Back home isn't my home anymore..

Took a little 2 month trip back to the good ole' mountains of sweet Tennessee. It's really never the same once you leave and come back... The people changed, my little mini me sister no longer thought I was the coolest thing in the world.. the weather changed, tornados one day and 98 the next, I changed, put on 5 pounds due to McDonalds and Mamas good cookin and Eva grew! Being away for so long and then coming back I realized that Tennessee just isn't who I am anymore.... for the places that I've went has changed me a bit..

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

by Dr. Seuss


Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

I guess change isn't so bad but just not what we're always used to.

New Beginning.

Long time, no blog!

So, I went to the USA, for what was to be a month turned into 3! With that, I got a whole new perspective on life and learned a few things...

1. I'm one super lucky gal and have no reason at all to complain as much as I do!
2. I'm one hott Mama whether it be at 110 lbs or 150! (Ok so I'm still working on this part)
3. I have the best man in the entire world!
4. It's best to take one day at a time...

And so, here I am back in France with my new outlook on life and I'm happier than ever!

Life

Ever feel like you just don't know what is really going on in your life?? Little lost? Little hopeless? Little like this just isn't really what you had seen when you were growing up and you have it all "planned out"?? Ok, so thats me now!!

I never knew that having the love of my life being French would come with a long list of "Just To Make Your Life A Little More Complicated Encase It Wasn't Already" of things.

First. Only can be in his country for 90 days at a time (as we're not hitched).
Second. The French Chamber of Commerce wants proof of health insurance to apply for a visa (which allows you to be in a country for longer than that legally and so on).
Third. Well, I don't have health insurance!!
Fourth. The soones appointment they can see me is 4 days before I am supposed to return to France and it takes 3 weeks to get the visa!!!!
Fifth. I'm not really sure that my $1000 plane ticket is so "date flexable friendly".

And the list just goes on and on and on.... So what do you do when your stuck in this position?? Sure, getting married would solve 90% of the problems but who gets married just to make things easier? Most people and most people also end of divorced!

What to do?? What to do?? Any suggestions???

J'tame Paris

We decided to take a little Bon le Petit Voyage Romantique to Paris <3
Eva would stay with her Mammie and Pappie in the south of France and Adrien and I would go stay a full 3 days 2 nights in the city of love! As for Eva, when I returned she was still alive... as for "City of Love", lets just say we spent a lot of time on the tube, also known as the subway...
I've been to Paris before so we didn't have to do all the too touristy things... But of course, its not going to Paris if you don't see the Eiffel Tower and take a stroll down the Chaumps-Elysees to dream about shopping in all of the so expensive with one item purchase it would drain the average persons bank account, stores! Unfourtunaetly for me, I only get to look at those stores... as for my Pretty little French Boyfriend... we won't go there! Sometimes life is just not fair!

Shall we move on???

The Ice Kube!! Nearly as far as the tube will take you without being out of Paris, located in the Indian district middle of-looks like no where. Down a little Chemin that you would never notice in the day light more less never find in the night, is a super posh metro style hotel known as, The Ice Kube. And ice is excalitly what it is! For 40 Euros you can go in, get 4 Grey Goose cocktails and spend 30 minutes of your life in a bar of nothing but ice! Fun? Yes! Expensive? Yes! Cocktails? Yuck! Fun? Oh yes! Will I do it again? Probably not! But for sure, it was lots of fun and my dear little French friend, Ju came along :)

Some girls say diamonds are a way to the heart but for me, I prefer CHOCOLATE!!! Well, thats probably because I've never got a huge diamond before... When I do, I may reconsider..
Salon Du Chocolat!!!! The largest chocolate convention in the world! You better beleive I was there!! It was everywhere!!! I was in heaven! The thought of it now just makes my mouth water! Fountains, sculptures, chocolate butter, jams, clothing, wine, liquor, cups, soaps, truffels, dumplings.... the list goes on and on!! Everything chocolate!!! From every part of the world and every flavor you could ever dream of! Chocolate cheese for crying out loud!!

I also got to spend an evening with some of my most favorite French Amis!! I missed my Nat and Anne-C but next time :)

Do like the French & STRIKE

A few weeks ago my father inlaw says, "Be really careful with the gas, there is a scheduled strike so gas may be low...." Not really knowing the extent of this until my mother inlaw says, "Jean-Mark (father inlaw) is working from home this week to save gas and to monitor our usage.... " Considering he is a very careful man, I still didn't thing too much about it....
Next day, watching the news. It looks like a crazy zombie movie where the army is spraying the people in the streets with water to keep them back because they are going completely mad!! I mean, burning fire in the streets, jumping on random cars and smashing in the windows! MAD!!! And its not even like old people, its mostly young! For what you ask??? Social Security!!

Apparently the government here is trying to raise the retirement age to 65. So far they are standing their ground but I was told that the people will stay on strike until they get what they want!
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22nd Birthday

When I was 20, I couldn't wait to be 21... When I was 21, I thought it would be cool to be 22... until I turned 22! Now I am realizing that I am just getting old!!!

Luckly, I have amazing frineds here in France who celebrated my day with me and it turned out to be one of the best birthdays I have had yet!

We went to a fondue restarunt, which was as good as it was fun! Then off to a little bar where I was forced to wear a confetti blonde bob wig and then attacked with confetti! This was followed by several glasses of champagne, cake and presents :)
Next, night club!! This is where I realized just how old 22 actually feels!

Entering the night club, I was feeling pretty good! One drink in the night club... It's all good! Mama can handle this! Um.. did anyone see Isa? Oh yea! We lost her!
I think I need another drink.... two down... I'm down!! Literally! Sleeping on the sidewalk!! How I made it back to the taxi stop is beond me! According to the pictures, I must have been sleep walking because my eyes were closed the entire time!!

And then... my brand new iphone4.... gone! Just like that! Left it in the taxi :(

Potty Time!!

My sweet little Princess is only 19 months old and is already telling me when she wants to go potty!!!!!!!!!!

She is growing up way too fast!! I am so proud of her but I'm scared to see whats next!

I would give you fellow Mommies some tips... but really, it's all her!
I leave the potty where she can see it and just started asking her when I would change her dippar if she needed to potty and sure enough... now she's telling me!!