but rather those desires you hold dear to your heart and sometimes far from reality. Everyone has an IDEAL life in mind for themselves 15 years out. What's yours?

When I think of mine, I think of people. Lots of people. I won't go into details because...well, that's scary. But I don't think of accomplishments or a job or a house or what kind of car we'll have...I just see faces and I see steaming coffee at a BIG kitchen table (not our 4-person baby table that is currently squeezed into our kitchen.) I see myself in a position to help and counsel lots of young women. I see Joaquim and I saying every day, "I'm not sure we can do this..." but giving, doing, and believing what God has told us.

I guess this thought was born out of reading the Boundless Webzine...(that's a magazine online, fyi. It's done by Focus on the Family and started as a resource for single 20-somethings, but is growing into something that applies to young married couples and young parents. Basically it's ideal insight for my generation.)

http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001151.cfm - Quarantining a Generation
I've heard a lot about the problem of people my age just dropping out of church. And I do really understand why someone would stop going. It's hard work to get connected in this culture, because we are busy. We don't value each other enough, and we are far too distractable and need too much stimulation to think anything is worthwhile. Whatever happened to talking over coffee and getting to know someone? Those are the best moments. Be curious about someone's life and heart and ask them about themselves. LISTEN. Don't try and compare your life to theirs to have some common ground. That is NOT necessary and in fact can be detrimental to a conversation. Just look them in the eyes, and really listen. Then respond without using the word "I".

Another thought about the youth church culture. Man am I familiar with that. And I'd say 80% of the people I was in youth church with in highschool and college are now nowhere near church. But why? We had a coffee bar and screaming concerts on Friday nights?

"The cry of the emerging church is for relevancy. To keep young adults from slipping out the back never to return, churches believe they must compete with bars, coffee shops and nightclubs.

Jesus didn't try to compete with the culture. He loved people and He spoke the truth, and those were the qualities the masses responded to, not His showmanship. Expecting the church to be relevant to every age group at all times is unrealistic."

Here's the KEY: Love people and speak the truth.

A Conversation with a Friend...and a Discovery

2009-10-14T10:15:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I had a chat with a friend of mine, whose name I have changed for her protection. :) But as we talked, I had a great "hindsight is 20/20" moment that I wanted to share....

Friend: What were you thinking when it started to come about with Joaquim?

me: hmm...I remember just thinking it was crazy

but I think each time i just did it and then realized later that I have no idea what happened

dating, engagement, marriage

all of them happened and then I turned around and was like "woah, what happened!"

Friend: I can see that.

I'm just afraid I'll make a mistake - or be one step ahead of or behind God - or push for something I want that's outside His will - or have my heart broken - or break someone's heart - or - or - or

me: yea you're thinking too much

haha

Friend: augh

again or still? :)

me: always

haha

Friend: In all honestly I'm not sure if I'm more afraid that "he" could be it or that it could be that it isn't him and I'm left with nothing but the continued wait

me: hmm

but you don't need to fear the wait

because God is in control of the wait

he invented it

and uses it often to teach us stubborn people really easy stuff ;)

when I started dating Joaquim, it was an easy decision because it had been SO long

Friend: SO long what?\

me: the way we talked for over a year

non-committal, confusion

lots of time with me on the couch, praying and journaling and seeking the Lord for 'what are you doing?'

and the message I kept getting was "wait. this is good."

after a whole year of God trimming me to be with this one man...

every other decision was just a "duh"

so don't fight the waiting

because it makes things easier in the long run

I think God changed me a lot in order to get me in the right position to receive him in my life, my family...

obviously He always knew who I would end up with, but I wasn't in the right position

like a baby when it's backwards haha

OBVIOUSLY it's gotta come out

Friend: haha

me: but sometimes the doctor needs to reach his own hands in and turn things around

and that's what that year was for me

Friend: wow

me: sharpening of my focus and my heart, my desires

and then on May 15, 2007, I just popped on out!

Friend: AH!

Happy birthday!

me: seemed easy, but it had been a year in the making haha

(of course I was totally oblivious to this for that year, keep in mind)

(and it felt like torture, not gentle hands slowly adjusting me)

so the BEST thing you can do is stay VERY VERY VERY close to God

and if every day He has his way with you

you will turn and lean just a little bit each day

and then finally...POP! out you'll go :)

and you won't have to look back once

Friend: hahaha, the first thought that popped into my head when I read that "stay very very very close to God" was : God if I do, can I keep him? (Meaning the guy). :)

me: haha

Friend: I realize that when I start to freak out is when I think I'm in control

Which is funny, cause that's where my ridiculous self tells me I want to be

But then I freak out.

You'd think I'd laern.

*learn

me: hahaha

nope we are very stupid, we humans ;)

Friend: yes, yes we are.

Stay close to God. Don't control. Stay close to God. Don't control.

Got it

I think

me: and maybe you have to do that 20 times a day

haha

but you'll come out alright :)

next year perhaps :)

Friend: O

*Oy

Sometimes my perfectionistic mind tends to think that by my staying close to God He would "reward" me with "Mark"

me: hmm

Friend: But I know that Truth is that staying close to Him causes me to become who He needs me to be

It changes my mind, not His. :) Thank you for the shot of strength and encouragement, dear Christine.

I'll talk to you soon. Thanks again.

Arms locked!

me: locked and loaded! love you!

One Month...now where is Macaroni Grille?

2009-10-07T10:43:00.003-05:00

Happy one month of marriage for me and Joaquim! Yesterday was the lovely anniversary...it's always funny to count months, but I'm sure we'll stop once we get to a year. Or maybe not.

We had big plans for our big day!

First I did laundry at my parents house before work, on lunch break, and after work. Yes, the washing machine in our apartment has been broken for 2 weeks and we had 3 weeks of laundry piled up. I did enough to last us till Monday when it will supposedly be fixed for real (although I don't believe much that I hear on this subject these days...) and there is still a small mountain of clothing in the corner of our bedroom. When I can finally tackle that, I will be the happiest woman in the world.

When I got home around 6, we chilled for a bit and then got ready to go to Macaroni Grille for dinner. We got a gift certificate there for our wedding and we were saving it for a special occasion. It had arrived! I googled restaurant locations and found one in Hoffman Estates that was about 30 minutes away and had us taking 90 west. Not really wanting to hop on that atrocious road at the tail end of rush hour, I kept looking and found one in Deerfield, 25 minutes away. Deerfield it was.

Joaquim took a shower and put on his strapping new sweater vest, which is probably the most adorable item of clothing he now owns. Love it. I touched up my makeup and put my hair up and off we went. Nearly half an hour later, we were arriving...and arriving...and suddenly...we were in Northbrook? Where was Macaroni Grille? Apparently it does not exist in that location.

Trying to still make the most out of a sour situation, we tried out Northbrook Court. I figured they'd have a Friday's or something where we could at least sit down and have a nice date out. Nothing. They had PF Changs (Joaquim detests Chinese food) and Subway. Seriously?

So...we went to the drive through McDonald's in Wheeling on our way home, watched House while eating french fries, and then had a piece of the top of our wedding cake (no way were we waiting a year! That thing would have been naaaaasty), which was delicious.

All in all, it was a fun evening. Not as fancy and romantic as planned, but it was fitting for the Fragosos. We do love McDonald's, and we also love House, and we like our couch and our living room. We chatted the whole hour drive, without distraction, and had a great conversation. We laughed a lot about our mishap, we cuddled on our couch, and went to sleep at a reasonable hour...it was a good night.

NEXT month we are going to Macaroni Grille for real.

Prayer requests:
- The check engine light in the camry came on again! It's an old car with almost 150,000 miles...and the only one we have. Still gets us from A to B, but feels a bit like it's teetering on the edge of the end of its life. Something needs to happen in this situation and only God knows what!
- Keep praying for Joaquim's work permit to come through in time. End of December, Lord?

Woodfield Mall

2009-10-02T09:53:00.002-05:00

It had been quite a while since I had last meandered through Woodfield Mall. Joaquim and I went there last night and managed to do the unthinkable, the impossible, the miraculous....we left the mall with MORE money than when we arrived.

But I must say, it was difficult, humbling, and eye opening to walk through that place. We just had to return a duplicate gift from the wedding, and by the time we actually got to Crate & Barrel, I had absolutely no desire to browse and buy anything with our return money.

Why, you ask?

