Thankful Thoughts Vol. 5: Friends

Before I get started I have to admit to you that I am writing this while I am sitting on the ground in my apartment literally right next to my heater. I can't move from this spot or I will turn into a frozen person and perish. Oh, Paris.

So, moving abroad has made me think long and hard about a lot of things in my life and about the world the live in. Friendship has been one of the biggest. Moving away from all your friends will really show you who is true and who maybe is not. Not that these people are bad but the truth is that people grow apart and even though its awful to drift, that relationship will be a part of you in some way for the rest of your life.

I am thankful to have such incredible friends and even more thankful that I only have a few BEST ones. Those girls that I know, without a doubt, will be there with me forever. I might not have seen a lot of them for almost a year but I love them so much and am so blessed to have friendships that can stand the distance. We make each other laugh for days, listen to each other's silly problems and really stand by each other when things get tough. We accept each other's weird habits and stupid moments and don't really question it because we understand. Together, we can conquer the world.

I can't wait to see them all in just a few short weeks.

Manda and I are counting down until she can tackle me at the airport...I'm preparing myself.

Brit and I are anxiously awaiting a long overdue sleepover.

Megan and I have a full calendar of events coming up next year...can we do it all?!

Erin and I will be enjoying our American delicacies together and thinking of our homes in Europe.

Nicole and I have so much to catch up on. I can't wait for our date!

I can't wait to see these girls and all my other lovely friends. A year brings a lot of changes: new jobs, new homes, new engagements, travels! We have a lot to catch up on.

Now I just have to convince Ashley to come to Cali!

Thank you girls for being my soul mates and making my life full of fun, excitement, silliness and love and sharing such amazing memories with me. I love you!!!

Thankful Thoughts Vol. 4: Miss Coco Marie

One of the best things about living abroad is that it brings people together. I have spent time with people here in Paris when we never even used to hang out back in California. Its really great to connect with people from your past and also making new friends. Coco is one of those girls. We went to SDSU together and were in all the same class (both hospitality/event majors) but we never became close. When I moved to Paris I got in touch with her for some moving advice and now we spend almost every day together. We had to travel across the world to become such good friends!

Funny how it works, right? 

Well, I am thankful for her and our adventures and I asked her to tell you guys what she is thankful for this holiday season. She has been living in Paris for over 2 and a half years and just made the decision to move her life back home. We are on the same flight back to LAX! So here she is, go check out her blog for more Paris secrets and amazing travel stories!

When Brittany asked me to write a guest post about all that I was thankful for I was excited and then hit with a feeling of worry. Why? Because trying to think of everything I am thankful this year seemed like an overwhelming task. Once I finally forced myself to sit down and crank it out, I was so happy I had time to think about my last year. Life is constantly going to quickly and I think there is less and less time to focus on appreciating what we have.

With this being my third Thanksgiving abroad, I am starting to forget what an awesome holiday Thanksgiving actually is. I mean yeah, of course any holiday that consists of eating all day, at least 3 different desserts, and some serious family time is incredible but Thanksgiving is more than that. It is just what this post has allowed me to do: reflect.

Being an expat is always hard during American holidays, but it is a prime example of one of the things I am most thankful this year: family. I don’t mean only family in the conventional way. When living abroad you are forced to create your own family here because you have nothing else. I have had many “families” while living in France and I am thankful for each one. I couldn’t have survived the hardships of being an au pair with out my fellow cohorts and this year I have found people who share the interests and goals as me (and can relate to our insane lives dealing with the French!)

And of course I am thankful for my actual family. I am SO thankful for Skype, Whatsapp, Heytell, etc. It is not the easiest thing living thousands of miles away but I could have never done this without the constant support of my family. They are truly my strength, cheerleading squad, and support system all wrapped into one!

I am also thankful for the experiences this year brought me. I did the impossible: I found a job in a foreign country, found a flat in the center of Paris, and got a work visa during the reign of Sarkozy. I traveled many new places, learned many new things, and made fabulous new friends. I fell in love over and over again with the wonderful city I could call home.

