Jet-setting in 2014!

8/15/2014

Bonjour mes amis!

2014 has been quite a year of Travel for me!

One might even call me a "Jet-setter"!

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word "jet-set" as follows:
Wealthy and fashionable people who travel widely and frequently for pleasure.

Now, I'm not wealthy, and I don't consider myself fashionable, but I traveled widely and frequently, not always for pleasure, but certainly...each trip turned out to be pleasurable!  I am blessed.  Let's see what you think...

After returning from celebrating the Holidays in Chicago, Illinois...

January:
Home for the whole Month!

February:
Memphis, Tennessee to celebrate my Cousin's Big Birthday, along with my two sisters...

And,
Bradenton, Florida to spend a week with my parents, along with my two sisters...

March:
Denver, Colorado to spend Spring Break with my oldest Daughter!

April:
Ooooh!  I stayed Home the whole Month again...I think!

May:
College Station, Texas to celebrate my younger Daughter's College Graduation!  Whoot!

June:
Kenosha, Wisconsin to "stand up" in my Sister-in-Law's Wedding!

And, we had a little bit of fun in Wisconsin walking along the shore of Lake Michigan!

Then,
Chicago, Illinois to give my Niece a Bridal Shower!

Then,
Orléans, France to join my Husband!
(If you care to see photos from France this year, please go to any of the following links!)
"Back in France"!
"Chateau Tour and Tours"!
"Big time Jet Lag, but ready for Orleans"!
"Great Day for a Chateau"!
"Independence Day...in France"!
"Enjoying Combleux with a dear Friend"!
"Reluctant Agreement to the Brocante"!
"25 years to wait..."!
"Be careful where you Stand"!
"My Last Night in France and my Best Story"!

And,
Korea for a Conference...nevermind, that was my hubby's travel, not mine!

July:
College Station, Texas to take my youngest Son to his New Student Conference at the University!
Denver, Colorado AGAIN to help my oldest Daughter move out of her Apartment!  (I worked like a Slave, but we did manage a little fun time the last 18 hours or so)!

This brings me to...

August:
College Station, Texas to take my Son to Camp, and pick up my Daughter!
(I managed this trip as a day trip though)!

The Months Ahead in 2014:
My Niece is getting married!
My Husband is being honored at a Conference!
The Holidays are coming!
Etc., etc.

What a life!

Does this Post make you tired?  It's tiring reading back on where I've been this year!  It truly has been an unusual year, and in just about two weeks...

Dr. J and I will be EMPTY NESTERS!

Just when there is the possibility for "jet-setting", we will probably...

Stay home!
Haha!

Have a "Jewel" of a Day!
Jan

Top Ten Photographs!?!

7/24/2014

Bonjour mes amis!

I have a huge Decorating Goal ahead of me.  I want to make a wall of photographs in our Gameroom from our awesome year spent in France, and other parts of Europe.  But how do I choose?  We have thousands of photos!  There are definitely some that stand out, so those will be easy.  I still haven't decided how many photos I will use, but I know I want the BEST OF THE BEST!!!

So, I'm carefully looking through ALL the thousands of pictures and trying to narrow it down.  Today, I want to share a beginning TOP TEN EIGHTEEN (you must know by now that I can't actually stick to TEN on a Top Ten)!  These will MOST DEFINITELY make the Wall...I think!

Unbelievably, the photos I'm sharing today are only from the first three months we lived in France!

I'm in trouble!

How will I ever narrow these down?

I guess there will be another Post of the 2nd three months, the 3rd three months, etc., etc.!

Can you see why this is so difficult?

We had an extraordinary Year!

I could probably do a Post on Top Ten Stained Glass Windows...
And even that would be hard to pare down!

I guess it's time to shut the door on this Post for now...

Thank goodness I have some awesome photos of fabulous doors!

I do wish you a "Jewel" of a Day!
Jan

My Last Night in France and my Best Story!

7/22/2014

Bonjour mes amis!

I have a dear friend in France.  Let's call her E!  She's not French, but she speaks French, can teach in French (she's a Professor), and she speaks several other languages as well.  She's amazing.  She's smart and fun, and she's a redhead!



She lives in a "man's world" with the kind of work she does, so when I am in France, we get together, and she always tells me that this helps her "develop her soft side" since she doesn't get much one-on-one time with other women.  Trust me, she doesn't really need help.  She's very kind and engaging, and I enjoy being with her.

When we're together, we speak English.  E is married to J!  They are a very loving couple, and I enjoy observing them together.

E and J have become dear friends to us.  Last year, we took a vacation together for several days, and this year's visit brought us together for numerous meals and coffee times.  E and J love to go to one of the busy market areas in Orléans, and get a table outside, and just enjoy a cup of coffee and do some "people watching".  We now call that place our meeting spot.

On my last day in France, E and I had made a plan to meet for lunch...at our meeting spot, naturally.  It was a Monday, so this meant there would be a limited number of Restaurants to choose from, since many businesses in France are closed on Mondays.  But...E and J work closely together and they were expecting a visitor from the Netherlands, so our lunch plan changed a little, to include J for lunch.  That was perfectly fine with me as I enjoy J's company as well.  We had a lovely full three-course French lunch, and then popped over to their favorite Café for coffee, so they could meet their Dutch visitor.

When the Dutch visitor arrived, E and I knew it would be time to say good-bye for atleast another year.

Big American Hugs!

And we parted...

Later that day, however, I was checking my emails , and suddenly, I started getting Instant Messages from E, asking what I was doing for the evening, and could we get together again?  Well, at 8:00 PM, I had a friend from the Church dropping by to drop something off, but then I would be free...

Wouldn't you know it, E and J showed up at "my" Château just before 8:00 PM!  They were determined to see me again.

E and J had just spent the week in Bulgaria, however, and they really needed to get groceries.  Would I consider going to Auchan with them? (Auchan, if you will recall, is the large grocery store I shopped in while I lived in Orléans last year).

Did I really want to go to the Grocery Store on my last night in Orléans?

If it meant I got to spend more time with E and J?  YOU BET!


Shortly after we got to Auchan and realized we had different things to shop for, E made an attempt to have some "girl time" with me, and she looked at J and exclaimed...

"Why don't you go ahead on your own and pick up whatever you like in the store?"

J looked over at us, and then proceeded to head to E...

and then he bent down...

and he picked up his wife!

Awwww....

I stood there smiling and clapping, and just overjoyed at the sweet love between those two...

And then I teased J the rest of our excursion about "picking up a girl" in the grocery store!

Have yourself a "Jewel" of a Day!
Jan

P.S.  All photos today are Scenes from around the beautiful City of Orléans, France!