Frustration

One word to describe the past 4 months?

frus·trat·ed

ˈfrəsˌtrātid/

adjective

adjective: frustrated

1. 1.

   feeling or expressing distress and annoyance, esp. because of inability to change or achieve something.

   "young people get frustrated with the system"

   • (of a person) unable to follow or be successful in a particular career.

     "a frustrated actor"
   • prevented from progressing, succeeding, or being fulfilled.

     "our parents may want us to fulfill their own frustrated dreams"
   • (From Google)

   
   

I wish I could vent all my frustrations on the blog.  I'm the type of person that needs to vent and get everything OUT before I can feel better.  But, unfortunately, due to the nature of my frustrations, I can't (or shouldn't, rather) express anything publicly. I'll give you some hints though: it has nothing to do with my marriage, friends, family, Rio, or Brazil.  So what does that leave?

I just have to ask myself, "Is it worth it?"  Well, I guess I'll know by June. 

Life tip from Julie

Life Tip from Julie:

Wash your makeup brushes with shampoo.  

We all know that it's important to wash our makeup brushes frequently (although I must admit I don't wash them as often as I should).  I used to wash them with dish soap, but yesterday I washed them with shampoo, and the difference was amazing!  They are so soft and diffuse the makeup on to my skin beautifully!  

What do you think of my "life tip?"  Will you start washing your makeup brushes with shampoo now?

Santa Teresa

There is an old Catholic church at the top of the Lapa steps.  The main property gate was open, but the church gate was locked.  There was a cute golden retriever dog that saw us and began barking.  That drew the attention of a janitor who came over and opened the gate for us!  He opened a door to a small chapel on the side of the main sanctuary.  Although we couldn't see inside the main building, we were happy to see the beautiful chapel and were grateful for such a generous janitor.

Inside the small chapel:

"for your love, my only one adored, this 'claustro' I searched, austere and dumb and, finding you here, crucified, in you I found everything"

View from in front of the church:

Pretty walk to work

While walking to work one day, I was struck with the beauty of the flowers and the sky.  So I snapped a few pics with my camera.  Sorry for the bad quality, but I hope you enjoy the photos anyway!  Spring in Rio is wonderful!

P.S. For those of you confused, we are in the Southern Hemisphere, which means that while you, in the States, are entering Fall and cold weather, we, in Brazil, are entering Summer and hot weather!!!  But we have been enjoying mild "Spring" weather for the past couple of weeks! :)

Prainha - Little Beach

A couple of weekends ago we spent a day at Prainha with some friends.  Prainha means "little beach."  It is a cute beach south of Barra, in Recreio.  

It was chilly when we first got there, hence all the clothed people haha

Tryin' for some good selfies...

With all of our frustrations with our apartment and life, we are sooo happy to be living somewhere with beautiful beaches and friends to hang out with at those beaches!

Fried Egg Flower

I just came upon this photo on my phone... I took this snapshot when we were visiting Capitola about half a year ago (when we were still living in San Jose).  I thought these flowers were so funny because they look like fried eggs!!!  :)

It's the little things

One cold and rainy day in Rio de Janeiro, I arrived at my (British) violin student's house.  Her mother asked me if I would like a cup of tea.  Of course I replied, "YES!"  This is what I was presented:

I almost died of happiness!  My little heart was in heaven!  It (obviously) doesn't take much to make me happy!  I think I was born and raised on the wrong continent!

Next on my to-do list: visit London and have high tea in one of these places!

Beach Snapshots

I snapped these pics over a month ago!  Whew, time flies!

Here we are with our friends, the Pereiras and the Pithers, playing a Scandinavian game called, "Klop."  It's fun!

This kid (below) was so interested and watched us play the whole game, while trying to add up our scores in English (he was mostly right, but he did confuse "five" and "six" a couple of times).  We eventually let him throw a couple of times for fun.

I love sunsets at the beach!

There's Magic in the Sky

I've always thought beach sunsets to be the most magical of them all.  Don't ask me why we have sunsets over the beach when we're on the east coast... I don't fully understand the angles and directions of everything (haha!), but I DO know that our sunsets are quite spectacular!

All photos were taken with my android phone

Sometimes when I'm feeling annoyed or frustrated about life, I have to remind myself that OMG I LIVE IN A GORGEOUS CITY!  I need to just stop stressing and start enjoying life right now!