We parked by Macy's, so walking through that store was a little bit shocking. I haven't been an extravagant shopper for a while now (I remember how much I used to spend on clothes in high school...totally ridiculous!) so it's not like I was suddenly being confronted with department store price tags for the first time, but being married to Joaquim has definitely changed my outlook a little bit. He really needs some winter sweaters and a coat, which we will get soon...but he is so hesitant to spend money on clothes because it really is more of a luxury than he is used to, buying multiple items of clothing at one time. His mom would always give him a new outfit for Christmas/New years...and that's it. Random t-shirts here and there, but he never has gone and outfitted himself for a season before.

Seeing his heart, caring nothing about fashion but only about what would actually keep him warm, and his almost childlike innocence, thinking "do I really NEED that?" was convicting and humbling. How many times did I go shopping with my mom at places like The GAP, Express, H&M (although they're not ridiculously priced), and ask her to buy me things I didn't need? Thankfully my mom never let me get tons and tons of stuff, but I always left with a pretty heavy shopping bag. I realized last night that I also usually left those stores feeling unhappy, unsatisfied, and like my outfits weren't going to cut it. I always left looking at a mannequin and thinking "I wish I had THAT outfit..." I would walk past display windows and feel bad for myself because I didn't have that pair of $150 boots.

Last night in Macy's I saw a mother and daughter with their arms piled high with clothes. I saw very fashionably dressed middle aged women, browsing through name brand blouses. And I just felt sad for them. Now, I'm not saying that everyone who buys lots of clothes is this poor unhappy soul. If I had a million dollars, I would probably shop at Macy's a time or two. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with it, or with going to the mall. But I just know that I left feeling sad, guilty for how much money we as a society spend on such stupid things, and I didn't even buy anything. I wonder if the girl with the ALDO bag who was on her way into Na Hoku jewelers felt the same way...

On our way home, we were listening to moody radio (I have officially turned into my parents, but let's not dwell on this subject...) and Dr. Dobson was interviewing Tony Dungee (coach of the superbowl winning Colts a few years ago). Tony Dungee is a Christian, and a pretty solid guy from what I heard. Dr. Dobson asked him about family, and why he thinks families are disintegrating more these days than they were 50 years ago. Tony Dungee's thoughts were fascinating. He said that fathers are less involved in this generation because their fathers had a mindset of merely "protect and provide". Most dads didn't spend quality time with their kids, they just worked hard to give them nice things and better opportunities than they had. For most, this didn't end up being a fair trade. Now parents still work their butts off, coming home late, having nannies pick their kids up from school, so they can buy them a car for their 16th birthday or get them a new video game system every Christmas, because they didn't have that when they were younger. But what happens when their kid drops out of school, and they didn't even realize there were problems?

All the parents dragging their kids to the mall and getting them everything they want are missing it. What children, teenagers, young adults, even old adults, need more than what they want is quality time with their family. Maybe not everyone I saw last night was merely in a frenzy of trying to satisfy themselves with cloth and leather and tags that say a name brand on them. But I'd bet most of them were...

I'm just gonna say...

2009-10-01T15:41:00.002-05:00

God is good!

The week is going well...not too much to say, but I guess the name of the game is busy. We're looking for a balance I think. This weekend I feel like we bit off a bit more than we can chew. We're babysitting ALL day on Saturday from 7am until about 3pm. Then going straight to a wedding. We might be a bit sleepy at that reception haha. But it will be a fun time and great to see Suz and Travis get married! We have been blessed this month with a few babysitting opportunities, which we know is an answer to prayer - especially for Joaquim to be able to work in that capacity...even though it's kind of a girl thing! He loves kids, so it's been fun. And we aren't complaining about those open doors!

But man, I am going to miss my Saturday...

Last night was a lovely time at choir...we're getting more involved and meeting more people and it has just been lovely! Plus, I learned my lesson from a rushed dinner last week and decided to throw together a crock pot meal last night. Due to limited ingredients in my fridge, I just made chicken with tomato sauce and onions, and it was just lovely when we got home at 9:30. We got to choir a bit late, and had dinner at almost 10pm. Who am I? The wife of a Brazilian. Funny.

Well, hopefully this rainy evening will be full of REST. :)

oooooooooo vida BOA!

2009-09-29T10:25:00.002-05:00

The good life - An official update

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported us as we continue on our adventure as a newly married couple! The biggest support we had was from our families and friends before and during the wedding.

The week before was wonderful, with my parents and I running around like crazy, and Joaquim and his parents enjoying time with their son, and some sightseeing in Chicago! Isaac, Joaquim's best man, was here from Wednesday until the wedding, and that was wonderful too.

The wedding day was just beautiful, and everything turned out perfectly. I woke up to raindrops, which is good luck! By the time the ceremony was starting, the sun was shining, and the rest of the day was gorgeous. Perfect temperature...God is good! We were so stunned at how many people were there to share the day with us. That is probably what meant the most to us! How many hours people drove, flew, how they lost sleep and comfort in order to see us get married and give their support to our union. It was such a blessing.

Another huge blessing was a honeymoon in Hawaii. We went and came back and it was beautiful...but we also know that is a lifetime dream for many people, and we were able to go there at ages 24 and 25. Maybe never again! But we are so grateful that God made a way for that trip. It was everything we could have imagined, and looking back at the pictures already brings back such sweet memories. Spending time alone, walking on the beach, taking 600 pictures, (thanks to Joaquim!) trying new food, finding comfort food, watching tv in bed, sitting on our balcony having coffee in the morning...it was relaxed and quiet, and it was so nice to just pause life for a week and enjoy each other!

Also, the climate and land in Hawaii reminded Joaquim a lot of Brazil, so that was a nice respite from midwestern blues. Keep him in your prayers as fall and winter barrel through the door! And anyone in warm places, think about keeping your doors open in February, March, and April. We may need to take monthly escape weekends from the tundra!

Now that we are back into "life" we are still so blessed and continue to be SO happy. Our apartment is just a big pile of wonderful. God is so good, and I still have to pinch myself when I remember that my parents lived there too...what a special legacy God prepared for us in that! It's a beautiful place, it is now cozy and homey...I love our kitchen especially (which is good because I spend a LOT of time there...which I also love!) It is so great to come home to a warm, loving space, a smiling face, and to make a nice cup of coffee and sit with my husband.

Our adventures with food have been most notable and I feel like I only write about our dinners. But food is a very important element in most cultures! When combining two cultures, it becomes even more so. (I have been reading a wonderful book called Your Intercultural Marriage...very insightful on this subject!) I truly love cooking, and it is a JOY to see my husband smile after every meal. (Well...ALMOST every meal...) It is a new discipline to make lists, plan recipes, and get dinner on the stove around...7pm. Yes, 7:00 is when I start cooking! It's marvelous actually. Spending 8 hours at the office and jumping into the oven as soon as you get home is no fun. This provides a break and quality time with Joaquim before dinner, and less indigestion because we don't eat in a rush. :)

We have also been busy! A few people have mentioned that our social-ness (is that a word?) really breaks the stereotype of most newlyweds. Let it be known that we simply are not most newlyweds! We weren't most dating couples, most engaged couples, and we are still different from most married couples. We love hanging out with people, friends, family, strangers...anyone. We had something planned every evening since Wednesday of last week. Now, it's also true that tonight we are VERY excited to have nothing to do. We'll probably watch The Biggest Loser, and just BE. So, you can call after tomorrow. :)

Prayer requests:
- Pray for Mae and Pai at Lar, as they miss Joaquim and are really feeling his absense. He helped with a LOT there!
- Joaquim's green card application and documentation is in, and we are just waiting for a response in a few months. PLEASE pray that his work permit will come through fairly quicky...we are praying for it by December!
- We are really seeking the Lord for our immediate future...how He wants us to proceed here in the next few years. Pray for guidance, clear direction, and an open door in every situation.

Succulent Salmon...

2009-09-25T14:22:00.002-05:00

Last night was a lovely, tasty, and cozy success! Miso sauce is easy and deliiiiicious. Man, I could eat that stuff on anything. Is that bad? Chicken with miso sauce, pork with miso sauce, steak with miso sauce...Joaquim will be sick of miso sauce! But he liked it last night so that was a success!

My parents were impressed with the salmon, because it was so pink and beautiful. Yep, literally caught from a river in Alaska and it made it to my hands in a plastic bag. I wasn't quite sure how to cook the salmon, but I have this fabulous griddle from Princess House so I just smothered it in some butter and slapped the sliced filets on, covered it up, and away we went.

It was great to chat and spend some time with my parents and Brian (who was tired and quiet as usual...but he enjoyed some chocolate so there was a hint of excitement there) and my mom was excited to see our apartment. It was all in all a very nice evening. Joaquim and I did alllllll the dishes afterwards, and this morning we didn't have breakfast at home so it was great to have a maintained and clean kitchen for more than a few hours.

