Your Own kind of BEAUTIFUL

So many girls out there doing the extreme to look a certain way,

Dying for the look that "society thinks is beautiful"

But instead of that, they should really look within themselves,

and realize that they are beautiful in their own kind of way

Everyone has a beauty that is unique, and theirs

There is always ways to enhance that beauty 

that doesn't require extreme measures

Be confident, be real, be YOU!

Being beautiful starts with you!

“Raising one’s self-esteem takes changes in behavior. Behavior will change with practice and intention. Self-esteem is an achievement–a process that empowers, energizes and motivates. It is not something that we have, but the experience of things that we do. Self-esteem is the experience of being capable of meeting life’s challenges and being worthy of happiness” 

-( La Belle Foundation S.E.L.F.).

VOTE NOW!

FELLOW BLOGGERS AND READERS

I need YOUR HELP!

Let's all vote for our beautiful FOX SPORTS FLORIDA Girls

JORDANA AND ANNILIE

to go to Kansas City for the big MLB ALL STAR GAME

Jordana is my cousin, and I am such a huge fan of her

I am so proud of the woman she has become,

the inner beauty is just as beautiful as her outer

She deserves this opportunity 

So let's all help her by clicking on the link below and voting

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/page/fox-sports-girls-mlb-all-star-game-challenge 

THANK YOU!

Every vote is deeply appreciated

Perfect Eyebrows

As everyone know I am super into eyebrows, I think it is essential to have a nice, perfectly shaped eyebrow.   So I am always shopping around for new things to enhance mine.  I love all of Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyebrow kits and products, they are really worth every penny.

So one lovely day at the mall, with extra time to kill, I decided to go in Sephora, one of my favorite stores, and test out a few products that I would never really buy....This one product that always caught my attention was a highlighting pencil from Anastasia's line...This particular item I always really thought it was "worthless" to buy, I mean... C'mon it was a simple little highlighting eyebrow pencil?!  But the moment I picked it up and tested, it did exactly what I have been wanting and searching for this whole time. I couldn't believe it, I looked passed this product and unrated it no less than 10 times, I undervalued it this whole time, SHAME ON ME!  It is now by far one of my favorite tools in my make-up bag.

Here it is...........my beloved and magical MATTE HIGHLIGHTER PENCIL

$21.00 SEPHORA

It comes in 4 great colors: CAMILLE, BUFF, PASTEL and HALO.  I personally liked all of them, but chose to take the CAMILLE home, it just worked better for my skin tone.  This eyebrow tool is not only to shadow and highlight your eyebrows but it can also be used for yours lips as well, apply it as a base coat to prevent your lipstick from bleeding or feathering. You cannot go wrong with this pencil, everyone I have tried it on has LOVED IT!

Love is Real

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!

Beauty Tip

Without doubt, good skins starts with proper daily cleansing

to remove the skin from oil, grime, dirt and makeup

I just have to share this beauty tip with you readers!  Because after trying countless name products, I think I finally found one that I am in love with and super excited about.  The results are not only noticeably with the eye, but I can feel that it works but just touching my face.


The key facts to this product are:

• Contains AHAs to loosen and invisibly remove dead skin cells. 
• Removes make-up (including eye make-up) and washes away impurities in one action.
• Oil-free non pore-clogging formulation. 
• Eliminates the need for toner. 
• Leaves skin feeling fresh and clean. 
• & Fragrance Free.

Making it the ultimate face cleanser in the market right now that is gentle enough for you to use twice a day.  (I could honestly be their spokesperson people this is how much I believe this product is heaven sent, can't you tell?)  

Now that I found this product I will never spend another dime on anything else. I have read reviews online about it, and everyone seems to agree with me, and be just as in love with this item as I am.

49.00 USD

For LOVE & BASKETBALL

Finally...

 I had the chance to update my blog!

Sorry to all my readers,

I am back from our basketball season in Europe,

I'm staying in Florida for about a month or so,

then going to Brasil to enjoy time with my family

I also have some great news, I signed up for summer classes at Florida State University

so I can freshen up on my studies, and dedicate some time for my learning.

