BIRTHDAY MAYHEM!

My 23rd was celebrated in style. See for yourself, below:

the spot.

ms. escalante *sizzle sizzle*

i'm at 12 o'clock. shannon treated me to a mani/pedi :)

eu adoro voces! sandy and liz

sticky rice has become somewhat of a delicacy here in brasil. we were overjoyed, to say the least.

i heart this woman, too. candace, you're my girl!!

god, mattie is so into me.

ainye. or ms. long if you're nasty.

shan, my righthand woman, was like the best part of my birthday. not only did she spoil me rotten, but she kept me beaming all day- luv you baby! :)

beijos!

me being silly

that's a little better :)

happy birthday to me!!

me, lost in deep thought.

the snoozy couple

another snoozy couple- ms. shan and romeo

liz passed out from all the excitement. apparently, it was too much to handle. here's supermatt!

luz de cidade.

CACHOEIRA WONDERLAND....

The following details one of the bi-monthly excursions I partook in, this time, to Lencois. Despite the brevity of the trip, we managed to have a gallavanting good time. We hiked up tall cliffs, traipsed through black caves, ziplined across emerald waters, swam in and out of cachoeiras (waterfalls) and soaked in beaming rays of the Brasilian sun. Que bellissimo!

surmounting.

the summit

look, ma!

mattie; dangling.

minha amor, shannon

Lencois; praca.

ms. lizzy poo aka 'slaughter' and moi.

mattie's on one!

shan'wich.

our dear friend and program director extraordinaire, Clara

liza and kyla, breakin it down to samba

exterior of the cave we visited.

let there be luz

chess pieces.

angel wings.

a grave.

the light at the end of the tunnel


ascension

aquajewels

candy doing what candy does best :)

i hate my braces! but yeah, i was forced to smile with my teeth :)


violeta


orange blossoms.

ainye, cheesin'

royal majesty.


mattie; liftoff

cachoeirita

...and Kyla, caught in a candid moment, who had to miss out on the fun. :( awww!