making stuff

I already mentioned some stuff that Bret and I have made for baby boy here and here. Well, I've made some more stuff. Now that summer sporting events have ceased and I am still without job or husband, I'm trying my best to fill up the time with quality activities other than reality TV. Like taking out my acryllic paints for the first time in years, learning Portuguese (Eu quero uma agua gelada.... Eu nao gosto cerveja) and yes, a little crafting.

Once again my sewing sister, Amy, came in quite handy, this time helping my sister Sarah Jane and I make burp cloths. Very simple actually and lots of fun. (Amy mentioned it on her quilting blog here)

I came back a few weeks later and made a nursing cover. Not too hard either and even more fun to put together (I'm so into orange right now). My sewing addiction continues to grow!

Even so, I'll let Amy perform her magic and turn some of this fabric into a quilt for me. Thanks sister!

I also went to my most craftiest friend's house (Laura G) last night and did some fun letterpress stuff. They turned out super cute.

Although, I admit, that visit may have included some reality TV as well.

motherboy

Instead of doing a flash back I thought I'd do a flash forward today. I give you my son and I, four and six years into the future:

And we totally win cutest couple, too :)

so much for sympathy weight

Since mid February when this picture was taken Bret has lost over 25 pounds. For reals. Meanwhile, I have gained that much (ok, maybe more....) since then in pregnancy weight. It's as if our bodies inversely grew and shrunk simultaneously. Granted, we live in different countries right now so I can't blame him too much for not gaining any sympathy weight, but come on! I'm proud of him for setting a goal and achieving it and everything, but it's sure not helping my self esteem.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Claire, aka the smartest dog in the world, passed away this week (after 17 years!). What a good friend she has been. While in bed last night, I couldn't help but think about the deep connection that humans share with animals, especially dogs. I believe in God and certainly in his creative wisdom, to me this connection obviously serves a purpose. I'm no prophet, but it seems absolutely ludicrous that our natural affinity to animals belongs merely to this life. The bond is so deep rooted I wouldn't be surprised if it carried over into the next life. All dogs go to heaven...lets just hope we're all good enough in this life to co-exist with them there. We'll miss you Claire.

-Bret

video chat

How we spend a lot of our time. And yes, the stache is back and better than ever. Mercy me.

Rachel pulled a sneak attack and took this picture of B while he was chatting with me. They're now in the Rigby's house but since the crate of everyone's stuff hasn't yet arrived, this is his life right now. Poor guy.

sweet land of liberty (lake)

Hooray for the fourth, my favorite holiday! This past weekend I went up to beautiful Liberty Lake, WA, where I was invited to celebrate it with Bret's family. I've always heard from B how fun their place was for the 4th of July and I've been looking forward to going for years now, but I always assumed he'd be there with me when I did... bummer. Still, I was happy to be there.

The Millers have a cabin about an hour north of Spokane on another lake called Deer Lake. That community puts on their firework show on the 3rd so the entire crew (including Bret's parents, all but one sibling, bros-in-law, nephew, aunts, cousins, grandpas and three dogs) went up for the night to enjoy it.

Deer Lake by day...

... and by night (I used my phone to take these so they're not awesome)

(B's pa and sister Carynn)

(the men folk at work)

On the 4th, Liberty Lake puts on a fireworks show from the center of the lake in which the Millers have an amazing view from their house, so they invite anyone and everyone to their yard for the show.

Liberty Lake by day....

(Large and in charge.

Perhaps subconciously recreating one of the paintings from this post)

....by night

Although Bret wasn't there, it was still so fun to have some quality Miller time. It's crazy to think that the next time I'm up there I'll bring a kid with me! Someone for our cute little nephew, Ty, to play with.

I even got to visit a dear, old friend while I was there. Scooter has been living with Bret's sister, Melinda, and her husband since we moved from Seattle. They've been very nice to watch her for us while we're in Brazil.

Thanks, Millers, for a wonderful fourth!

flashback: wimbledon 2006

These last couple of weeks have been pretty good, what with all the great sporting events of the world going on and whatnot. Between the World Cup and a Wimbledon for the history books, I've appreciated yet another distraction from being "with child" without a husband around. Bret and I have even been able to watch a couple of World Cup matches together over video chat (keeping our fingers crossed that Brazil takes it now that USA is out) and perhaps an episode of the Bacherlorette as well.

In honor of these sporting events, I'm looking back to Summer 2006 when I was on study abroad and lucked out with some amazing seats at Wimbledon (please forgive my froofy hair and weird outfit, it's a mandatory part of the study abroad experience).

On that day almost exactly four years ago , about a dozen of us took the tube out to Wimbledon, bought ground passes and then waited in line at the resale booth for seats to a match. The resale tickets are only five pounds but basically a complete gamble. For instance, you could get OK seats to one of the smaller courts and watch mixed doubles or something random as some in our group did (which would have still been amazing by the way) or you could get lucky with seats to a Centre Court match like a few of the others did. My friend Sammy and I were luckier still, scoring a pair of front row seats to Centre Court for the women's semifinal.

We couldn't believe our good fortune and we certainly made the most of it! Our attempts at being proper and dignified, however, were not successful.

Maria Sharapova vs. Amelie Mauresmo. Both amazing and powerful players but Mauresmo ended up winning the match.

It was an experience of a lifetime, one that I can only hope to repeat someday with Bret... what'd ya say B, next summer? :)

What you might not have known about Brasil, part 1

I find myself fascinated with Latin America. I know it may not be hip, but there isn't a place like it in the world. I know what you're thinking, "you served there, thats why you're so passionate about the place." That's mostly true, and admittedly the spark that ignited my interest in the region - but the more I learn about it, the more I love it and all of its complexity. I really feel like this passion of mine has chosen me.

As many of you know, I'm living in Sao Paulo, Brasil. This place is incomprehensibly gargantuan. The city and outlying area has a total population of 19,889,559 people - making it the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th largest city in the world (depending on where you read it). It's also considered the most vertical city in the world. There is much debate as to what city in the world has the most skyscrapers, and depending on what article you read and their definition of skyscraper you get a different answer. Hong Kong typically wins because the average height of the buildings is much higher than Sao Paulo. New York usually comes in a close second because of height and density due to limited terrain. But as far as actual number of buildings, Sao Paulo puts them to shame (although they are typically shorter and spread about a much wider area). Come and visit us friends, and I'll let you be the judge.