Where Have I Been?

Nadeen here!

Jacques in a far away world of Florence, Italy and while I miss her dearly I’ll be spending my semester a little differently.

And while it is true that her life is way more exciting than mine at the moment, it’s still not an excuse as to why I haven’t been posting regularly.

I have learned that although I am extremely busy this semester, this blog is a tool I use to relax, and I need to start utilizing this more often.

Since we haven’t spoken in a while, I’ll briefly update you on all the new happenings in my life.

First off, I’m currently an intern at Refugee Services of Texas.

I’m absolutely in love with everything I do at this internship. It is alot of work, but it is also extremely rewarding. I get to use my arabic and spanish, while DIRECTLY helping families who just arrive in the US because of unfortunate events happening in their homeland.

I’m especially appreciative of this internship because of all the important life skills I’m gaining such as problem solving and multi tasking. We held our annual cycling fundraiser this weekend, where rode a 10 mile route to raise money for refugee and asylee families in Austin who are in need. I am thankful for all the sponsors that I had, and our whole nonprofit raised about $25,000 in total. which is absolutely amazing and one cannot even begin to imagine how directly helpful this money will be for so many families in Austin, TX.

The event was fun before and after the ride. There was yoga, breakfast tacos, live music, beer, and more. and it was at Yellow Bike Project! 

 

Second, I’ve taken this whole Face Painting thing to the next level and started my own mini business. 

I created some business cards, put up a few ads on craigslist, and have received a great response!

If you’d like to book me for a party, you can email me at nadeenabouhossa@yahoo.com

So these are all the “important,” productive, life factors in my life.

Other than that, I’ve really been enjoying myself and learning how precious time is, and instead of blabbering away you can see some highlights in photos. (I got the new iphone 5s for christmas, so my photos are way better quality now 🙂 )

^^my new room

I made Arrepas (venezuelan meal) for the boys

their faces show the deliciousness 

We put up a hammock in the hall of our house, but of course it’s only for cody 😉

Made candles at home! It was fun but really messy and alot of work. 

Gotta have a strong man to cut up all the wax so it can melt properly 

Taaaa-daaaaa! They smelled delightful. One of our housemates got a lil wild with mixing scents and she ended up throwing hers away cause it smelled like puke. (oops)

My man and I went on a sweet little getaway over MLK weekend. (thanks groupon getaway for making it affordable)

The weather was perfect! 

I cook for my house every Thursday, and I want to start updating you all on what we cook cause it’s been great and unique this semester! Here are our chicken and bean enchiladas con mucho queso 

This has been the coldest winter in TX that I can ever remember. 3 snow days so far, including tomorrow! (that’s the real reason why I’m blogging :)) And as tortuous as it’s been to deal with this freezing weather (continuous nights in layers of clothes drinking hot tea and cuddling – it’s actually not so bad), I’ve been happy cause I get to wear this monkey hat my brother gave me a few years ago. 

A few days ago, when I started this post,  I couldn’t remember how the sun looked like or how I could even begin to fathom to pull out some shorts, so that’s why I wanted to post this photo from the week before. a day of beautiful sunshine all day, cause I wanted to go back to that day in the grass.^^^^^^

Last weekend, we went to a wild child show here in Austin, where they were shooting their music video. It was at the coolest house I’ve ever been to. You be the judge by the looks of these photos.

(sign waiver to jump on this trampoline ^^)

play some chess 

smoke machines!! 

and we were in the front row 🙂

after the show, arrakis had our around the world. where we go from room to room and engage in some activity. my room was carnival themed. we played twister and drank some cotton candy stuff with obnoxious music in the background. it was great and unfortunately there were no photos taken. One of my housemates, Nick, put all our spare mattresses in the dining room and made this his room designated for wrestling matches. 

So that’s how my life has been. No complaining here, I always say I consider myself a pretty lucky girl.

I promise you all ONE blog post a week, with more detailed descriptions of life and there are lots of concerts coming up that I will photograph and talk about with you all.

I also have been crafting a lot more, and I want to document that as well.

Thanks to everyone who reads, it means so much. and let’s all say how much we miss jacqueline. I shall live vicariously through her by eating pasta everyday 😉

xoxo,

Nadeen Abou-Hossa

Welcome to Firenze!

Well I am officially no longer in the US. Can I get a whoop?

I will say that leaving the US and landing in a foreign country was not as climactic as I thought it would be. I thought I would have a rush of emotions and strange new feelings. I thought I would feel like a new person, but I didn’t.

I was mostly just worn out and ready to be in Italy. I still can’t even believe I am here, even while I write this post from my bed in my gorgeous apartment.

Traveling started at 7:30 am.. And my mom insisted on this picture. Glad she took it though!

The gate was decorated for Christmas, it appeared to be jolly but at 6:30 in the morning no one is around to make you feel the holiday spirit.

My flights continued from Houston To Washington D.C., To New York To Zurich, Switzerland And finally to Florence, Italy . A whopping 24 hours later.

I can officially say I’ve never gone this long without sleep.
Check for typos..

BUT I was so pleased to be dropped off at my new home and it is absolutely beautiful:

Plane shots:

Dare ya to guess which one is which!

For now, exploration and much needed sleep. My cat naps on the planes led me to weirdly vivid dreams about food so I think I need some real sleep in a bed.

Arrivaderci

5 phases to completion

This post is not entirely eventful. Just wanted to mention that I finally finished my 2D metal necklace!

It’s really hard for me to actually finish a piece of art, I don’t know if it because I am an indecisive person or what. It took me 5 stages to actually like this piece:

There it is!

It is made out of all copper, the colored pieces were done with a flux heat patina and I riveted everything together with copper wire. the chain out is made of small jump rings.

More projects to come soon!

Off to New Orleans to meet up with Nadeen! And others of course..

—Jacqueline

Fancy snackz

So, school has officially started but due to syllabus days I don’t find a need to do anything but cool stuff. Right, I guess stuff I think is cool. Anywho, my school has an awesome art gallery in the art building. There was this guy who put together a photography exhibit. Some of the photos date back to 1968. They are amazing black and white photos of Mayan civilization and culture. So lots of little people in villages showing off their everyday life, family and things they do.

Because it was the opening reception it was all fancy with catered drinks and nibbles.. That’s a gross word. I mean snackz of course, they had snackz.
They also did this neat thing where you got an iPod when you entered and you listened to the photographer talk about each photo and tell the story!

The photos are on display through February I believe so if you are nearby definitely check it out! Sorry you won’t get snackz or iPod fancy.

–also if you love some man eye candy like nadeen and I do.. Definitely remember to visit art galleries. Apparently they like them too..

“the trick to getting what you want is knowing what you can get.”

—Jacqueline