Although the hardest times of my life happened this year, I am grateful for each and every experience, good and bad. They all have taught me and allowed me to grow. So this Thanksgiving I am most thankful for my experiences over the last year and the people I have been able to share them with. Yeah, I may be giving thanks in a tiny flat instead of with my family and a plate full of turkey, but it doesn't make me any less appreciative this year. I am one lucky girl!

Happy Thanksgiving à tous!

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Happy Thanksgiving from Paris!

This is my first Thanksgiving away from home and probably the only one where I will be able to celebrate with foie gras, French wine, fish and pavlova while teaching my friend from South Africa how to draw her very first "hand" turkey. She needs to know these important life lessons.

I definitely am missing my friends and family back home. Especially when I Facetime with them and they are all together and knowing that even Mike gets to see my family and they get to see his family at the Turkey Trot this morning. It's great to know they are all together but there is a little bit of sadness being away from it.

SO, how do you cope with such a thing? Well, you hop a plane to Madrid to see your best friend. Problemo solved! I need to start packing because I leave tomorrow after work and I am SO insanely excited. I get to see two of my best friends and be a part of this awesome life they have built living in Madrid. I'm also pretty excited just to be in Spain again. (I studied abroad in Barcelona in 2008 and haven't been back til NOW!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my wonderful American friends and family. I hope you enjoy the day and count your blessing no matter what part of the world you might find yourself in.

Thankful Thoughts Vol. 3: LOVE

As of today I have 5 more weeks left in Paris. Seems like a short amount of time compared to how long I have already been here but it seems like the closer it gets the longer it seems. Why? Because its like running to a finish line, the closer you get the harder it feels and the farther away it seems to be. I don't want to think of the end of Paris as a finish line but I definitely feel like I'm running towards something and not away from Paris. I'm running towards my friends and family and Mike. I'm feeling ready to start the next chapter of my life. (not that I won't miss Paris as soon as I touch down in LA).

My going away party January 2012

Can you believe that it has been almost 8 months since I have seen Mike? I think that is the longest we have ever gone without seeing each other since we met in high school. It has been a crazy and challenging year but I think our relationship has grown and strengthened so much through all the struggles and successes from being long distance. 

Mike's visit to Paris in April 2012

I am definitely ready to be back with him and little Tay. I'm really excited and looking forward to what is next for us and to just be able to be together! Be able to have coffee together, go to a movie, play with Taylor at the park, spend time with our friends and families. It all sounds so wonderful. 

Homecoming circa 2005 muahahaha

I can't tell you all how thankful I am for this relationship. We have been through so many struggles together but have proven them all trivial in comparison to love for each other. He makes me laugh everyday, understands me sometimes more than I even understand myself, supported me moving half way across the world for a year, and really is the other half to my soul.

I am a lucky girl to have found such an incredible relationship and to be able to have watched each other grow up. We've been part of each other's lives since we were 14 and 15 years old and I think that growing up together really gives us a greater understanding of each other. I can not wait to get back to him...8 months is TOO long!!!

So, thank you, Mike. Thank you for supporting me so much and being there through it all. I love you and can not wait to actually see your face (not through a computer screen!). 35 days and counting. 

Thankful Thoughts Vol.2: Famille

Wow, so much is happening back home today. It is strange feeling so distant from the elections but I'm excited/nervous to see how it unravels today. I'm definitely not one to talk politics (it gets nobody nowhere!) so today I am focusing on something I am very thankful for in addition to the beautiful U.S.of.A.

Family. Famille. Familia.

I love my family, they are what made me who I am today. They inspire me everyday and make me laugh and want to smack them around all at the same time. We are all so different but we are a perfect group and I could never ask for a better, stronger or more fun family to call mine. 

