Day 6: Paris in a day?

Day 6: Is it possible to see Paris in one day? Day 6, January 12th, was our 3 year wedding anniversary. How romantic was it that we got to spend it together in Paris?! We decided to see the highlights: the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Arc de Triomphe. We began the rainy day by walking down the Champs Elysees, eating dim sum for lunch, and beginning our tour of the Louvre. I just love seeing the glass pyramid in the distance. I just finished reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, and there's a scene where the characters escape a bunch of flying gnats by climbing up the Louvre's pyramid. I couldn't help but imagine that while standing at the foot of the pyramid. We only spent 1.5 hours at the Louvre, which felt like absolutely nothing in the face of all those galleries and galleries of paintings. Maybe if we move to France, we can visit the Louvre twice a month for a year and *maybe* see it all. I'll let you know how it goes!

Me & Venus

Aaron & Mona

Next on the tour, the Eiffel tower. We walked down the Seine River for about an hour. It was easy to know which way to go, we just looked up! It was so breathtaking and beautiful to look at; I could have gaped at it all day. The top was closed, but we were able to walk up to the second level. If you haven't done this, put it on your bucket list. Kissing your loved one at the top (or near the top) of the Eiffel tower is a must do.

A view through the trees

There was an ice skating rink on the first level!
They were playing a Justin Bieber song...you can't escape it!

Final stop, the Arc. Our tired legs managed to drag ourselves up the spiral staircase and were rewarded by a gorgeous view. It was Aaron's favorite because it truly feels like all roads in Paris lead to the Arc - you are at the center of everything. What a great way to end the day!

It's neverending!

Love you, husband!

After our delicious last dinner in Paris, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for our early morning.

Thanks, France, for your tasty food, rich history, and lovely people (and for taking care of Sarah!). We will be back!

Day 5: Au revoir to Clermont & bonjour Paris!

Day 5: Aaron & I, still on Texas time, woke up really late and checked out of our hotel around 11:30. We went by Sarah's place, dropped off our suitcases, and toured Clermont one more time before leaving on the train. Naturally, we stopped by a little cafe and indulged in some treats:

My coffee & croissant

Aaron's apple tart

Yep, I put two packets of sugar in this thing - so rich!!
Sarah & her ice cream..she was really excited about it :o)

Sarah & her ice cream..she was really excited about it :o)

After Sarah sent us off at the train station *sniff*, we began the four hour trip to our hotel in Paris. Lucky Aaron, one of the handles on our suitcases would not pull out, so he had to carry the suitcase from the train to the metro and from the metro to the hotel. My husband is so manly. :o)

Here is the trip from the metro to the street - what an intro to Paris!

Days 3 & 4: Mass & School

Days 3 & 4: Mmmm...breakfast. A lot of these posts have a great deal of food in them. We definitely ate a lot! Early on Day 3, we trampsed over to Sarah's and feasted on some oranges, oatmeal, and baguette. Then we attended mass at the gothic cathedral at the center of downtown. We wore coats to keep warm in the cold stone building, sang Latin pieces, and listened to the priest's sermon, albeit short and French, obviously we didn't comprehend! It was beautiful and I will never forget it. I am always amazed by how God exists everywhere, how He has always been here, and how I can experience His love through a tongue I don't even understand. Sunday in Clermont was very quiet; all the families were at home resting and the streets were quiet. We decided to live like the locals do, and Sunday was quickly over as we headed home to take naps and have a late dinner.

The next day, Sarah received her Christmas presents from back home, so we got to watch her open up all her gifts.

She was SUPER excited about her watch. Good call, Mom!

"YAY! Mom even wrapped my presents!"

After lunch, we headed over to Sarah's school and watched her teach SIX one-hour classes of conversational English to French business graduate students. She did great and I was so proud of her! She had Aaron and I speak a little bit about ourselves to the students, and I hope I did America proud. I did my best not to say "like" or "whatever," so hopefully they were pleased. Ha! Let us know, Sarah. :o) Lastly, because it's so important, we had Tunisian food for dinner. It was soooooo good. I have to find a Tunisian place to eat in Houston, and I hope it is just as delicious.

Day 2: Clermont

Day 2: This day was filled with introductions to French living. To begin the day, we strolled over to Carrefour, Sarah's neighborhood market, to pick up a few groceries. I was wowed by how beautiful and plentiful all the lettuces were - who knew France had such great lettuce! Here are Aaron and Sarah, checking out the merchandise.


The day continued with a stroll into the heart of the city...