Living in Europe for an entire 10 months out of there year definitely has it's ups and downs.

It is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life, only a few people in the world can reap the amazing rewards of dating or being married to a man in sports.

But I know this must sound crazy for some people, but I miss having a job, doing something productive, for me, or for a company.  So I figured this off season, after I was done visiting family I would take some business courses at my favorite University, just to keep my mind going, and keep me on my grind, for what comes after basketball.

My life is anything but simple, but it is a great one I can't complain,

I don't even know what it is like to live in one place for more than 6 months anymore.

But I wouldn't change it for the world, especially when you are living life in the moment

in the name of

  LOVE & BASKETBALL.

Keep Trying!

I Will Always Be Yours

“I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, everyday we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours. ”

― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

Never Say Never, The Movie

For the first time yesterday, I watched Justin Bieber's movie

"NEVER SAY NEVER"

starring Justin Bieber, of course!

 I must admit, what a great documentary of his life that was.

I did not know much about Bieber prior to the movie,

besides the obvious fact that he is a millionaire 

and millions of little girls are infatuated by him and his music

But Bieber has a story, an amazing one.

In the movie he shared with viewers his upbringing in the small city in Canada,

being raised by his single mother, with the help of his grandparents,

Bieber always had music in his soul,

and without any professional assistance, 

he would sing, play the drums, guitar and perform.

The talent came naturally, and he needed an outlet

an audience....

So his mom decided to tape it and put it on youtube for family members to watch

and the rest is history.

Social Network assisted Bieber in becoming the fastest artist to rise to the top,

Not to mention his raw talent, skills and dedication.

He is a young kid with soul,

Admired by many,

respected by all,

He is humble, modest and most of all he has a heart of gold

He deserves all the fame in the world.

Never say never is a great movie, highly recommend watching it!

It brings a new understanding to this Bieber Fever

March Madness 2012

Wow! What a crazy and wild year this has been

NCAA March madness is pure mayhem

first Mizzou, then Duke...

now Georgetown and FSU...

What a year of upsets.

I know a lot of people were pretty mad at the performance of their favorite teams,

I mean, no one expected this much upset in one season

Everyone's brackets pretty much got destroyed from 

the defeat of big name teams.

I had high hopes and expectations for both my teams

The Georgetown Hoyas and The Florida State Seminoles

They both put on a great fight, and I am so proud of our seniors!

I was just hoping we would have advance and gotten a little closer to that Final Four

but unfortunately this is the year for the underdogs to shine.

March Madness is definitely the most exciting time of year 

for College basketball....

let the games continue.

As Long As You Live

Do what you love,

Love what you do.

those two things are essential to one's true happiness

Where Magic Happens

No captions really needed here

Magic alway happens OUTSIDE of your comfort zone

Organize!

This image shows there is a solution to everything!!!

"O Toquinho"

Deus abre a porta mas voce e quem tem que atravessá-la.

 "Toquinho" e um dos maiores lutador de todos os tempos. 

Um exemplo de vida,

um verdadeiro guerreiro,

um Brasileiro vitorioso

A Result of What We Thought

Lueven; Belgium

A few entries back I was excited to announce that one of my closest friends was coming to Belgium to visit me during her Spring Break from Law School.  I was super happy to have my dear friend Danielle for 5 days in my home, and I wanted her to get as much out of this trip as we could in such a small amount of time.

I planned out a few "day trips" to the nearby cities, the first city we visited was Lueven, it was my first time in Lueven so I got to enjoy it just as much as she did.

Lueven is located in the Flemish region of Belgium, meaning their primary language is Dutch/Flemish, not French. Lueven is mostly known for a college town or like the local people like to call it "student city."  It is home to Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the oldest Catholic university still in existence in the world and the biggest University in Belgium.

There was no doubt in our minds that Lueven was indeed a "student city" once we arrived.  There was hundreds if not thousands of students roaming around the city. Since this time of year there isn't many tourists visiting, the students really stood out to us, giving us a young, vibrant vibe to the city.

