reflections & a final day of August

Is it just me or does time just seem to be speeding up with every passing year?

It's incredible to me that G and I have already began another Fall semester at Moody, which happens to be his LAST. Whoa!! I can really remember it like it was last weekend, visiting him here in Chicago as he was half way through the first semester of his Moody career. We were just engaged for a couple months then, and the idea of us living in this beautiful city seemed so unbelievably unreal, but magical at the same time.

I love the beginning verses in Psalm 139 that say,

      You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

      You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

      You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

The reason I love these words is because, like the rest of scripture, they are TRUE. & I am reminded of that often as I get older and my life continues to change. I am reminded that God knows me. He really KNOWS ME, and every dream & thought that's in my heart. Since I was very young, maybe 8 or 9 years old, I've wanted to marry young. Of course at that age, and really until the real prospect of getting engaged was on my mind, I had a very small idea of what that really meant. But I knew it was something I wanted & hoped for; most people who know me knew this dream. A dream not many people knew about however, was my dream to live somewhere new. Since high school I've seen myself living somewhere out of New Jersey, and had the desire to "start over" in a sense, to gain a new perspective on the world. 

So at a very young 19 years old, newly engaged & visiting my future husband in the city we would both be living, in months time, I was seeing God make so many of my dreams, dreams I believe He placed in my heart, a reality. Dreams and desires I kept in my heart, that only God knew were coming into fruition all at once while our plans for marriage, going to my dream Christian school (didn't even know it was then), and living in an amazing city (walking distance from the "beach"!!) were all about to happen.

I don't deserve this. I am not a perfect person, and won't ever be; nor am I a perfect follower of Jesus, but that's exactly where the beauty is seen. Nothing I do will change Gods love for me, and that's the biggest blessing I will ever receive! Reflecting on all these things makes me even more grateful today, on this final day of August, as we continue to make new memories & discover even more beauties & eats our first home has to offer. & even though life does not always feel this beautiful & I don't always feel grateful for what God has given me, today am I thankful. Today...

& here are a few photo's from our day. We wanted to try a new place to eat & decided to try Jake Melnick's Corner Tap because they are voted the best wings in Chicago. & almost everywhere we go, G wants to eat chicken wings (a true black man I tell ya!) We didn't try too many things, but what we did have tasted great & the prices were good too! Another eatery down, and lots more to go! On our way home we walked through the small park that's a block away from our building, and there I saw a cherry tree with fallen cherries all over the ground! I'm a bit in denial about the cold that's on it's way because the weather has been so amazing. But this tree reminded me of my love for Fall & the beauty of changing seasons in nature & in life. Life, slow down a bit please, for me?

love, t Olive

paschoal keys: part outings

sunsets, the southernmost point, & city streets...

My family rented a house in Cudjoe Key (insert family joke here) for our vacation in the Keys! Our home away from home was about a half hour away from Key West, so going there was just a short drive away from the night life in the Keys. We loved going there during the sunset to enjoy the pretty views of the sun setting on the water & of course to enjoy the infamous key lime pie! Sadly, there were no pictures taken of the pies (yes, plural) we ate, but the photos I do have & the people in them are even more divine! (nod to Tia Rozangela)

I think the best word to describe our outings to Key West, is ADVENTURE! Having our family go to the city with almost twenty people ranging from ages 17-89,  walking down a crowed street with one person hoping into one store, a couple wanting to take a tour, & even more looking to have some gelato (beats ice cream ANY day) things got a bit adventurous at times. Like our first night when my Mommy, Daddy, Michelle, Jonathan, G and I lost the group and walked for a half hour away from where they were; only to take another half hour to find them where they were waiting for us to eat, you guessed it, key lime pie! By the time we got there the pies had melted a bit, but it was still so delicious! & more fun stories and memories were created.

A few of these photos are from some family members phones & my uncle Moises camera! He has the Cannon, so more of his pretty photos will come up in the next couple posts!

A girls night & a guys night also happened during the week. But like the good saying says, what happens in (Key West) stays in Key West. But really, us girls took zero pictures from our night, I think because we were very focused on getting goodies & souvenirs for the some people we love. & the boys, well let's let them keep their night to themselves.

That week was so sweet. Yes. I miss those days so...

no sunset photo was edited because I was so taken back by the beauty of God's art we got to appreciate in its full glory.

photo-bombed for days... 

The Cousins

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip, even though it's blurry. Beauty is overwhelming when a family's love for each other is deeper than their imperfections and differences.

our private ice cream date, "let's-take-this-quick-before-we-loose-everyone"photo. :)

cutest.

tough guys.

replaying over & over

That top right spot is Michelle's finger. I love Michelle, so it stays. 