Me: "This is so beautiful, this is ridiculous."
I felt like Belle in her "little town..."The gothic cathedral at the top of the hill in downtown Clermont. It is made of volcanic rock from the nearby mountains. We attended mass here the next day!So pretty!

This was the coolest little hidden alleyway.
All these little streets bring out the adventure in you!
Break time: Hot chocolate & beer

My French burrito: a cheese, mushroom, & onion galette
(YUM)
@ 1513, a restaurant named after the year its building was put into being!

La France est magnifique! (day 1)

Bonjour! We have returned from our whirlwind tour of France and are SO happy to be home. Reality is a little bit biting...our Christmas tree is still up in its golden glory, our mantel still has the Willow Tree nativity set up, our banister is wound up in garland, and our lights are dripping with rainwater outside the front door. Oh well, maybe it will all get put away before Valentine's...just maybe.

Onward to France!

Day 1: Sarah picked us up at the airport and lead us via rail to Paris, where we visited Notre Dame, which provided us refuge from the wet weather. A boy choir was practicing inside, and it made the whole experience so ethereal and magestic. You couldn't help but feel closer to God in the cathedral. I was constantly reminded about how talented the masons were who created this building; it is such a work of art! It made me eager to dig into the book Pillars of the Earth, when I get home. Alas, I looked high and low, but no sight of the hunchback or Esmerelda. After our lunch, we boarded the train to Sarah's hometown, Clermont-Ferrand. After checking in to our hotel, we had a delicious French-style dinner at Sarah's apartment. What a tiring but adventurous and delicious day!

Lunch: Aaron's salmon tartine & delicious fries

Lunch: I had to get French onion soup!
So yummy.

Dinner: Sarah purchased an authentic "King's Cake"
for us to eat for dessert. SO. good.

Next: Touring & eating in Clermont with Sarah!

Spokane, Washington

Aaron and I are back from Spokane and resting up a bit before we head off to France to visit Sarah! We had a great time with my brother Matt, his wife Stacey, and their precious kiddos Blythe and Porter. We enjoyed playing in the snow, running and playing around the house with the kids, shopping, a fancy dinner, and late night games with Matt & Stacey. We are so blessed to have them in our lives!

Here are some highlights from the trip:

Blythe painting in her room - she is quite the artiste! Thank you, Uncle Dan, for the gift!Teaching Uncle Aaron how to play guitar

Matt & Aaron heading to Toys 'R' Us in the smart car (this is worth zooming in on)
Matt & Stacey: S'Mores for dessert - yum!







Porter & the Hat Catastrophe





























Hanging out in the snow!

Pulling the kids down the hill (we didn't have the best snow for sledding, but the guys got a great workout!)
Time for bed! We hope to see you soon!

See you all when we get back from France! Please pray for safe travels. :o)

I'm dreaming of a white New Year's!

Today we are packing up and heading on out to Spokane, WA for New Year's with the Fain's! Aaron and I have loaded up on thermals, warm socks, gloves, hats, sweaters, and snow boots. After eight years of living in the Texas heat, I'm afraid I've become a little bit of a pansy in the cold. We are so excited to see our family and spend quality time with them. I can't wait to go sledding!! We wish everyone a happy new year and the best in 2011. God bless!

7 months and counting...

Hey everyone! Aaron and I'd like to announce that God has blessed us with a new addition to the family. In early July, we'll be parents! We are very excited and (I, at least) feel extremely ill prepared. Thank goodness we have some time! We went in for our second visit today and heard the heartbeat, which was so neat. God is so amazing, and we are so thankful for our little "fig." I think we're a small lime next!

Aaron surprised me with a new car on Saturday, so now I won't be bumping my head as I get in and out like I did with my Civic. It's an '08 Toyota Highlander and we love it so far. We need to buy some of those hard plastic floor mats so I can wipe up baby expellant (this isn't a word, but it should be. You get it, right?) off of the car floor. I'm pretty messy too, so I'll probably need them more for myself.


Our plans for the next month include traveling to visit family in WA State (yay!) and then we'll be off to France to visit Sarah for a week. We figured it'd be good to the traveling out of the way before the pregnancy "blossoms." I like that term; it's much better than "get bigger" or "balloon." We'll stick with blossom. Anyway, we are really looking forward to this last excursion. What's better than family time and snow? Not much.

Aaron and I figured that as our family has begun to grow, it might be good to start a family blog. I'm not sure how good we'll be, but we'll give it a good effort. We probably won't post until early January *maybe* or late January when we return from our travels.

Either way, thanks for reading and we'll see you soon!