Cream Puffs, Irish Pubs, and Friends

Dear diary,

I have had such a great couple of weeks. My heart is full from all the friends I have made here and the kids with whom I get to spend so much of my time. I love my life here right now and I am so thankful for it. But, I have been getting so caught up in all that is going on around me, I'm scared that as soon as it settles or I get used to it, the part of my heart that holds my true home will start to feel empty (but I'm trying not to thing about that). I can't believe I've already been here for 46 days (almost two months!!) and that I only have 8 left, but at the same time, I truly can't imagine waiting another four months to see my sister, Avery, Riley, and the new babe. I truly think the time will fly by though. The last week of October I go to Paris for a week. The very next weekend I go to London, the next week I go back to Paris, just for a night, and then Thanksgiving will be here. Right after that it will only be a couple of weeks and my parents will be here!! Time is passing so quickly.

So much has happened since I last wrote, and that is definitely something I am going to work on! Because, as much as I want people to see what I'm up to, I also just want to go back and read this years from now and remember as much as possible. Anyway.... Here are some highlights from the last couple weeks.

We now have a ritual of getting drinks Sunday night at the local bar, Charlie's Pub, and just after three Sundays the bartenders know us, what we drink, and how bad our French is, but they are so nice and we always have so much fun. One Sunday, I wasn't drinking and the gals and I were hungry, so we left the bar in Divonne drove to Nyon to get McDonalds. It was like leaving a bar in Springfield, except we had to cross a border to get to the closest McDonalds! We were sitting there and my friend Molly said "how crazy is this, we just popped on over to Switzerland for some nuggets" and truly, it's crazy. It is so nice being around other people who are still just as awestruck about being here as I am.

I've started to really enjoy driving here, once I adjusted to the little differences, and now my favorite parts of the day are driving the boy to his activities. He is so funny and helps me with French, but thinks it's hilarious. He and the neighbor girl in his class are the two people I speak the most French with, and it's always in the car. Now, sometimes we can't practice because he is blaring Crazy in Love by Beyoncé. So funny and odd, but he loves that song. I also am one of the only au pairs with a car, so I am driving around a lot of my friends, and that is always so fun. I drove us all to Nyon one weekend because they were having a wine festival...wait before that-- we planned to leave midday, but our friend was meeting a guy at a restaurant in town and asked if we would come cut her hair!! So my bestie, Luisa, cut like four inches off right outside of the cafe, and then I jazzed it up a bit and it was soo cute, I honestly don't know how Luisa did it, but it looked good. So after that, we went to the wine festival.

We walked the streets where vendors were set up, got a bottle of wine and little glasses, and sipped while we strolled. We walked to the castle where there was a STUNNING view of Lake Geneva and had a little glass of champaign up there. While we were walking back, we found some yummy greek food that just happened to be right by a DJ in the middle of the street. We ate, danced, and drank there for hours. It was an experience I'll never forget.

The next day I went to the Geneva basketball game with my fam. It felt very familiar to me and made me feel kind of at home. It was a nice start to a new week. On Wenesday, the day there is no school, we made cream puffs. We learned the hard way that if you over mix cream, it turns disgusting. But no worries, we made more and they turned out lovely. To end the week, my gal pals and I went to a bar in Geneva. I met someone moving to Kansas City, someone from Cali, and a group of people from Scotland. It seems like people are so easy to talk to here. Every time we go out, we find someone or multiple people to become friends with. I love it.

Last week was Canadian Thanksgiving and Arwen (my friend who we gave a haircut), is Canadian, and offered to host a few of us at her house to celebrate. This gal truly prepared a whole ass thanksgiving dinner and it was so lovely. We went over during the day (before French class) and helped a little bit. I made mashed potatoes, Molly made a really yummy apple pie, and Luisa made rolls. Literally everything else Arwen made and she did not miss on a single thing. It was so nice to be able to celebrate that with her, and it made my heart happy to say to all of them that I was thankful for their friendship.

While we are all here in France, living our silly little au pair lives, we are still reminded that life is happening around us and without us. The girls (Avery and Riley), are growing up and getting even cuter, if that's even possible. Some of the other girls have gotten some not so great, even heartbreaking news, and we are all just doing our best to support and be there for one another. Again, I am so thankful for these gals and the friendships we have already made.

I am writing this on Saturday morning, the parents are in Lisbon, left Friday morning and won't be back until Sunday night, so it's just me and the kids (and their dog Joy) hanging out this weekend. Just like that, another week is over and a new one is about to begin. I am not taking a single second for granted.

Thanks for reading this if you made it to the bottom, and feel free to send a comment or ask about something :) I appreciate you.