I am realizing that although I've lived on my own before and had to cook and clean and do my own laundry, etc...I have never been a wife. Duh. And that is very different! It is so fun and wonderful!

This weekend can't come soon enough...a relaxing evening at home is in store for us. Joaquim said yesterday, as we were washing dishes, that we have been so busy. Praise the Lord! The last thing we wanted was for him to feel bored or stuck in one place. He is tired because we've had something to do almost every night this week. This is a good thing! Tonight is a simple dinner of cooked polish sausage with onions, and rice. We'll watch a movie and chill, then sleep a LONG TIME tonight! Yes!

When all else fails...rice

2009-09-24T11:25:00.002-05:00

You know how sometimes you know something hypothetically, but until you experience it, it doesn't really hit you? Well, last night I was hit with the true reality that when Joaquim doesn't have rice for a couple days, things begin to go awry.

Monday was such a complicated dinner that I had run out of steam, so I just made quick, simple, one stop shop deals yesterday and Tuesday. He was fine with Tuesday, but by yesterday...where's the rice? Still in the pantry! Now I know that is not the right place for it...

Sensing my disbelief and incredulity that rice is really such a big deal, he graciously made me coffee and breakfast this morning. That helped start off the day well, but I think he was just sucking up so I'll make rice tonight! Ok, Ok, I will.

This week has gone by quickly! I can't believe I last wrote on Sunday and it's already Thursday. Does anyone want to support my petition for 3 day weekends? That would be great...

Another recent marriage learning experience: While Joaquim is in the shower, he cannot make decisions or answer questions. Check. He was warned by my brothers and past roommates not to talk to me in the morning or finish off any popcorn that may be in my possession. But no one warned me not to talk to him in the shower! Now I know! :)

Tonight should be a fun and decadent evening as my family is coming over. River-caught salmon from Alaska! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand rice and beans. :)

Lazy Sundays in Arlington Heights...and Brasil

2009-09-20T16:03:00.003-05:00

Today feels like fall. Tuesday is the first day of fall, for any who didn't know...and we haven't been complaining one bit about the beautiful weather so far. Today Chicago began to show its true intentions...

The weekend was eventful in a nicely calm way for us. Yesterday we were "on call" expecting Isaac, Joaquim's loooong time best friend, who was due back in Chicago to catch a flight back to Sao Paulo this evening. He said he would come by and asked if we could take him to the airport on Sunday. Sure, no problem...he left a suitcase and an x-box here, and was also bringing us a belated wedding gift from Memphis, where he had been for the past week. So we were trying to be available and around the house yesterday in case he came.

This involved waking up to hammers and staple guns at 8:30am, which was lovely. (They put carpet in our hallway, which actually IS lovely...) and throughout the day we did lots of errands and eventually had the lovely Janell Keller over around 3:30...it was great to catch up with her. I am loving being married to a Brazilian because this means I can legitimately observe "coffee hour" on weekends. Yesterday I baked a little cake (from a mix, I'm not that impressive...) and we had cake and coffee at 5:30ish. It was lovely. Janell has officially experienced the Brazilian way to spend the late afternoon. Later we had tilapia for dinner, which was an adventure and was perhaps the most unappetizing meal I have ever seen. We were all wary because it didn't brown or anything...it was baked, and basically looked exactly as it had when I put it in the oven, though slightly more melted. Thankfully, it tasted great, and was approved by all. Phew. Joaquim eagerly ate more leftovers for lunch today.

Today we woke up early for the 9am service at Harvest. That's when Joaquim usually goes to church, so there goes my usual 11:15 am attendence. But it's definitely nicer to go at 9. Sleepier, but I took a nap before lunch, and the day has felt more productive. On our way home from church we went a little out of our way and stopped at Eurofresh. Joaquim saw lots of brands he recognized and said the supermarket even smelled like Brazil. We bought 2.5 liters plus 2 little cans of Guaraná, and also found some Japanese seasonings I needed to make Salmon with Miso Paste in a few days. Trying to recreate some salmon we had at Benihana in Hawaii. Delicious! So if you are looking for rice vinegar, sesame seed oil, and miso paste, they have it all in one little aisle at Eurofresh.

The rest of the afternoon has been spent relaxing...we read some, took a walk - just before the rain started, and now I have lit a few candles and Joaquim is listening to the Corinthians game. Very important. I have the Bears on the tv, muted. So we are following two different kinds of "football" at the moment. I'd say he cares much more about one than the other. ;)

All of this is also to say that Isaac has YET to arrive...and we don't have any way to contact him. So if he doesn't get here in 3 hours or so, it looks like we will have gained a suitcase and an xbox. Finder's keeper's!

We do!

2009-09-15T14:04:00.002-05:00

Well after a LONG WAIT of...well, over 3 years...Joaquim and I are married! It's official. Thanks so much to all who came to our wedding and also who expressed support and love and congratulations if they were unable to come. We have been so blessed by all of you.

We are also SO glad to be married. It was a wonderful day (pictures to come on facebook...eventually...) and we have such great memories. I tried to log them all in my journal on the plane to Hawaii, so hopefully the memories will stay fresh! I'm sure I forgot some things though...

We are all settled into our apartment and are just adjusting to living together and just...living. It's a totally different thing than dating and spending even tons of time together. When you are ALWAYS together and are responsible for each other and for your own home, it's totally different and totally wonderful! We are enjoying cooking together and watching movies and arranging our beautiful gifts all over our cozy kitchen and living room. Our bedroom is finally organized, which is wonderful, and there are still a few odds and ends that don't have homes in our living room, but...it's coming together.

So far we are doing very well! It's nice to have no big obligations this week. But I am already finding myself wanting to hang out with friends and see people! I know Joaquim feels the same way. But man, we have busy friends...so, anyone free to do anything? We might make you dinner! So far Joaquim has made some tasty beans and I made delicious bacon chicken and a nice tomato vegetable soup last night. Although the soup was too salty...apparently in Brazil they say that when a woman adds too much salt to the food it's because she's in love. Guilty as charged. But really...anyone want to hang out???

On the same vein, we do really ask your prayer for a job for Joaquim. He is at home all day, every day...and firstly needs something to do, preferably making a little something too! If anyone knows of anything that is available...work around the house, painting, moving, heavy lifting (haha), raking leaves...the man will do anything! He even said he would babysit every once in a while. (He's great with kids!) So...just get the word out and prayers too!

Another prayer request is for his green card, work permit, and social security card paperwork. We sent it off to the lawyer TODAY, and hope it all goes through well!

More updates to come...when we get internet at home, tomorrow. :)

Thank you all!

Exploration has begun!

2009-08-27T13:21:00.002-05:00

Well everyone, the famous Joaquim da Silva Fragoso has arrived!

He got here yesterday morning at 6am and was happy (not really...) to see a rainy airport upon his arrival. Hopefully it is a little sunny tomorrow at least so he realizes Chicago doesn't only rain. What a bummer of a summer...everyone pray for sunny skies on September 6th!

Yesterday was a whirlwind. I can't believe he only arrived a little over 24 hours ago because we have done SOOOO much since then. I went to work at 9am yesterday and left a bit early to go to the tasting for the caterer. (WOW - one of my only goals was to have impressive food at this wedding of ours and you better believe that I have achieved that goal. We were STUFFED because we couldn't stop eating! Joaquim still can't stop talking about it!) We got home from the tasting around 6 and dropped off some leftovers for my dad and my brother to have for dinner, then turned right back around and went out to the storage unit so Joaquim could know how to get in there. Of course, I promptly forgot which number it was, much to his disbelief. I know, I know...ridiculous. We found it and all is well. Then we took a few things, whatever fit in our trusty Camry, to our apartment and unpacked a bit. We do NOT have enough storage space. Shelves and/or portable drawers will soon have to be part of our lives. But until we get everything in, we won't know what the situation is, so in it all goes. There is a lot in my storage unit...how did I get so much STUFF? After all the apartment shuffling, we came back to my parents' house, and worked on paperwork for the greencard filing, and planned all of today's activities.

All of that travel was practice for Joaquim to take the car today and explore the area a bit! He was a bit reluctant, understandably so, but I promised him adequate mappage and that he could hang on to my cell phone (until we get him one tonight!) So he dropped me off at work this morning, and off he went! Thankfully he has a very handy sense of direction and at least is aware of when he is going the wrong way, so he has made a few turn-arounds today, but that's how you learn right? He has been very successful so far, with a trip to the apartment already under his belt, and he picked me up for lunch with our friend Yani. :) Now he's off to the storage unit and the apartment again...this afternoon after work I have my final dress fitting, then dinner, then the Verizon store, then seeing a potential $50 couch...oh my goodness.

