To Paris, With (a Positive Feeling That is Not) Love

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a severe lovelike/hate relationship with France. One of the worst problems with France is so many people go there with high expectations. However, France isn't as great, romantic, or wonderful as people think, especially since most people's experience of France boils down to one city: Paris. This will be my third time in Paris, and I have corrected my previous errors and have come with very negative expectations. When things went wrong, it was to be expected. When something was nice, it was nicer than I anticipated, so I was quite happy. Don't get me wrong, Paris does two things amazingly that I love.

1. Crepes (and other pastries)
2. Versailles

Please note: Anytime you see this type of sign...it doesn't mean they will actually speak to you in English. It is more of a general statement that they understand English and will willingly communicate back to you, but not necessarily in English. Parisians generally like to pretend they don't speak English, and will *not* speak to you in English. What happens is you point, attempt words in French, and try to interpret what they are saying back to you in French. Maybe since I'm older or I now speak a second language, I feel like I was able to understand a lot more French that before. Go me! I also learned how to properly ask where the toilet is, instead of just saying "Toilet?" and trying to look confused.  #pointofpride

Day 1: We took the (super early) high-speed train from London to Paris, and I quite enjoyed it! No surprise, as I always prefer a train against a plane if the timing makes sense.We checked into our hostel, which was right around the corner to the train station, and went out for crepes before our tour. Now, I've been on a number of the Sandemans Free Tours throughout Europe, and I would highly recommend them. However, this may be the first time I've been genuinely bored during a tour. This is surprising because I'm a huge nerd, and I always stand at the front of the group to soak in as much learning as possible. France and Paris have such rich and crazy histories, but we didn't hear much about it. Towards the end of the tour, it started getting cold and rainy. Plus, the tour guide was a Londoner who openly admitted to preferring Paris, so there was obviously something wrong with her in the first place.

We bought umbrellas from a street vendor. Erica's lasted about an hour before she broke it when she was swinging it around. #badluck There was a weird ball being hung in the middle of the Eiffel Tower, which is really distracting. The guy who took the picture was a construction worker, hence the Eiffel Tower being decapitated at the top. #guillotine

I'm not even sure what's going on here, but I love it. 

Day 2: After Sacre Coeur, Saryah wanted to check out a cemetery. This led to an epic journey of trying to find a toilet, eating yummy pizza, and eating even yummier pastries. I will dream of that raspberry tartelette for the rest of my life. We found the cemetery, but there was only this bridge over it. We were about to begin a search for the entrance, but Saryah said "nah. This is good. I'm happy." I made her take a photo as proof we were there.

We were trying to find the metro and accidentally wandered through the red light district #oops

We decided to separate for a few hours because Erica wanted to see the Louvre, Saryah wanted to see the impressionist paintings at Musee de Orsay, and I wanted to go see an old church. Personally, I think I made the best choice, because I love old buildings more than art. However, I found this awesome painting at Saint-Sulpice. I have seen many old churches. Seriously. I've seen A LOT; I really love them. I have never seen them have a painting depicting Jesus Christ and God as two separate and distinct beings. I believe God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate and distinct beings with one shared purpose, to help us return to live with God and Christ again. I was so happy to see that in the church!!! 

This is the view I found walking out the east side of Saint-Sulpice, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I did filter, because I wanted to make sure this photo came alive as much as the real view did for me.  I made it back to the hostel about half an hour later than we planned, but so did we all. We all arrived within 10 minutes of each other being late. #greatmindsthinkalike

Later that day we were walking around trying to find some food, and it started pouring rain. I think the best part was while we pulled out our umbrellas from our bags, the Frenchmen scattered like little ants. It was pure panic and chaos for the next few minutes. #giggles

Day 3: We debated this thoroughly last night. One of the most beautiful things about Versailles is walking the gardens and seeing Marie Antoinette's little cottage. We checked the weather last night and the forecast said 20% chance of rain in the low 70's. Saryah and I put our umbrellas and jackets in our purses for the next day, while Erica put her jacket and umbrella in her backpack...the same backpack she checked into luggage storage for the day. #badluck We hopped on the train and as we were travelling, we saw that we were travelling towards dark and ominous rain clouds. As soon as we walked off the train, it started to rain. Erica was wearing a white shirt. #badluck We decided to look for an open shop, but nothing was open so early. Instead we popped into a bakery to get some yummy food to bring and hide in Starbucks. We stayed in Starbucks for about an hour before we decided that we didn't want to go to Versailles in cold rainy weather, but I insisted we at least go and take pictures in front of Versailles. The picture above is a representation of Erica's bad luck for the day.

