I'm BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello ya'll!!

So I know that I just posted a blog I wrote back on March 11th and that is the last one I have done, so I have missed about 5 1/2 months of writing to all of my beloveds! I look at it in a positive way though, so yes, I was skipping out on informing all of my lovers at home about what I am doing and what my life has been like here in France, BUT, it just means that I have been really busy and having so much fun and more people to talk to and less time and energy to write my blog!!! I mean I think that is a good thing...ok, ok maybe it is a little bit lazy as well but I apologize!! I am going to try to catch you up on the big things that happened in the past months. I want to take the next week and a half before I come home (side note: EXCITEMENT!!!!!! WOOHOO!!! LET'S GET PUMPED UP TO MOVE HOME!!!!!) Anyways, I would like to just take time to reflect and fill you in on some of the things that I went through while here the past few months. Obviously, things will not be extremely detailed because I cannot possible remember EVERYTHING but I want to just write and see where my fingertips take me!!! A magical world of fingertips tapping on the keyboard...it will be a great adventure for everyone!

At this moment I am just getting prepared to move! I cannot even believe it is time to come home already! A whole year has passed and I am amazed at how fast time goes. Not only did I never expect to move to Paris, but I never expected life to zoom by the way everyone older than me says...like my parents! "You need to really soak up every moment and live life to the fullest because life is short and passes by so fast!" These words are what I live for and I have always found it incredibly important to live life to the fullest, but these words have never rung more clearly for me until now.

Pretty soon I will be celebrating my quarter of a century birthday and I don't know where that came from!!! It is out of left field!!! Can't believe it!!!! Did I mention that life is short and I am shocked?!?!?!?!?! Ok so I think you get the point...but to those of you who do not live by this motto I think you need to change your ways...ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!

LIFE IS SHORT...that is the best advice I can give haha...or maybe the advice would be LIVE IT UP!!!! Heck yes!!!

So in my final time here I am realizing that it is NOT my final time here...I just know that I will be back soon and I have so many contacts and people I know here in Paris and all over France that I will always have a reason to come back. To be honest I am looking for potential jobs here in Paris so I can stay.

I ABSOLUTELY want to come home but in the future I think I would LOVE to move back and it is very important to me to really keep working on my language skills...FRENCH ROCKS!!!

I am going to head to bed at the moment but don't worry because I will be back ASAP!!!

Let's get this blog rockin' and rollin' one more time before I skiddadle out of this great country!!!

LOVE YOU ALL PEEPS!!!

Keep it real up in hurrr.....Oh I forgot to mention I became really ghetto since I have been here...

HAHA JK!!!

OK PEACE OUT!!

MUAH

J

Hidden Blog!!

Hey peeps!! I wrote this Blog on March 11^th!! I just found it and never uploaded it so I hope you enjoy…I am going to begin to fill everyone in about the last few months!! I hope that you will all enjoy…but I must warn you that it is not going to be very detailed haha I am super excited to see you all very shortly!!

I have three words for you...

OUT OF SHAPE....

I am almost embarrassed to admit how out of shape I recently came to realize, yesterday, Wednesday March 10. The date is important because it marks the almost 5 month point since I came to France and that means that it has been nearly 5 months since I have really worked out hard core. In the states I had really gotten into my work out routine and regularly visited the gym, took classes, and was really fitness oriented. Well, living here, especially in Paris, things are very different. First of all, it is not easy to find a gym on every corner like in the states....there are gyms but since there are few to choose from then you really don't have much competition with the price. Paris being so expensive as it is, the gyms are no different and it is really putting a damper on my fitness.

Running outside, roller blading, going on walks, or riding a bike are all great things to do without having a gym. Plus, doing things like push ups and sit ups inside are great ways to stay in shape.

Let's rewind to the 3 little words riding a bike....these 3 little words were used yesterday, these 3 little words were the reason I realized my fitness level, and yes, these 3 little words signify the meaning of the other 3 little words that I previously mentioned. And just to hit it home and rub it in a little bit more for all of you...Riding a bike=Out of shape!! There I said it and now I really feeling worse....it sounded a little better in my head but now in writing it is cruel and more embarrassing than ever....

How can riding a bike seriously be that difficult? Well since I have been in Paris I have run outside at the park and around my neighborhood. That lasted a little while since I got here in October, and then Mother Nature took over. I am not a fan of cold weather....and especially not working out in it. I have never really been equipped to run outside in the cold....That's what gyms are for! Right?....So I gave it a shot every once in a while with a friend here....we would run through Paris and down the Champs Elysees and it was great....but even then I knew just how out of shape I was.

So now that it has been getting warmer, I have taken advantage of the nicer days and gone running, but I am now to the point where I am soooo out of shape that it is difficult to get back into that routine...

Maybe I should make this my cry for help and ask any of you for some advice or words of encouragement because I need to get back into shape....hello bikini season is calling our names!!!!

So the whole reason that I was on a bike yesterday in the first place began last week....

As I mentioned, Mami, the grandma, had me over to help out a lot with the cousins. At this time she was feeling really sick and not able to really do much or be herself. So I was glad to help out. When I was in Switzerland she went to the doctor and found out that she has Pneumonia....to me that is terrible! But I guess she has had it once before and has all of the proper medications for it now. I thought it was contagious but I was told it is not....so let's hope I don't soon wake up with a case of Pneumonia!

So, still being sick, I took over the usually job of Mami on Wednesdays and escorted J to cirque in the morning....Cirque is a class where the kids run around a lot, do gymnastics, ride unicycles, work on balance...all of that and it was really interesting to watch!

Before cirque we stopped by Mami's house to get J's necessary clothing for the class and while Mami was very tired and not feelings herself, she insisted we returned in the afternoon to each lunch there with her.

Before leaving for cirque we made some of her fresh squeezed orange juice and let me tell you..it was MAGNIFIQUE!!!

As we took off for the class the story of the bike begins....so in the town of Rueil, where Mami lives and where J has her Wednesday activities, things are very close by walking or bike...yesterday J and I rode bikes everywhere and the first place was the cirque class...although this class seemed to be really far...probably thanks to the fact that I am completely out of shape and found that riding that bike was not the easiest thing at first...

But in my defense, the bike is extremely old, has a basket on the front, and the seat would not move up at all.... Imagine, the scene I had playing in my head as I rode was the one from The Wizard of Oz with that music playing as the mean neighbor rode her bike with a basket on the front. And me, being so tall, my legs were very cramped as I peddled because I was unable to change the height of the seat and I made do with what I had.....

I am certain this was a great amusement for passer-byers haha....So anyway we got to the cirque and it was really fun to watch! J is really good with all of these physical fitness things....maybe I should take some pointers hahaha

After the cirque we stopped by the library to drop off some books....and the "woman" who helped us was indeed, I believe, in her previous life a man.....I asked J this but she said "No that is a woman! Always since I have known her and I have known her a long time"... hahaha I couldn't help but laugh...of course she probably knows nothing about the Male to Female transformations but I was positive that's what it was....

Once we arrived home we had to run to the BIO store for Mami to get some groceries. The Bio store is a great all natural store similar to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in the states. They have really healthy things and everything that is good for the environment. This bike ride was getting easier for me because I was breaking myself in...

When we returned we found out we had to go back because we got the wrong kind of yogurt and it was getting colder out so I was thinking...are you kidding me hahaha but first we had to go to the Poney Club where J has her horse lesson....