Tomorrow we are going on a DATE, to see Harry Potter. :) it will be well worth it and I hope I don't sleep through the movie after all this running around!!

Butterflies and Heartburn

2009-08-25T13:58:00.002-05:00

Maybe one causes the other...but having both at the same time is a bit distracting.

I feel like I could just jump out of my skin waiting for Joaquim right now. Thankfully I received the official word that he's in Sao Paulo...he came online and called me "aunt" on accident, which was quite charming, and then proceeded to ask for a website, tell me his aunt said that if she could send me a piece of chocolate cake with Joaquim, she would, but she can't...and then he said he had to go eat lunch. Ok, see you tomorrow.

So, I am the most antsy, jittery, sleepy, anxious girl ever right now. Thankfully I have something to do this evening, though it might not be the most fun I'll ever have in my life, and then will take a shower and a Tylenol PM, and off I go to bed, to wake up at 5:30 and be reunited with my looooooove! And after that, cinnamon rolls for breakfast. WHAT could be better?

I just need to get through today without twitching and jittering my excited self off a cliff...

Reuinited!

2009-08-24T10:01:00.002-05:00

My fiancé arrives in two days. Less, in fact...something to the tune of 44 hours. Praise the Lord!

I'm sorry for not having updated much recently...pre-wedding life is chaotic. I can't wait to see everyone on the 6th, enjoying the fruits of my labors. My family has been super helpful...I truly wouldn't be alive at the moment if it weren't for them. And let's not forget my dear fiancé, Joaquim, who is currently scrambling and packing and saying goodbye to people, and will get on a bus for São Paulo in about 5 hours. Keep him in your prayers as he travels...his heart is doing well I believe. He is still excited to marry me, so this is good. :)

Last night I started planning our time in Hawaii...wow, we are going to be the coolest people. We got these Go Oahu passes for Wednesday and Thursday of our trip. They cost us $160 for two days, so we better use them! Basically we get free admission to far too many places, so we have to choose just a few. One of them will be a snorkeling adventure, which will probably really scare me. I don't like marine life or coral. However, how can you NOT go snorkeling? Get over it, Christine. There's also a tour called Grand Circle Island Tour, which is from 7am-4pm and takes you ALL OVER Oahu. That should be cool. And free. Well, not really since we already paid $160. But at least it's pre-paid. So it kind of feels free. I got a restaurant recommendation from my uncle, so our one big hoorah will be at a nice Italian place that is .3 miles from our hotel (google mapped it yeaaaa) and will have an ocean view table, with fireworks after sunset. I already bought a dress. It's great to think about this honeymoon business because at this point it is pulling us through the wedding. We are stress cases, though still in love, and quite tired because we can't sleep well. Last night I lay awake wondering if we would get plates so we could eat on something other than plastic.

After Joaquim's arrival, we will be really booking it...moving on Saturday...last minute details...tuxedo fittings...paperwork for his green card, which MUST be applied for by September 24th...his parents come on the 31st so they will be getting to know our new life...lots of shopping for groceries and things like toilet paper and dish soap...plus that whole wedding thing in 13 days. I think the whole business will be SO fun. But it will be crazy for two weeks!

So, pray for safe travel and for our sanity. Ah!

A spirit of love and gentleness

2009-07-30T15:00:00.004-05:00

The Lord has been teaching me a lot about love lately. I know I'm getting married in 5 1/2 weeks, so of course that is on my mind a lot, but this isn't the love He has been putting on my heart. The kind of love I've been learning about is the kind I should show to everyone, because He first loved me. It's easy to love Joaquim because he's just so darn good looking, and he calls me his princess and gives me shiny things and asks me how I am doing with such concern and sincerity...and then listens to my response! (Ladies, aren't you all jealous? I know, I got a good one!) But there are some people who are not easy to love. So what do I do then?

I still have to love. Actions sometimes speak louder than words.

But what if people still can't see beyond your words? Yes, the offensiveness of the gospel message is often in its delivery. But sometimes it truly is only in the message. No matter how you sugar coat things or say it with a smile, someone is going to be upset. It is those times that are most frustrating and where we feel least able to do anything.

I have to confess that I have been guilty of speaking the truth, even with a heart of love, but without a spirit of gentleness. I've even had people call me a gentle person, but when I see things as black and white, I have trouble expressing my heart...especially when challenged. For this reason I'm glad I'm a work in progress. God isn't done with me yet!

When you ask God to work on you, it can get kind of ugly. And it has. But I have no regrets and I will not waver from the truth.
^{2 Timothy 3:12-17 "}In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The circle of apartments

2009-07-24T13:51:00.003-05:00

Big things are always happening around here. It never stops, and I guess I should just get used to it!

The most recent development in the life of Christine and Joaquim's married future is the near acquirement of an apartment in Arlington Heights. Here is the kicker: it is the VERY apartment, unit and all, where my parents spent their first year of marriage. It's really nice, hardwood floors, new kitchen and bathroom, ceiling fan in the bedroom, great price, and it's a month-to-month lease which is really ideal for us. We were not a fan of being bound to a whole year or two when we are only bound to God's will for us! It will be great. Our landlady is still looking into my credit and my rent paying history, which is fair, so she hasn't given us the total green light yet, but...come on. It's coming.

Now that we know where we are going to live, I am just a distracted pile of daydreaming. I can picture where we will come home after our fabulous honeymoon to Hawaii, and I imagine making coffee in our kitchen, and experimenting with our Brazilian/American dinner extravaganzas. Joaquim will explore Arlington Heights while I'm at work, and we live about a mile from downtown so it's an ok walk on a nice September day. Hopefully by the time the weather gets worse, he will have some more direction on how God wants to use him here.

I'm so grateful for the blessing of that apartment, and more importantly for the man with whom I will make a life there!

Wedding weekend begins.....NOW!

2009-07-10T15:33:00.002-05:00

I am convinced that planning a wedding makes you a better bridesmaid...so I am going to try and be an awesome one this weekend! Miss Annie Schuette is getting married on Sunday, and this whole weekend is going to be about her! And Wes of course, but we know how the ratio goes there...I am so thrilled for them, and am really looking forward to a fun weekend of bachelorette parties, manis and pedis, hair up-do's, rehearsal dinners, actual rehearsals...LOTS OF SMILING FOR PICTURES...and of course supporting one of my best friends as she makes a life long commitment to her VERY best friend.

...Ok I just made myself tear up a little bit...

Wedding parties are important. You invite people to stand up next to you, and affirm the vows you will make, and hopefully those people will be close to you your whole life, and will consistently hold you accountable for those vows. (At least that's what I expect, fyi to anyone whos wedding I will ever be in, and anyone in my wedding party! Ha.) Some people say they're barely friends anymore with people who stood up in their wedding...I know things happen, but I can honestly and sincerely say that I hope to see all of the faces of my dear friends and sisters who will wear pretty gold, chiffon dresses on Sunday September 6th and smile and laugh and cry with Joaquim and me on that day. It's a big deal. And it is IMPORTANT!

So I feel like wedding wedding wedding has been all I think about, talk about, and do lately. But you know what, that's just the truth! This is the KICK-OFF to the rest of my life...and this weekend is a PARTY that will set off my friends' marriage! It's a big deal, and let's get into it!

t-minus 60 days

2009-07-08T14:30:00.002-05:00

This has been a productive week so far...maybe that is born out of necessity, but either way I'm not complaining. Last night I hashed out a potential program for the wedding. I have learned during this whole process that things which seem overwhelming at first are really only a matter of jumping in. Flowers, menus...just pick a few things and start rolling with it. It comes together. So I decided to google "wedding program" and pick and choose what I wanted. 10 minutes later, presto-change-o, we have a program. Hey, that was easy!

Ok but I am so ready to be done with this wedding business. It has been an important thing in my life for the last 9 months. Wait...10 months! Joaquim and I have will have been engaged for 10 whole months, next week! Yea, we are ready to be married.

Other than wedding planning, I have been preparing to be IN a wedding this weekend! It is my first time standing up as a bridesmaid, and I am so excited. Miss Annie Schuette, who I have literally known my whole life, is getting married on Sunday. So it will be a blast to celebrate her this weekend and support her in her marriage to Wes Johnson! We will all be newlywed pals. :)

I have been doing some apartment hunting lately, so if anyone knows of any good places around here, let me know! Our ideal locale would be near downtown Arlington Heights. That's the dream. But we'd go with anything that is close to my work (less than 15 minutes) and less than $800/month. We're confident that God will open those doors! Or that apartment door, literally.

