Things I do differently as a mom now that I'm in Brazil...

As I was rinsing out an authentic "ziploc bag" the other day to be able to reuse it, I got thinking about how there are so many things that I do differently in my home now that I'm in Brazil. I kind of got a kick out of thinking about it. Now that I'm in Brazil I...

• Make my own spaghetti sauce from scratch and then put it in the blender to mix it. I use the blender for a lot of things now that I never did.
• Wash all of my dishes by hand and have gotten used to the no disposal situation.
• Watch Oprah at 8am when it's on here and love it. I miss American tv all the time.
• Give my kids at least 2 baths a day. It's just so hot during the day it's a real refresher before school, naps and bedtime.
• Don't send text messages (weird!). And not being a personal assistant anymore I am not glued to my cell phone anymore. I don't use it much.
• Hold my breath as I pass by the meat section at the grocery store.
• Arrive at church 20 minutes early to set up. I'm glad to say we've never been late to church here and even leave early to pick people up. Now that's improvement for us!
• Sweep my rug instead of vacuum it.
• Make my own fruit juices: Guava and Acerola and Orange.
• I cook lunch every day like it were dinner. Lee comes home for lunch everyday and it's their main meal here so I need to plan it out and make something good.
• Don't sleep with a comforter at night and our window is wide open to let the cool air in. It actually cools down at night here so it's real nice.
• Go to the church a few times a week. Meetings, Institute, volleyball, clean the chapel, etc. It's fun to see how the ward is a true little family and they all hang out there during the week.
• Walk to the grocery store. (I really miss the healthy things to buy! There's just not the same options here!) Oh and how I miss drinking milk!!
• We speak more Porto-Inglish in our home more than ever these days. Maile has even come up with a few creative words that I totally get. "Fech the door." "When I'm done chuping my sucker." and "don't mesh with my stuff". ha ha.
• I don't drive. (maybe soon)
• I don't pay the bills and do all that stuff like I used to. Lee's in charge now and it's mostly nice but sometimes I miss being in charge of the finance stuff.
• I have to think about what time it is in the U.S. to be able to call my Mom and friends. When it's lunch time here usually everyone is just waking up there!
• We go to the mall just to look around sometimes for fun. Yes I live in a small city with limited things to do. :)
• We can go to the beach on the weekends!
• I go swimming with the kids during the week.
• Ketchup on my pizza.
• Save any good plastic bags, wrapping paper, or containers that could be useful for something in the future.
• When Lucas was younger we would put him to nap in a hammock.
• Instead of a dryer hang my clothes up to dry on the line. I always thought that sounded kind of charming- trust me....it's a lot of work!
• This one's funny: sometimes I actually catch myself thinking I'm extra smart cause I know how to speak English cause everyone here wants to learn it. ha! Good job speaking your native language Miche. I remember saying that to an American Elder on my mission and I said, "Ya, sometimes I think I'm extra cool cause I speak English so good." and he replied, "You mean so well?!"

Well that's all I can think of now but I'll have to keep adding to the list.