Since Versailles was a bust, we went back to downtown Paris with plans to eat lots of pastries. When we arrived, the sun came out and it became a beautiful day! We decided to stand in line for Sainte Chapelle, which was highly recommended to Erica. Evil Saryah with her student + EU status let her in for free. (This also happened at other museums where she was allowed to bypass the lines and just walk through). I had to pay. The stain-glass was EXQUISITE! But it was a little pricey just to walk into one room of stain-glass. We wandered around, played in a park, and saw the Statue of Liberty.

mini Statue of Liberty!

We then went our separate ways, as Erica and I headed to Ireland, and Saryah went on to Italy. But first we ate more pastries! But seriously. Our diet during out three days in Paris consisted of crepes and French pastries. #noregrets 

Boys, Work, & Life

source: iwastesomuchtime.com

Let's talk about feelings right now. I remember a few years ago, I was talking to my friend Greg, and he made the comment that all girls are crazy. Being in my state of denial and haughtiness, I thought, "yeah, right, i am so sane and normal". Now, age and clarity have settled into my life and I realize, he's so right. lol. por ejemplo, i have met this guy who makes me super nervous, and this causes me to act really weird because my nervousness overrules my ability to seem any kind of cool. I say weird things and my face turns red. Lindsay thinks it's adorable I have a crush on someone. Me? No. I dont like him. Why? because he doesn't like me. #girllogic

Let's start with an amusing anecdote. Anecdote, not antidote. Because one will help you if you are dying of a crazy disease, and the other would not. I was talking my friend Petra and she was asking me if there were any boys I liked. I said something along the lines of "no, boys suck" and she asked, "are you sure you even like boys?" lol. I said "oh, i like boys." that's the problem. I just know what I do and don't want. Mix that with the phrase "he's just not that into you" and you get my life.
Boy Rant: Complete

So one time someone asked me, why dont you write about what you do at work more? and I thought, 'why do you want to hear about what I do at work? #boring' But I will tell you. I normally enjoy what I do at work. Our company is divided into two sections. In one of the sections you have the president of that section and his VPs. I work with the VP of Manufacturing. He tells me what he wants, and I make it happen. I like what I do. I like making things happen. However, I hate when he asks me to do impossible things, because he doesn't realize they are impossible, so I end up trying super hard to make it happen only for it to never work. I almost made myself cry the other week because I thought he would be upset that I could make something happen he wanted to happen, be he was like "okay" and moved on. Now he wants me to do something in SAP that everyone is telling me I cannot do, and he's like."....mmmmm, i think you can". So I shall continue on my quest to make the impossible happen so I can create a graph about it and send it to him. He loves graphs, data, and powerpoint presentations. He's awesome, and challenges me, which I like. If I didn't respect him as much as I do, I would probably not try as hard as I do. But he's legit, and knows what he's talking about. It's cool. 

Another work story: last week, I was put on a the a materials management team for our Petroleum facilities. Oh man. This team is awesome. I met up with them a little late because we were all stuck in traffic, but it was at a different one of our Houston locations, so I go to be out of the office for the day. It's a team of four men. One of the guys described the group quite well, "We laugh a lot, because if we didn't, we would die of boredom". Let me just say, I laughed a lot that day. We had a good productive meeting, and one of the guys at that facility was our host, and he was intense. He asked if we wanted anything and I said a water. He said they didn't have cold bottled water, and I was like, "ok, nevermind" but he went and got some water bottles, and stuck them in the freezer and brought one out when it was cold for me. It make me feel super awkward, and all the guys laughed about it. 

source: iwastesomuchtime.com

I may or may not have caused a minor Cold War with me and this lady who is a total arch nemesis. Luckily I defused the bomb with the best defense mechanism...playing dumb. It worked. She's still a total arch nemesis, but now I don't get scared when i see here because I know it's not just directed at me, but to everyone. Also, I had to keep my own anger at bay when my xenophobic co-worker said a racist comment and thought I was joking when I told her it was racist and that I took personal offense to the comment. The cold shoulder lasted the rest of the week, but had to end because I gave a lesson at FHE about how everyone can get angry but disciples of Christ forgive and are loving. I made the promise, I would try to let it go, so I am.
Work Rant: Complete

So work bestie Charles, grew up as an expat. he was told me that he received kidnapping training when he was little. He got a phone number he could call from anywhere in the world and was told they would have someone there within 24 hours of the phone call. I said that wasn't very impressive, because they could have you moved within 24 hours. However, the guy told him that the first rule to being kidnapped, is to not get kidnapped. (i know, right?). The guy said to kill as many of them as possible, because the worst that can happen is them killing you which is probably better than then holding your for ransom, torturing you, and cutting off body parts to send to your family for proof that you're alive. This convo happened because I told Charles about when I was out with David, I asked him if he was going to sell me me into the sex-slave trade and he looked at me and said, "depends how much they offer". #germanhumor