My parents are incredible people. They are high school sweethearts and have been through all kinds of struggles and successes together. They not only raised four kids but built a successful business at the same time. My parents are such an inspiration to be happy, enjoy life, work hard and love. I am so thankful to have such strong and incredible role models and parents. They have blessed me with such an extraordinary life and I am ever grateful for them. 

My brother Brandon is fresh out of college and enjoying the pleasures of his first real office job. What a pleasure! Haha he might be realizing that college was the best years of your life like the rest of us but he is on to big things I know it. I am so lucky to have a close relationship with him. It wasn't always that way but we can grown to become best friends and I can always count on him. My favorite memories with him are probably from our Eurotrip in 2008... Or 2012. Both were way too much fun.

 My brother Ryan is one of a kind. He has a free spirit that I haven't seen in anyone else. He has the biggest heart and even if he tries to act tough (sorry bud) he is a lover at heart. Even when we have our differences Ryan will always be the first to defend our family. He is going to be famous and successful one day with his big, awesome personality. I can always count on him for a good laugh and a great friend.

 Jenna is the baby of the family. She is starting to apply for college which just blows my mind and makes me feel super old. She is beautiful and crazy smart and I can't wait to see what life has in store for her. Already she is a very strong young woman and I'm happy to say she holds strong to her morals and beliefs even when times get tough. You all know how brutal high school can be. She is a feisty little girl so I pity anyone who tries to stop her. I can't wait to watch her grow up and for us to become even closer friends. 

Boomer. Boom dog. Boomer loomer. Stinky butt. He has many names but he is hands down the world's greatest dog. Boomer has been there for us through and through for 14 awesome years. He is one of a kind and I can't begin to explain the intense LOVE our family has for him. All those lunches of ours he ate, brownies and trash cans he chewed up, times he ran away thinking it was a fun little game of tag, and so much more... Those will forever be some of our family's greatest memories. We love you boomer to the moon and back!

 One of the perks of leaving Paris is a short six weeks is that I will get to spend the holidays with my family. I am very thankful for them and their health and happiness.

What are you thankful for today??

Thankful Thoughts Vol. 1: Paris

It's November! For real? Where does the time go?!

Fall has actually been treating Paris really well the past week or so. It has been freezing cold but at least the rain has been held to a minimum which I am so happy for! Today I might have been caught in the most intense hail storm I've ever seen (and I mean, i-n-t-e-n-s-e!) but it was fun so I'm not complaining.

So, of course November means it is soon going to be one of America's finest celebrations - Thanksgiving! I'll be spending my first Thanksgiving away from home this year but that doesn't mean I won't be celebrating just the same. We are already planning our feast with pumpkin pie and green bean casserole included.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I will be writing about all the many things I have to be thankful for in my life throughout the month. Some friends will be stopping by to share their happiness with you also. Feeling grateful for things this season? Share your happiness and link up with me or send me an e-mail for a guest post!

Let's state the obvious. I am SO THANKFUL for PARIS! I am in LOVE with Paris. It is the most beautiful place on earth and I really don't think any city can compete. Paris has taught me so much about life, love and myself. I could never repay what I have gained while living here. Paris is inspiring.

Paris has given me the memories of a lifetime. It taught me how to live life.

It taught me about food. 

It taught me how to eat. 

It guided me to my passion. 

It brought me amazing new friends. 

It showed me how to slow down and how important it is to find joy each and every day and in everything. 

It made me thankful for America and a place and people to call home.

It shows me beautiful things every day.

It reminds me to enjoy myself and indulge in life.

It taught me about quality.

It taught me that time is precious and life is fleeting.

It showed me that change is good. and inevitable.
It reminds me how incredible life is and how big and beautiful our world is.
It taught me about all the little pleasures in life and how those little things add up to be the big things.

Paris is a part of me now. This place fills me up, makes my heart swell. It has changed me, inspired me and I will never quite be the same again. Paris truly is a moveable feast and I am SO THANKFUL that I came to the table.

Merci pour tout, Paris.

<3