It's Been a While!

It has been a long while since I've posted anything. So sorry sweet friends. Life happens sometimes, which takes a lot of my time away.

But now with the semester slowing down I will have much more time to do what I love, write.

In the past few days, I have been readjusting to life in the States since I just came back from a mission trip in Mexico. The trip went super well and was very fun. Our team was able to help the orphanage with various different projects and we were also able to spend a lot of time with the kiddos.

Here are some pictures! 

                                                                                                        ♡ Iz

Monday Memories

It's a beautiful, chilly, Monday here in good ol' Missouri. I said "chilly"...what I meant to say was, it's FREEZING here. I have four layers on (not including scarf, gloves, and two pairs of socks). I always enjoy the cold weather right at the beginning of the winter. My coats are screaming to get out of the closet, my boots haven't been worn in ages, and all the scarves I knitted during the summer need to make their way outside. But after about four, or five weeks of cold, I'm ready for summer again. 

So today as I sit here sipping some chai tea, I am reminded of how much I miss good ol' Brazil. Brazil is where my family is originally from, and these are some of the pictures I took on our last trip there. Today, I'm missing my sweet grandparents, the hot weather, walking on the beach while drinking coconut water, and being able to purchase fruity popsicles on any street. I'm very thankful for my life here, but sometimes you just miss a place, right?

 This is a picture I took from a road near my grandparents house in Minas Gerais.

     

 Traveling by train to Salvador to visit my cousins. 

  The sun setting above my favorite burger joint, called Nandao, located in Governador Valadares.

 Local kids enjoying the 80° weather.

 Snapping pictures while going for an afternoon stroll in Salvador. 

 Kids playing soccer.

Are you missing a certain place today? 

Childhood Honesty

Today I got to enjoy a nice lunch with some sweet friends. Anytime we all hang out it seems like we always end up telling funny childhood stories. The story below is one of the ones I told, and I thought I'd share it because, well why not...To begin the story I should say that I think everyone went through a phase as a child where they were way too honest. You know...the kind of honesty that gets you in trouble? Well, here’s a nice little story about that.

While I was going through this phase, my father had hired someone to fix our kitchen sink. The guy he hired was one of his friends who had been in that business for a while. His friend was super nice, but he had a severe case of buck teeth. So my father asked my mother to keep me out of the kitchen during that time, that way I wouldn’t cause them to be embarrassed again (referring to other times where I have said something I shouldn’t have). While his friend was fixing the sink, I ran downstairs into the kitchen… I was always a very curious child therefore I had to see what all the commotion was about in there. I came into the kitchen wearing a bright, red cape because I was dressed as a superhero (I liked to play dress up a lot). As soon as I stepped foot in there I yelled, “Who are you in my kitchen?!” When he popped his head up from under the sink and smiled...I said, “you look like a rabbit mister!” (referring to his teeth) and ran out. My parents were so embarrassed at the time and apologized to him several times. But nowadays whenever they tell this story, they have to pause often from laughing so hard.  I was such an ornery little kid.

But what can I say, honesty is the best policy!

(Definitely not in this case whatsoever.) 

What about you? Any silly childhood stories about you being brutally honest? Haha ;) 

Music Monday

Here's a list of songs that I have had on replay this whole month...

Pretty much anything by Emancipator--but my favorites would have to be;

Valhalla,

Outlaw,

and Soon It Will Be Cold Enough

Hey Laura- Gregory Potter

No Me Without You- Robbie Seay Band

Big Jet Plane- Angus And Julia Stone

This Love- Julia Stone

AND

Wake up- Sum Of An Abstract

I listen to a lot of music every day, but I find myself playing these songs over and over.

What's on your playlist? 

5 Emojis That Should Exist

So, ever since I discovered emojis, I have become one of those people that uses them very often. Emojis can lighten up that "get your act together" text to your best friend, they can emphasize your love towards someone with many red little hearts, and they can tell a story without any actual words.

As I'm thinking about emojis (I know, I'm weird)...I thought about a couple of emojis that don't exist and I have NO idea why. In my opinion they would make the texting world a whole lot better. 

So here is a list of the emojis I'm missing:

    1) Ninja 

Someone texts you, wondering where you put something or how did they not see you leave that get together...all you have to text back is a ninja.

    2) Mustaches

This one is self explanatory. --I think...message me if you don't get it, I'll explain.

    3) Bacon

Sweet, delicious, unappreciated bacon. How am I supposed to illustrate my unhealthy breakfast? 

    4) People of other skin tones

I don't know about you but sometimes a palace guard or a caucasian cop just don't cut it. I just need some more people to choose from. Also, I'm brown. So, there's that.

    5) T-rex 

Whether you don't know what to say, have a lot to say, are happy, excited, sad, or mad..a T-rex would always come in handy. 

What emojis are you missing?

Christmas Movies

Christmas is almost here! Celebrating our Savior's birth, eating yummy food, and getting to spend some good time with family and friends. It also means that it is now socially acceptable to watch a million Christmas movies, listen to all Christmas music, and pretty much just do everything Christmas. Which to me is super exciting because it is my favorite time of the year!

So I thought I would share my top 10 Christmas movies that I like to watch with my family around the holidays. We watch a ton of movies around this time but these ten are probably my favorite, and they are also ranked in order of awesomeness! (Strictly my opinion, but if we disagree, we can still be friends of course).

1- Home Alone

2- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

3- Elf

4- How the Grinch Stole Christmas 

5- A Charlie Brown Christmas 

6- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

7- The Polar Express

8- Its a Wonderful Life

9- Miracle on 34th Street 

10- The Holiday 

What are some movies you and your family enjoy during the holidays? 

Four Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies!

Ingredients:

-1 egg

-1 teaspoon of baking soda

-1 cup of smooth or crunchy peanut butter

-1 cup of sugar

(I've also tried it with a 1/2 cup of sugar, and it's still pretty sweet)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees 

-Mix the peanut butter and sugar (until smooth)

-Mix in baking soda and egg

-Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet

-Bake until done (about 5-7 minutes)

*Makes 17 cookies/36 calories per cookie

Enjoy! :) 

Worry Free

During this much needed fall break, my mother and I took a little road trip to Campbell's Maze Daze. At the Maze Daze families can go on a hay ride, paint pumpkins, ride horses, enjoy a bonfire, and (my favorite part) walk through a pumpkin patch. I had never been to a pumpkin patch before, so I was pretty stoked to go there and...we had a blast! Who knew picking out the best looking pumpkin could be so much fun? While walking through the patch we were surrounded by giggling children running around and sometimes tripping over their own two feet. Seeing this made me realize how much I miss being a kid. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the adult life. But as a kid most of us wanted to grow up and become adults as fast as possible, not realizing that it would come with responsibilities and some worries at times. But I have to say, I miss celebrating birthdays with my classmates while eating cupcakes and ice cream. I miss spelling tests where the extra credit word was "happiness", I miss waking up early on Saturday morning to watch classic cartoons, and I miss being able to run around all day playing freeze tag without getting tired. The responsibilities that come with the adult life are fun, but I do miss the perks of being a kid.

♡ Iz