My time at home was great...the wedding was beautiful, Thanksgiving was yummy, and getting to see friends like Jared who I have not seen in over 2 years was sweet. To see all of my pictures of family & friends I got to visit with click here.

Well I'm leavin' on a jet plane

soon I will set out from my parents house...once again bound for Europe. let you know when I get there, hopefully with minimal traveling hassles and maximum sleep time :)

Happy Turkey Day

Our kitchen on Pomona Dr. is littered with cranberries, a large chicken waiting to be cooked and carved, various pumpkin products...it is the eve of Thanksgiving.
Today on the radio they were re-telling the history of our holiday, when the Pilgrims gathered together for Prayer and to give Thanks for all God had done that year. I have known this story since I played a Pilgrim shucking corn in my kindergarden play...yet this year I feel that I can relate to the traditions in a fresh way.
I have come full circle since last years celebration...last year I left Texas for Paris a few days after the feast...this year I left Paris for Texas a few days before the feast.
This last year was an adventure for sure, but I find that my gratitude is not centered around all the new places I have seen, not for the new friends I have made, and not even for the wonderful gift of being home with so many old family and friends...but I find that my heart is strangely fulfilled by reflecing on the low points of this past year, because by them I have been defined. God's glory this year has somehow been gained by exposing my weaknesses and shortcomings...but the sweetest part is that He has held me by the hand and watched over me every step of the way. The truth is that ever since the day I invited Him into my life, He has done this...but this year I am finally understanding what life as His daughter should look like.
What are you thankful for?

I arrived safely in Houston last night...which, by the way, is pretty different from Paris. Everything is so BIG!
Total traveling time from my house to Christin's house (pausing for a Bachelorette party in between): 25 hours
Aproximate weight of baggage carried across Paris on public transit: 140 lbs. (mostly gifts and a suitcase I brought home for a friend!)
Total time slept on plane: ~1 hour
Total time I was able to sleep once in given a bed: 5 hours
My whole body aches this morning...and rightly so I guess, but being here to share in this special weekend amongst friends, makes this all add up to time well spent :)

Oh the places you'll go...(in 1 year)

December 2005- moved to Paris, France
January 2005- 7 days in Antalya, Turkey
May 2005- 3 days in Madrid, Spain
July 2005- 3 days in London, England / 5 days in Tuscany, Italy
August 2005- 10 days in Morocco
October 1005- 1 day in Geneva, Switzerland
November 2005- 10 days in Texas, US

It has been an adventure. Hope to hear from you while I am home :)

I got to hold my friend's baby last night...isn't she cute? It made me so happy and filled up my "love tank" :)

Sweet, Sweet Desire (part 1)

Every day I (try to) read a page out of "A Year with C.S. Lewis", here is one I wanted to share...
"In speaking of this desire for our own far-off country, which we find in ourselves even now, I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open and inconsolable secret in each one of you- the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Nostalgia and Romanticism and Adolescence; the secret also which pierces with such sweetness that when, in very intimate conversation, the mention of it becomes imminent, we grow awkward and affect to laugh at ourselves; the secret we cannot hide and cannot tell, though we desire to do both. We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of a name. Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that has settled the matter....the books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things- the beauty, the memory of our own past- are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the sent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited..." -from "The Weight of Glory"

I'm mobile again...

It is true, I aquired a new cell phone last week. Should this interest you, I would be happy to pass along my new number :)

I am currently reading this book, and am fascinated by the true stories in it from the life of "Princess Sultana" in Saudi Arabia. Though the specifics have been changed for security reasons, this woman opens up her life of privelidge and struggle for women's rights in her country.

Sainte-Chapelle is magnifique....it goes near the top of my "must-see" list for Paris.

Yesterday I spent some time visiting The Cluny Museum--devoted to art from the Middle Ages. In addition to seeing some amazing ancient tapestries, relequaries claiming to hold the umbillical chord of Christ, suits of armor, and one large stone bathtub...there were a few pieced devoted to documenting the vie quotidienne (everyday life). What do you think about this one?

Out with the old...In with the new

One thing about europeans that makes them so sheek---they all seem to have the most interesting glasses. So here is my newest attempt to assimilate, I just got them today and for the record they were made in Italy by Prada...oh, la la

Rhône-Alps

we're back! To see a complete set of my pictures (all 102!) click here.
It always feels good to get out of the city for a few days, but I am glad to be back. A few things I did while away...
~held a 3 week old baby
~slept in a bed formerly belonging to monks (very uncomfortable)
~ate lots of good food
~had my understanding challenged by some excellent teaching
~more fully embraced my Post-Modern views on the world
~drove to Switzerland for lunch and some Starbucks
~used co-ed shower & toilet rooms
(no matter how long one lives in Europe, I don't think it will ever stop being odd to have a chat with someone of the opposite sex while taking care of your private business in the bathroom or shower)