For the past week or so, I've had a song replaying over & over in my mind. Does this phenomena happen to you?

It's a tune that came up in Key West (breaking from the series, but still in context - yes!) . Michelle & I were having one of those photo-shoots where you take dozens upon dozens of pictures & you keep moving in different directions hoping you like ONE photo when you look through the camera roll. Luckily, we both had at least one photo we liked, so off to ps express (love this app!) vsco cam (another fav!) and instagram (which we all know & love), we post!

Next, comes the caption. Oh the instagram caption, you are great when I think of something witty & cute to say about this photo, or place, or emotion, or something! But when I hit blank, lyrics or a quote I love will come to mind & there they post. & that's what happened with the beach picture.

Think.....Beach = Ocean = "Oceans" by Hillsong. Perfect!
"Michelle, how does that 'Oceans' song go again?"
& ever since then, the song has been on my mind replaying over & over again, which means I've been singing it over & over again. If G was home he'd be laughing because he knows what it's like when I have a song on my mind & on my tongue, He KNOWS!

What I love though, is that the song has gone from my mind, to my tongue & into my heart. The lyrics have become a daily prayer unto God. 

Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.

And I will call upon Your name and keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise my soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine.

Thank You, Lord.
Amen.

paschoal keys: part beach

VACATION!

What does that feel like again? G and I really couldn't remember as we were getting ready to go on our first one since our honeymoon! The funny thing is we were going to be vacationing at the same place we honeymooned, key west! My adorable grandparents are celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary (beautiful!) this September, so the siblings got together this past Christmas to decide how to celebrate. Many conversations later, Key West it was! A house was rented and our family vacation was in the making!

I loved everything about this vacation for many reasons. The pool & jacuzzi, palm trees & beaches & yummy key lime pie (a key west specialty) are definitely on the top of the list. Also, our family hash tag on Instagram was one of my favorite things & the best idea ever (more about that in a future post!). But, at the very top of my "loved everything" list, is getting to spend eight full days with my extended family! Living in different states is not fun at all, and I realize how much I took for granted when I lived minutes away from most of them. That's why I'm so grateful for our days in key west, and for the future vacations we'll take together!

This post will include photos from our beach days. We had many! In total we discovered four or five different beaches and spent time in all of them. What can I say, we're Brazilian & Brazilians LOVE the beach! Not everyone is pictured here, but there will be more Paschoal Keys posts to come! FYI - all these photos were taken on my IPhone 4. & if you know anything about the IPhone, you know the quality of the camera of the IPhone 4 camera is not the greatest, but I love taking pictures on my phone, and will continue to do so until I save up to get a legit camera, or the IPhone 5; which ever comes first I'll be happy with!

Family, I love you & miss you & can't wait to vacation with you again!

Love, t Olive

I LOVE this photo of Michelle! She's stunning isn't she?

love this outtake!

a woman of God for decades upon decades. I love her so. 

My mommy sure is foxy!

I love this face

The beach we honeymooned on over two years ago. *butterflies 

fancy meeting you here Melina & Danny!

a thrilling & quite humbling experience

& so it begins! 

writing this first post is - exciting, nerve wrenching, thrilling, & well - quite humbling. I've had the desire to start a blog a little over two years ago when my dear hubby "g" & I got married. (best day EVER!) I wanted to document the happenings of our new life together for our own memories (because g has a hard time remembering what we did last weekend, let alone what the special happenings of last year were, but no one's perfect.) & for our families and friends who we moved away from to finish school, two weeks after saying "i do." & to our future kids & grand-kids & great grand-kids for remembering the roots of our family tree. 

so let's see what this blog turns out to be, shall we?! (sometimes I like to rhyme.) *smiles 

before concluding, many many thanks are due to very special people: 

To my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, who I believe has placed this one of many dreams in my heart & has given me the freedom to share the story He has written for g & I as we live in His mercies everyday // To my lady friends from church who are always reminding me to start this thing, even if it's not "pretty" - yet! // To fabz, who inspired me this week to write this first post after creating her new blog last week! She also helped me with the name for the blog & she takes pretty pictures & I love her! (http://fabianemellophotography.blogspot.com/) // To my family who is always supporting me in every passion & dream I have, even in the moments when my faith is lacking & I don't believe I'm good enough to accomplish those dreams // & finally, To my one & only lover & life-long mate, g. your belief, faith, and love for me reminds me of Jesus' everyday. I am not who I am today if it wasn't for you in my life. 

I pray that every season of our life will bring encouragement to the seasons of yours
as I write about the seasons of this olive tree.

Love,
The Olives