4th of july!

i was able to spend fourth of july with my boyfriend in branson, missouri weeeeee... we're in a ldr since he is in forth polk, louisiana and i'm in scottsdale, arizona.. so every chance we have too see each other for more than a weekend, we're taking it! this time we were able to hang out for a whole week and i couldn't be more grateful for it! i love my soldier and he is one awesome guy!

as usual, i forgot to take lots and lots of pictures and will kick myself in the butt have to take more pictures next time... here are a few though!

and last, but not least... is there anything cuter than a boyfriend carrying your purse?? lol hope he doesn't get to see this, because he'd be so embarrassed! hahaha

love you mike mike.. thanks for another great week with you!

for my daddy...

dad and his girls

dad, although it's not father's day in brazil, it is here and you deserve to be celebrated always! i love you and thank you for being an awesome father! being far away from you makes me see how much i miss you and what a great father you are. i hope you know that i wouldn't want any other person in the universe to be my father and that you're the BEST! :)

so grateful!

 i'm so grateful because god is so good to me, because he really listens to my prayers and i'm just feeling really blessed at the moment. no matter how many times i am stubborn or i feel discouraged, he is always there helping me out! gotta love him ! =]

my life's been busy as heck with summer school and homework (man!!! online classes on summer suck.. and why so much homework?! it's summer for christ's sake!) all i wanna do is wake up late and relax.. but all i seem to do is homework! it's never ending! sooo frustrating! but it's ok, it's for a good cause... will be getting myself some cool credits at least! i find it funny the fact that when i have to go to school though, i'm the only person there hahaha! i guess not even employees feel like working on summer season!

anyway, i came back from louisiana two weeks ago and been meaning to post all pictures i took! went there for the first time to meet the boyfriend's family and they're all so nice and lovely! i think they like me too, so that's a good thing lol...

we went to soooo many places! literally walked all day but that was so much fun... ghost tour, night scene, aquarium, movies, bowling, , race, swamp tour (yeah, i was impressed i went as well!) and ahhh, we also ate this little thing that looks like a donut and tastes sooo good... but i don't know the name of it haha, it was good though!

and when i came home i could swear i had gained weight since we ate so much, but BAM! i lost weight... guess all the walking we did in new orleans was as effective as my daily workout!!

the donut thing that i can't remember the name! yummm

these alligators are so used to people that when the guide call them to offer a snack, they come reeeeally close to the boat! it was insane! our guide was actually patting the gator on the head! scary! funny fact: they like to eat hotdogs and marshmallows haha go figure!

cute little house with alligators as neighbors!

awesome view from our room!

loooved this crazy race, it was sooo funny!

boyfriend and i :)

boyfriend's mom's cat! this cat is the sweetest cat i've ever met!! so cute!

weeell.. i guess that's all for today! i'm home alone doing homework while the fam is in brasil having a blast! so jealous! i'll leave you guys with this awesome video of this band playing in new orleans! they were so good and we had a great time watching them!

good night! =]

that's what i've been doing lately...

gotta love summer ! ;) but in a couple of weeks, it's mari back to school, ughhh ! i still have some time left, so will be joining the boyfriend in new orleans for a week! can't wait! hope y'all having a great summer!

cali, cali, cali, california

i went to california for the first time the end of april and although i've been to many states here, cali is on top of my list now. i could totally see myself living there, but it makes me think so much of brazil. people walking around in shorts and t-shirts, going to the beach with their dogs and what a great atmosphere!! makes me a bit homesick haha!

we (my mom, my baby sis and i) drove from az to ca and it was a fairly easy trip (only ran out of gas once, so woohoo!), the roads are good and my gps worked fine, thank god! we also went to disneyland for my baby sister's birthday and had a blast! i'm a huge fan of disney in general and so is my family, and we've gone many times to disneyworld in florida, visited disneyland too, so hopefully soon it will be eurodisney? lol.. a girl can dream, huh!

the park was packed though and we didn't get to see all characters (only cinderella and snow white) and didn't get to ride every attraction, that was a bummer by the way.. but we had to stay in line for at least an hour for every ride.... so you get the picture, ughh. next time, next time. we'll hopefully try to get luckier and visit it again this summer. but i can bet it will be even more crowded than before, lol.

now, pictures, pictures, pictures ! =]

getting there, woohoo!

packed, oh so packed!

my beautiful baby sis!

mama and i :)

on the way home, still a bit of snow outta there!

now, i've been trying to stimulate myself to post more often, but sometimes i'm just not in the mood, or my life is pretty boring haha. i always had this problem with diaries growing up, i'd start it and never continue, but will for sure try hard not to give up this time. :) wish me luuuuck !

i'm a world map in a body... seriously.

why i say that, you ask me? well, i know exactly where i was born (who doesn't!) and how i was raised, and it's funny because i never had problems with that before, until i became a teenager and didn't know how to describe myself. 

"what are you?" people would ask me and i had no idea how to define myself. like, for real, no idea. i know i'm mixed, but only later in life i learned how mixed i was. try super mixed. 

let's start from the beginning, alright? i'm from brazil, born and raised there. it's beautiful, i love it, love the language (portuguese!), the people are really nice and always so energetic. 

rio de janeiro, my hometown.

okay so about that i am very, very sure. when i moved to the us, people literally couldn't define what i was, and they were very interested in all that mix so i scheduled a talk with my mama and asked her what was really bothering me, "what the heck am i?" okay, so here is what i discovered about me: my dad's family came from turkey (i knew that already), my mom's family from spain, portugal and africa. i was born in brazil. 

"so," i started, "what does that make me?" and she gladly replied. "an international person?"

my international self

yes, i guess that's a good enough answer. so all ye nations, embrace me. i probably have a little bit of you in my blood, too.

6.30 am

i can't believe that i have to wake up at 6.30 again starting tomorrow.. oh why! my weekend was good, very busy with lots of family and friends visiting... went to a party, walmart, movies, hiking.. we had a blast. unfortunately i forgot to take my camera and register these moments, what a bummer :(

well maybe next time!