Now what to say about the past few weeks since I've posted. Well, being older has is perks. As in one perk I can think of: I can now rent a car without paying extra for being underage. Please note: pretty much only america has this dumb tax. #embarrassing. Since my birthday I have:

• decided I'm want to hang out with little Ron Weasley forever, because, let's face it, he's adorable. 
• hung out with Alison, who I haven't seen in forever. She's moved back to H-town, and in celebration, we made dirt pudding, texted Chad a picture, and watched a movie. Just like old times. Love it. 
• had a Spanish Saturday, where Laura was dying the whole day and slept in the car while we were in downtown. Christina, Teri Jo, and I ate tapas, and even though they had papas bravas on the menu, it was a sham. So sad. Papas bravas are my fav tapas. Then we went to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the Spain art they brought from El Prado. Oh El Prado. Oh Spain! Te echo de menos. 
• had a dentist appointment. My dentist is cool.
• been a super lazy bum and have done a lot of nothing. 
• seen Cirque du Soleil with Saryah. It was magical. I loved it, and I'm pretty sure that I looked like a dork just staring in awe of the cool stuff. It really made me appreciate the wonderful gift we were given from God to come to earth and get a body. So cool. Another fun part was that we ran into Sam and his brother Oliver, who were also out and about as siblings. #siblingpower
• become lucky enough to get an invite to David's house for dinner with the sisters. Laura got one too and we got to experience David's great cooking. I'm impressed. Way to go. We had such a fun time together. Then Laura and I headed to the Chili Cook-Off together.
• seen a chili eating contest and a pie eating contest at the chili cook-off. Never have seen one of those before. The chili contest was painful to watch, especially since I had spicy thai food earlier that week and was dying from the mild curry. 

The best part of my post-birthday life, is that I pulled Walk-To-Remember wish. I witnessed a miracle. It was one of those miracles that have nothing to do with you, but have everything to do with someone else. But I was blessed enough to be a part of it. I am so grateful. When I wrote it in my journal, I remembered one of the reasons I write a blog; when I hand-write things, it takes forever because i write with so much detail that my hand cramps and it's insane. I won't write much more about it on my blog because I don't want to trivialize the experience, but it strengthened my testimony that God knows His children and loves every single one of them, whether they are aware of it or not. Plus, I was able to give a talk in church, which always makes me happy. Pretty much, it had been a great Sunday, that ended with Stevie & Sonja coming over with their kids and us having lots of fun. I guess that's why I was having such a rough past two weeks. it's always right before the really good that Satan tries to derail us with really bad.

"Fear not; only believe. This is a time to make resolutions that will be binding upon you. This is a season to set standards that will hold you to the right course and make you happy now and in the years that follow." -Gordon B. Hinckley,  “Fear Not; Only Believe,” New Era, Jan 2000, 4

P.S. There is a really real possibility that they are going to start production on a Veronica Mars movie this summer. #dreamsdocometrue

PPS. I read this great article on International Women's Day about women in the workplace and them balancing work and family. It was written by a successful business woman and mother, and I loved it. It really spoke to me.

PPPS. Lindsay sent this one to me. It made me realize how much I have appreciated the de-cluttered life of living out of two suitcases. I did it on a mission and I'm doing it again my first year of employment. It's funny because whenever I go home, I realize how much stuff I have and how I haven't missed most of it or even thought of it. It makes getting rid of stuff much easier. But be warned, I may be transitioning into a more minimalist mentality, but that doesn't mean that I'm not planning on going shopping this weekend to buy some new clothes.  ;)

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

I was picked up at the airport Thursday night (Aug 30th) by my big bro. Best broseph ever! because it was pretty much midnight. He drove me home; when we arrived, we went straight to my lil sis' room, sat on her bed and just hung out for a while chatting because we haven't been together for months! It was then bedtime, so I went to my room...only to realize that I was not tired and so I watched Netflix! It was awesome, and then my mom snuck into my room before work and we got to chat it up! Coolest mom ever. Then Dad woke up shortly later and we hung out for a bit. Then we woke up my brother and sister and we rodetripped upto the BLUEBELL CREAMERY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best family trip. We drove up and had a tour. at the end of the tour you get as many samples as you want and then a GIANT cup of ice cream of the flavor of your choice. I highly recommend everyone going to check it out :)

I then got reunited with my good friend Netflix and we had a good time together watching, The Glades. Awesome. Until I fell asleep and ended up sleeping about 12 hours. I woke up. I looked at my watch to see it was 6 o'clock. I went out of my room and my parents were awake. I felt super disoriented and had to clarify if it was Friday night or Saturday morning. They told me it was Saturday morning. The jetlag is messing with my mind!