While in Lueven, Danielle and I got to see the famous and beautiful  Town Hall, St. Peter's Church,  the statue Fonske.....  and all the stunning buildings with beautiful architecture around it.

The rest of the cities I took her to were all cities I previously visited and blogged about in previous entries.
Such as Gent, Amsterdam, and of course she got to see my current city Antwerp in between it all :)

It is wonderful having friends and family visit, I really make it a priority to make sure everyone that comes to visit me has a wonderful time and leaves with a smile on their face, and living in Belgium makes it easy, it is a beautiful country, has everything to offer, we are surrounded by great cities to visit all in a close range.

CrossFit

I started a new adventure into CrossFit Training.  Everyone that reads my blog knows I love fitness. I might not be the most fit person in the world, but I love the feeling a good workout brings, so I am always up for a challenging workout and with over 3,000 affiliate CrossFit gyms worldwide, I am happy to say I recentely discovered one in my current town. CrossFit Antwerpen; has brought to me a different meaning to working out.

About CrossFit:

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program defined as “constantly varied, functional movement, performed at high intensity."The goal of CrossFit is to improve fitness, which it defines as "work capacity across broad time and modal domains."

CrossFit claims that increases in work capacity will result in the greater general physical preparedness of CrossFit practitioners.

CrossFit combines weightlifting, sprinting, gymnastics, powerlifting, and rowing.

CrossFit contends that a person is as fit as they are proficient in each of ten general physical skills: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy.

Workouts are typically short--20 minutes or less--and intense, demanding all-out physical exertion. Performance, such as the time required to complete a sequence of movements, is measured and recorded, both to facilitate competition between participants and to track individual progress.

So far I have attended a total of 8 CrossFit classes and in that small amount of time I have developed a love/hate relationship with CrossFit.  The type of training it involves is EXACTLY what I love to do, and what I been looking for, BUT it is hard, very hard, it pushes you beyond your limit, it becomes simply the longest and hardest 20 minutes of your life, but it is all in the name of fitness.

CrossFit Antwerpen has thought me strength, discipline, and motivation. The members of CrossFit is beyond encouraging, everyone is all about team work and dedication, just when I think about quitting a workout, there is someone, either a staff or a member, next to me telling me to "push push push" through the pain, or someone runs an extra lap just to keep me company, and that is motivation enough to keep going and make your team proud.

The running, the heavy lifting, the chin ups, oh god the BURPEES, all kills me, but in a good way, a way that I my body needs it.  Last night I did a total of 280 squats, you can only imagine how my legs feels this morning. But tomorrow there is more! I hate how much pain I feel during a workout, but I always go back for more, and every night I leave Crossfit more proud of myself, and in love with what this gym is all about.

Adventures while Traveling

So my dearest and very adventures, world traveler, carefree friend Britney, just recently took a trip to Morocco, and in Morocco she tried out Sand Surfing.  I was in complete state of jealousy when I saw all the amazing pictures uploaded on her facebook page displaying just one more of her amazing experiences.  I can always count on Britney to show me and teach me new and adventurous things, she is the epitome of a happy young woman living her dreams the best way she can. Britney's life inspires me to HAVE FUN while doing things, we both travel a lot, seen many places, but the difference between her and I, is that while traveling she does something outrageously fun, like sand surfing in Morocco.  So I put together a list of destinations I want to visit, and the adrenaline rushing things I can do while there, in no particular order!

 I live for once in a life opportunities, so might as well make my dreams true while I can :).

1. Swim in a Cenote:  Forget laying on a beach, enjoying a mojito, that is overrated and you can do that just about anywhere. This Dzitnup Cenote in located in Valladolid, Mexico, is an underground cenote accessible only through a hole in the roof. No other scenery better then this one!

