I'm going to see about a boy...

We are sure cute for two ugly people

I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else

But you.

Is it there?

"Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit the evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now." -Epictetus

With time flying by so quickly, I've found myself both living in the future and trying to grab on to the hours, and days that are left and hold on to them. Already I have been here for three months and, though at the time they seemed to pass slowly, I look back on all my experiences and it feels as if I've blinked to arrive at this moment.

As tradition would have it in my Christmas world, Kendra and I decorated her mini tree to the sounds of the Elvis Christmas album at 2 in the morning on Friday night. Earlier that evening we had attended a community chorale and orchestral concert in Limoges with Melek and Benjamin (who was in the show, playing his clarinet). 

We knew we were in France when there were high school students up on stage, dressed in chic black with differently colored scarfs draped around their necks, singing in beautiful harmony to the accompaniment of a harpsichord. How great is that?

The car ride home was a vocabulary exchange of road words which quickly turned in to a lesson in essential swear words when Benjamin said, in a French accent, "The windows are all fogged up." You can imagine where it went from there. All this to a soundtrack of ABBA hits.

I'm spending today cooped up in my warm little home, the slushy rain pounding down and inviting no one to come and play. I have three new books to read, and lessons to plan for the little ones, and moments to savor. 

I HEART MINNEAPOLIS, Oh and it snowed here.

This is the view from my apartment, it was snowing all day yesterday, but none of it stuck.

I really do heart MPLS.

I got all sorts of love in the mail today. A postcard from Pella, IA, a Christmas card from Oregon, and a big fat package from Britches! Complete with the sweatshirt I'm sporting in the picture, it also had a great picture of us in Florence, multilingual swearing playing cards, and anything else my heart could desire.

I'm feeling the pang in my heart as the holiday season approaches, as I realize that this is my first Christmas not spent at home. I couldn't ask for more love and wonderful people in my life to be encouraging me and loving me up from across the pond.

I felt like I was walking in a movie yesterday as Kendra and I strolled through my picturesque rural French town, dusted with snow and smelling of fireplaces and freshly made crepes on the street. I heart Gueret, too. 

Mieux en retard que jamais: Photos from Prague

On top of the astronomical clock tower, I was actually there!

I told you it was creepy...

Mmm, potato dumplings and sauerkraut.

Me, Kendra, and Vanessa. We did not intend to match.

That's right! $2.00 for that beer. Bois-la!