Don't cry over spilled...water

2009-07-02T13:38:00.003-05:00

...unless it spilled because the glass broke and sliced your pinky finger! Yes, that was me on Saturday night, the day before I left Brazil. I was washing dishes while Joaquim and his cousin Samuel were barbequeing some meat (classic...) and while washing a glass, it shattered. My first reaction was just surprise, and then I stared at my finger, wondering if I had cut myself. "I'm ok! I'm ok!" quickly turned to "I cut myself! I cut myself!" At that point Joaqum walked into the kitchen again and found me holding my finger, demanding a cloth or paper towel or something. He gave me a couple squares of toilet paper, which I clamped over my finger, and from that point on I didn't even look at it.

Judging by the fact that it is still bandaged and puffy, I probably could have used some good old fashioned stitches. At that point, though, I refused. I've never been to a hospital in Brazil and...wouldn't really like to. I'll have to reconcile with that someday, but it was not the time!

Poor Joaquim was so worried about me. My last night, and I injure myself and bleed all over the place. (That's not true, there was really hardly any blood...) Then he had to say goodbye to me and let me go by myself through three different airports with two large bags. He was not happy about that! It was a sad goodbye, but thankfully it was the LAST one, and my last time traveling alone.

The next time I set foot on an airplane, I will be Mrs. Christine Fragoso, heading to Hawaii with my husband! Holy moley............................................

Pictures

2009-06-23T08:22:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics from our party! A great day that we hope to remember forever...you can find more pictures on my facebook!

Partaaaay

2009-06-20T22:41:00.003-05:00

Wow. It is so late and I have so many things to say, this is just going to be a mess. So, take it or leave it!

First of all, let's start with yesterday...

Joaquim and I were bummed that he had been enlisted as a driver to pick up his brother-in-law's family at the airport in Iguassu Falls. That's a 6 hour drive round trip, and they were supposed to arrive at 7pm, therefore leaving me alone for an entire Friday afternoon and evening. Being that I'm only here for two weeks and it had been nearly six months since we'd seen each other, that was a really big thing to ask. So we tried and tried to find someone to go in his place, but it turned out that only he or mãe could go in their car because of the insurance. So, seeing as mãe couldn't go since she was busy preparing for our party tonight, he was it. I couldn't go because there wouldn't be enough room coming back.

So, Wednesday night, I prayed ohhhhh Lord pleeeeease don't let him goooooooo. You know, a last desperate plea. Well, let me tell you, God is funny. He answered that prayer and added on more blessings on top of it.

I asked Joaquim to try and just take the whole afternoon off instead of coming back just in time to leave for the airport. So when he got home at noon, all smiles, he was free. We were sitting in the living room at two o'clock, reading a little devotional together, when his sister, acácia, came in to give the update on her in-laws' arrival. Apparently they had been misinformed about how to get their bags in São Paulo, so they left them in the baggage claim and got on the plane, only to be called off the plane to go check their bags, miss their flight, and be placed on a flight that would arrive at 1am.

Ai ai ai.

My first thought was "yay, he has the afternoon off!" My second thought was "hmm, at least I'll get to go to bed early..." and my third thought was "wait, this is crazy! he can't be driving that late at night!" Apparently, Mãe felt the same way, and was concerned with their car, since it's in need of a little (expensive) work to fix the shocks, something having to do with turning the wheels (I am not the right person to talk about these things...) and wasn't comfortable with them having that car on the road in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. Amen, sister. So, Joaquim stayed and they enlisted a cousin to drive his car, and we went out for a snack! Instead of having less time together, we ended up with more. And why? Because I decided not to worry about it and whatever happens, happens, and just leave it in God's hands.

Ok, moving on to today.........

For those who didn't know, today was our Brazilian reception!!!!!! Oh my goodness, it was marvelous.

This morning we woke up around 9, had breakfast, spent time with more cousins who were arriving, ran some errands, etc. etc. The whole day was kind of that way. Figuring out last minute details, you know. We had to go through how to service would be. It wasn't an official wedding, but there was still a little program in the chapel. Pai spoke about Isaac and Rebecca and how each one chooses to leave their families and start a life together, make sacrifices, etc. Joaquim's cousin Karol sang, his uncle gave a little speech with some advice, mentioned Psalm 37:4, which has always been the verse that I have prayed...so of course then we both shed a couple tears, but good ones.

Afterwards there were lots of hugs, congratulations, pictures, more hugs, more congratulations, and more pictures. The decorations were beaaaautiful, the flowers, the tables all set up...the food was delicious. It was a marvelous time!

Then the fun really began for Joaquim...his cousins had some other plans for him. They sent everyone out of the room where we were taking pictures of him and promptly had him dressed in a sparkly dress, a green boa, lipstick, and sent him out in town to ask for money for our honeymoon. Poor guy. We'll only hear the rest of the story tomorrow...

Soccer

2009-06-18T09:08:00.002-05:00

I have really never been a sports fan. I mean, it's all well and good, but I just can't pay attention to a bunch of people running around after a ball for very long. I just can't! The sound of sports games makes me sleepy.

Last night, the Corinthians played. For those who are not familiar with Brazilian soccer, the Corinthians are a national team and are currently in the finals for the "copo do brasil"...Brazil Cup. It's kind of like a superbowl for soccer. And it is also Joaquim's team. The game started at 9:45 last night, so after church, Joaquim was all eyes on his watch. We went to the night market and got some dinner (ka-bobs and pastels...a pastel is like fried dough filled with meat or cheese. Deliiiicious.) There, we met Tio Zé, Tia Adi, Carol, Samuel, Gabi, and Barbara. (Uncles, aunts, and cousins.) We were there informed that we could eat dinner there, but save room for dessert because Tia Adi and her "assistant" Gabi made dessert. Mmmmm.

So, we made our way over to their house and had some delicious strawberry pie (for which I now have the recipe, much to Joaquim's joy and delight) and guaraná. Of course, we HAD to leave in time to get back for the game, haha. Joaquim herded us all out and we got home at 9:47. Phew.

Well let me say, I've never watched a Corinthians game before. It was certainly an experience. I fell asleep within about 5 or 10 minutes, but woke up every once in a while to loud clapping, "woo hoo!"s, "VAI FELIPE!!!" (yelling for the goalie to make some good saves...which he did, the other team didn't score) and, of course, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!" and then someone vehemently rubbing my back and waking me up.

All of these loud loud loud noises came from none other than my darling fiancé, Joaquim.

So, now I know what I will be committing a life to: loud soccer game watching. :) I think I can handle it! There are worse things, that's for sure.

By the way, the Corinthians won, 2 x 0. Joaquim went to sleep a happy man.

This morning I woke up and headed over to Lar for breakfast, and then about an hour of dish washing. Phew...all the dishes from last night and from breakfast were piled up because the water main for the kitchen had been interrupted, and there was no water with which to wash dishes! Thankfully, very soon after, the water came on and we got to work. It was a nice time of conversation with Cheryl and Evan and Kathryn.

Cheryl comes to Lar every summer and brings a team and stays for about a month. She's been coming for 7 or 8 years and just loves this place! This year she brought a young man from the high school where she teaches, and he decided to stay the whole time she is. He loves these kids, for sure. And Kathryn came with Acácia and Eric to learn Portuguese, or rather just sharpen it up.

Anyway, it's been fun to talk with them and certainly made the dish washing pass more quickly.

Last night at church, we sang a hymn called "Amor Fraternal." Brotherly love. It was all about the unity of the body, and not holding grudges, everyone working together. I think that is something we all could really remember. Why are we here? What are we doing? Are the things that bother us really such a big deal? I know I was convicted while singing that. I hope everything I do is for the good of everyone.

So for the rest of the day, there may be more cleaning in my life. Cleaning here is REALLY difficult. The dirt and dust here is red, so after a day or two, the freshly mopped and sparkling floors are disgusting. Cleaning it involves a giant squeegee that they use as a mop, draping a cloth over it, lots of throwing of soapy water, and then they push all the dirty water out the door and let it dry on the pavement outside. That would just not work in the US, that's for sure. Swiffer wet-jet, anyone? :)

God's omnicience and omnipresence

2009-06-16T12:04:00.002-05:00

I heard a sermon once that emphasized this: "God is always watching." My first reaction was to kind of be creeped out. He is ALWAYS watching, even when I do or say something I shouldn't? It reminded me of Santa Claus, and being afraid of being put on the naughty list. But God knows everything and is everywhere. So He IS always watching, but it is a comfort, not a cause for fear.

Pai spoke about those two things in church on Sunday. He has recently been able to read the Bible again! It had been years since he could, because a combination of cataracts and complications of diabetes. Praise the Lord, he preached two strong messages, excited about what he had been reading!