2: Sand surfing: There are a few places you can go to sand surf, but I'm going stick with Morocco as my destination of choice.  I just hope I can keep my balance on the dune boards and fear no sand in my hair :)

3: Swim with while sharks:  A shark cage tour in Hawaii. Get up and close with these vicious creatures in their natural habitat, beats any day at the aquarium

4: Canyoning:  Hiking, rock climbing, jumping, swimming, abseiling will all put my fitness to the test. But Canyoning seems so much fun and it can be done in the Rocky Mountains!!!

5: Skydiving:  It can be done almost everywhere, it has gotten really popular! But if I get the chance to skydive I would love for it to be in Brazil, in my beautiful home country.

Before I Die

We all have dreams that we wish it will come true before we die,

dreams that we can work hard to conquer

Here are a few things I would like before I die.....

Not in any specific order.....

Enjoy <3

Beautiful People

So True.

All You Need To Do Is TRY

Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to all the lovers out there!

They say we don't need "a day" to celebrate our love,

but heyyyy....since this day exists I'll take it.

Due to my boyfriend's busy schedule with 2 practices a day

My love and I celebrated Valentines Day a little earlier this year

Since he takes pride in surprising me on special occasions, he was in charge of the romantic date! 

And I have to admit, his a damn good secret keeper.  

As controlling and curious as I am, I can ever guess what he is up to.

The day started early when he surprised me with the Marc Jacobs purse I have been wanting, 

and a beautiful necklace from the same store. (yayyy)

Next on his list of events, he took me to the Diamond Museum here in Antwerp.

It is only right for us to visit this place, since the city of Antwerp is internationally known as the capital of diamond, 

After the museum we had a little brunch at one of my favorite places,

called De Foyer.

(a place I highly recommend anyone visiting Antwerp)

It was such a special day, and I only have him to thank!

I admire his passion and his will to make me happy at all cost.

He is such a wonderful friend/lover/partner

I couldn't have picked a better man to share my life with

So happy to be in love with someone who truly is MY BEST FRIEND!

The Luckier You Get

be inspired.

KEEP GOING

that being said,

let's keep hope alive,

and learn to never give up too soon

RIP Eira Maghuyop

I am mourning a death of a teenage girl I did not know,

She is just one of many young teens who was bullied to death by peers.

14 year old Eira Maghuyop was only a freshman at a catholic all-girls school in New York,

she had dreams and ambitions to play the piano, go to med school and get married some day.

She lived the life of a normal Filipino American girl,

except she was tormented by bullies to the point she could not take it anymore

The Justin Bieber fan, who loved to draw, and make people laugh

was found dead on January 31st of 2012 after hanging herself in her parent's bathroom.

I guess she figured

ACTIONS WOULD SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.

She did not know how much people cared about her,

I wish everyone would take a second out of their day

to tell someone you love them,

or just acknowledge the person next to you with a warm smile.

and HELP RAISE AWARENESS

 Bullying is a CRIME,

it is a hate crime

RIP Beautiful, Eira

Against Racism

Saw this and thought I'd share it :)

This happened on TAM airlines.

A 50-something year old white woman arrived at her seat and saw that the passenger next to her was a black man.

Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.

"What's the problem, ma?" the hostess asked her

"Can't you see?" the lady said - "I was given a seat next to a black man. I can't seat here next to him. You have to change my seat"

- "Please, calm down, ma" - said the hostess

"Unfortunately, all the seats are occupied, but I'm still going to check if we have any."

The hostess left and returned some minutes later.

"Madam, as I told you, there isn't any empty seat in this class- economy class.

But I spoke to the captain and he confirmed that there isn't any empty seats in the economy class. We only have seats in the first class."

And before the woman said anything, the hostess continued

"Look, it is unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class.

However, given the circumstances, the commandant thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger travel sat next to an unpleasant person."

And turning to the black man, the hostess said:

"Which means, Sir, if you would be so nice to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in the first class..."

And all the passengers nearby, who were shocked to see the scene started applauding, some standing on their feet."

SHARE IF YOU ARE AGAINST RACISM!

CYBERBULLYING

So something is really heavy on my heart. Like most people, I own a twitter account, and to stay in the "loop" of things, I follow a few top celebrities like the Kardashian sisters and Rihanna.

