It has been a great week...spending time with Melissa is always an adventure. Maybe one of these days we really will move to Chicago for a year just to see what happens.

Average nights sleep since she arrived: ~5 hours
Significant progress is being made in Communication by Gestures .
And, Melissa proved that 12 Michokos for breakfast is a great way to start the day...

Anyway...I finally got a decent French haircut, after 16 months.


Quote of the week- Gerri: "Bethany, you would make a good carney"

MELISSA IS HERE!!!! and I am happy :)

Pink Martini

Video Sharing at DropShots.com

"Somewhere between a 1930s Cuban dance orchestra, a classical chamber music ensemble, a Brasilian marching street band and Japanese film noir is the 12-piece Pink Martini."

I have enjoyed their songs for a while now, but seeing them live in concert last night was an experience. This is good music, made by interesting artists. They are based in Portland, Oregon but sing in English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian (and probably a few more I am forgetting)...just give them a listen, it is a good time.

“One of our goals is to make music which has broad appeal to people, no matter who they are or where they come from. We play the same set of music wherever we go, whether it’s in a small farming community in Oregon or in France or Turkey or with a symphony orchestra...I think each of us wants a hugely diverse tapestry of influences in our lives. That’s what makes life much more interesting. Every day becomes an adventure."

faithful friends

Yeah! Everything appears to be back up and running correctly...
sorry if you were not able to log on for the past few days, I wasn't either-- blogger has been working out some kinks.
Thanks for taking time to keep up with me, it makes me happy to know people are interested in my life.
Blessings~

Saturday WAS indeed a great day. We set off to Chartres, home to the largest and best maintained cathedral in Europe (pictured above). It was impressive, but I am still not sure why such a huge cathedral was built in such a small town...why not build this one in, say, Paris? hmmm, anyway...after exploring a bit we got out the map and decided that of our choices (heading north, south or east) north seemed most interesting because it was a road less traveled. We stopped in the small, suprisingly modern, town of Dreux for lunch. We ended up in a restaurant that was on par with every ultra-trendy gourmet spot in London (and just to prove how much I belonged in there, I appalled our waiter by accidentally dropping a chunk of my expertly grilled salmon in my tinted crystal glass- Pretty Woman style). Our journey continued up through Evreux and eventually led us to Rouen - where Joan of Arc (as we say in English) was burned at the stake. It was a little anti-climactic to come up out of the parking garage and see the sign (below) indicating that we had literally parked under the historical spot. But we stayed to see the church they built there in her honor, did some shopping, and ended the day with a lovely cup of hot chocolate and a plate of petite fours. More pictures can be seen by clicking here.

saturday is a great day

Tomorrow a friend and I are leaving at 9am.
Off to where you ask?
Well, that remains to be seen. The only decided agenda is to drive until something strikes our fancy, then explore it. Mostly it will be good to get outside of "city"...even if just for a day.
Stay tuned for pics and/or a story.

where the internet thinks i should live next

Most of you know that I will be moving back to the U.S. this coming fall, and I am not for sure where I want to live next. So, I took a quiz at www.findyourspot.com and was given a list of the top U.S. cities that suit me best. I will share a few hightlights.

2. Louisville, Kentucky (I hear there is a great seminary there...)
4. Orlando, Florida (oh yeah)
5. Charlotte, North Carolina
8. Houston, Texas (College Station was close enough)
11. Nashville, Tennessee (nice, but I hate country music)
13. West Palm Beach, Florida
14. Charleston, South Carolina
15. Durham, North Carolina
16. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
18. Greenville, North Carolina (very interesting, hmm)
21. Palm Springs, California
22. Memphis, Tennessee (I hate Elvis)
24. Richmond, Virigina (had some good times there)

Where do you think I should live?

LOST

I can't find my red H&M pants...has anyone seen them?

come on, it won't take long

click here and then pick 5-6 words that best describe me :)