It's been chilly and cloudy here the last two days...pretty sleepy, if you ask me. Today, our guests for the party are beginning to arrive, so we spent some time this morning cleaning the guest house. Let me tell you, that is quite a job. By the time lunch was ready, I was sure ready for it!

I have a feeling it will be a crazy few days getting ready for the party...but it seems as though it is all coming together. I just can't believe that in a little over two months, it will all be coming together for the real deal...and then we will be DONE planning all these things. I can't wait for that. We'll just be sipping a smoothie in Hawaii, thinking "we're freeeeeee!" Oh that sounds marvelous...

Brasiiiiiiiiil

2009-06-14T13:21:00.004-05:00

I write to you about 10 feet from my fiancé! It's true, we're finally together after over five months. I always feel like I go into a different "mode" while I'm here. But it is as true and real as anything. It's just like...life number two. And there is much more to come for this Brazil mode. It's just in the future.

My trip was FINE, no need for worry, and I really wasn't that worried, thankfully. I was reminded of my first time here at Lar, singing "Days of Elijah" in the guest house with my team from Taylor University. A lot has changed since then...I know everyone here much better, they know me better, I speak Portuguese, I know more history, I see different perspectives...but one thing that hasn't changed is God's plan. He never changes, as Joaquim and I read together this morning. He is always the same. My junior year at Taylor, after arriving back from Brazil, the Lord made it very clear to me that He had some crazy plans ahead. And they are still unfolding...and you know what? I LOVE them!!

Well, do you want to know how my trip has been so far?

Friday was Brazil's Valentine's Day, which is why I arrived here that day. :) As soon as we got here, Joaquim whipped out a nice pink bag and gave me my gift...some beautiful perfume and lotion from a really nice boutique. I just adore the perfume! It's soft, a tiny bit fruity and sweet, but very light. I informed him that he can be in charge of my perfume for the rest of my life. Sounds like a plan.

Yesterday we went on a little double date with Eric and Acácia, which was fun. We went to a steakhouse for lunch, which was deliiiiicious, and we saw Night at the Museum 2, which really was just ok. I fell asleep, actually...it was really warm in the theater so I think I just couldn't help myself, and the movie was slow and predictable. But it was a nice DATE and the best Valentine's Day yet!

Last night we were watching a movie, and were just about to go to sleep. I went into my room (which is really Joaquim's room...he's staying with Daniel upstairs) and turned back the covers (Mãe had let me use this enormous, wonderful, soft, heavy, waaaarm blanket...) and there, wrapped up in that incredible blanket, sitting on my bed, was...

a mouse...

...and 4 little presents that it had left for me. A MOUSE, on my bed. So I screamed, naturally. I'm not afraid of mice, but it's just so gross and should NOT be on my BED, the place where I SLEEP! Joaquim came running and then he started yelling too, which really was funny, but we still weren't solving the problem. The mouse wasn't even scared, it just sat there, just chillin, looking at us. Then it slowly started meandering down the end of the bed, into my suitcase, on which Joaquim's jeans were sitting. So then he started yelling even more "ahhhhhhhhh it's going into MY jeans!" We both ran away, but I was like, "get over there, you have to get it now, while we can see it!"

I was envisioning it running under the bed or something and then we'd never find it and I wouldn't be able to sleep, knowing I could wake up with a mouse on my pillow. So Eric and Acácia came in, and Eric and Joaquim took 2 big bamboo poles and dragged my suitcase outside. They didn't want to touch it in case the mouse would run out at them. One their way out the door, Eric said "aww man, I feel like a GIRL!
(THANKFULLY it was the give-away clothes suitcase)
They then proceeded to dump the suitcase's contents on the front porche, hoping the mouse would run away, and the dog could come and get it. The dog had been sleeping, so it wasn't really on its game...and then the mouse started running back inside! So Eric ran inside, and Acácia shut the door right in Joaquim's face, leaving him there with the mouse.
Which he promptly killed. :(
Poor little guy, but...come on man, don't poop on my bed!

So now, the mouse is dead, I had to get like 4 blankets to replace that one incredible one, which will be washed today, and I slept well after all that. Joaquim and I had a good laugh, and there's another memory added to the pot. Our life is ridiculous.

ps. the cutest part of the day was when Joaquim changed the batteries of a little flashlight for me, leaving me with it in my room in case I heard any weird noises and got afraid of more mice. Such a gem. :)

The Lord is my Shepherd...

2009-06-11T14:02:00.002-05:00

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

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.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I am leaving on a jet plane in 7 1/2 hours!

Please pray for calm, safety, peace, and for a wonnnnnderful trip. I know that airplanes are great locations for conversation opportunities, so maybe I'll have the chance to talk with interesting people.

I am (mostly) packed, and it's still a bit surreal. I don't feel like I'm leaving this evening. Tylenol PM, HERE I COME!!

T-minus 3 days

2009-06-09T14:50:00.002-05:00

Oh the clock is ticking slowly now that the "final countdown" is here!

I leave on Thursday evening at 9:29pm and that just can't come soon enough. For those who are concerned, I am feeling BETTER about the whole flying thing. There is no reason for worry whatsoever. So I will bring my tylenol pm and some books and maybe a dvd or something interesting on my ipod, and it will all hopefully pass very quickly.

Today, yesterday, and tomorrow will be pretty crazy...lots of little to-dos on my list. Like going to the library, getting my nails done (I got a sweet coupon) picking things up, you know...really BIG important things. Eventually I'll pack, and just hop on that plane. I better not forget my dress!

The plans for my trip just look marvelous. On Saturday we're going to Toledo, a nearby city that actually has a movie theater and a "mall" albeit small, and it is going to be so fun! Paddle boats, ice cream...Joaquim is really getting my hopes up, haha. We're going with Acácia, Eric, and their buddy Katherine, who apparently says Joaquim is "like the annoying older brother she never wished she had." She's 10 years old and pretty hilarious. It should be a blast. On the 20th of June, we're having our big party and that is not going to be a huge production, but I have a feeling it will be just lovely! I am really looking forward to that, of course! Other than that, there will be lots of relaxing, watching movies, talking with everyone, being cold (it's cold there right now...like a constant 50 degrees no matter where you are...kind of nasty...) and maybe eating popcorn. Have I mentioned that I love popcorn?

I just can't wait to be there!!

Princess House

2009-06-06T19:36:00.003-05:00

Joaquim and I are officially registered with Princess House. It's a great company with great bakeware and cookware products, as well as BEAUTIFUL china. (My favorite part!) Check it out!
Just search for Joaquim Fragoso (it's easier to find under his name...there's only one!)
http://bridal.princesshouse.com/

Do Not Worry!!

2009-06-03T13:17:00.002-05:00

Life is complicated. But its difficulties make us ever more thankful for the true family and friends that we have.

Sometimes it's hard to hear that someone is not rejoicing with us in our blessings, but that they are in fact reacting with jealousy and anger. It really saddens me.

But when I look at how precious my loved ones are, I am so grateful. Joaquim and I had such a sweet talk last night, though late. Struggling with a difficult choice, I called him at nearly midnight my time, knowing it was almost 2am for him and I would probably be waking him up. Usually he would a) not hear the phone or b) fumble to answer it and not wake up until we'd been talking for 5 minutes. Last night, however, he answered right away, seeming very perky and awake! Apparently he had just gotten out of the shower. At 2am. After talking until late with his sister and brother-in-law. Who are wonderful and dear to us. And then we had a wonderful chat!

Last night at my small group, in which we're learning about God's design for the tabernacle and how His dwelling place is now in our hearts, I was so convicted and challenged and ENCOURAGED about prayer. What a GREAT God we serve!

Zechariah and Elizabeth were the perfect examples of how God hears our prayers. Beth Moore, in her video, painted such a vivid picture of how old they in fact were, and how long they had prayed for a son, and how incredible it was that Elizabeth was pregnant, probably after she had gone through menaupause. Pretty amazing! We've heard about that miracle and read that story, about how Zechariah saw an angel, then was mute, blah blah blah...but I think I have missed the most important part of that story. The part where Gabriel says "your prayer has been heard." How many prayers have you prayed? Isn't it humbling and encouraging to think that they don't just poof once they leave our lips. They are all carefully kept and answered, one by one...some take longer than others. Sometimes the answer isn't what we want, though it is for our good. But they all get answered. It reminded me that repetition isn't the key to success here. Sometimes I think that maybe if I pray the same thing every day, God will hear me better. Or the requests will just pile up so much He will eventually be forced to pay attention to me. Not so!! He is ALWAYS paying attention and he receives our prayers as fragrant insence the moment we utter them.