I know some of these celebrities have posed for the NO H8 campaign, which helps fight to end hate, and a lot of them speak out against bullying, but can they be doing a better job at preventing it?

Both Kim Kardashian and Rihanna have over 12 Million followers on twitter, and some of those 12 million followers are die hard fans. Fans who reads not only every tweet the celebrities write, but also the tweets written by others to the celebrity.

The problem here lies when a celebrity responds to something negative from a fellow tweeter. Almost instantly the reply sends a huge retaliation alarm to all fans to fight back in support of their celebrity

For over 7 hours last night I watched a teenage girl get crucified by Rihanna's fans over a tweet the teenager sent to Rihanna to "You are not a thug, stop it"

Rihanna replied back to the young girl: "Shut up Bitch, Swallow"

If you took the time to click of the teenage girl's page, you would see she lists Rihanna as her favorite singer on her bio, and that she is a young teenage girl from California.  The girl who meant no harm, later tweeted she wants all this to just go away.

It hurt me to hear the ugly and nasty words the fans had to say to her, I can only image how this teenager felt at the time, it was a massive cyber attack.  No one likes to be hated, or disliked, so when you have hundreds, even thousands people bashing you, it can be quiet dangerous for anyone's mental state. Not only were the fans very offensive, and humiliating to the girl, Rihanna's response took the cake.  And she [Rihanna] knew she was only setting fuel to the fire, that her fan's would get involved.

Celebrities are not blind to the fact that CYBERBULLYING exists, and it exists right in front of their eyes, literally on their page.  All the messages to the young teen has a Rihanna mention in it (@Rihanna), and if you know how twitter works, you know Rihanna reads her mentions and notifications, and this topic went on for several hours at a time, so there was plenty for her to see.

It is like having a whole gang or army behind you, defending your every word, and fighting all your battles for you verbally.

Another incident was when a 23 year old Reem also from California called Kourtney Kardashian "a bitch" over twitter, sending every Kadashian fan on a crazy hunt to bring this girl down.

Kourtney Kardashian made acknowledgement of the tweet by responding something like along these lines like go live your happy little life.  While her response wasn't bad, she knew her fans wouldn't let the young girl get away with calling their idol a bitch.

Fans wrote messages like "a person like you shouldn't be alive" "you are so rude, you don't deserve to live" Again, I watched hours go by and thousands of tweets towards this girl judging her from her looks in her default picture, to every word she once tweeted.

What the people forgot to read was her 5 word bio. "I have had three hearts" 

Reem is a two time heart transplant recipient. Her whole life she has been dealing with a bad heart, and finally in 2002 she had her first heart transplant, unfortunately few years later that heart failed, and recently September 2011 she got a new heart, a third heart.

Can you imagine this woman's struggle? Her childhood memories is filled with doctor visits, hospital beds, while waiting for a match on a new heart and yet she had to endure to read words like "she shouldn't be alive," and other horrible comments from people around the world siting how her life is worthless.

In the mist of her receiving all the back slash, I tweeted her, told her how amazing her blog is, which was also listed on her bio, and what an inspiring person she is.  I wanted to take some heat off of her, and give her some caring words to read, and all I did was pray it would make a difference in her life at that moment.

I felt bad, it hurt to hear those people say those things, words can not only hurt, but it can kill.  THIS IS CYBERBULLYING at its best, and its not going to go away until the celebrity speaks out against it, and pleads to their fans to stop harassing, the tormenting, and the insulting others for them.

I know I can't change the world, I am just one small voice, I don't have the influence of a celebrity, but the cyberbullying is happening, it is real, and it is dangerous and it affects REAL LIVES!

HELP ME BRING MORE AWARENESS TO CELEBRITIES TO HELP STOP CYBERBULLYING!

A Polluted Ocean

Just because we don't see it.

DOESN'T MEAN IT IS NOT THERE.

Help keep our planet clean,

the ocean is not a place for your trash.

This pictures says a thousand words

Why Study?

Cant stop laughing.