mom at work

Saturday was mom's day. we went to get mani/pedis. mom, me, and my brother went to get her a iPhone 4S. my mom officially has the coolest phone out of everyone in my family. truth.  we got sweets and partied it up. The entire day dad was at home bbq-ing. Athena and Jay showed up. It was so fun. Cool big sister alert! Jay and I got to cook together...aka...he cut up some sweet potatoes and i cut some veggies to saute. It was a great bonding experience. Then Jax and Davey showed up. The party was really getting started. Then stevie and sonja showed up with the kids! It was awesome cuz i hadn't actually seen the little one because she was born while i was on the mission. yay! it was an awesome family get-together. we seriously had too much fun. it should be illegal how much fun we had.  Everyone eventually left and mom, dad, saryah, and i decided to watch The Hunger Games! then Hollister decided to visit, so i left the movie to talk with her. it was sooo nice catching up. bffs are great.

 Sunday was relaxing. Church was lovely. The day was super relaxing. Monday was Labor Day and we got to party it up at home and I got to run some errands that I've been wanting to do since I got back to the states. Tuesday, I took mom to work and got to help with her classroom. it was so cute. my mom is adorable! I got a haircut before heading off to the airport and flying to Kansas City. (which is not in Kansas). I finally got to use my Nook, which was exciting. The guy who sat next to my on the airport was super bro. He was like a 40 year-old frat boy. He told me stories a lot of very interesting stories. I just smiled and nodded, feeling bad for his sad life choices. Nevertheless, he was entertaining. I then waited after getting my luggage for Lindsay's flight to get in. We met up and it was weird that we haven't been together for so long. We hoped on the bus to take us to the rental vehicles. We were told we might not get the Jeep Liberty because they needed to do some general maintenance. My response? Give me Liberty or give me Death! We got the Liberty, after having to wander around the lot clicking the key button trying to find the car. We started driving and had to stop shortly after because we were starving and Lindsay LOVES Wendy's. She got her food quickly but they had to make mine...then the guy forgot to give me my food. So I had to go and get it later. The guy felt bad and offered me a frosty, i said "make it two", so Lindsay and I got free Frosties. WIN! We got into Sedalia around 9pm. We went to Lindsay's place first...and there was no key for her to get in. I went to my place and there was no key box either. We went to the front office and no one was there. We called the number, left a message and then went to the Holiday Inn to have a place to sleep.  They were booked up for the night. We were about to go to a different hotel, but then the apartment manager called us back. Apologized. and promised someone will be there to let us into our place. We got in and I went to Walmart to get some hangers and stuff for breakfast tomorrow.

Wednesday and Thurdsay was full of LEAN and KANBAN training and afternoons were filled with going to Walmart for things we don't have, food, and watching cable. I haven't had cable since 2008! It's quite a treat! We also made a friend. Her name is Sage and she's a vegetarian and from St. Louis! I didn't make that up. So friday, we had a girls night into Columbia (where Mizzu is) to see Batman (because Lindsay still hadn't seen it) and have some dinner. It was a nice night out.

Slacklining = legendary

Saturday was a day to sleep in and the afternoon we went out with Sage and did some slacklining!!!!!! I only just heard about it when I was in Germany...and now people know about it in Missouri! Crazy. WE spend lots of time doing it and by the time we were over....I could get up on my own and take a step. It was magical. I felt so accomplished.

Sunday I went to the family ward in the morning and the single's branch. it was a long day but very uplifting. Tuesday was Taco Tuesday....so we went there for lunch. believe it or not, the crispy tacos were yummy. I was quite happy. Wednesday was not so great. I was feeling sick and nauseous all day. Kim from work told me I looked pale. I went home and went to bed early. I woke up to Lindsay calling saying she's been sick all morning, so she called us in sick and i proceeded to sleep for 14 hours straight. I do remember solving a murder mystery in my dreams. So even when I'm sick I'm productive. It's moments like this when I wish that I lived at home so someone to take care of me! So I cuddled in a blanket and watch a marathon of The Mentalist on TNT. Love cable. As long at I'm not standing up I don't feel too bad. i hate being sick. it's such a waste of time. My personal theory is that when i'm super busy, my body has no time to get sick, but as soon as life slows down, my body is catching up with me. Life in Missouri is definitely different than I'm used to. Putting a city girl in a small town. But it's nice to slow down for a little bit. I think the saddest part was on Sunday when a lady asked me if I was dating someone and I said no and she said, "well, you probably wont find anyone out here". Sad.

ps. i just had to order exercise shoes online because there is no where to get them around here and shoe shopping for running shoes on the weekend isn't my idea of fun.