Its been a while!

Howdy folks!  So it seems that I looked up and three weeks have passed since I last posted to the blog.  My apologies!  The last couple of weeks have been rather trying for me.  I received a call on Monday January 16th, Martin Luther King Jr Day, that my grandma who had been steadily recovering from a stroke in November, passed away.  Grandma meant so much to me as I'm sure many people's grandmas do, but I was and continue to be very sad about losing her and I keep her in my heart and dreams daily.  Upon hearing the news, I immediately booked a flight home, leaving Pelotas on Wednesday and arriving in Austin on Thursday the 19th.  Friday, my mom, cousin Sarah, and Aunt Jenny drove to Longview to be with family and friends.  We spent Saturday there and it was very good to see everyone but also very difficult.  Sunday, we returned to Austin where I borrowed Aaron's mom's car (thanks Shelley!) to drive to Corpus Christi to spend a couple of days with Aaron.  While he was busy studying and flying, I had some time to rest and relax a bit before hopping on a plane Wednesday evening to return to Brazil after a whirlwind week.

Saying goodbye AGAIN to Aaron, Austin, my family, and Winston (my dog) was rough.  I had developed a routine in my new home in Pelotas and returning to the US for that week has really thrown me for a loop.  I am, however, beginning to settle back into my day to day activities here and am even planning some upcoming adventures (details to come soon ;) ). 

Last weekend, I spent Saturday in Laranjal with Samanta and Mario's family.  They are so much fun to hang out with!  In the afternoon, we splashed around in the pool, watching their two girls play and learn how to put their heads under water without getting a nose full!  I also played cards with Mario's mom and grandma.  The first game was Canastra which is more or less the same as Canasta and very similar to my grandma's favorite card game Hand and Foot.   Playing with them reminded me of sitting around a table playing cards with Grandma.  I know I will really miss that.  We also played Portinho (I think that is how you spell the game) which I found easy enough to learn but much harder to master the strategy.  After putting down my two realis to play, I was quickly schooled!  We all enjoyed a delicious churrasco and a home-made cake that was still warm.  All in all, I am so grateful for having been invited to spend the day with such great people!

Until next time!