After the video, a girl in my small group shared a REALLY cool story. She knows a woman who recently had to go in for an MRI. It took about an hour and they were checking her brain for something. She was nervous thinking about being in such a small place for a whole hour, so she prayed to keep her mind distracted during the procedure. When it was over, the doctors mentioned that they could tell she was praying. She was surprised and asked how in the world they knew that! They said that when a person prays, they don't use the usual "thinking/processing"part of their brain, but they actually use the communication part. When we pray it is NOT just talking to no one. It is COMMUNICATING with a Holy God! And he hears.

Flying...

2009-05-27T11:53:00.003-05:00

I must confess. Lately, I have acquired an almost paralyzing fear of flying.

I don't know when this happened. I have flown since I was too young to even remember. I have flown overseas literally dozens of times, and my mileage plus account now boasts enough miles for a free ticket (though I am just saving more!) Why in the last 6 months have I suddenly been reduced to near panic attacks when flying in an airplane?

Some say that if you say exactly what you're afraid of, it helps you rationalize your way out of it. So, here goes...

1. I just hate the fragility of it all. If one little thing goes wrong, that's it. I always pray for the pilot when we are taking of...
2. I don't like being in the air for SO LONG. It's like we're this floating entity and I don't understand how something that huge can remain in 38,000 feet above the earth, packed with people and things, and be ok!
3. Taking off. I hate it. It absolutely terrifies me. So many noises: whirrings and grinding and screeching and whizzing and whooshing. Flying home from Brazil last January, the whole plane was shaking, and the overhead compartments were rattling so loudly. That can't be good!
4. Turbulence. Violent shaking while miles and miles in the air. Why?

I don't know, I just get generally jumpy and my heart races and I just think...I have so much to live for! I want to get married! I have too much to do! I'm not ready!

And then I land at my destination (I love landing...the closer to the ground, the better) and think...sheesh, why did I get so nervous?

I am FLYING to Brazil 2 weeks from tomorrow. I have been thinking about this June plane trip for months, with dread. You should probably pray for me.

Summertime, and the livin's easy

2009-05-20T09:58:00.003-05:00

Maybe I am overreacting, but I must be getting older, because time seems to move SO much faster now that I have been out of school for two years. (Wow, has it been that long?) Joaquim and I have just over 100 days until we will be married, and we can tell it is fast approaching, because we are getting a lot of stuff done!

For anyone who is planning a wedding, or will one day plan a wedding, here is my advice to you: forget those lame checklists. Sometimes I look at those and just say, "what in the WORLD?" So many things we think are must-haves for a wedding and reception are so unnecessary. Find your own style and priorities, and stick to them! Don't let anyone tell you what their sister did or what other weddings they have been in were like. It's YOUR day and YOUR celebration, and you can really do whatever you want. All that to say, there are many things on my list that will remain un-checked because they are ridiculous.

Secondly, thank God for friends and family! I have been so blessed thus far with talented artistic help from so many. I would be pretty lost without it.

The warm weather today and the shrinking to-do list and the flipping pages of the calendar are just SO EXCITING. We're getting close!

The Natives are Restless

2009-05-14T10:35:00.002-05:00

It has officially been OVER 4 months since Joaquim and I have seen each other...and we are really feeling the separation! Over the years (Yes, 2 years TOMORROW!) we have gotten good at steeling ourselves to the weight of long distance relationships. We love our webcams and our headphones which allow us to see each others faces and hear each others voices. We use a phone card to call each other when time doesn't allow us to be at the computer. We email each other and send cute e-cards and little memories on Facebook. And we don't expect anything more, because to do that would just be contemplating the impossible.

Well, when the countdown gets to weeks instead of months, things always get interesting. It's like we are on our last string of patience, and are not always so...well...patient.

I told Joaquim last night that I could tell he was starting to get grumpy because of the wait, and he replied with a hearty "Yea, I REALLY am. It's just time for you to be here with me." I agree!

We would appreciate advanced prayers for my last single trip to Brazil, for which I leave on June 11th. It is beginning to hit me that this is the last time I will travel alone (a GOOD thing...) and is also the last time I will be in Brazil for a longer period of time than I am used to...which is not such a good thing. Even now I miss it so much, I miss the language and the people and the sounds of birds singing (tropical birds, not just robins or mourning doves) and I miss having coffee in the afternoon around a crowded table with everyone chatting and laughing. I can't wait to someday have my OWN crowded table in my own home there...that will be a dream come true!

Whooo, I got a little distracted there. What was I saying? Prayers? Oh yea...so, please pray for safety during the trip. I am increasingly NOT a fan of flying, so pray for my own nerves to just calm the heck down, and pray for smooth travel on the way home, as I am flying from Iguassu Falls to Rio, to New York, to the other major airport in New York, to Chicago. Yea. It will be interesting. Gotta love Travelocity deals! I just hope I rack up some sweet frequent flier miles!

Love to all, and Happy 2 year dating anniversary to my lindo tomorrow!

-Christine for the ALMOST Joaquim da Silva Fragoso family. :-D

4 months

2009-05-09T19:25:00.002-05:00

Wednesday was our negative 4 month anniversary! We are getting so close to that altar I can hear the music now! Actually, I am having trouble thinking of music for the ceremony. My thoughts so far include piano and cello. I LOVE the cello. If anyone has any suggestions/connections, send them my way!

Well you are probably wondering how it has been living at home. Really, I have been loving it...now that I got Comcast installed of course. But seriously, it's a real blessing to have such a present and supportive family, especially as the planning starts to heat up. Everything is falling into place though! I signed with a caterer today and we will have such a cool menu. 4 different stations, each with different food...mmmmm and Joaquim and I will probably eat none of it haha.

One of my DEAREST friends and bridesmaids will be in Chicago this coming weekend for her sister's graduation and I am stealing her for Thursday night/Friday morning. We have so much planned for an approximately 15 hour time period, much of it that will have to include sleeping, so I don't know how it will all work out, but it will be fun. Pedicures, starbucks, LAUGHING, dinner, LAUGHING, bridesmaid dress try-on, LAUGHING...all included in the plans. She is just one of the funniest and most precious people I know and I can't wait to see her!

In MORE exciting news, Joaquim and I booked our honeymoon!! We are officially going to HAWAII for 4 nights and 5 days, staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. (Travelocity has some sweet deals...) We just could not be more excited. A get-away with just the two of us...something that has never happened and that we have so wished for, and it will be the perfect location.

Well I think those are all the updates for now. The month of May is already flying by and I am sure June, July, and August will go just as quickly if not moreso! The wedding is really starting to take shape and feel real...and it better because it's in 120 days!! Oh my goodness....

Moving!

2009-04-23T09:55:00.002-05:00

It's always nice to have a guy around, isn't it? This weekend I'll really miss mine, as I am moving out of my apartment and into my parents house for a few months. This is a huge step into the official waiting/transitional period before getting married! Joaquim and I are already thinking about where we will live in 4 1/2 months. Feel free to browse the "for rent" sections of the newspaper for us.

Last year on April 25th, Janell and I moved into our fun home for the year, and it has really been a nice place. I think we got a bit spoiled. I'm moving back in with 'rents, and she's moving into a SUPER cute one-bedroom that unfortunately has no dishwasher. Our move-in day was quite the experience! Joaquim was still here, so he and my dad pretty much did the heavy lifting. (Sunday my dad and Brian get to do it again! They're such gems.) We got all settled in, and then went back to my parents' house for a farewell dinner of Portillo's...then to O'Hare airport and a hurried goodbye. At least we were too worried about getting him onto the plane to really be sad.

All that to say it's been (almost) a year since Miss Janell Keller and I moved into apartment 206, and we are going to have a moment of silence on Tuesday, our last night there! By then, I will be sleeping on an air mattress and we'll be using plastic utensils.

Joaquim is excited for me to move out, and wishes he were here to help. So do I! And I am excited about having a tv in my room at home, because I am sure I will be holing up in there quite a bit, maybe doing my Jillian Michaels workout routine.

Should be a busy weekend, and we are on to a new phase!

"Oops"

2009-04-17T12:16:00.003-05:00

The best laid plans of mice and men, right? My thoughts of pontificating about every detail of our exciting life were quickly thwarted by the fact that we indeed DO have an exciting life, containing lots of details. Too many to document on a regular basis! It's exhausting!

Well the biggest detail to write about is the fact that Joaquim GOT HIS VISA!!!!!!!!!!!! He has had his passport back in his hand for a week or two, with a big pretty K-1 visa. We also just bought his plane ticket! August 26th, my handsome fiance will be landing at O'Hare airport. And I will be waiting with a smile, a kiss, and...a to-do list.

