Hiking Lisbon's lung

We took one of our first "family hikes" on Sunday and I hope it's a habit we can keep up somewhat regularly. We explored a bit of Monsanto, the forest and "lung" in the middle of Lisbon city. We had a really nice friend go with us and we sang "hakuna matata". I only wish we had a dog to sniff along with us...! 

Fall market

Did you know there are things such as fall markets in Portugal? Neither did I. So when I saw this one announced I said, "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" And we did. 

It was small, but nice. We tried all of the cheese samples possible. Then didn't buy any cheese, ahaha. My other half tried some liqueurs and wines and we bought some walnuts and figs. And we shared a bag of chestnuts at the end. Hooray Portugal... have more fall markets!

Halloween... #4!

My friend Sofia told me when I invited her over for Halloween, "We haven't missed a Halloween yet." And only then did I realize, this is the fourth Halloween we've spent together: we've had two dinners at her house and this is the second Halloween dinner at my house. So I guess we've started a tradition. 

My hubbie and I were especially excited because this was the first party we'd be hosting at our new house together. We were extra careful about who to invite, because we only have a certain amount of cups and places to sit. LEAVE IT TO PORTUGAL... however... to try to ruin (!) Halloween for us by scheduling a public transport STRIKE for the same day and half of our guests not showing up due to traffic. 

PS In case you don't know, I hate strikes. I've blogged about them here... and here.

But we didn't let the strike ruin our day... we had fun anyway! 

Pumpkin lasagna and "autumn" salad (w/ apples and nuts) were on the main menu...

Halloween carrots with hummus...

A really great chocolate cake recipe in the back and my favorite: headless gingerbread men! Great gingerbread recipe from Martha Stewart and I used strawberry jam for the blood.  

Pioneer Woman's cinnamon bread... it was okay. 

Eyeballs in the wine glasses...

A bun in the oven costume!!!

Some cool ninjas, angels, "dead nature" and the girl from the ring people hanging around...

Happy Halloween!

Calah Alexander interview

AVE MARIA, FLORIDA: AN INTERVIEW

Julie Machado | Oct 25, 2013 | 

I wrote about the small town of Ave Maria, Florida last month here at CatholicStand, but I was still curious about a lot of things I couldn’t find online.

Calah Alexander, who blogs at Barefoot and Pregnant, was kind enough to answer some questions about the town, which she lives in. Here is a peek into Ave Maria, Florida from Calah...

Keep reading at:

http://catholicstand.com/ave-maria-florida-an-interview/

An (orange-sized) announcement!

So... 

the people at the retreat last weekend left us a little surprise on our breakfast plates one morning...

 

Why? Because we're pregnant!!! haha..!

With a little baby that is supposedly the size of an orange now. It's due March 29th... that's right: nine months after the day we got married. Double haha...

We are very excited/terrified/happy! It's a very emotional and intense phase. It's nice to have everyone touch my belly and give me chocolate whenever I feel like it. 

We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, and we haven't thought of any names. By the way, if you have any suggestions of names that have the same spelling in Portuguese and English, please leave them here!