Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Merry Christmas!

John and I would just like to take a minute and say Merry Christmas to everyone back in the States. We hope you all take a minute or two or three this holiday season to realized how very blessed you are, how great God is, and what a miracle His Son is for each of us.
To me, Christmas is a time to celebrate the gift Christ's birth and to celebrate the life that I have because of that gift. Christmas is a time of traditions, of love, of showing those around you how much you love them. Many people today say that Christmas is too commercial- and in some ways it is. But to me, Christmas is when I give back. It is a time when I can, if you will, pay forward the blessing that Christ gave me with his birth by loving those around me and loving those that come into my path. So, the aspects of Christmas that can be called commercial- gift buying, the baking, the decorating- are all the ways that I show I care.
So, this Christmas, if you feel like everything is commercial and unfeeling or that everyone has forgotten the true meaning of Christmas, remember that God gave us the gift of His Son not so that we can hold onto it for dear life- but so we can share the gift with everyone.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

I need to go shopping

I currently have one Christmas present. One. This is possibly be the worst that I have ever done with my shopping. I usually love to buy gifts. The fun of finding the perfect present.. wrapping it up.. and seeing their face light up as they open it. This year, though, is an exception. John is going to be doing well to have 2 gifts under our baby tree from me.
Any one have ideas for motivation? Or ideas for a gift? Maybe I will just wrap up some stinky cheese. He would like that. :-)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Market

I know that Europe is famous for it's markets but for some reason I always believed that it was just vegetable markets. I was so wrong.
Today, I went to a Market in Antibes. (This is one of my favorite towns in France. Love it.) And let me tell you, there are no veggies for sale here. Everything but. I could have bought cashmere sweaters, pots and pans, quilts, bras, leather vests, makeup, radios, watches... you name it, those people were selling it. Amazing. And all CHEAP. Not just everything-else-is-so-expensive-this-looks-cheap kind of cheap. We are talking about dirt cheap. So much fun. I love a good bargain.
The best part of the market was not only seeing what they sold- but watching the vendors interact. One booth had sweaters- kind of cute ones- for 5 euro. That is almost unheard of in France. Needless to say, women were going crazy- grabbing, pushing, ripping open bags- crazy. All of a sudden, the vendor begins to yell, "MADAMES,MADAMES!! Oo la la!! S'il vous plait!!" So funny. And it did him absolutely no good. Two minutes later, on the other side of the market, I could here him yelling the exact same thing.
Ah well. While I didn't buy a 5 euro sweater, I did buy a cute one for 10!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Oh the joy of finding new friends....

Since moving here, John and I haven't exactly expanded our social circle and I still really don't have a lot to do during the day while he is at work. Because of this I decided last week to take decisive action. I posted a thread on an English forum here France asking for things to do during the day, explaining that I was an expat wife that couldn't work. And, just a couple of days later, I received a few messages from other girlfriends/wives in the area that also have nothing to do. Exciting! or so I thought...
My first meeting went well... rather horribly. Did you ever meet someone that was your complete opposite? Well, I have. Made for an interesting hour... Anything that she said, I thought the complete opposite. Anything I said, she, ah, adamantly disagreed. For example.. I said that Nice was the largest city I would ever want to live in, she said that Nice drove her crazy because it was so small. Later on, I said that we lived on the outside of Nice because it was better for John's commute. She responded that she didn't care how far her boyfriend had to drive to work, she had to live in the center of town. And on and on it went..
Don't worry there is a better ending to this story. On Friday I met with another girl who moved here from north England and is married. And, we actually got along. :-) hurray! I will keep you posted on any other developments.

Oh, I also got an offer to work on a boat and go scuba diving afterwards. Pretty sure I won't be taking him up on that one!! Yikes.

Getting in the Spirit!




What a great weekend! John and I have been bums for the past few weekends and it was driving me crazy. So, this weekend we stayed quite busy. First off, John got a hair cut. He really needed it- looked like he had a small animal growing on his head. (He looks like my hubby again now..) After his haircut, we headed into Nice for the Christmas market. It reminded me of all the craft fairs in the states around the holidays- only this one sold hot wine, beer, and lots of cheese. Oh the hot wine- so very tasty. I know, you are probably thinking that sounds disgusting, but don't knock it til you try it. John was also very impressed with the Christmas beer, which is saying a lot since most beer in France he, ah, hasn't thought very much of at all. After we wandered around the market, bought some Christmas ornaments and sausage, we headed out to buy our Christmas tree.



Honestly, we don't have room for a Christmas tree in our tiny apartment, but since we didn't have a tree last year in the states I had to have something Christmas-y in the apartment this year. At the garden center we just kept looking for the perfect tree and finally found him. "Nick" (after Saint Nick) the Christmas tree is about one foot tall, complete with tiny decorations including a homemade star and wine glass identifiers- perfect size for our tree. Now it feels like Christmas!