With Love, Lu

I can say I’ve had a full life. I gave myself a chance to change and make it better. I cried and lost sleep before making some very tough decisions but I made them because I believed it had to be done.

I learned to open my mind and put myself in others shoes. I also learned that I am my best friend and I need to put myself first to be happy and make others happy.

Now that I am 38 I can say that your real life, the good one, starts around 33/35 years old. You are confident, you know what you want and what you DON’T want, you are stronger and more selective.

By now you know who is your real friend. You’ve needed them and you saw who was there for you.

When I was in my twenties I did not feel half as beautiful as I feel today. Fact!

I’ve learned to move on. But to learn that, you have to go through some shit obstacles that leave you no choice but to move on. You get that tough skin or else you’ll get stuck and life will suck. You know the lemons that life gives to you and you have to add water and sugar. I’ve made some lemonade…

As much as I don’t like to face or even say “I’m 38,” I have no choice and I will look positively and will do everything to grow old gracefully.

I always hated my birthdays, ever since I was a child. But when I turned 31 I had a crises, was really depressed. I will never forget what Matt told me that day.

He looked inside of my teary eyes and said ” I can wait for you to turn 81, to celebrate with you and look back at the wonderful life we built together and I will kiss every single wrinkle you’ll have on your face”

I know… pretty amazing. That for some reason made every May 5th a little easier for me. I just hope we live until then

So last night, May 5th, 2012 I turned 38. Matt took me for dinner, a great sushi place in Newport Beach.

I had fun.

Happy 38 and many more to me!

♥

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It was back in March, we went out for dinner and the music was great and people started to dance.

It did not take two minutes for my little one to start dancing and she pulled her partner to the dance floor…

There is nothing sweeter than a father dancing with his little girl and I was there watching these two having fun, dancing the night away in front of me.

Growing up, I was so shy, I know I could never dance like her in front of so many people but my daughter does not care. She dances, she makes faces and enjoy every minute of it. This girl blows me away!

These are probably my favorite photos of all time. I’m so glad I had my camera with me…

Aww these two…

♥

I am a proud Brazilian girl. I absolutely love the fact that I was born in Rio de Janeiro; such a beautiful city, tropical weather, where we drink caipirinhas by the beach and the official land of samba… oh yeah, I can do that  Portuguese is a beautiful language and I am very proud of my heavy carioca* accent. I love Brazil and all my family and friends I left there. I miss it. Sometimes I just want to take a walk on Ipanema beach, grab a fresh coconut water, sit down and people watch… I did that a lot when I lived there. All is good and amazing in Rio but for some reason God had other plans for me, very far away.

When I first came to this country I was 26, looking for a change, for some kind of exciting adventure. Although I didn’t speak a word of English, I fell in love with California, with the lifestyle and I made a commitment to learn the language. I started to make friends, to get used to life here and when I saw myself, I was HERE! I worked as a nanny for 2 amazing boys, Sammy and Vaughn, they have touched my life in so many ways, I had my old 1988 red Nissan Sentra (strawberry), I rented a room in a beautiful home… I was doing great, learning English and living my “new adventure” to the fullest. Then, I met Matt and you can read HERE our story. When we decided to get married I knew I was making the decision to be in the US forever, the reality that this wasn’t an “adventure” anymore hit me pretty hard but it would be much harder to leave all this behind and I was in love, in love this amazing guy. I just stayed here….and with him!

It’s been almost 12 years from the day I first arrived, on a very rainy, November day. I have carried my Green Card in my wallet for 8 years now but this January I wanted to become an American citizen. I did. It took a little over 4 months for the whole process and last Tuesday, April 17th, among with almost 5000 people I raised my right hand and pledged my allegiance.  I became an American. I cried so much, I had so many emotions inside of me. So much to be thankful for. This amazing country has given me all I have, my husband and my daughter, they are mine and they love me so much. We are a strong family, we are a team, we have so much fun together. I call Matt’s parents mom and dad, They have shown me true love and they were there in the crowd, celebrating my day and honoring me. In this country I have found happiness, love and I’ve learned how to fight for my rights. I call this home. And now I can finally say:

I’M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

I’m an American!

Do you have any idea how proud this makes me? It is beyond words.

♥

March 28th, 2012

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Great way to start the day. Pancakes!

Time to party!

My cute Brazilian shoes

Love watching these two together

Lots of cowboy boots

So much fun!

And my favorite picture of the day

♥