That brings me to my second point. Planning a wedding is ridiculous! So is working a full time job and growing my Mary Kay business. All of those involve to-do lists! And guess what...I'm behind on all of them. But little by little, it is all getting done. Here's a summary:

Our wedding will be held at the lovely Yorkfield Presbyterian Church in Elmhurst.
Our reception will be held at the INCREDIBLE Wilder Mansion in Elmhurst.
The flowers will be beautiful and we are working on signing with a caterer and finalizing our tasty menu.
Save the date cards are going in the mail soon! (Buying stamps are on my to-do list. Have been for a few weeks. Oops.)
My dress (no link here, surprise!) is completed, and has been waiting for me to pick it up for a month. That's on my list for Monday. I promise. (My dad is worried the store will go out of business before I get my dress. Ohhhhh dad.)

Joaquim and I are just counting down the days. 142 until we get married. To be exact. And 57 until we see each other in June. This is a LONG haul, our longest ever. We have now been apart for 3 1/2 months. But God is good and is certainly keeping us busy. Is that an answer to prayer? I guess so. We have been learning a lot, and are more excited every day.

On a deeper note, we have been feeling more and more at peace with where God has us after we get married. We will be in Chicagoland for a bit, exact timeframe still to be determiend. We are excited about how God will use that time in our lives, and especially as we start our life together. God has been speaking to us both about the principle of taking a year off. (Joaquim recently shared this on his facebook: http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001426.cfm)

Well, that's all for now. Hey...maybe more comments will mean more updates. Any thoughts??

Springtime is the time for love!

2009-03-20T10:50:00.002-05:00

Happy first day of spring!

March 20th is going to be in the 30's, though sunny, here in Chicago. I'm sure it's nicer in Brazil though. I remember how beautiful spring always seemed at Taylor. Flowers seemed to appear overnight, and everyone suddenly wore pastel and light coats. Then of course there was the blinding rain and wind, but...that's another story for another time. Spring is here, and in a month or so it will actually start to feel like it, and soon after that comes summer with the sunshine and warmth and capris and sandals and...at the end...a WEDDING!

Speaking of weddings, Joaquim is heading off on an adventure this evening. He is going to São Paulo with his mom and then to Rio for the day on Monday night, getting back to São Paulo on Wednesday morning and getting back home on Thursday morning, and probably getting back to talk to me, his soon-to-be-anxious fiancée, on...well...maybe Saturday? ::deep breath::

He's encouraging me to go to the gym and work off the stress and worry. And of course, not to worry but just to pray. I think he wants me to go to the gym to keep up with my wedding motivated workout regimine. To be honest, I have been enjoying it! Let's forget the fact that I tried to cancel my membership with Women's Workout World, only to find I inadvertantly signed a 2 year contract and will be paying $20/month until June of 2010. So...off I go to Women's Workout World. Hey, for $20 this month my pants are fitting better.

A very defining moment is coming on Tuesday. (I almost said it could be the defining moment of our wedding preparations, but that's not true because no matter the outcome, we're still going to get married this year...) Joaquim will go to his interview at the American consulate in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. He will get there at 6am and wait probably all day before he and Mãe leave, hopefully both with visas in hand. (Mãe is applying for a new tourist visa on Tuesday as well, in order to come to our wedding. Please pray for that too!) We are confident in God's presence throughout this whole process, and He has been opening doors faster and more smoothly than we were anticipating. We are praying for His will to be done on Tuesday!

Most people know Rio is not one of the safest cities...in fact it is quite the opposite. I'm trying not to think about that too much, because it is what it is. They have to go there, so I'd rather not dwell on the nasty possibilities. But, that being said, please pray for protection for Joaquim and for Mãe while they are there! Of course they will take every precaution, and will only be there for the day, so all we can ask is for their protection.

And, last but not least, I will not talk to my love for a week! That does not seem fun. So...pray for my sanity, and perhaps my workouts. :)

Que será, será!!!

2009-03-12T14:47:00.002-05:00

I have had a funny little feeling these last few days. As I have been praying over Joaquim's visa interview in a week and a half, I have found myself just begging for God to do whatever He wants. I have been learning more and more each day that He is SO good.

I mean...we know that, right? But really. He IS good, all the time. Seeing blessings and experiencing the fact that God is always there for us and that His timing is perfect, what is there to worry about? Whether or not Joaquim gets the visa (and there's no foreseeable reason he wouldn't...) it will be good, because God is good. It may not be easy, it may make life harder for now, but it will be right.

So, if you pray for us on March 24th, just pray that God's will be done! It's as easy as that. And we have complete and utter faith that the safest place to be is in His will.

Persevering!

2009-03-02T10:38:00.002-06:00

I'm not going to lie, it has been a rough week for Joaquim and I! I think the stress of the documentation, and that which is lacking, is getting to our brains. But we will be fine! And how many times do we have to hear "communication is key" until we finally get it? I was the culprit these past few days...

Joaquim went to Sao Paulo last Sunday evening, and was there until Thursday morning. His physical went well, everything is in order, which is no surprise as Joaquim is quite the organized and responsible fellow. He is now waiting anxiously...aka an attempt at patiently...for the doctor's letter to arrive. He also has to go to Cascavel in the next week or two, to pick up another document he needs. There are so many documents here that I am not quite sure which is which.

Anyway, upon his return from Sao Paulo, he was a bit of a stress case, which resulted in me trying to be the calming influence. However, I am far from calm at the moment because I, too, am trying to get some affidavits together (and I think I am driving my dad crazy in the process...thanks for your help, dad and forgive my outbursts!) So I was trying to withhold my stress in order to relieve Joaquim's. Did that work? No, no it did not.

These are the times we both whine about how it would be better to be together! Because in a pinch, a smooch goes a long way. ;)

But guess what? March 24th, baby! In God's will, Joaquim will have his visa and we will just go back to normal wedding planning, and all will be well!

K-1 Visa for Dummies

2009-02-18T09:10:00.002-06:00

Before I met Joaquim, I had absolutely no idea what a K-1 visa was. You may not either, and since it is basically consuming our lives at the moment, I thought I would explain this beast of bureaucracy.

Basically, in order for Joaquim and I to get married and for him to smoothly apply for a greencard, so that we can come and go to and from the US freely forever and ever, he needs to apply for what is commonly known as a "fiancé visa." This visa states our intent to be married, and in order to be issued one, we have to prove time and time again that we actually know each other and do in fact love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together.

First, I had to file a "petition for an alien fiancé." That was interesting. I signed a bunch of papers, as did Joaquim, all sets including information about our jobs, our parents and where they were born, etc. We had to send in copies of passports and birth certificates, photos of us together, copies of boarding passes and trip itineraries that proved we have met each other, and a signed "statement of intent" by each of us, summarizing our entire relationship and plan to marry on one little page. That went off to the USCIS, and it was slated to be in line for processing for 5-6 months. 2 1/2 months later, I got a letter saying it was approved!

Then, it went all the way to New Hampshire for FBI approval. That could take a few weeks. 11 days later, I got a letter that THAT had been approved!

Next stop: Rio de Janeiro. The letter said our packet was on its way to the embassy in Brazil, and from there, Joaquim would receive a packet of forms and instructions on his end. This usually takes at least a month. 3 weeks later, Joaquim already had his packet in hand, and an interview date of March 24th!

Our first reaction was "wow!" ... then it was "oh...wow...March 24th, huh?"

Before that time, he needs to go to São Paulo for a doctor's appointment, where they will make sure he doesn't have any crazy tropical diseases, and get his vaccinations up to date. He also has to go to assorted other offices, seemingly all over the state, to get papers and documents to bring with him to the interview. He once again needs to bring proof of our engagement and our meeting and our relationship, and answer some questions to ensure he is not just going on a greencard hunt. (ha.)

It is going to be a crazy and probably stressful month and few days, and it starts on Sunday! He is going to São Paulo Sunday evening, and will stay with his brother Luis until Wednesday evening. His doctors appointment is Wednesday the 25th.

By March 24th, he should have a visa in hand and be ready to come to the US again in August and marry ME in September! I think this just sounds like a marvelous plan.

Hello again!

2009-02-17T15:34:00.004-06:00

It seems I'm consistently trying to get myself back into the blogging world! Seeing how blogging helps to unite missionary friends and friends with babies sharing their pictures with family around the whole world, I figured it's worth another shot.Now that "I" is turning into "we" officially on September 6th of this year, there are lots more stories to tell!

So hopefully I'll be more on top of things and write about Joaquim and my life at the moment, still very long distance...

For now, be praying for his visa interview on March 24th! This will be the final "yes, you can get married in the US" moment. We are trusting it will go well!