Sad, but so true.

We see scenarios like this more times than we like.

If this photo doesn't motivate a child to study

I don't know what will.

:)

BFF Coming to Town!

I got super exciting news!!!

and I just can't wait til February!

Drum rolls please......

My dearest friend Danielle is coming to visit me!!!

#WINNING

(Orlando----Brussels)

We are a little under 5,000 miles away from one another

and 6 hours of time difference

but yet we still manage to keep in touch very often

It means so much to me that she would come out here to visit, 

and spend time with my boyfriend and I.

We really love having company over

and she's the perfect person to have in our home and presence

She is currently a law student in Orlando and 

doesn't really have much time for anything besides her studies.

So it will be fun having her here.

I will make sure she has an unforgettable, stress-free Spring Break.

And don't worry, I am already making our itinerary for all the different places we will visit.  

Everything is a little more fun when your best friend is in town!

PS: AMSTERDAM here I come, round 5!

HOORAY!

The Best Thing U have To Offer

I really hate when people lie to themselves about who they really are.

Here is this person, pretending to be so much than what she/he really is.

Umm two faced?....

 No more like three, four, five faced

They turn themselves into a human chameleon

Adjusting their behavior, attitude and "face" for the occasion or the person.

It's rather pathetic to befriend all the people you once passed terrible judgments on,

it really speaks LOUD about one's character.

A few words comes to mind when I think of such a person...

Fake, follower, insecure, desperate..etc 

I guess the feeling of approval from others is what they thrive for

Although they are living life with no real identity 

Oh pity!

Buying a Blender

After months of debating if I actually need one,

I decided to I do,

I really reaaaaally do

I am buying a blender tomorrow,

FINALLY.

I am a big shake person,

I love making healthy fruit smoothies

and even a little green protein shake

But the prices of the blenders here aren't so cheap as in America.

It ranges from 40-60 EURO for a BASIC simple blender

I think that is mainly why I have not gotten one right away,

but it has become an item high on my DEMAND list,

I NEED TO OWN ONE, thats it.

even if it's just for a couple months

while we in this country temporary.

Anyways I am looking forward to it

It is the simple things in life that makes me smile....

like a smoothie :)

ISR Swim

So I was browsing YouTube.com

and I came across this video

 

At first I thought it was fake,
I thought maybe the baby was wearing a life vest,
but nope, she really is floating by her self
This is real

And this baby isn't the only one,
there are hundreds of other floating baby videos
And I think it is just wonderful.
This video/skill really wowed me
This infant swimming survival class really do saves lives

About the video:

"What you see is the result of infant swimming self rescue instruction or survival swimming. The babies are never in harms way but taught how to float and roll over to breath keeping themselves alive until they can get help. This method has saved many lives. "ISR swim" is a search term to find information about the techniques. There are also many instructors that teach this for all ages if you can find one in your area."

Your thoughts run your life

Amen...

Chapter 2012

Good bye 2011,

and Hello beautiful 2012.

On New Years Eve I went out with a bang,

My boyfriend and I joined our friends at a local club here in Antwerp

and we all laughed and partied the night away.

(well til exactly 3:49 a.m. that is...)

While spending the night with friends, and found myself lucky to still have my parents in town, although they leave on Jan 4

we are making the best out of their time here.

It is just amazing waking up to them in the morning

We are really going to miss them, dearly, when they leave.

Anyways with every new year comes new beginning, new hopes,

new dreams.

We all like to start off our year on the right foot,

So we make our new year resolutions and try to stick to it

Here are some of my new year resolutions I have made this year,

1. Always rise above the little things.

2. Be kind to all.

3. Be less judgemental or critical of people you do not know.

4. Listen more, talk less.

5. Take a class, go back to school in the summer.

6. Visit my family in Brazil.

7. Help others, any way I can.

and last but not least,

a very common resolution among woman

LOSE 10 POUNDS!!!!!!!!

May 2012 be a wondeful year....

and I cannot publish this entry

without saying....

 Thank You LORD for allowing me to see another year